Bruce -- July 13, 2007

A Sawmill Festival? Yes, a Sawmill Festival. Our trip to the Bruce Sawmill Festival began our entire “See Mississippi" campaign. To be honest, the festival was really just an excuse to go to Bruce because neither of us had ever been there. It had never occurred to us that we could just pick up and go to Bruce (or anywhere else) without a reason. After all, our parents never went anywhere without a reason and old habits die hard for those of us who grew up in families that only traveled for one reason: to visit relatives.

We didn’t go straight to Bruce; we saw signs along the highway beckoning us to visit various towns or communities, so we did. We'd turn off the highway and check out places, most of which were communities with little to see (a few houses and maybe a small store). Still, we think it's a good use of our time. We don't want to miss anything.

Bruce’s festival was a bit of a disappointment. The square was crowded and lively, mind you…but there were so few handmade items at their crafts fair. We'd expected homemade jams, knitting, crocheting, wood carvings, pottery…but no. Most stuff came from China and that's a letdown. And the place was crawling with politicians! Really, there was some serious stumping going on.

A little bit of politicking goes a long way, you know, so we decided to leave the square and see the town. The first place we went was a gift shop that had a snack bar. We ordered two sandwiches, two cokes, a bag of chips and a piece of cake…total bill: $4.70. Then we went back to the festival and ordered mango ice cream from a traveling vendor and it was incredible! We eventually wandered over to the antique car show, where an older woman came over and told us how her father had owned a car like the one we were looking at and how she used to ride in it, etc. – a real interesting bit of history there.

There is an awesome antique store on the town square…and it's air conditioned. That’s such a draw in Mississippi. We searched through its three buildings for more than an hour and a half - delightful! - and found the stuff well-priced. Time well spent!

It may seem like we didn’t have a very good time in Bruce, but really, we did. We had a wonderful time! We always have a wonderful time. We don’t care if it rains (well, we wish it wouldn’t); we don’t care if it is hot or cold. We are just happy that we can do exactly what we want to do, with no children, husbands, or parents to consider or appease. We’re free to indulge ourselves every trip. It’s our time. We can eat cake for lunch and spend the day shopping if we want, and no one can stop us. No one.