A Delta Boy Who's Awfully Proud of Himself

I bought a copy of Delta Magazine (about the MS Delta) Saturday. It is pretty much one of those magazines dedicated to cheerleading the region/state/city it's about. I'm not the biggest fan of this type of magazine, but sometimes they can be a great mirror back to the place you live. highlights of wonderful treasures you never knew were right under your nose. I still find myself shocked at the places i've never been (or even heard of!) after living in New Orleans for several years (and living a, let's say, active social life).

So, this issue has a picture of a BBQ sandwich on the cover. It has a GREAT map/guide of stops to make on a trip through the Delta (Hwy 49 or Hwy 61, your pick!). I've been to about 60% of the places and the rest seem like discoveries waiting to be made! now back to the picture. What finally hooked me to buy the magazine was that sandwich. i knew what it was. i knew what was on it. I knew when the restaurant was opened. i even knew the plate. When i saw that sandwich I got a warm feeling and had to buy the magazine.

Now i'm hungry for no good reason.

I Got a Letter this Morning, How Do You Recon it Read?

...It said hurry hurry, cause that gal you love is dead.

My Delta, My Trip (part 1)

Last week I went to the Mississippi Delta and took a few pictures I wanted to share. It took me a little while to transfer the photos, so this post is a little behind. The delta roughly runs from Memphis to Vicksburg (north to south). it extends from the Mississippi River to west, about 20 miles short of I-55 to the east, basically The Yazoo River. It is said that the Delta stretches from the Lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis to "Catfish Row" in Vicksburg. I say that's about as good a geographical line as I can dream up.

There's a history and connection to New Orleans, in part because of the cotton going down river. In some ways it's from the connection of the river, but more than that it's a history of the money moving up and down the river from those cotton fields to the markets down in New Orleans. It has come to shape a great deal of my thought and tastes. where i went to law school, the tastes I tend to have, even the language I like to hear. To this day, i recall more of the French I learned in a short stretch of time than any of the Spanish I learned living in Mexico.

I digress. My hometown is Clarksdale. It's somewhat ground zero for the Delta and The Blues and all the good and bad that's Mississippi. see this picture of the corner of a building? This was the first apartment my parents had. The building cuts a diagonal, a triangle across a corner downtown. it's the bus station for the Greyhound Line. If you look at that last door leading to the corner, you're seeing my parent's first front door. It was a tiny apartment attached to the station where my father worked. SPACIOUS! heh.