Goin' To Mississippi

In My Humble Opinion
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I’m heading out from Anchorage, AK to various parts of Mississippi, via Memphis where I’ll rent a car.

The plan is to head down Highway 61 & other local roads to Port Gibson and Natchez; overnight in Natchez; head over to Philadelphia ( where I’ll overnight), and then to Oxford/Ole Miss for the Living Blues Today Symposium, which starts on Thursday, Feb. 26.

Can you tip me to great local food / scenic / historic wonders / curiosities, along the way? I crisscrossed much of the state in the 70’s & early '80s, but much has changed since then.

Tell me ASAP! I depart Sunday afternoon. It’s 18 hours to Memphis (5 hour layoff in the Denver Airport) :smack:

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Giving this a bump and a move to IMHO.

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Heavens! You won’t recognize parts of Hwy 61, with all the widening for the casino traffic.

Port Gibson, you may recall, is the town which was “too pretty to burn”. You can see a lot of pretty antebellum homes just driving down main street. Look for the church with the golden finger pointing skyward on top of its steeple.

Natchez is very pretty also, with a lot of historic museum-type homes. I recommend eating at the Eola Hotel if you like steak. Last year I stayed at a brand new Country Inn & Suites, right on the river, which was great.

What route are you taking to Philadelphia? Of course, the casino restaurants are great at the Golden Moon/Silver Star, but if you have lunch in Philadelphia look for Polly’s, which serves blue-plate lunches.

If you pass through Jackson, let me know, I can try to round up Juliana and we could meet for lunch or something.

Ole Miss you are not going to belive, either. You can’t hardly get through Oxford, it stays jam packed with traffic. I hate it now, when I go up there to see Daddy. :frowning:

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The battlefield at Vicksburg is cool, if you like that sort of thing.

Port Gibson used to have a great place to eat lunch…forget what it was called…maybe “The Depot” because it was in the old railroad depot. Buffet style, Southern cooking. Dunno if it is still in business or not.

I think there’s a blues museum in Clarksdale. Morgan Freeman lives there, and may have a restaurant there. If you want to visit a bit of civil rights history, the Tallahatchie County Courthouse was where the Emmet Till case was tried.

Tupelo has the house where Elvis was born. From Philadelphia, you could go back to the Natchez Trace north to Tupelo, which is also your straightest route to Oxford–you’d take Hwy 6 West to Oxford from Tupelo.

If you like nature, you may want to take the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez to Jackson…it’s prettier north of Tupelo, but that section of it isn’t bad…and there are places to pull over to read historical markers and such.

Casinos exist in Tunica, Vicksburg, Natchez, Philladelphia, and on the coast.

There’s an agriculture museum in Jackson. Also a restaurant there where you can get a plate lunch. Best burger in that town is at C.S.'s on West Street. You really don’t want to go there at night, but it’s reasonably safe in daytime. You want the “Big Inez” burger.

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane went down between McComb and Natchez…think there’s a marker or something on the spot.

Be advised that Mississippi has a few dry counties, and is a criminal offense to possess alcohol in at least some of them. Rankin County, outside of Jackson, is one.

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I have family connections to Monmouth in Natchez, it’s a B&B now. (Most of my family was born there and my family owned the joint until the early 1900s or so.) It’s a lovely old home.

Belmont might or might not be closed to the public? If not, go there, when I went it was lovely, too (another family connection.)

What do you like to do? I’m not as familiar with 61 as I am other areas, I’m afraid, and my information is about 10 years out of date.

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I started to respond last night, but it was time to go home and I didn’t get back online. Everybody else gave either my answers or better.

I am SO in. :smiley:

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Be very careful going through Memphis–the crime rate is frightening. I was born and raised there and left 16 years ago because of the crime, and I’d rather take my chances here on the Mexican border than go back to Memphis.

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We have a lot of restaurants now vying for the ‘best plate lunch’. Two Sisters and the Cherokee are some more good ones. As for hamburgers, I don’t know which is better, Stamps Super Burger or Inez’ at C.S. :slight_smile:

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If you can take the Natchez Trace Parkway for part of your journey, it’s nice. No restaurants/shops along it that I know of, though…it’s kind of like the Blue Ridge Parkway without the mountains.

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I can’t recommend a specific place, but Mississippi has great catfish.

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She can take the Trace from Natchez to Carthage. That’s a good place to exit if one is going to Philadelphia. She could also take the Trace on further north to Tupelo, but then it’s an hour’s drive back to Oxford.

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Also, with dilligent search and inquiry, one can locate several versions of a “Tallahatchie River Bridge”. Not many of them high enough to cause more than a twisted ankle if jumped off. Perhaps Billy Joe McAllister couldn’t swim…
And, NinetyWt…you know what “C.S.” stands for, don’t you? How about W.C. Don’s? (Think that place shut down a few years back.)

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I just want to know what a Hatchie is. We have so many variations: Tallahatchie, Pelahatchie, Loosahatchie, just plain Hatchie…

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Keep 'em coming folks! I will print off this thread before I hit the airport …

To comment on a few of your answers: I can’t wait for the plate lunches :smiley:

I’m going to Port Gibson specifically to see the famous church … did the Vicksburg Civil War thing already. I’ve spent plenty of time in Clarksdale (Abe’s BBQ! Wade Walton’s old barber shop … the blues museum there has some of my stuff) … I can relate to the comment about Memphis: one friend’s car was hijacked; another friend and his mother were BOTH murdered. Yet another friend’s mother was murdered. Memphis is one BIG reason why I’m living in Alaska!

I love the blues, antebellum homes, the food (except grits), the ambience … to tip my hand: I’ve been to Tchula, Lula and Tula; Tishomingo; hell, all over the place, virtually, EXCEPT Port Gibson, Natchez, and Philadelphia! I intend to find as many Mississippi Blues Trail Markers as I can. (www.msbluestrail.org) The marker in Shaw has a photo I took of Honeyboy Edwards & Big Joe Williams on it; Philadelphia’s marker has a photo I took of Otis Rush.

I’m going to Ole Miss for the unveiling of the Living Blues Magazine/Blues Archive marker … I cofounded and helped run the magazine 1970-1986; and contributed thousands of phonograph records & memorabilia to the Archive.

It’s my 15 minutes of fame. Payback time!

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And my favorite, Buttahatchie !!

Evidently, it means “river” in several Muskogean languages:

I’m scared to ask what C.S. means - no body has told me, I’m not native to Jackson. :stuck_out_tongue:

W.C Don’s was open until, like you said, a couple of years ago - my daughter and her ex b/f used to practically live there.

Hmm. I bet you and I know some of the same people. I was born in Oxord and lived there until 1989.

As soon as I hear back from Atomic Mama on what day she’s cruising through, I will start a thread about hosting her for a Mini-Dopefest lunch. :cool:

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Hmmm…depending on how tender your ears are, you may not wanna know…

Cocksucker

W.C. Don = We Can’t Decide On (a) Name

Way back when, I made some spending money running lights and/or sound for a few bands there.

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Hey, Atomic Mama, I must know you…Living Blues was our life in the 90’s…oh yep,
DN just looked at this and said, “Yep, that’s her radio handle…” He might go down there, too…now that he sees you’ll be there, is enthused.

So Hey! You will Not recognize Oxpatch, it’s really grown…A lot of those folks from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture are up here in NC now. Kinda a group exodus.

Clarksdale has gotten on the Blues Tourist Train. Jimbo Mathus is filling the Recording Studio need since Rooster left.

Glad to see you going down and getting recognition. I know the row you hoed in that work. 15 minutes…nah; you deserve hours of accolades for the great work you did in getting the Blues the attention it deserves.

LL- Living Blues alum 92-99

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Oakminster: Ha ha! That’s funny. :slight_smile:

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In Port Gibson you MUST see the Windsor Ruins. It’s amazing.

If you hop up 61 N about a half hour to Vicksburg, check out the usual Civil War battlefields, and have some coffee and cake at Highway 61 coffee shop. Then visit the Double-Headed Eagle, a home built for love.

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If the Natchez Trace parkway is anything like it used to be in the late 80’s, don’t go above 50 mph.