Sunday, October 18, 2009: Natchez to Louisiana

Natchez is called the Jewell of the Mississippi because of its beauty. One of the beautiful things in Natchez are the old plantations. We toured the Longwood. It just looks cool, with its octagonal design. Though the exterior structure was completed, the Civil War interrupted the completion of the interior and the plastering of the exterior.

After Longwood we drove through Louisiana into Mississippi.

We stayed at the Bay Hide Away RV Park and Campground. Very nice facility. The restrooms are spacious and well-designed.

Over the years I have begun noticing shower design related to comfort, e.g., hooks and shelves to place stuff, and, even more interesting, keeping the water contained in the smallest area, as opposed to soaking dozens of square feet of floor.

In most showers, the shower head is at head height or below. The shower heads are aimed out, not down. Often the water is aimed out of the shower. Even when the shower head is on one side of the shower aimed toward the other wall of the shower, shooting water horizontally bounces water off the body and some of it flies out the door.

The shower heads in these showers are over six and a half feet high and stick out of the wall so that the water comes almost straight down. By putting the shower head above the person the water is aimed down. Even water bouncing off the body is more likely to be reflected down to the floor. Less water flies horizontally out the door.

I suspect the reader is thinking that a good shower curtain is the answer. Shower curtains work well when people pay close attention to ensure that it is properly tucked in and the water is not sneaking out the sides. Mistakes here are the floor outside the shower is soaked. Though this shower did have a shower curtain, but the curtain and the walls of the shower had relatively little water. Proper placement of the shower heads helps ensure water is reasonably contained even when the curtain is not carefully arranged.

Furthermore, the floors of these showers were angled back toward the shower. The only drain was in the middle of the shower stalls. Showers with drains outside the stalls are much less effective in containing the water inside the stall.