PICKS:
Wall Doxey State Park
Initially we just stopped here for a picnic dinner before heading further south into Mississippi, but our plans were revised after discussion with our resident Mississippi expert, Nina. She recommended enough intriguing spots in the vicinity that we were convinced to stay the night. Thanks to Nina and our excellently located state park campground we were able to partake in some Mississippi’s most delicious, strangest and generally delightful offerings (see below).
Graceland Too, Holly Springs, MS
How do I possibly describe all that is Graceland Too? Maybe the best place to start is with the proprietor, curator, collector and all around Elvis maniac who lives in Graceland Too. Paul McLeod began collecting Elvis memorabilia when, at the age of 13, he was at his first Elvis concert and witnessed a grown woman faint at the sight of the loose-hipped rocker. According to Paul, it was in this moment that he realized that Elvis (and all things Elvis related) was the key to his future. The result of this decision is Graceland Too, McLeod’s home in Holly Springs which is full to the brim with just a small portion of his collection (about 40 years in the making and continuing to grow). Elvis records, Elvis trading cards, Elvis ice cream, Elvis figurines, Elvis toys, Elvis’s clothes (including a pair of undershorts, which are frequently referenced, but not actually on display) fill every nook and cranny, cover every bit of wall space, stack upon every step and spill over into the yard and out onto the porch. As Paul enthusiastically guides you through his extensive collection he may break out into an Elvis serenade or redirect your attention to the matter at hand with a piercing whistle and an insistent tap on your shoulder or a sharp tug at your elbow. All this powered by the 24-can-a-day Coca-Cola addiction that Paul will proudly prove to you by showing you his pile of empties. Overall a trip to Graceland Too is a baptism by fire into the world of Elvis’s most devoted fan. You will leave overwhelmed and slightly dazed, to say the least. Oh, and Paul is always available for a tour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so there is no excuse for missing out on this incredibly strange experience. Just bring your $5 and a lot of listening stamina.
Ajax Diner, Oxford, MS
When our friend Nina told us Ajax was the best plate lunch in Mississippi, we knew we had to make it our first stop in Oxford. Located amongst the boutiques, music joints, ice cream shop and book stores in Oxford’s main town square, Ajax serves up some darn good food. Sean dug into his chicken fried steak, hash brown casserole and greens with gusto and was so utterly satisfied he immediately went back to the van for a 2 hour nap. I went for the pulled pork BBQ sandwich, which was a big, syrupy, delicious mess. We agree, this is some of the best southern food we’ve had and are determined to return to sample the mac ‘n cheese that had run out by the time we got to the diner for our late lunch.
Off Square Books, Oxford, MS
Just blocks from the home in which Faulkner typed many of his classics, Off Square Books (the used book annex of Square Books) was the perfect place to while away the time it took Sean to sleep off his Ajax lunch. It won’t be a surprise to any of you that I was in my own personal version of heaven slowly walking across the creaking wood floors, flipping through books and even plopping down in one of the scattered chairs to dive into some of the more intriguing finds.
Main Squeeze, Oxford, MS
Nina told us that this little juice shop sandwiched between a gym and a Pizza Hut on University Ave was where the heart of Oxford resided in the form of one Ron Shapiro. We arrived in the late afternoon and were immediately engaged in conversation with one of the loyal patrons. This trend continued and we eventually met Ron, who has the enviable ability to immediately make you feel welcome and at ease. As people filtered in and out and the afternoon turned into evening, we met all sorts of interesting and engaging Oxfordians who made it easy to stay on the porch for just a bit longer and then a bit longer. Ron’s juice is great (and the sample we got of the soon to be available tacos was outstanding), but the thing that would keep me coming back is that Main Squeeze is simply a great place to spend time.
Bottletree Bakery, Oxford, MS
Oxford, Mississippi may not be the first place you would expect to have a strong coffee and flaky French-style pastries for breakfast, but Bottletree Bakery defies expectation. Another Nina recommendation, Bottletree was an excellent place to stop for some almond-y, croissant-y goodness on our way out of town in the morning.
Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art, Clarksdale, MS
Clarksdale is, to many, the birthplace of the Delta Blues and Cat Head keeps the tradition alive with a knowledgeable staff, a large selection of blues records and regional folk art that is worth the trip alone. A trip to Clarksdale would be incomplete without a stop here.
Highway 1 through the Mississippi Delta
There was a moment when I fell in love in with Mississippi. Driving down Highway 1, the delta spread out before me, the weighty breeze blowing through my window and Willie Dixon wailing his blues away from the car stereo….yeah, that was it. That was the moment.
Winterville Mounds, off Highway 1 near Greenville, MS
The Winterville Mounds are all that remain of a Native American community that thrived in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta basin from A.D. 1000-1450. According to our incredibly well informed guide, only the elite of the tribe (chief, clergy and the like) actually lived at these mounds while the others farmed in the surrounding area and gathered at the mounds for religious ceremonies, celebrations and political events. The small visitors center associated with the mounds had some great examples of the tools and pottery that had been found on the site and it was fascinating to learn of this massive society that spread from the Gulf all the way up the Mississippi River to Ohio. Apparently they built these types of large mounds wherever they settled and many of them can still be seen throughout the Mississippi River valley.
Jackson Mississippi Culinary Sampler
We were greeted at Nina and Jerel’s house with a veritable feast of Mississippi eats. There were crawfish and tamales, there were shrimp po’ boys and catfish po’ boys there was berry cobbler and peach cobbler…..oh, and some great company too. Thanks for the fun times, y’all! We can’t wait to see you again real soon.
Peaches, Jackson, MS
Situated in the same spot in the Farish Street district of Jackson since the early 1960s, Peaches is the kind of place where you walk in and feel like you’ve been transported back in time. From the black and white pictures of singers and civil rights leaders on the wall to the soul music on the juke box, Peaches makes you really feel the history of the place just by being there. Oh, and the food……it’s slap yo’ mama good. I would have gone just for their fried okra, but would stay for the black eyed peas and smothered chicken….man, it was tasty.
Rocky Springs is one those places that reminds you of how very fragile our hold on civilization really is. Rocky Springs was once a thriving small community of farmers and business people just off the major travel route through Mississippi, the Natchez Trace. After a series of unfortunate events, including the Civil War, Yellow Fever and a boll weevil infestation, all that now exists of the town is the church, the cemetary and the cistern from the old tavern. The last residents left in the 1930s and the only visitors these days are tourists taking a break from their drive down the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Smith Coffee Daniell, II finished his enormous and elaborate plantation home in 1861, just one month before his untimely death, after which his wife and children were forced to weather the storms of the Civil War without Mr. Daniell and without their formerly significant income from cotton and rice plantations in Louisiana. Now, that is certainly enough information to complete a fairly tragic story, but not what made the Windsor House into the Windsor Ruins. After the family and their home had survived the Civil War, the entire house burned to the ground in 1890 when a guest’s abandoned, but still lit cigar fell off the balcony railing into a pile of woodchips and quickly raged into a full blown fire storm, destroying the entirety of the family’s material possessions, including all drawings and documentation of the house. The only reason we know what the house looked like is that historians found a drawing of the house made by a Union soldier encamped with his unit at the house for a short period of time during the Civil War.
Located at the end of the Natchez Trace Parkway and right outside the town of Natchez, this state park was a perfect place to stop for the night before continuing on to Louisiana.
Natchez Coffee Company, Natchez, MS
Right on the old Main Street, Natchez Coffee Company serves up bottomless cups of coffee and great views of the downtown from its huge storefront windows.
Fat Mama’s Tamales, Natchez, MS
What you may not know about Mississippi is that it is famous for its tamales. Legend has it that at one point when the black fieldhands were working alongside Mexican fieldhands and they would all stop for lunch, the black locals would look longingly over their cold pork, greens and cornbread to the steaming cornbread and meat concoction wrapped in cornhusk that their Mexican compatriots were eating. Hot food being the valuble commodity it was during the cool lunchtime hours of the cotton harvest, the locals quickly figured out how to make their own tamales and it’s been a Mississippi tradition ever since. Fat Mama’s tamales may have been the source of some intenstinal turmoil later that night in Lafayette, La, and some theories postulate a much more nefarious two-step role in Sean’s near demise in New Orleans.
Dunleith, Natchez, MS
Before the Civil War, Natchez, Mississippi had the highest density of millionaires of any city in the U.S. because the owners of Louisiana plantations preferred to live on the high ground further north in Natchez. During the Civil War, the city surrendered to Farragut after his capture of New Orleans in 1862 and due to its relatively uneventful surrender most of the city’s elegant antebellum homes were spared. The upshot of this (besides the fact that I’m really into the Civil War history books I’ve been reading lately) is that the town still has a number of these historic planter-era homes open to tour. We chose Dunleith, and although it’s history isn’t especially compelling, it was interesting just to see the rooms in which one of the notable plantation families lived. Sean says to pan it. “Outside is fancy. Inside is a bit tacky. History is a bit blase”
PANS:
Petrified Forest, Flora, MS
Simply put, this stop was only worth the stretch we got as we walked around. Just not as cool as it sounds. The honeysuckle smelled good, though.
Hey all,
Here is a sneak preview into the future of the blog, at 12:40 MST on the 6th of May, Sean and Erica left Austin and headed across big ol Texas. I found out about the latest move via an ancient invention called cell phones. Those of us who are not up to speed on Blogging must use them for communication. I must say that I will continue to check the blog for Erica’s great writing, and the much more sanitized version of the truly awful intestinal difficulties along the way! Great stories and wild experiences, good luck as you head into the West!
Hahaha, you big ol’ dinosaur! What are the pictures… chopped liver? 😉
We missed you too! Your comments keep us motivated to stay up to date with the blog. It’s great to be able to communicate with you about our travels this way!…and thanks for the kudos on the writing. We try to keep it interesting.
As for the Die Hard photo, it’s another of the the incredibly strange installations at Graceland Too. It will form the centerpiece of Paul McLeod’s Jailhouse Rock themed backyard, which is currently in production. The entire time we were out there, Mr. McLeod kept saying to Sean, “Die hard. Get it? Heh, heh. Die hard.” To which Sean replied with quizzical/blank looks. Frustrated, Mr. McLeod finally resorted to saying, “You know, hard…like between a man and a woman?”. Klassy, very klassy.
Glad to see you two are back on the road, back blogging, and mostly recovered from the voodoo intestinal disease. I missed you! You need to seriously consider a career in travel writing. Your descriptions of Mississippi and Tennessee have made me visit areas of the country I never thought I’d want to see. And you have to add some description on the Die Hard photo. Is that a real electric chair or outsider art? Context needed!