“As a form, the blues is an autobiographical
chronicle of personal catastrophe expressed
lyrically.”
Ralph Ellison
Robert Johnson was 27 when he
died, had recorded 29 songs and would influence bluesman across the world. The
10-site Robert Johnson Life & Legacy Tour is centered around Greenwood, MS.
In July of 1938 Johnson was poisoned over a woman in a juke joint. He died an
agonizing death on August 16, 1938 on the Star of the West Plantation. Several
burial sites have been cited but it is now generally accepted that he was
buried in Little Zion M.B. Church Cemetery. Little Zion M.B. Church, Minnie’s
place of worship in The Help, is also
listed on Greenwood’s 14-site movie tour centered around the movies’ locations. www.visitgreenwoodms.com
The Alluvian, winner of the AAA
Four Diamond Award, offers luxury accommodations and a complete menu of spa
services in the heart of the Greenwood Delta. The boutique hotel teams with the
Viking Cooking School to present events and unique classes. Giardina’s
Restaurant and Bar is adjacent to the hotel and is renowned for its stunning
drink menu and gourmet cuisine. The Alluvian is a wonderful destination hotel,
ideal for getaways and as a hub for Delta explorations. www.thealluvian.com
Choctaw Indians occupied Meridian. MS until an 1831
treaty opened it to European settlement. It is listed on both the Delta Blues
and the Meridian 18-site Civil Rights Trail. It was home to Jimmie Rogers, the
Father of Country Music and currently honors the MS arts at several locations
including a downtown Walk of Fame. www.meridianms.org
The MSU Riley Center contains an artfully restored 1889
Victorian theater, performance space and conference and educational centers.
The 3-year theater restoration revealed hand-stenciled wallpaper, and a leather
curtain. www.msurileycenter.com
Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience, the MAX,
opened April 28, 2018. The Hall of Fame is the 360-degree focal point featuring
a 2-story rotunda. The 2nd-floor has 6 galleries with 10 predesigned
tours. The galleries are Land, Home, Community, Church, People+Places and
Global Community. They are complete with interactives and holograms in over
58,000-sq. ft. of exhibition space. www.msarts.org
Weidmann’s is the oldest restaurant in the state. It was
founded in 1870 and moved to its current address in 1923. Their menu
consists of southern cuisine based on authentic recipes and regional
specialties. Don’t forego this treat. www.weidmanns1870.com
The 28,000-sq.ft. GRAMMY Museum® is Cleveland’s newest
addition and the first GRAMMY Museum not in LA. The museum interprets the
history of music and the award itself. There are numerous artifacts and
opportunities to engage with the music. My personal favorite is a station that
allows you to select a song and hear how it would sound as a recording on a wax cylinder, on a
gramophone, on vinyl, on a cassette and in surround sound. A temporary exhibit,
“Legends of Motown:
Celebrating the Supremes” is on view until Sept 3rd.
Mary Wilson’s personal photographs and costume collection are
displayed. www.grammymuseumms.org
Chef Cole Ellis presides over the Delta Meat Market, a
full service butcher shop, grocery store and southern restaurant. Everything is
delicious and you will like both the comfort food and the comfort. www.deltameatmarket.com
Eight miles from Cleveland is the
1895 Dockery Plantation, a true blues mecca. This cotton plantation was home to
Charlie Patton a seminal blues figure. Robert Johnson, Pops Staples and Howlin’
Wolf lived, worked and learned there. Tours are self-guided. Dockeryfarms.org
B.B. King called Indianola
home and they honor his legacy in the $17.6-million B.B. King Museum &
Delta Interpretive Center housed in the oldest brick cotton gin, where King
once worked. Self-guided tours begin with a 12-minute film and proceed into the
chronological story of King’s life. Many of the exhibited articles were donated
by King himself. He is buried on the museum grounds. www.bbkingmuseum.org
Hattiesburg has the unique distinction of being both a
university and a military town. It has 42-miles of rails to trails and the 1964
Freedom Summer Trail complete with audio guide. Live music is offered every
night of the week. www.visithburg.org
Camp Shelby’s Mississippi Armed Forces Museum is the
state’s military history museum. The museum serves as the military history museum
for the State of Mississippi and memorializes the contributions of Mississippians
and those who trained here during war time. Galleries exhibit dioramas,
photographs and artifacts from the War of 1812 through the global war on
terrorism. There are 6 large exhibition areas and two Halls of Honor. African
American military history is integrated into the exhibitions to make their
contributions even more comprehensible. Display highlights include dioramas
of a WWI trench and Vietnam medical
evacuation.
Hattiesburg’s Purple Parrot Café
is designated the best fine dining restaurant in Mississippi, second best in
the South and winner of six Four-Diamond ratings from AAA. Owner and chef Robert
St. John features the freshest ingredients in classic American dishes with a
creative creole and Piney Woods twist. Reservations requested. www.purpleparrotcafe.net
“Blues musicians don't retire.
They drop.” Buddy Guy.
https://contoh.com/
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