Arkabutla, Tunica, Hernando, Senatobia

We finally made another Tiny Travels trip! Guest travelers Meredith Black and Kay Collins came along for the ride as we explored northwest Mississippi.

ARKABUTLA

We started our trip by heading west, toward Arkabutla. The area is well known for its lake of the same name, which is reportedly the windiest lake south of Chicago, making it really popular with folks who sail or windsurf. But our interest lay in the town itself. Arkabutla is the birthplace of James Earl Jones, surely one of the most famous of the almost infinite number of famous people from our fair state. So, we cruised the main street – or what seemed like the main street – looking for a sign pointing to his birthplace or mentioning that he was from here. We didn't see anything, so Marian went into a post office and then a store and asked a few locals about his birthplace. The first person she asked was a young man in his twenties, feeling sure he could tell us exactly where “Darth Vader” was born. No such luck – with him or anyone else. We couldn't believe it!

TUNICA

We toured the more famous spots around Tunica and the upper Delta in 2009, but I was traveling with a broken ankle then, so we missed a lot. One of the things we missed was downtown Tunica. Someone has – many someones have – been hard at work...it's a lovely little downtown. There is a beautiful park-like median, complete with a playground, and the storefronts have been painted cheerful colors. 

Downtown Tunica -- clock centerpiece of the downtown park.

Downtown Tunica

We drove around the pretty little town, did a little shopping, and then headed out for an early lunch.

Whoa!  What is this?  Car 54?  Remember that song and television program from the old days?
Downtown Tunica right next to the police department - that is where Car 54 is!  

We discussed several possible places to eat, but there simply aren't words to express how grateful we are that we settled on the Blue and White Restaurant. Housed in an old service station on the corner of US 64 and MS 4, it's been around since 1937 and is famous for its Southern food. What is wonderful about it is that it actually lives up to its reputation. So often that's just not the case.

This is a must-stop if you are in the area. Southern cooking at its best!

We opted for the lunch buffet rather than ordering off the menu, but there's probably no way to go wrong at the Blue and White. We piled our plates full...well, more than full. No prissy Southern Belles here – we love food and we don't care who knows it. (Really we do care, but we were unlikely to see anyone we know so we all felt free to chow down.) We were beyond overjoyed to find that their mashed potatoes are made from real potatoes. That's almost never the case on a buffet. The sweet potatoes were the best ever. The mac and cheese? Heavenly. Same for the green beans, etc. The food was wonderful, just wonderful. But, it paled in comparison to the homemade rolls. First, they are huge, as big as softballs...and they're still not big enough – you want more. Seriously, all four of us come from families of great cooks, and that bread threw us all for a loop. In fact, when the waitress took dessert orders, I asked for another roll rather than cake. They're not sugary or anything, they're just that good.

We saw on the menu that they make their own doughnuts fresh every morning. It only makes sense that the bread dough and the doughnut dough are, if not one and the same, very closely related, so they must be wonderful. Our next trip to northwest Mississippi will include an early trip to Tunica's Blue and White for breakfast, then some nearby touring, and a return in time for lunch or dinner. This is a place worth the trouble of backtracking.

HERNANDO

Hernando is a pretty little town featuring the stunning DeSoto County Court House. We passed up the opportunity to go inside and see the murals that depict Hernando de Soto's life from his voyage to America to his death and burial (in the Mississippi River). The murals date to 1902 and are worth the better part of a million dollars, so we really should have had a look. However, we were all but comatose from our giant lunches and the weather was threatening, so we took the easy way out.

The courthouse is huge!

Downtown Hernando

We also took the easy way out when it came to the Historic DeSoto Museum. We passed right by it and the old log cabin once used as a field hospital during the Civil War. They both  looked interesting, and any other time we would have been eager to explore, but we just weren't in the mood. We'll be back.

The clock tower is really very pretty.  You can see the clouds
coming at us in the background. The deluge began very soon after this picture was taken.

There is, however, no need for us to revisit the many antique stores in the area. Like the consummate antiquers we are, we bravely summoned the strength to climb out of the car and spend hours strolling through room after room after room of old interesting stuff. And yes, we do realize that sounds a lot like what we would have done had we visited the courthouse, museum, and log cabin.

What a collection of stuff...all in the hands of someone who can weld!  
The gate was a collection of metal wheels!

The welder used his fun side to create a dinosaur to pull the hearse.

We drove north out of Hernando, toward Nesbitt. Like everywhere else in Mississippi, small country lanes and old highways wind through the area's soybean fields and kudzu-covered forests. We had plenty of these roads to choose from, so we picked the one that would lead us to Jerry Lee Lewis's house! What's more, we think we may actually have seen The Killer himself!

There we were, sitting in his driveway taking pictures of the pianos on his gates and listening to his kinda frightening dogs bark, when we saw a man heading down the driveway with a couple dogs on leashes. And what did we do? We panicked and took off! But, as we were leaving, we noticed that the man with the dogs looked for all the world like Jerry Lee. Once safely away, we collected ourselves and thought, “Why did we do that? He probably just wanted to talk to us.” So, we turned around and went back, only to find he was gone. No man, no dogs. We'd been silly and probably missed a golden opportunity. This is Mississippi, after all; people speak to strangers here. We should have known better. 1595 Malone Road, Nesbitt, MS; just south of Horn Lake

Jerry Lee Lewis's ranch.  We panicked big time when we saw 
Jerry Lee and his dogs coming toward the gate.
A real junior high flashback - we jumped back into the car.  
What we would give to have waited and talked to him!  Bummer!

Speaking of country roads, ten miles northwest of Hernando is a sight that is a wonder to behold. As we drove through northeast Mississippi's rolling hills, thick with trees, we didn't realize that our whole perception of heights and depths had become skewed. When we reached our destination – a certain point on the aptly named Delta View Road – it took our breath away. We'd been driving along, thinking we were on just another Mississippi back road, when we suddenly found that we were actually on a high bluff and that, just a few feet away, the ground had dropped off into the flatest landscape imaginable.

It's the great alluvial plain, otherwise known as the  Mississippi River Delta, and from the edge of that bluff it appears to be endless, Our pictures don't do it justice because the drop off is so sudden that it photographs as though it were completely flat. But trust us, the view is stunning. It's hard to wrap your mind around the fact that, although you are looking down on it, you aren't actually all that high. The Delta is just that low.

See those "little" trees?  They are 30-40' tall.  The green in the foreground is a deep, lush carpet of kudzu that covers everything that is not moving. (Check out the big leaves in the lower left corner.) The brown strip is an open field, ready for planting...the plowed rows can't be seen because the field is so far away. The dramatic transition between flat delta and rolling hills must be seen to be believed.  

When we poked around stores in Hernando and Tunica, we spotted some beautiful Joseph Eckles Stoneware. So, we decided to pay a visit to the birthplace of these beauties. It's located at 2650 Scott Road in Hernando, but the address is a little deceptive. It is – or at least, it appears to be – in the country (sometimes it's hard to tell “country” from “town”). It is set way back from the road, hidden from view down a long driveway. As we drove down the driveway (it's a little road really), we all looked at each other, as in, “Should we be here?” There was nothing threatening about the big industrial-looking buildings we found, but we had begun to feel like we might be lost and trespassing...and that can be dangerous. We finally spotted a small sign saying “Eckles Pottery” though, and were we ever glad! 

Just one of our selections from Joseph Eckles Pottery.  

Sadly, Joseph Eckles was not there; he had packed up and headed off to a show. But David, a talented potter in his own right, was home and there was still a ton of pottery on the shelves. We got a great tour of the studio, met the resident cat, and then we oohed and aahed over (and touched!) every single piece of pottery he had. He didn't seem a bit put out that we were getting it all out of order. It was all beautiful, which really made it hard to choose, but we finally managed to decide on a few pieces and everyone left happy.

SENATOBIA

What a surprise! Senatobia is a town of about 8,000 people, and we expected to find another attractive small town, albeit one with a community college. It is lovely, but we also found that it is a vibrant place – with an absolutely beautiful college.

Senatobia is home to the main campus of Northwest Mississippi Community College, which looks for all the world like a major university. Really lovely. We drove through campus and were amazed at how large the school is. Beautiful buildings and well-kept grounds. 

Northwest Mississippi Community College

The buildings on this campus are beautiful.  

We made it a point to drive through a second campus as well: The BaddourCenter. An outreach of the Methodist church, it serves as a home for adults with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities. There are fourteen group homes and four apartment units (among other buildings), and it is an absolutely stunning campus, full of activity! (It looks like an upscale gated retirement community.)

When we left, we made a detour through Como, mainly because Marian and I love Como, but also because Meredith had never been there. We drove down the main street and were sad to see that the green grocer's has closed. Nothing else seems to have changed though, so we showed Meredith the beautiful little Episcopal church and then drove through the neighborhood near downtown. Once again, we were impressed with how beautiful and well kept the homes and yards are. 

As usual, we came home through Oxford. We always try to swing by on the way to or from nearby Tiny Travels, and really, it only made sense this time. All our favorite antique places had closed by the time we got there, so there wasn't much to do other than drive over to Eli Manning's house and admire it. (It's very homey and very, very beautiful, by the way.) 

It was dinner time, but none of us could even think of eating dinner after that huge lunch. We could, however, think of eating ice cream, so we stopped at Yaya's on the Square. If you've never been, it's one of those places where you help yourself to ice cream and toppings and then pay based on the weight of your dish. Kay, Marian, and Meredith went prissy, spending three or so dollars on dainty little dishes with sprinklings of toppings. My dish came in just under $9 and I ate every bit of it.

Myrtle - Holly Springs - Tunica September 24, 2009

We left Tupelo about 9:00 on a cloudy Thursday morning and headed up new Highway 78. The first thing that caught our attention was the sign for Myrtle. Myrtle, Mississippi is an enticing name, isn’t it?

Yes, it is.

Sadly though, it appears that Myrtle is another small town that seems to be fading away. And what a shame that any place with a Town Hall like this would fade away.

As you can see from the picture, Myrtle has a Town Hall totally out of keeping with the town I’ve been describing here, and one has to wonder if it’s a remnant from Myrtle’s better days. It’s a beautiful old house.

The photo above is of a beautiful old house, but mostly we drove through Myrtle saying, “Now, with some work, that could be a beautiful house.” Over and over again we said this, and there’s something sad about that.

ASHLAND

And, with a sigh, we were off to Ashland – a little out of the way, but worth a visit. It’s in the hill country, you know, and it actually has a mountain area look to it. The town of Ashland is really small, but it was a beautiful drive.

SNOW LAKE SHORES

The photo above is of Snow Lake Shores, a real “Whaa? Stop the car!” place. We were just driving over a bridge when we looked to our right and saw the most beautiful lake. There are houses all around the lake. They look like the sort of houses that people built years ago when you could buy a piece of land, pick out a house plan, and build a house without having to consult a committee or get anything approved. In fact, that's just the way it came about. It was developed during the 50s.

The houses all back up to the lake, and have really deep back yards that slope down to the lake, where each house has its own small covered boat dock. It was so serene, so incredibly beautiful, so unexpected.

HOLLY SPRINGS

We got to Holly Springs around 10:45 and made (the HBCU) Rust College our first stop. It is really pretty. There are several buildings that appear to be quite old (and therefore, have personality), a few that appear to just be old (and therefore, run down and dirty), and some lovely new buildings. The main building (pictured above) – one that appears to be the centerpiece of campus – has a date of 1947 on it, I believe, although the school dates to 1866.

Across the street from Rust sits the remains of Mississippi Industrial College. This, too, was an African American school, but more trade school than university. It opened in 1902 to educate blacks and train them for a total of three occupations (in case something happened to the first, or second, career choice). MIC closed in 1982, leaving five beautiful old buildings behind. Recently, someone has gotten the buildings onto the National Register of Historic Places, but the action seems to have stopped there. One building has collapsed, the rest are on their way; it’s a shame as they are gorgeous and a real loss.

Holly Springs has a nice town square. We weren’t there to see the town square though. Marian and I went to Holly Springs to see Graceland Too, something we assumed folks in Holly Springs wished would just go away. It is home to Paul McLeod and his son, Elvis Aaron Presley McLeod, who are devoting their lives to keeping Elvis’s memory alive. (And, goodness, don’t they have a lot of help there?)

All the rest of the Elvis impersonators and Elvis memorabilia collectors in the world don’t have a thing on these guys. Their goal is to compile the most thorough collection of Elvis-related items in the world – and they’re well on their way! This goal necessitates (in their minds, at least) keeping a record of every time Elvis has appeared on TV. Or, been the subject of a program on TV. Or had someone so much as mention his name on TV. You can only imagine how extensive this collection alone must be. It requires them to man a TV (or several) 24/7. They do this in 12 hour shifts with the help of VCRs and now, TIVO, which must have made their lives much easier. Consequently, these guys are home all the time, and they advertise that fact. We’re always home, they say, all you have to do is ring the bell, pay $5, and in you come!

Not so. 

They weren’t home/wouldn’t answer the door/whatever and we didn’t get in. We had to console ourselves with looking at the innumerable plastic 3’ tall Christmas trees they have placed along the top of the fence that surrounds the house.

Personally, Marian seemed a little too happy about us not getting in, but I really wanted to see it. I was sorely disappointed and will be dragging Marian back there.

Marian -- Happy? I seemed HAPPY? I wouldn't say HAPPY...........cheerful, contented, delighted, glad, jolly, overjoyed, thrilled, upbeat......yes, but.....cheez... Susan couldn't see the condition of this place up close. There was no bell....no door knocker...I knocked on the door and rapped on the window....but no one answered. The door didn't seem to be closed all of the way, so I pushed on it...but.. it was padlocked from within. Heck, I've seen this place on YouTube and, I promise you, there's no use in being rude and disturbing these people if they don't hear your first knock. These people need their rest!

Lunch…

We were hungry by then, so we set off for Phillips Grocery. It used to be the kind of grocery where the town’s working men would lunch on Vienna sausages, saltines and an RC, but they also cook food and they’re known for their hamburgers. In fact, they are actually in the book, “Hamburger America,” a copy of which they display for all to see. It’s a book that some guy wrote, rating the best hamburger joints in the U.S. (well, in 39 states at least). Only one other hamburger place in MS made the cut by the way, that being Bill’s in Amory. At $2.55, it was a fine burger. It didn’t knock our socks off, but it tasted like the burgers mom used to make – a real burger. Another nice thing they do at Phillips is offer a side of fried okra, which we thoroughly enjoyed. They have fried pies too – apple and peach. We split a yummy peach one.

As you can see, Phillips is in an old building, a circa-1900 store/home combo, a fairly narrow building with a porch and an upstairs where the owner lived. It was very conveniently located in its time too, right across the street from one of the prettiest train depots ever.

It’s not a fancy depot, but the picture hardly does it justice; it’s a striking red brick building (with a gorgeous brick walkway). It appears someone lives in the depot, judging from the plantation-shuttered upstairs windows and the note to the postman on the door, but it kind of gave us the creeps because the depot doesn't appear to have been refurbished or gentrified – it’s an old deserted train depot. It’s not falling in or anything... but it could be haunted nonetheless. The depot and Phillips are within touching distance of the train tracks, yet they still somehow seem isolated.

TUNICA

We left Holly Springs in plenty of time to get to Tunica for the highlight of our adventure, a trip down the Mississippi on the Tunica Queen. However, the highway (Highway 4, I believe) is enchanted, and somehow cast us onto another highway headed in the wrong direction. While the scenery was lovely, it was not going to take us to Tunica, and it took a while to right ourselves. I won’t go into all the boring details; suffice it to say, blah, blah, blah, we got to the dock at 2:26 for a 2:30 departure.

Perhaps this would be a good time to mention that I broke my ankle two months ago, and I’m still incapacitated. I can’t put any weight on my left leg, which is a real hindrance because in this particular case, I had to hop on my crutches down a tall set of steps while Marian carted my wheelchair down. Then I hopped into my chair and held on to my crutches while Marian flew down this (very steep and therefore very scary) ramp. Apparently, they held the boat for a couple minutes to allow us to get on, so…we made it! Sure was close though.

Neither Marian nor I had ever navigated the Mississippi, and we aren’t getting any younger, you know, so we figured this was our chance. Incredibly though, we were about the youngest people aboard, so I guess we still had plenty of time and just didn’t know it.

We found the Mississippi to be very interesting. Did you know that there is a 50’ fluctuation in water height on the river? True! That’s why the docks along the MS are floating rather than stationary. The river only flows about 4 miles an hour, which doesn’t sound like much at all, but that sucker is full of movement. It’s possible to see signs of movement from the top of the water, in the form of large circles. They look like the equivalent of crop circles on water. They’re just flat, glassy places in the water, 5-8 feet across, sometimes more. They’re everywhere, each one signifying that something is going on underneath the water. 

Then, there are little tiny places that look like water being sucked down a drain. People who know the Mississippi have great respect for it due to the fact that they fear it, but our ignorance had precluded having such fears. Now we're scared of it too!

We motored upriver for 45 minutes before turning around and coming back, and that whole time we didn’t see one other boat or barge or anything. That’s not good. You see, the banks of the Mississippi are not particularly interesting – they’re flat and tree-lined, and they’re virtually identical, so you get the same view coming and going. A few barges or boats, even a tow boat with nothing to tow, would have enhanced the experience exponentially. That said, it was still fun, although it would have been more fun if I could have wandered the boat and perhaps, sat up top. As it was, I can't do any of those things, so Marian parked my wheelchair in the second level bow (entry and exit point) and I had quite a good view.

Bally’s

After our boat ride, we checked out a casino. Although neither of us is a gambler, you just can’t go to Tunica and NOT go to a casino. We chose Bally’s purely for convenience. We went through the front door and were immediately aware that smoking is not outlawed everywhere in Mississippi after all.

Marian wheeled me around till we found a penny machine (I told you we weren’t gamblers) and then we tried to figure out how to work it. Now, I go to Las Vegas every year or so and am not unfamiliar with slot machines, but these were puzzling. Worse, I was in my wheelchair, Marian’s hair is (prematurely) white, and the combo causes us to look, well, old and inept.

An employee took pity on us and tried to give us a tutorial in using the machines, but she soon gave up and found us one with a handle to pull. THAT’S what we had wanted in the first place! So, Marian and I sat side by side at our penny slots and played away. What a picture we must have made!

Those penny slots really pay off, but sadly, it’s all in pennies. Our employee/tutor kept urging me to play the full board, which added up to 90 cents a pull, but I stood my ground at 5 or 10 cents a hit. She told me that I couldn’t win the progressive jackpot that way, and I told her that I wasn’t going to win the progressive jackpot anyway. She said, “You never know.” and I said, “Yes, I do.”

I learned a long time ago that as far as casinos go, you are a winner or a loser and I’m a loser. I can accept that, but it must have been hard for her because she gave up and went away then. It was shortly after that that Marian and I decided it was time to cash out, to take our winnings and go. So, we took our $3.52 cents and left for home.