NATCHEZ &045; Out-of-towners were flocking the streets, the buses, the carriages and the houses on Natchez Wednesday for the first day of Fall Pilgrimage 2003.

Tours of Longwood, Routhland and Texada took up the morning hours while Bontura, Rosalie and Glenfield were open Tuesday afternoon.

&uot;We’re just delighted Pilgrimage has started,&uot; said Marjorie Meng, owner of Glenfield.

Meng opened her door to visitor’s Tuesday afternoon and showed them her rich Natchez history.

Meng is the fifth generation to live in the house, her great-grandfather having bought it from the Cannons in 1880.

The house still has the original woodwork, still sits on its original 150 acres, except for the roads that have been built and one room even has the original paint.

The piano is an original piece to the home, the oldest piece in the house.

And visitors to the home were given their first bit of history as they walked through the door with the bullet hole, one formed during an &uot;altercation&uot; in the Civil War.

The home is decorated in the furniture Meng’s grandmother and mother had in their collection, all authentic to her family and steeped in history.

Walking through the home was like a walking history of the Field family, complete with pictures and personal stories.

&uot;You are in a home that’s Natchez,&uot; Meng told the visitors.

The history comes through some research but mostly from Meng’s mother and grandmother who &uot;knew it all.&uot; As visitors asked many questions about the home and it’s history, Meng began many of her sentences in her wonderfully southern, Mississippi drawl with &uot;As a girl Š&uot;

&uot;The history is just a livelihood,&uot; Meng said.

Patti and Wayne Creamer, originally from South New Jersey but now live in Florida, have always heard about Natchez when touring homes in the Northeast and finally took the drive to the town.

Patti Creamer said their time here has been &uot;delightful&uot; in this &uot;lovely town.&uot;

The Creamers were impressed with Glenfield compared to the homes in New Jersey they have toured, where much of the furniture is reproductions.

&uot;They’re magnificent,&uot; Patti Creamer said of all the homes they have visited. &uot;They are just steeped in history. It is just so unbelievable that this furniture has been in the families&uot; so long.

Michael and Ellen Hipp of Athens, Ga., also came for the rich history of the homes in Natchez.

&uot;We love antebellum homes,&uot; Ellen Hipp said. &uot;We make it a point when we go somewhere to do something historic.&uot;

These builders from Georgia loved the Spanish and English Gothic styles of the home and said they were enjoying their first trip to Natchez.

Glenfield was one of the original homes when Pilgrimage began years ago. And although it had a stint off of the tour, Meng is excited to be opening her home and telling her stories to visitors.

&uot;I’ve enjoyed so much having a home on tour,&uot; she said. &uot;I feel very fortunate they’re still coming.&uot;

Meng asked two of her friend, Barbara Persons and Genie Jones, to serve as hostesses in her home this fall.

This is Jones’ first Pilgrimage altogether and is seeing from the other side of most first timers.

&uot;You don’t know what it’s like until you actually do it and you want to do it again,&uot; Jones said. &uot;I think it is so great. I hope I get to do it again.&uot;

Buses and cars of people came in, tours were given, history was recited and everyone left with smiles on their faces from this first day of Fall Pilgrimage.