uptosomethin: Trip Of A Lifetime 2016.2 Mississippi

Day 5 24 June 2016

Our first morning in Clarksdale, we headed to the great Yazoo Pass Café. It was a little slice of 2016 hipster coffee shop right smack in the middle of the depressed but trying- real- hard town. After delicious breakfast and great coffee, we walked down the street to the Delta Blues Museum. As we went in, Kim noticed the couple from the night before, noted their UK accents and made a brief observation about it…more about that later.

The Museum is in the old railroad depot and is a pretty swell, smallish building. It does a fair job with limited displays. The roots of blues are covered as well as early gospel and popular styles. The rest of the museum is generally chronological with large displays for Robert Johnson and of course, Muddy Waters. No photos were allowed and out of respect, I didn’t sneak any. The centerpiece of the museum is Muddy Water’s cabin. He lived in it from the age of 3 until he migrated to Chicago during WWII. Apparently, the old wide cypress board cabin is portable and travels to various Blues festivals from time to time. Also, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top had a guitar made out of a spare board from this cabin out of respect for Muddy after he passed. It is also on display. There is also a telegram the Rolling Stones sent Muddy in 1975 on his birthday thanking him for their success. Kind of amazing really….

The Delta Blues Museum

The sun was getting high so we headed over to the “Crossroads, the legendary spot where US 61 crosses US 49. The storied spot where Robert Johnson and others sold their souls to the devil for the ability to play the blues. Naturally, there is well-founded speculation that it is only a legend and also that those aren’t the “real” crossroads. More about that later as well.

The storied Crossroads: US 61 and US 49, Clarksdale MS

After a few pictures, we headed south on 49. Almost right away we discovered the Shack Up Inn. It’s an old plantation area that has been turned into a tourist accommodation. The “rooms” are sharecropper shacks spruced up but all the rest of the antique agro-artifacts are for real. Inside the old commissary is the front desk, a restaurant and a stage! They even had a nice beer list. I can say for sure that whoever set this up knows a thing or two about Blues tourist amenities.

Scenes at the Shack-Up Inn

Rolling south from Clarksdale, we headed to tiny Tutwiler MS, location of W.C. Handy’s famous quote about the first time he heard the blues. The brick pad of the original depot is still there and standing, it wasn’t too hard to imagine Handy’s story. Tutwiler today is pretty run down and it was also quiet as a crypt at that railroad corner. A little eerie and it engendered a discussion about historic sites, historic recreations and truly ancient and antique places still in use. It turns out, one can go “where” but not “when”. Also of note, the soundtrack from the iPod for this portion of the trip contained: Muddy Waters, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blind Blake, John Hurt and many other Delta and Hill Country bluesmen of the 1930s. Fairly appropriate I’d say!

After Tutwiler we sped past the storied Parchman Farm. NO stopping!

Scenes in Tutwiler MS

Parchman Farm: No Stopping!

A quick trip to Walmart in Greenwood for this and that and we’re off to try to find Robert Johnson’s grave. Now, we know there are two other places that claim to have him interred but the grave at the Little Zion Church near Greenwood is the one with the marker and is ostensibly well researched. It is a desolate and quiet place and Robert is resting peacefully under a spreading chestnut tree. RIP Bluesman. Also of note, on the road to the church, we crossed the Tallahatchie River on a bridge with a bright red marker celebrating one of Greenwood’s favorite daughters; Bobby Gentry. Who knew there was a Country Music History Trail with markers? Super cool! Also on that road is the quirky Delta radio station WABG. We tuned in a listened a bit to some colorful local programming.

RIP Bluesman

Shot from one of the storied bridges over the Tallahatchie River

We tried to have tamales at Reno’s but they looked like they’ve been closed for a long time. We wound up at the Crystal Lounge where the Lemon Ice Box Pie was featured on the Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”. It was great and my chocolate pie’s meringue was 4 times higher than the pie itself!

Sated, we found our hotel, checked in and had a respite. I napped and Kim went across the street to the Viking showroom and cooking school. Greenwood MS is home to kitchen appliance giant Viking and in fact, the Hotel we stayed in is owned and run by Viking. Kim had a blast looking at the fancy kitchen stuff!

It’s safe to say that the Alluvian Hotel is as fine of a hotel as you will find anywhere. Beautifully appointed with every amenity, clean and nice. We had dinner at Gianani’s, a storied Delta restaurant since 1936. An antique but well stocked and classy bar opens into what looked like and old kitchen, now serving as the hostess station. Along a hallway on both sides, tables are segregated by walls that don’t quite reach the ceiling and brown curtains that close on the little rooms. It’s a particular quirk of this area to have places like this and it was amusing and special to have dinner there. Without a doubt, I ate the best catfish dish I’ve ever had. Kim enjoyed her soft-shelled crabs. It was delicious in every way. After dinner we attempted to hear some live music but amazingly, on a nice Friday in June in Greenwood MS, that is impossible. We drove to Webster’s on a tip and no dice. We consoled ourselves with drinks by the courtyard fountain, and retired to our amazing room and fell into a tired, sated and satisfied slumber.

Giani's

Viking Cooking School across the street from the Alluvian Hotel

Chocolate Pie, merangue as high as your eye

Day 6 25 June 2016

The morning of our one year wedding anniversary dawned clear, hot and beautiful. After a great breakfast on the top floor overlooking the city, we headed off to further Delta adventures.

First stop was Moorhead MS “Where The Southern Crosses The Dog”. The place from the song is pretty much right in downtown Moorhead. The old main lines of the two railroads crossed at a right angle here which even now is a rare sight on railroad tracks. Moorhead is pretty much like almost all the other very small Delta towns we visited. Its heyday was long, long ago and yet people remain among the vestiges of bygone times with larger populations. Also of note, we discovered that MS does in fact have a “Country Music Trail” as well and right near the Blues Trail marker, stood a plaque commemorating Opry star Johnny Russell.

A little ways down the road was Indianola MS, home of BB King and Albert King. We had planned on the justly famous BB King museum but were running seriously short of time if we were going to make a 7:30 dinner reservation all the way down in Natchez. As a consolation, we stopped next door at the Gin Mill and had our first, iconic Tamales. They were super-great and Kim really liked the sauce! Next time we’re there, the Museum is a can’t miss.

From Indianola, we headed out to the storied Dockery Farm where Charlie Patton and Son House met and played along with Robert Johnson in the middle to late 1930’s. It was a pretty magical place. We had the place to ourselves completely. The historic buildings out by highway 8 are largely untouched. The descendants of the Dockery’s still run a working farm there but the historic buildings are not a part of the modern operation. Walking in among the old farm buildings and looking at the porch of the old commissary where the storied bluesmen played was really powerful. Amazingly, behind the Blues Trail marker (which by the way says “Birthplace Of The Blues?”), toward the rear of the buildings there was a post with a big red button on it and a sign that said “press here to hear the Blues”. Well I did and then, to complete the time travel, Son Houses’ strained voice and beautiful guitar rang out through the timbers of the old farm. Speakers were hidden all over and wherever you walked, you could hear him. It was transportative, beautiful and deeply meaningful to both of us.

We broke free of the spell and went in search of the “real” crossroads. About ½ mile across from the old Dockery Farm, two old, dirt farm roads cross. It’s as likely as anywhere else that if Robert Johnson actually did go to meet Legbah, it could have been there, since he was known to stay at Dockery from time to time. Again, it was hot, dusty and deserted and really looked the part of a spooky crossroads. No Blues Trail marker of course but it sure seemed legit to me.

The actual place from the song....

The Birthplace?

Mikey and Kim at "the Crossroads"?

Almost all our trip up to this point had been along the storied highway 49 or the super-iconic 61. Down 61 we went and deep into southwest MS through tons of small towns like Cleveland, home of the Guilt Iced Coffee (a terrible brew which we bought out of obligation at a diner where Kim used the restroom), and then the Real Iced Coffee, from a lovely pastry shop down the road. Leland, home of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog, Panther Burn, Nitta Yuma, Anguilla, Rolling Fork, Cary, Blanton, Onward, Smedes, and Valley Park. Our pit stop destination was Vicksburg which we had hoped to get to by lunch but it was 4:30 when I pulled into the Vicksburg Battlefield Visitor Center parking lot. I got my stamp and we just squeezed in the driving tour before the park closed. It was sobering and amazing as all ancient battlefields are in my experience. The two sides’ artillery was so close that it’s a wonder either side survived the great siege.

After gassing up 2.03 a gallon(!), we headed even further southwest to beautiful Natchez, (sounds like matches). As soon as we pulled up to the Historic Antebellum Monmouth Inn, we were greeted by the most recent of the many characters we met along our journey who regaled us with the what and wherefores of the Inn.

The Inn is absolutely opulently gorgeous. The house, outbuildings and grounds have been painstakingly maintained and refurbished and it is quite a place. Beautiful vistas abound wherever you look.

I had ordered up a massage for Kim for our anniversary and like many things on our trip, the time was relaxed. I had to move our dinner reservations back an hour but it was worth it. Kim got a great massage and made a really interesting friend in the masseuse.

We changed into the nice clothes we brought for this occasion, and walked up the flowered, brick path to the lounge. While waiting for Kim earlier, I had a drink in the lounge and besides meeting the bartender, Roosevelt (another true character), I overheard another couple tell him it was their anniversary too. Neat. Later, we had nice chat with them and they invited us to knock in their door for a drink anytime we were back in Natchez.

Cocktails in hand, we walked into the foyer and right away heard and saw the piano player. Kevin was straight out of central casting: Easter egg colored suit, red bowtie, matching hanky, permed hair helmet and oozing with southern charm, almost to the point of caricature. I subtly asked him to play one of our wedding songs at some point, (instrumental only please). We ordered and enjoyed solid but ultimately unremarkable old-style-fancy-restaurant dinners. Toward the end, two astonishing things happened: it tuned out that BOTH the other couples in our half of the dining room were ALSO celebrating their anniversaries AND Kevin asked Kim and I to do a song. At Kim’s insistence, I acquiesced and we fired up “Dream A Little Dream”. Kim sounded fantastic and it was a decent piano.

Not wanting the beautiful night to end, we jumped in the Jeep and headed down to the riverfront. We had been directed to Smoots, a grocery store turned Blues club right on the Mississippi. They were featuring a harp, drone-guitar, & drums duo that it turned out, was from Clarksdale. As I ordered our beers, the bartender asked if we were “part of the Wolverine crew” and I said no and we stepped outside. Come to find out, the new Wolverine movie is shooting there and a bunch of the crew were out for a good time.

Once outside we moved down a bit for some room and overheard some more UK accents. Two guys were talking and when one walked away, I think I said something about the music to the remaining guy. At this, the woman next to him said, “hey, weren’t you two on stage at Ground Zero a few nights ago?”. Of course, it was us and lo and behold, it was the couple from Clarksdale who gave us the thumbs up AND at the Yazoo pass the next morning. This is where we officially met our UK doppelgangers, Adam Brown and Heather Allen from London, England. The parallels did not stop there though, oh no….

They had ALSO been at the Talbot Heirs the exact same time we were AND Tom offered them the piano room as well, but, luckily for us, they turned it down. They were also in Greenwood the same night we were but at a different hotel. They had started in Chicago and then Nashville and then to Memphis and the Blues Trail. We were essentially taking the same trip, complete with the final stop in New Orleans. Pretty amazing. They were super cool and we exchanged numbers to get a drink in NOLA.

As we were talking, Heather casually mentioned that it wasn’t just the crew at Smoot’s. She asked if we’d ever seen the original UK version of “The Office” and of course we had. She then casually gestured over our shoulder and said “do you know Stephen Merchant then?”. Well, um OF COURSE! Kim and Heather approached him and Kim asked permission for a photo. Apologetically, he asked her to stand on a nearby step because he is kind of hella tall. What a nice, funny cat!

After that crazy day, exhausted, we repaired to the Monmouth Inn and collapsed into sleep.