Canton Flea Market

Well, we just had to do it again. Go to the Canton Flea Market, that is. It isn’t really a flea market, by the way, it’s really a craft fair, and what a craft fair! Although we’ve been several times, it’s a guaranteed good time and we couldn’t resist hauling ourselves down the Natchez Trace and back to do it again. It’s just fun. The anticipation is particularly fun, and that may actually be our favorite part. We felt like we were kids again, headed to the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on children’s day – that wonderful Wednesday in September when school let out so everyone could go to the fair without playing hooky. And, just like on Fair Day, we were up early and on our way.

Mile after mile of trees stripped of bark, some with small outcroppings of new growth, line the Natchez Trace for approximately 10 continuous miles north of Highway 82. The site was eerily upsetting.

The Trace is beautiful this time of year. Well, most of it. There is one ugly patch, one huge ugly patch, bracketed by signs reading, “Tornado Damage, April 2011.” That was the line of tornadoes that all but destroyed Smithville before it hopped over the state line to ravage Culman, Phil Campbell, Pleasant Grove, and Huntsville. There is a good 150-yard swath running down the Trace for approximately ten miles. It looks like a Halloween-scape, and surely there could be no more frightening or dangerous place to be in a tornado than on the Natchez Trace, surrounded by huge old trees with no safe place to hide for miles around. We saw pine tree trunks of every height standing alongside the road, the bark stripped clean, the tips twisted like matchsticks; 30+’ trees lay on the ground, pulled up by their roots; scores of 30+’ trees still stood, but the winds had bent them all so far in one direction that they appeared to be growing sideways; and always, always, every mile or so there was the one lone tree standing virtually unscathed. Freaky.

We got to Canton around 9:30 or so and found that, incredibly, we were among the last to arrive. We had wondered why we didn’t see a caravan of cars headed down the Trace – or even one car that appeared to be carrying other craft fair junkies. We didn’t see anyone who appeared to be going our way until we got almost into Canton, where we found our favorite parking lot already full – along with several others. We paid $8 to park in someone’s “lower 40” and hiked into town, passing folks (i.e., women) headed to their cars loaded down with purchases or pushing carts/wagons/strollers filled to overflowing. We assumed they were making a run to dump their heavy loads before rejoining the fray, but many of them were actually leaving because they were through by 9 or 10 o’clock. Believe it or not, there were some people, strange as it seems, who arrived shortly after 6 am. And there were vendors there to sell them something!

But here’s the thing: Unless you have to go to work later in the day, there is no need to do that, no need to wake up in the middle of the night just to end up sitting in your car waiting for the sun to rise so you can start shopping. As far as we could tell, the vendors had plenty of everything, more than enough to go around. Maybe there were a few pottery people who didn’t have an unlimited supply of some pieces, but most vendors seemed to stock 6,000 of every item. And there was a lot of repetition. A whole lot. And any repetition seems like a lot of repetition when there are hundreds upon hundreds of vendors. The first time we went, several years ago, there were 1,000 vendors. There didn’t seem to be that many this year, but nearly.

So, you’re probably wondering, what’s big this year? Birdhouses. Birdhouses, birdhouses, birdhouses. And little girls’ dresses that tie at the shoulder. And monogrammed anything. Fluffy net wreaths were selling well too. We each bought a monogrammed necklace, a couple hand-carved wooden spoons, and some painted ceramic gift tags. I bought a soy candle and Marian bought a metal elf from one of the best booths at the festival and…well, that was it.

Metal elf can hang from the mantle or be used in a wreath. He's about 24" tall, green, and adorable.

We enjoyed seeing everything, but we never planned to buy much. As we are fond of saying, we already have two of everything and we spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning out and giving stuff away, so it seems counter productive to shop ourselves silly. Canton can’t count on us for much beyond being reasonably presentable and behaving ourselves. Actually, everyone behaves themselves at these things. Nice people go to craft fairs.

Oh, and we ate something wonderful. It was called Chicken on a Stick: a chunk of chicken, a dill pickle slice (!!!), a piece of onion, a chunk of chicken, repeat, repeat…. Then the whole thing is dipped in batter and tossed into a vat of hot grease. Yum. Finding out they had tucked a few fried pickles into our lunch just made our day. Don’t worry, we had diet drinks with that. Then we got bags of candied pecans and almonds for dessert. It was worth the drive just for that.

This building was refurbished to be used in A Time To Kill as the lawyer's office above a bank. The traffic cop and the portable johns are strictly there for the flea market.

Canton is a pretty town, by the way. It has cute stores, a stately town square, lovely old homes, and it claims to be where more movies are filmed than anyplace else in the state (A Time to Kill, My Dog Skip, The Rising Place, O Brother Where Art Thou…). We don’t know which came first, the movies or the paint, but many storefronts on the square are done in pretty pastels that would lend themselves well to film. But mostly we just have to admire Canton for coming up with the whole idea of the flea market in the first place – only two disruptive days a year, no infrastructure needed, thousands upon thousands of dollars added to the economy, a chance for locals to line their own pockets to boot – what a brilliant idea!

Holly Springs

Holly Springs is a surprising place. Although we had taken a TTTM tour of the town in September 2009, that visit was merely a stopover on the way to Tunica and our riverboat ride up the Mississippi. To keep to our schedule, we’d had to restrict ourselves to a brief tour of Rust College, ogling Graceland Too, and eating a burger at Phillips Grocery. We didn’t see much of Holly Springs, so there were a lot of surprises in store for us this time. We had just turned off Highway 78 when we got our first surprise, such a great “old Mississippi” photo op that we had to pull over. There was a like-new 1937 Chevy parked against a backdrop of kudzu. The car’s owner, who also owned the repair shop where the car was parked, came out and gave a little history of his pride and joy, which he drives to work every day. The entire car is original, including the fan attached to the dash – a 1930s air conditioner. It even comes with its own “owned by a little old lady who only drove it to church on Sunday” story, except that this little old lady only drove it to the grocery store once a week.

1937 Chevrolet, 44,000 actual miles, nothing new except the tires.

The interior was cooled by that original-equipment fan on the dashboard

Once we had thoroughly admired the car, we drove on toward downtown Holly Springs. It has a town square, something we love and wish every town had. And just off that square is the Chamber of Commerce/Tourist Bureau (148 East College Avenue). We hadn’t spent more than a few minutes there talking with Assistant Director Suzann before we realized that Holly Springs is on the ball. Unlike so many towns that effectively closed down when their industries did, Holly Springs revamped itself. The factories may have moved elsewhere, but the historic homes, churches, and businesses stayed put and, as long as they were there anyway, the city marketed them. According to Suzann, who knows such things, Holly Springs has become a destination, a great weekend escape, especially during the annual Spring Pilgrimage (usually the second weekend in April). We can see why – there is so much to do there.
We started our tour with a quick walk around the square, a mixture of charming stores and empty storefronts. The first place we passed was the Court Square Inn, a beautifully restored Italianate building dating to 1865. It’s a Bed and Breakfast featuring three luxury suites overlooking downtown and it’s gorgeous. (The town has a surprising number of B&Bs, by the way.)

Court Square B & B entrance.

This little mystery house is on the square, nestled next to the bank building shown on the left. Exquisite fencing.

Beautiful stained glass over the entrance to Tyson Drug Store.

We stopped by Tyson Drugs, which has sat on the corner of Market Street and Van Dorn Avenue longer than anyone can remember. It was a bank before it was Tyson’s, and before that it was another pharmacy. The floor shows the building’s age – it’s covered in a zillion tiny tiles, a typical old drugstore floor. And the standard soda fountain counter is still there too! What wasn’t around originally was The Funky Monkey, the gift shop attached to the drugstore. It’s full of cute things, several of which hitched a ride home with us, including several Mississippi wine glasses – canning jars attached to a crystal stem. And yes, the metal lid is included.

Booker Hardware

Continuing around the square we passed Booker Hardware, where we were stunned to see a window full of churns. Yes, churns. Big churns, little churns, middle-sized churns – they were all there. Apparently, the national move toward a simpler life is alive and well in Mississippi, and churns are a part of that. At least until the actual churning begins and folks realize how loooooooong it’s going to take that milk to turn into butter.

Butter churns of all sizes....$25 and up.

The original store burned during the Civil War, so this is the “new” Booker’s. There’s no mistaking that the plank floor is original to the new store – down to the squeaks and creaks. In fact, plenty of things about the store are original to that second store, or at least very, very old, including the wooden display and storage cases ubiquitous to all old hardware stores. The folks at Booker’s have been offered thousands of dollars for these beautiful relics, but the drawers in their quaint wooden cabinetry are full of nails and screws and such and they aren’t anxious to part with those cabinets just to have to find somewhere else to put all their stuff.

This 6-sided wooden rotating fastener storage case was still in use.

After a good look around Booker’s, we walked two blocks down to 220 East College Avenue to the Marshall County Historical Museum, three floors of memories that could easily fill a museum five times the size. The 1903 building was originally a dormitory at Mississippi Synodical College, the first women’s junior college in the state and surely the college with the most unfortunate name ever. We were escorted on this tour through time by the lovely Lois Swanee, the tiny ball of fire that oversees – and is intimately involved in – every single aspect of the museum, from its origin to the most obscure donation.

Understandably, the museum allowed no pictures inside.

This marker is in the front yard of the museum -- history is everywhere in Holly Springs.

There is no way to adequately describe this museum. Each room in the house is dedicated to one or more topics, and while there are usually a few random objects thrown in for good measure, there’s a method to the madness – it’s actually quite well organized and the items themselves are in excellent condition and lovingly maintained. There are display cases at every turn and items hang, quite literally, from floor to ceiling. But, while the museum is stuffed to the gills, things don’t appear to be junky as much as crowded. This is possibly due to the fact that Lois genuinely values each and every donation, including things like the senior class compilation photos from schools that no longer exist or haven’t the room to keep decades of these photos, glimpses back in time that would probably have been thrown away if not for Lois.

Several years ago, the museum’s roof leaked so badly that the entire building had to be evacuated for repairs, and it took months to clear out the place. Literally, like six months. Lois and helpers moved her favorite exhibits into a store on the square that served as the temporary home and the rest went into storage for the duration. Lois, meanwhile, busied herself penning a letter to Warren Buffett (No, she didn’t know him, and no, he has no ties to Holly Springs.), asking if he would fund an elevator for the building to make it more accessible. He did it! So, they installed the elevator, fixed the roof and the damage, and moved back in. The museum’s War Room is exceptional. There are uniforms and memorabilia from ten wars in this one room, most of which belonged to a son or daughter of Holly Springs. There’s also a Library full of ancient books, a Doctor’s Room full of yesteryear’s medical supplies, a School Room that takes you back 100 years or so, a Toy Room with one of the very first tricycles and an incredible collection of doll houses and dolls, a room dedicated to native animals (stuffed bears, armadillos, etc.), an Indian and Cowboy Room, and so on and so on. And, while these rooms give some idea of the range of exhibits, they don’t begin to describe the uniqueness of some of the items. The Indian and Cowboy Room, for example, contains mementos from Holly Springs native George Anderson, Admiral Byrd’s pilot to Antarctica. In the collection of women’s fashions is a paper swimsuit distributed by Holiday Inn when they opened the first indoor swimming pools and discovered that no one thought to bring a suit except in summer. There’s an original Gibson Girl dress. And a 20-star American flag (and 42-, 46-, and 48-star flags too!). And dancing rocks from Iuka – round rocks that really move. According to Lois, Mississippi has the fewest rocks of any state except Louisiana.

Most memorable, possibly, is the Vaseline Glass display near the elevator. In the same case there is a lemonade serving set that glows in the dark (and in the light!) because it contains uranium. Yes, people used to enjoy a little radioactivity with their lemonade. And their lamps. And their vases. Incredibly, people don’t do this anymore.

And then there’s the museum’s display of Hair Art. Did you know people used to cut their hair to use it for artistic purposes? Well they did. Whole families used to cut off their hair and wrap it around thin wires that could be molded into flowers and such. Then they passed these lovely objets d’art down through their families. Incredibly, people don’t do this anymore either.

We could have amused ourselves in the museum forever – it has to be seen to be believed – but we were soon starving and had much more to see in Holly Springs, so we each purchased a jar of Kudzu Blossom Jelly from the museum’s gift counter and set off for Annie’s, reputed home of the best fried chicken in town. Annie’s (198 North Memphis Street) is a buffet, a little bit of Southern heaven. We were greeted with a hug from Annie herself. It took us a bit by surprise, but apparently everyone is greeted with a hug! Despite all that hugging, Annie looks like she just stepped off the set of her own television show, dressed to the nines. We each chose fried chicken, boiled okra, limas, corn bread and chow-chow from among the many options. We also tried Annie’s cooked cabbage, which has to be – seriously – the best in the world. And neither of us really likes cooked cabbage, or didn’t before this anyway. We were stuffed but still managed to polish off a bowl of pecan cobbler. It was wonderful. (This place is one of my favorites -- Southern cooking heaven.)

A driving tour of antebellum homes/churches was next on our agenda, using the CD Suzann had given us. It’s beautifully and professionally done and includes a bit of local history along with interesting descriptions of various sites. Holly Springs has a rather unique history. It, along with Jackson and Vicksburg, was occupied for a record ten years after the Civil War (referred to hereafter as “the war”). For various reasons, the city wasn’t burned during the war, or, at least, houses weren’t, so there are an incredible number of antebellum homes near downtown – which is even more amazing considering that these fine homes were often located on plantations miles from town. The downtown area was torched by Confederates in an effort to destroy stockpiles of Union supplies and, historically speaking at least, no one seems to hold this against them. In fact, one of the Confederate descendants' groups dedicated a marker to honor Confederate General Van Dorn and his brave troops for doing the burning! Shortly after the occupation ended, a yellow fever epidemic struck the town and wiped out more folks than the war had, so generally speaking, the late 1860s – 70s were tough times for Holly Springs.

Airliewood as it is currently pictured on Loopnet.com. It's offered for $1.4 million. The home was auctioned off in October 2010 after $5 million worth of renovation.

The homes on the tour, while not open (with one exception, they’re only open during Pilgrimage or during the Christmas tour) are worth admiring from the street. Most are in the Federal or Greek Revival style, but a couple are unique: Airliewood, where General Grant established his headquarters, is a pink Gothic Revival, and Grey Gables is a stunning Italianate. But the most astounding home on the tour is Walter Place, a house so grand that it was where General Grant housed his wife and child during the war. And his wife’s slave. Yes, you read that right. The head of the Union army’s wife brought her slave. Hmmm. Well, as they say, history is written by the victors.

We had planned our day around a visit to Walter Place – it’s open daily (except Sunday) for one tour at 1:00 pm. The present lady of the house is…drum roll please…Lois’s daughter! (For the record, Lois lives in an antebellum home too.) The daughter and her husband bought Walter Place years ago and have restored it and it’s incredible gardens to their former glory, but her husband hasn’t been well of late and Lois had warned us that sometimes her daughter had to cancel the tour. Unfortunately, it was one of those days. Oh well, we’ll be back. (Marian --The grounds and the Walter Place home are said to be exquisite -- I can hardly wait for the opportunity to see this place.)

This is the picture of the Walter Place on Trulia.com website. $15 million will get you a fine antebellum estate in the heart of Holly Springs -- monthly payments of just under $90,000.

Hillcrest Cemetery

Charlie died at 4 years old. Such an odd headstone...so sad.

We had to console ourselves with a visit to Hillcrest Cemetery, a wonderful old cemetery but no Walter Place. Then we drove over to Graceland Too, the shrine to Elvis Presley we tried to visit the last time we were in Holly Springs (no one answered the door).


There is just no way to describe this place. I found myself humming "Blue Christmas." The house is surrounded by these pots of funky blue Christmas trees.

We had planned to visit this trip, but the house has recently been painted honkin’ blue with black trim and it’s…it’s…forbidding. Scary even. (Marian -- After enjoying Holly Springs so much, I just couldn't go into Graceland Too...I just couldn't.) So we finished the driving tour and drove a few miles out of town to Strawberry Plains Audubon Center. antebellum Davis House sits on the property, and it was the last of the Davis family who entrusted their home and its 2,500 acres to the Audubon Society. It’s now famous for its annual hummingbird migration. Each year in September, millions of hummingbirds stop at Strawberry Plains on their way south. We missed the big to-do by a week or so, but plan on making a concerted effort next September. (http://strawberryplains.audubon.org/ shows this beautiful place) And when we do, we also plan to visit more of the sites we had to miss this time, among them the Ida B. Wells Art Gallery and the Kate Freeman Clark Museum and maybe Graceland Too. Maybe.

Tour of Tupelo #2 - Elvis Presley Park

The summer of 1972, I worked at the pool in Elvis Presley Park. Countless tourists – really, they were pilgrims – came to my concession stand window to ask about seeing Elvis’s birthplace. Most of these people had traveled a long way, only to be greeted by scruffy turf, a generic swimming pool, a birthplace that might or might not be open, and a Youth Center. That was all there was back then – or maybe there were tennis courts, I can’t really remember. The city, which bought the birthplace and surrounding land with money Elvis donated from his famous 1956 Tupelo Fair appearance, gave the park short shrift. To be fair, that was just the way things were back then – people weren’t prone to glamorize stuff or blow it out of proportion in those days – but still…Elvis was the indisputable King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and had been for some time.

A definite stop on the Mississippi Country Music Trail!

Most pilgrims were either going to or coming from Memphis – Graceland, really – but Elvis lived there then, so a glimpse of his house through the front gate was about all they could hope for. Consequently, they were excited about seeing the inside of Elvis’s first home. The problem was, there wasn’t anything else to see at the park and the birthplace wasn’t always open. If memory serves me, it was staffed by a small group of volunteers then. Even if the volunteer had only stepped out for an hour, it never failed that a carload of people from Wisconsin would pick that time to turn up. They’d soon show up at the pool asking to be let in the house.

My, how times have changed! When Marian and I walked onto the property, we were gob smacked. Full disclosure: we’ve both been there since 1972…but it’s been years. As in decades. We didn’t recognize the place. Gone are the shabby grounds, the swimming pool, and the Youth Center – but there’s plenty to see. The birthplace is still there, of course, but it’s now joined by a chapel, a church, a museum, a gift shop, a fountain, and a memorial garden with a bronze statue of thirteen-year-old Elvis – the age he was when he left Tupelo for Memphis in 1948.

Elvis -- at age 13.

Close up

Generous Elvis fans donated money to build the chapel that stands in the park, a lovely little building with gorgeous stained glass windows. It’s available for weddings, and while a few Elvis impersonators have probably been wed there, you’ll not find one performing ceremonies.That would be tacky, and great pains have been taken to see that there is nothing tacky about the park. After all, it wasn’t a group of promoters who came up with the idea of building a park on the site where Elvis was born. It was Elvis’s vision, shared by his childhood friends, a way to give something back to his old neighborhood. Everything about the park reflects that.

Note the white-suited Elvis!

We followed the forty-two granite blocks that make up the Walk of Life – a timeline of Elvis’s life. It circles the birthplace and leads to that beautiful fountain. Then we read what Elvis’s friends had to say about him on the Story Wall.

Along the outside of the Chapel -- posted memories of Elvis's friends and relatives.

Even the church he attended – where he learned to sing “Old Shep” – now sits in the park and it’s a real trip back in time. It’s an old, white, country-style Assembly of God church and, inside, you can hear the sort of music Elvis grew up with.

Elvis Presley began his singing career in this church. It was moved to park grounds several years ago and shows a video depicting a normal church service.

Attention to details -- this outhouse came with the church. Most country churches had outdoor plumbing.

The old home in which Elvis was born. It is a "shotgun" type -- two rooms.

We didn’t tour his birthplace, the home his father, uncle, and grandfather built for $180, as we had both done that and, while it’s interesting, we didn’t really feel like doing it again. It would be more enticing if the furniture had really belonged to the Presleys rather than just being authentic to the period. That said, it has never looked better. Like the rest of the park, it’s beautifully landscaped – to an extent that would render it unrecognizable to Elvis today.

Elvis Presley Park is one of the major tourist draws in Mississippi – every year some 50,000 visitors come to this big-city attraction with the small-town feel. There's even an annual Fan Appreciation Day every August, with local entertainment and speeches by city bigwigs. Everything about the park bespeaks love and respect for Elvis the person, along with a near reverence for Elvis the entertainer. And despite the crowds and the occasional “Elvi” sightings, a true sense of serenity pervades the place. There’s a dignity to the park that’s unmistakable and very touching. (Okay, maybe the gift shop does stock a few souvenirs that couldn’t be described as dignified, but still….)

Fun in September

September 3 - 4 -- Iuka Heritage Festival --Iuka Mineral Springs Park and Jay Bird Park, Iuka -- Arts, crafts, entertainment, food, annual car show.

September 3 -- Annual Ocean Springs Art Walk-- Downtown Ocean Springs -- over 70 artists

September 6 - 12 -- Tennessee Williams Tribute and Tour of Victorian Homes --Rosenzweig Arts Center, 501 Main Street, Columbus, MS

September 9-11 -- The National Audubon Society Hummingbird Migration -- Ruby-throated hummingbirds viewing and crafts. 285 Plains Rd., 3.2 miles North on Hwy 311 Holly Springs, MS for more information go to strawberryplains.audubon.org/events/1305

September 10 -- Belmont Bear Creek Festival and Antique Car Show -- Arts, crafts, etc. Downtown Belmont

September 17 - 18 -- Mississippi Gourd Festival -- Buy gourd art or make your own. Smith County Ag Complex, off Hwy. 35S Oil Field Rd Raleigh, MS www.mississippigourdsociety.org for more information

September 17 -- The Charlie Daniels Band --MSU Riley Center, Downtown Meridian, MS for more information www.msurileycenter.com/

September 24 -- Leland -- Festival of the Arts. A festival honoring Muppet creator Jim Henson on his 75th birthday. www.lelandms.org for more information

September 30 -- October 14 -- Natchez Fall Pilgrimage -- Like the Spring Pilgrimage, each October, Natchez welcomes guests into its historic homes, this time for two weeks that include beautiful tours of autumn gardens and evening entertainment in the homes, such as this year's Stone House Musicale event. www.natchezpilgramage.com for more information.

Tour of Tupelo #1 - Johnnie's Drive-In

Incredibly, it had never occurred to us to tour Tupelo. Who goes sightseeing in their hometown? After all, the idea behind Tiny Travels was to see places in Mississippi we’d never seen. However, once we thought about it, we quickly warmed to the idea of snooping around Tupelo and knew just where we wanted to go first: Johnnie’s Drive-In. When a restaurant established in 1945 is still around in 2011, it deserves a visit.

Johnnie’s is on East Main Street, deep in the heart of Elvis Country. In fact, along with its longevity, Elvis is one of Johnnie’s claims to fame - they're even featured on the Elvis Presley's Early Years Driving Tour. It seems he used to frequent the drive-in as often as he could during his impoverished youth – if only to split an RC Cola with a friend. And apparently he regularly stopped in on his visits back to Tupelo after he made good.

Customers have the choice of outside table seating, car hop service, or table seating inside. Since there is nothing Elvis-related outside, we opted to go in. In fact, we went right in and sat down in the “Elvis booth,” and yes, it’s really labeled.

Some of the countless pictures of Elvis decorating the walls of Johnnie's.

That's my water on the right! Imagine...sitting right next to the King in his own booth!

There’s a picture on the wall above the booth, showing a circa 1960 Elvis sitting right where Marian was sitting! Actually, there are about a zillion pictures of Elvis on the walls and yet…somehow…it doesn’t seem like “too much.” Really. Must be the “Elvis effect.”

Yep, Mississippi has its own Elvis Presley tag! A fine example shown here -- now used as wall art in Johnnie's.

We walked around admiring the many photos and bits of memorabilia that adorn Johnnie’s walls, taking photos of photos and soaking up the nostalgia of being someplace that remains virtually unchanged from its original incarnation. The old booths are still there, along with the old tables, the big cut-out opening directly into the kitchen, the individual letters that spell out the menu items on large plastic signs…same old, same old.

Elvis's birthday cakes were all made by Kermit's Bakery in downtown Tupelo. They were carefully shipped to wherever Elvis happened to be on January 8th. This picture was taken in Kermit's in the early 60s.

Here in Elvisland, walking around clicking your camera doesn't faze employees or regular customers – it happens every day. And once we got our photos, we did sit down long enough to order. Although Johnnie’s is best-known for its “dough burgers” and barbeque, we both ordered the standard hamburger with fries. After all, we’re diners, not restaurant reviewers, and we’ve done the dough burger thing. There was a moment of disappointment when our orders came and we saw crinkle cut fries, but they were good – don’t know how they managed that. The burgers were tasty in a real-food, just-like-you-remember kind of way. What a treat.

After we ate, we walked around to the front of Johnnie’s (you park on the side, so we really hadn’t seen the front). There, painted on the big window, was their phone number “VI2- 6748.”

The front of Johnnie's. Just like most southern homes, the front door isn't used much--friends use the back door. Note the plaque attesting to their relationship with Elvis.

Could a visit chosen purely for its nostalgia quotient have a better ending? Seriously. Who knows when that number was painted on there, but for those of us who remember using the VInewood prefix, who spent our formative years reciting our phone number as Vinewood-two- ---- or VI-2- ---- – that is, for those of us who remember 1950s Tupelo – it’s a heartwarming sight.

Corinth, Shiloh, and the Civil War

Downtown Corinth

Okay, we freely admit that we have never been all that interested in the Civil War. And we’ve certainly never been very knowledgeable about it. But it’s impossible to read a travel book about Mississippi and not feel almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of Civil War sites – and connections. It seems that almost every town has some tie to “the war.” We grudgingly agreed that we could no longer ignore this piece of Mississippi history, so we set out to see Corinth and Shiloh.

When we scouted out our route, we saw that we would “go right by” Synagogue, Mississippi on our way. We had to see if there really was a synagogue in Synagogue – we just had to – so we marked our map carefully in order to ensure we didn’t miss it. (That means figuring out which two County Roads running off Highway 45 it lies between. “County Road,” by the way, can be anything from a beautifully maintained two-lane highway to the equivalent of a cow path.) Sure enough, when we passed County Road 8200, there was a sign…not for Synagogue, Mississippi, but for Synagogue Baptist Church! And yes, once again we tried to find a town that doesn’t exist. You’d think we’d learn.

On the way into Corinth, we stopped at the Alcorn Welcome Center – yet another beautifully designed and decorated font of information on Mississippi sites. Information there led us to the Civil War Interpretive Center. The fact that the CWIC is a National Park site should have been a clue that we were in for a good experience, but since our attitudes, uh, could have been better, we groaned when we pulled into the parking lot and realized that we couldn’t park near the front door on that scorching hot day because of an incredibly long switchback sidewalk leading to the entrance. Why would anyone design such an inconvenient handicapped entry, we wondered. Off we trudged, grousing about having to walk in the heat – right up until we realized there was “stuff” embedded in the sidewalk, interesting stuff like smashed hats, bullets, knives, tent stakes, belt buckles, horseshoes, eyeglasses, a scabbard, a shovel, a canteen, shoes, a plate, books, a comb…well, you get the picture. Every few feet there would be something else to see – a button here, a pistol there, a little treasure hunt. There was even a letter in one display, and a rifle that hangs off into the grass. Really clever.

Bronzed cap

This cup sits on the outer edge of the walkway...situated in an area that you really couldn't trip over it.

This cap sits on the retaining wall.

The belt stands up above the ground 6 - 8".

This carbine is broken and partially buried in concrete.

This complete rifle was just outside the door of the CWIC.

Things got even better and more interesting once we got inside, where the first thing we learned was…why Corinth? What was so important about this small town?

Its railroads! In 1862, Corinth was second only to Richmond in importance to military planners. Two major lines crossed in Corinth (the Memphis and Charleston and the Mobile and Ohio, if you’re curious), so whoever controlled Corinth controlled access to the Mississippi River Valley and points west. Although that “crossroads,” the point at which the railroads intersected, was the epicenter of the fighting, the battle moved around a bit as forces attacked and withdrew, resulting in a series of battles around Corinth. And by the way, although Union forces actually came down to take the crossroads, the Confederates didn’t take a purely defensive position. In fact, the Corinth campaigns are considered the last Confederate offensive in Mississippi.

The center is a beautiful building with well-done, visually-pleasing displays, the sort that make learning fun no matter your age. And, in keeping with the embedding-things-in-concrete theme, the floor of one room has railroad tracks set into it just to bring home the reason you’re there in the first place!

Railroad ties and rail buried in concrete in one of the rooms.

Our favorite display? The Mobile woman who came to nurse soldiers and left a written account of what she saw in Corinth’s Tishomingo Hotel, which had been converted into a hospital. The exhibit allows visitors to pick up a telephone and listen to what she had to say, surely one of the best ways to learn history – so personal, so interesting. There are also plenty of exhibits and interactive displays featuring memorabilia, battle plans and information, along with scores of photos, a couple movies, beautiful artwork, and some really interesting exhibits on black history. (Corinth was home to a huge Contraband Camp for slaves seeking safe harbor.) So much to see. Outside, there is a commemorative courtyard, where, according to the National Park brochure, “stone and flowing water chronicle the birth and growth of the United States, the accompanying rise of sectionalism, key events leading to the Civil War, and a symbolic representation of four years of war.” The reflecting pool contains blocks of stone representing the various battles set in a timeline, and like everything else, it’s beautifully done. The whole site is really top notch and a credit to everyone involved.

Outside the CWIC, this water sculpture was awesome. Boxes are labeled representing the battles of the Civil War and are staged along a timeline -- Fort Sumter to Appomattox.

This Battery Robinett replica can be viewed from inside the CWIC.

The center sits on land near the site of Battery Robinett, which was built by the Federal Army following the Siege of Corinth in April - May 1862. It was the site of heavy fighting in October of 1862, during the Second Battle of Corinth. There are graves behind the building to prove it, and, like everything else about the Interpretive Center, it’s beautifully maintained. By the way, all this is free. They accept donations, but it’s free.

Confederate Brigadier-General Joseph Lewis Hogg was buried near the CWIC. He died of dysentery May 16, 1862, during the Siege of Corinth -- April ~May 1862.

Confederate soldiers from the Siege of Corinth, buried behind the CWIC.

Corinth does a spectacular job directing traffic to their historical sites. Really…we’ve never seen a city so well-marked, it’s easy to find everything, despite the fact that some places are far off the beaten path. Still, most things, including the center, are woefully under-attended.

We took a lunch break after the center – vegetable plates at Martha’s Menu downtown. Then we walked around a bit and re-visited Borroum’s Drug Store, the oldest continually operating drug store in the state. Then we dropped in on Wait’s Jewelry store, the oldest store in town and far and away the store with the most beautiful ceiling in town. Ernest Wait himself painted murals on the (very high) ceiling in 1925 and they’re a treasure. We also stopped in at Franklin Cruise. The building dates to 1886 and has been beautifully restored as a fine home-goods/antique store with two luxury hotel suites upstairs. Sort of a mini hotel/shop – really cool. We looked around for the former Tishomingo Savings Bank just because it was once robbed by Jesse James and his gang and, while no one we encountered could identify exactly which building had been the bank, consensus was that it was the Federal Land Bank building. Then we drove around admiring some of the beautiful old homes and the beautiful renovations downtown.

Caboose on the grounds of the Depot Museum

We kept driving until we got to the Crossroads Museum at the Depot. This sits on ground zero, the reason everyone came to Corinth in 1862. There’s a beautifully restored depot there that houses a diverse and interesting museum. There are exhibits related to the war, of course, but it also contains interesting exhibits on local history, archeology, and its own little Coca Cola museum – a real trip down memory lane. We really enjoyed the film on local aviation pioneer Roscoe Turner. Like so many early aviators, Turner was a barnstormer, a racer (he broke the east/west transcontinental air speed record in 1930), a WWI pilot, a movie stunt flier, a WWII flight instructor, and the founder of a couple early incarnations of commercial airlines, among many other endeavors. One of the more colorful aspects of his career would have to be his co-pilot, a pet lion named Gilmore, a gift/publicity stunt from the good folks at Gilmore Oil, one of his employers. All told, this farmer’s son from Corinth did pretty well for himself; he landed on the cover of Time magazine. Gilmore didn’t do badly either, although his honor is somewhat less enviable. He’s at the Smithsonian (stuffed). The Crossroads Museum is a small museum, but well worth the $5 admission.

Doesn't look like much now, but, this crossroad of tracks made Corinth ground zero in 1862. Originally, there were 4 tracks crossing at this point -- only 2 exist now. This picture was taken from a window in the Depot.

We enjoyed our visit, but by then our interest in the Civil War had been piqued to the point that we were actually anxious to see Shiloh – a battle so famous that it’s almost synonymous with the war. We thought we had studied up on Shiloh, so imagine our surprise when we realized it was in Tennessee! For some reason this took both of us totally by surprise. In the most technical sense, of course, we knew where it was, but Shiloh is so closely associated with Corinth and Bryce’s Crossroads – and we had historically paid such pitifully little attention to anything related to the Civil War – that we hadn’t really thought it out.

Not surprisingly, Shiloh is beautiful. It, too, is under the control of those wonderful National Park people, whose maintenance talents are much to be admired. As we drove in, it was apparent to even Civil War novices like us that Shiloh was a major battle site. The sheer number of monuments was impressive, and there’s something to see at every turn: signs relating the history of that particular site, statues, cannons, and monuments, monuments, monuments…an incredible number of which are there courtesy of the people of Illinois. Illinois monuments are everywhere!

Grant's line of cannons pointing across an open field toward the Sunken Road.

First, we went to the Shiloh Battlefield Visitors Center, where we watched a film about the two horrible days in April of 1862, when the area around Shiloh Church became a battlefield. (The church didn’t make it through the battle, but the Tennessee Sons of the Confederacy built a replica on the site a few years ago and it does look authentic.) The park ranger at the center told us that we’d be seeing a film about the battle, and that the film had been made in the 1950s (there’s a new one coming out any time now). Our excitement level dropped precipitously when we heard that, but – surprise! – it was really well-done, not nearly as dated as we would have thought. It gave a really even account of what had gone on, both the military aspects and the personal ones, and we really enjoyed it. Then we hopped in the car and set off on the well-marked driving tour of the battle grounds, where we found that the park is not just beautiful, it’s user-friendly too. We had several things that we particularly wanted to see: Shiloh Church, the Confederate Monument, the row of cannons that mark Grant’s last line, and at least one of the Confederate mass graves, but the battlefield is so well-marked and accessible that we managed to see most everything...and were impressed and humbled by everything we saw.

Shiloh Church Although the original church was destroyed during the battle, this is "a near exact replica of that original church. Much detail went into building this church, using hand hewn logs approximately 150 years old that came from this area. This church was started in 1999 under the direction of the Shiloh Sons of Confederate Veteran Camp #1454 and Shiloh Methodist Church." Quotation is from the plaque that is on the church grounds.

Behind this monument is one of the mass graves of the Confederate soldiers who were killed at the Battle of Corinth. At the time, Confederate dead were not permitted burial in U.S. military cemeteries. Later - muuuuucccch later - this was changed.