Rules of the Road trip - 3 highways/directions for 2 hours each and then stop and see where we are and what is there to see/do there.
In February of 2020 we had played this road trip game before: where were they going.
We were dog sitting our Uncle's dog so we loaded her and Gypsy Rover into the car.
We left late at a little after 11am. First we drove to Nashville to pick our first highway. Being near Nashville is a major benefit because we have three major highways that circle the city: I-24, I-40, and I-65. A quick look at a weather map told us that we wanted to aim south and west, we would drive through rain perhaps but it didn't look consistent. So we started on I-40 west towards Memphis. We turned onto I-40 at 11:07am near mile marker 207. Now I have driven this route before so I had an idea that we would end up somewhere near the exits for Jackson because we may not do research before hand but at this point we have been on a lot of road trips and especially in our local area we know pretty well the highways and directions to where we are going. I knew two things for sure on this trip: I didn't want to end up somewhere we had already been and I didn't want to need to go near the Arkansas and Tennessee State line because the Hernando de Soto Bridge which crosses the Mississippi River was closed in May due to cracking in the main support and has caused all traffic to be switched to I-55 to cross the river.
At 1:04 we got off I-40 at exit 87 and jumped on 70 west. The highway was heading south when we first got on it and so we figured it would continue south west however it quickly took a u-turn and began heading north back to I-40. Because of the weather around the area south was better so at 1:17 we yielded 70s remaining time to US45S which branched off of 70 just before it's hook back north.
As we were driving in Jackson we passed a historical marker for "Big Maybelle," Mabel Louise Smith. She was born in Jackson on May 1st, 1924 and began singing Rhythm and Blues professionally at 14. She recorded "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" in 1955 two years before the Jerry Lee Lewis version would become the definitive version. But Lewis credited Maybelle's version as an influence for his. Here is one of her early songs released in 1953.
We also passed through "Historic Bemis." At one point it was a company town in Madison County centered around cotton mill owned by Judson Moss Bemis. Under the direction of his son Albert Farwell Bemis several residential neighborhoods were planned out as well as services for the residents. The process started around 1900 and by 1926 there were Bemis schools, post office, The Bemis United Methodist Church, a YMCA, and an 850 seat auditorium. Around 1965 the company began selling off bits of the town including the homes with the owners being offered financing from the company and within a decade most of the town was sold. In 1977 the town was annexed by Jackson and while there is a Bemis Historic District listed on the National Historic Register the mill and many other buildings have been taken down.
As we continued south we switched stations on the radio to try and avoid commercials and eventually had settled on a local station WFHU 91.5 The Lion. The car display gave a request phone number but when Meg tried to call to request "Greyhound" by Harry Chapin, a superb road trip song, the phone just rang. We tried to text the number but I got a reject response because it was a land line. At one point the DJ began talking about a local shop called Sweetly Ever After that was closing later this month as the owner was retiring to spend more time with her Grandchildren. He urged listeners to check out the shop while they still had a chance. Well, we felt like since we were in the area we should check it out and entered the address. Incredibly it was on our way just about seven minutes ahead on our left. Unfortunately when we arrived the shop was closed. The owner is counting down her days to a happy retirement and the shop is currently open on Thursdays and Fridays. To bad for us because every review I have looked up says the cupcakes are the best. Looking at the company Facebook page it appears that someone is purchasing the business so hopefully the same great desserts will be served going forward under new owners. Maybe some day we will be in the Henderson TN area again and get to try it for ourselves.
For more road tripping and Harry Chapin here is a blog post from last year. Story of a life
We passed a sign for Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park. Now to stop there would have been way too long of a stop but it is one of those locations we can note to return to at a later date. The site is 400 acres and features at least 30 mounds built between 100-300AD.
As we crossed into Chester county the highway became the "Rockabilly Highway" named for the Rockabilly music. The musical style became popular in the 50s and was a combination of country and western with rhythm and blues and is considered the start of rock music. The whole area is rich in that musical history.
Eventually we were reaching Tupelo and we had a decision to make because we were almost at the end of two hours we could take 22 however one direction would bring us to Memphis and the other direction would bring us to Birmingham, both places we had been already. However just three minutes later was 278 west. We opted for the latter highway and turned west towards a town we had never heard of before.... Clarksdale.
As we drove down 278 we crossed over the Tallahatchie River. Immediately the song "Ode to Billie Joe," though it took me a few minutes to think of the title, came to mind. The song is a haunting tune with a few unanswered questions in it. Bobbie Gentry described the song as an example of "unconscious cruelty" and it definitely shows a disconnect of insight into emotions of others.
As we approached our destination we (well Meg) passed time by looking at the clouds and she saw Scooby Doo!
You see it right?
Clarksdale is the county seat of Coahoma County. For thousands of years the Choctaw and Chickasaw people lived in the area until the 1830 Indian Removal Act when they were forced away from their ancestral home to Oklahoma. In 1848 John Clark started a timber business and a trading post. In 1879 the Louisville, New Orleans, and Texas Railway was built through the town and in 1882 the town was incorporated. By 1920 The Illinois Central Railroad also passed through Clarksdale. Many African Americans would use that line to move north to Chicago and other areas looking for better economic opportunities and looking to escape violence and racism like Jim Crowe laws. This movement would become known as the Great Northward Migration which saw six million African Americans move from the south to northern and western cities like Chicago, New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
Martin Luther King Jr would visit Clarksdale twice first on May 29, 1958 for a meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1962 he returned and Clarksdale was the first stop on a tour of many towns in the region.
The town has also played a large role in the history of blues. Ike Turner was born in Clarksdale and began his musical career there. Duke Ellington, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, and Ike Turner all stayed at the Riverside Hotel. Ike reportedly wrote Rocket 88 in room 7.
It is also said that at the Crossroads in Clarksdale Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil to become the greatest guitarist and blues musician to ever live.
For some modern day music Morgan Freeman owns a nightclub in town called Ground Zero, recognizing Clarksdale as ground zero of blues.
Also of interest to us was the Carnegie Library in Clarksdale. Between 1883 and 1929 over 2,500 libraries were built with donations from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
After driving around Clarksdale we began heading home. We hadn't eaten since breakfast which was awesome because it was zucchini and eggs with the zucchini from our garden and potatoes also from my garden but it was now almost six and we were hungry. The best route home took us up towards Memphis so we looked up breweries there and settled on Ghost River Brewing because they had an awesome symbol and were dog friendly.
They didn't serve food but they did have a food truck: Gandy's Grub Hub we split a quesadilla and ordered our own burgers before splitting an order of fried twinkies.
