We today is the day. Barbashela was loaded on the trailer and we had the final few screws to attach the aft seat. Once the screws were in I put a dab of the Whipped Apricot on the screw heads and had a little chat with our girl. She is ready to roll.
She looked a lot better with her bow ring and a few cargo straps to hold her down, vs being tarped and duct taped to a stretcher when we brought her to our place. She was excited that she would get to see the sights on this trip and pointed her nose towards Beauvoir.
We headed 145 miles West to Beauvoir and made the obligatory stop at the rest area on the Mississippi State Line for the photo with the big rigs. The ladies at the Visitor Center were excited to hear her story and ran out to take a photo.Skipper posed for a shot with her girl back in Mississippi after a Florida vaction.
We pulled onto the Museum grounds and were greeted by several of the staff. They were ecstatic and near tears when they saw how beautiful Barbashela was. After a few minutes of reacquaintance and picture taking we pulled around back for the official welcome. There were about 30 people there to bring her back home, we spent a while meeting folks and answering questions. Everyone agreed that she looked great and they are ready for her to take up a starring role in the Museum. Once the party died down we moved her off the trailer to here temporary spot on the side porch.
Barbashela is tucked away nicely on the side porch of the Museum. The plan is to rent a lift to fly her up to the second story, where she will be on display. I would not be surprised if she stayed under cover outdoors or under the house, so she could slip into the bayou on occasion. She has time to contemplate such things now.
It was our privilege to walk with Barbashela through this time in her life, we learned many things and made new friends along the way. Our many thanks go out to everyone who helped her down the restoration path. We will swing by Biloxi from time to time to give her a check up, and to share new stories. We can't wait to be around when our younger generations get to learn a little about her and ring the bell.
Barbashela Log
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