Mississippi Travel: Take A Blues Tour Weekend
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Springing up from the fertile soil of the Mississippi Delta is a weekend that reveals the roots of the blues and introduces it to a whole new audience, yet is rich with luxurious offerings that never fail to surprise.
The counties in the Delta have historically been among some of the poorest in the nation; but thanks to a renewed interest in the musical history of the area, and the vision of a few businessmen and a bona-fide movie star, the Delta is now a destination, not just an inspiration for writers and musicians.
From Beale Street, where W.C. Handy and B.B. King held sway, to Clarksdale, Mississippi and a little juke joint called Ground Zero, to Cleveland and the intersection of Highways 61 and 49, where bluesman Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the Devil, over to Greenwood, where a kitchen range called Viking brought new life to a dying downtown, a journey along the blues trail is a peek into the mystique that is the music and vibe of the Delta.
Begin at Beale,/b>
Although the buildings remain, the clubs of Beale Street where the bluesmen of Mississippi introduced their unique sound to the world are just memories. Today, Beale still teems with live music venues which offer all kinds of music; think mini-French Quarter for the streetscape ambiance.
Start at the FedEx Forum, which in addition to being home to the NBA Grizzles, also houses the Rock n' Soul Museum, a nice primer for a musical journey. As the name implies, the blues is not the main focus of the museum, but it's on the rock and soul which came out of Memphis is duly noted.
Head down Beale to wander through the clubs; from B.B. King's to Alfred's, to a performance at The New Daisy Theater or a concert in W.C. Handy Park, there's sure to be a beat that calls to you.
Most of the clubs on Beale offer food as well as live entertainment, but a few excellent options which don't offer music include Blues City Cafe, a hole-in-the-wall full of Southern temptations (the scruffy gentleman just outside the door will seat you). Or, for a more upscale meal, try Encore in the nearby Peabody Place for a hip and casual yet white-tablecloth experience.
Hit the Highway
Drive south from Memphis down Highway 61 ? definitely the scenic and sometimes not-so-scenic route, but the authentic route the original bluesmen traveled from the Delta to Memphis and St. Louis, known as the Blues Highway.
It stretches from New Orleans to way up in Minnesota, and intersects the Delta towns which gave us Mississippi Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and others.
The junction of Highway 61 and Highway 49 -- that famous crossroads where legend proclaims that Robert Johnson sold his soul for the ability to master the blues -- is also where Bessie Smith died in a car accident and the road along which Elvis Presley grew up in the housing projects.
It leads to first to Clarksdale, home to the excellent Delta Blues Museum, which chronicles the struggles of the slaves on surrounding cotton plantations who sang to try and appease their suffering. Be sure to flip through the guest book, which teems with the names of visitors from overseas, especially the United Kingdom and Japan.
Leave the car parked and explore downtown. Stop at Miss Del's General Store for a cold drink, or the Cat Head for local folk art. Stay the night in a converted shotgun shack at the delightfully rustic Shack Up Inn, but dine in high cotton, so to speak, at Madidi, Morgan Freeman's restaurant. Finish the evening at Ground Zero, the club Freeman owns with his restaurant partner Bill Luckett and Memphis businessman Howard Stovall. Next stop: Cleveland. While not perhaps as significant to the retelling of the history of the blues as Clarksdale is, at least officially, Cleveland is a must-visit for a truer understanding of the music and its origins.
The Delta Center for Culture and Learning, on the Delta State University Campus, chronicles the history and struggles of the slaves who worked the plantations of the Delta. The Peavine railroad at the Dockery Plantation, connected the Plantation to Rosedale and Cleveland -- helping to spread the soulful music.
Hardcore blues fans will want to travel to Rosedale and visit Bug's Place or hit Merigold's famed Po' Monkeys, an original juke joint.
Greenwood
Greenwood is the cotton capital of the world, a small town that is an unlikely locale for the splendor that is the Alluvian Hotel.
The hotel is the brainchild of Viking Range Corporation founder Fred Carl, a Greenwood native. When distributors and salespeople of the popular commercial ovens and ranges would come to company headquarters to train, the accommodation options were slim. Carl, who had converted a number of downtown buildings into his company's offices, saw the potential in reclaiming a boarded up old hotel and turning it into a luxe retreat for his corporate guests.
The addition of a spa, and a cooking school at corporate headquarters, has made the Alluvian a regional draw. Opulence spreads every direction beyond the glittering stainless steel revolving door; the art of Mississippi artists -- from photography to paintings -- is hung throughout the hotel. Sleek furnishings, marble baths and lush bedding are de rigueur.
Pop into the bar that connects the hotel to Giardina's restaurant, and peruse a wine list offering $500 vintages. Ease into one of Giardina's cozy booths, a throwback to an earlier time when diners hid behind the high walls and curtains to defeat the no-drink laws, and lose yourself in one of the finest filets known to man.
This being the Delta, one thing is assured: There will be incredible conversations taking place at each table -- from who is running for governor, to who is running from the law. Giardina's attracts a highly eclectic mix of small town big shots, New Orleans and Memphis executives, and travelers. Eavesdropping is must when dining at there, but don't tell my mama I said so.
The other big buzz in Greenwood, besides the Alluvian, is still the mystery of bluesman Robert Johnson's death and burial site. A year after he made his infamous deal with the Devil, Johnson was supposedly poisoned by a jealous husband while he performed at a juke joint in nearby Quinto. He lingered for days, finally dying; the mystery which remains is whether he was really poisoned, and where he is buried. There are three sites in which he is thought to be buried.
The Greenwood Blues Heritage Museum and Gallery examines the life and legend of Robert Johnson; contemplating his life and fate makes for good conversation on the drive back up Highway 61, the route that brought the blues to the rest of the world.