NATCHEZ &8212; Beautiful weather and an increase in visitors coming in their own vehicles gave 2006 Fall Pilgrimage some sweet success, said Dr. James T. Coy III, manager of Natchez Pilgrimage Tours.

&8220;I was very pleased with the weather, which is critical when you&8217;re counting on individual tours,&8221; Coy said.

&8220;The group tours will come anyway, regardless of the weather, but that&8217;s not so with the individuals.&8221;

Mild weather, with mostly clear skies, prevailed from the opening day, Sept. 30, to Saturday afternoon, when the last tour ended.

Weather also was on Bridgett Green&8217;s mind Saturday as she recounted her first experience on tour at The Burn, the home she and her husband, Glenn, purchased earlier this year.

&8220;The weather was unbelievable, and the tourists really loved the gardens,&8221; she said. &8220;We were told to expect it to be slow, because Fall Pilgrimage usually is not as busy as Spring Pilgrimage; but we were very busy every day.&8221;

Coy said during 2004 Fall Pilgrimage, the year before Hurricane Katrina devastated not only the gulf coast but also tourism in the region, 64 group tours attended.

&8220;This year we had 22 group tours, but our individual tourists were more than in 2004, which I think is a very positive indication of not only the good weather but also the regional advertising we have done.&8221;

Coy said adding three homes to the pilgrimage that had not been on tour in a while made a difference, too. &8220;That always sparks a little more interest, even among locals.&8221;

Individual visitor numbers were up 40 percent from 2005 and about 10 percent from 2004, Coy said.

The Carriage House also had a successful season, Coy said. &8220;Attendance was up at the Voices of Hope, and the Carriage House was packed for lunch and in the evening for the music.&8221;

The Amos Polk Voices of Hope perform spiritual and gospel music as part of a dinner-entertainment during Fall Pilgrimage.

Coy said it is too soon to get figures from some of the other places around town that benefit from pilgrimage visitors. &8220;We&8217;ll get those final numbers down the road in a few weeks,&8221; he said.

He is encouraged that tourists who came were enthusiastic about what they saw.

Green agreed. &8220;The visitors were very kind, very complimentary and very receptive. We had a good time.&8221;

Hostesses at The Burn wove stories about the people who have lived in the house in earlier generations, especially the Walworth family.

&8220;The tourists really liked the old photos of the house, especially of the Union soldiers on the porch,&8221; she said.

Inside, the main stairway in the central hall drew the most admiration, as did chairs in the gentlemen&8217;s parlor with their original 19th-century needlepoint upholstery.

&8220;This was really rewarding for us,&8221; Green said. &8220;We really liked doing something like this for the community.&8221;