Traveled to Clarksdale, MS - "Home of the Blues". Toured the Delta Blues Museum, a fascinating place full of blues paraphalia and snippets of those who created this phenomenon. Muddy Water's original home is there along with a wonderful video about his life and a great wax sculpture. Listened in on a snippet of a group blues guitar lesson. Stopped in the Ground Zero Blues Club across the street and encountered several friendly folk who let us park overnight in their parking lot next to the club. The free wifi was a plus and we even plugged in at night when it got down to 33 degrees. The whole area has been in a cold snap but is to warm up to near 80 by mid-week. Yippee!
Jerry enjoyed two nights of the blues and Sue took advantage of the wifi to do some genealogy. Walked around town on Friday afternoon and checked out a couple of folk art shops. Clarksdale is a very depressed area, but we're told is making a comeback.???
Left there on Saturday about 10 am and slowly drive down the Great River Road (US1). Spotted a Church Choir Fundraiser in Rosedale, MS so stopped to get lunch...
Jerry needed a nap right after we got into LA, so got off the main highway and drove a mile or so - found the Cariola Landing - very much off the beaten track. In the 1800's - 1900's was a busy port for shipping cotton from the southland.
Wandered down Highway 65 and decided it was time to stop so about 4:30, got off the highway and drove into Newellton (a "Mayberry town" as described to us by the preacher) and found a wonderful spot to boondock...back right into a vacant lot on the banks of St. Joseph Lake. Wandered around town, checked in with the pharmacist (a councilman who said it'd probably be ok to park there...spot owned by the Chamber of Commerce). We got the impression that we were the first people to do that, as there's three campgrounds on nearby lakes. Met the preacher and found out what time church is on Sunday, ate at the local restaurant where we took pix of the egret and heron feeding.
The lake is very low due to the severe drought they've had. Remembered to change our clocks before retiring.
It is a beautiful sunny day after a low of 33 last night....supposed to be mid-60's today.
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