We started the day in New Orleans and we are ending the day in Clarksdale, MS. It was long, but interesting. Since last night's dinner was so lousy we woke up hungry. I explained our game plan for the day with the hotel's desk clerk and a plan for breakfast miraculously emerged. Near the Garden District, which was one of our destinations for the day, is a spot known as the Camellia Grill. The restaurant was underwater during Katrina and in its aftermath. When the water ebbed, the owners decided to close rather than rebuild. Neighbors and regulars came by and saw the closed sign and decided to do something about it. They covered the building in post it notes declaring their love and need for this small diner. The owners relented and reopened. Hearing that story we had to stop in and see what everyone was so excited about. We had expected that everything in the place would be new and there would be pictures of the place underwater and then covered in post it notes. Instead it appears the owners let the joint dry out, cleaned it up (a bit) and started cooking again. Breakfast was a big hit, however. Delicious.
We left the Camellia Grill and headed straight for the garden district. As a new generation of wealth arrived in New Orleans in the early 1800s the nouveau riche were not welcomed in the "city" by the old guard. This group of outsiders started their own "suburb", which is known today as the garden district. In addition to the beautiful architecture, this area is famous as the setting for Anne Rice's vampire novels. Our next stop (located in the garden district) was the Lafayette Cemetery; quite an interesting sight. All of the graves are in above ground crypts. The exterior of the crypts have the names of the family members associated with the crypts, sometimes as many as 20 names - way more than could possibly fit into small spaces. We have no idea how they deal with this issue. What is the ultimate disposition of these 20 individuals? Are there urns inside? Odd people pieces? Some crypts are so old and untended that there is no way to know who is actually buried within. A few have a personality all their own. We were under the impression that crypts are used in New Orleans because the town sits at sea level and a heavy rain could bring on "floaters". While touring, we heard someone from Tulane, who was taking around a group of students, indicate that the above ground burial was a cultural matter. The whys don't matter so much as the interesting cemeteries that result.
After wandering around the cemetery, we took a gander at some of the impressive houses in the Garden District. We were told that one of the houses is Sandra Bullock's New Orleans home but that there are few actual Sandra sightings. The Benjamin Button movie was also filmed in one of the houses in the area. There are, however, many fine houses at which to gawk and this is really a very small sample of the neighborhood's amazing homes.
We wanted to check out the ninth ward, the area most impacted by Hurricane Katrina. I had also shared this plan with the desk clerk. She let us know where the ninth ward was located and then shared that she lived in the ninth ward. Her home has been rehabbed. As we drove around the ninth ward, we were struck by the contrasts in the city - not just the haves and the have nots, or the Garden District and the ninth ward, but the contrast within the ninth ward as well. Many homes have clearly been rehabbed and repaired. Entire blocks have clean, new brick facades and pristine roofs. You turn the corner and you get to neighborhoods that are still showing the effects of Katrina. It is amazing to us that 9 years after this disaster, there still is so much rebuilding to be done.
We departed New Orleans via the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. At 28 miles long, it is the longest continuous causeway in the world. It is literally a straight line across the middle of the lake. Looking out at the lake and having seen the way the Mississippi River winds its way around the city, it is clear that for all of its wonders, New Orleans is a recipe for disaster and it is, sadly, just a matter of time before a similar disaster befalls the area.
Once we crossed the causeway we planned to follow back roads through the northeast corner of Louisiana into Mississippi.
We had a stop to make in a little town in northeast Louisiana, Kentwood. This is the hometown of Britney Spears and they have a museum in town that is supposed to honor the local culture but is largely devoted to Britney. You can only imagine our disappointment when we got there and it was closed. Heartbreaking. We took a picture but we're too depressed to download it.
We took I-55 to the far northwestern corner of Mississippi to the tiny town of Clarksdale. I-55 is known as the Blues Highway because it connects New Orleans to Memphis. Back in the day, jazz and blues musicians were regularly riding up and down this road to get to and from gigs.
We don't have many fun pictures today but we do have this one. Just how old is the person driving this car?
We rolled into Clarksdale past "the Crossroads" where legend has it Robert Johnson, a very early blues guitarist, sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his musical talents. He wrote the song Cross Road Blues that was ultimately made popular by the band Cream under the name Crossroads.
We found a B&B for the night. But it seems we have a ghost host. There was a lock box with an envelope inside detailing instructions on how to find our room, a list of local music venues and how to find our self-serve breakfast tomorrow. This B&B ranks right up there in the weird category. Clearly we aren't in Kansas anymore. The town of Clarksdale is very depressed. The downtown "business district" is probably 50% vacant. It's kind of sad to see the level of local poverty and the lack of opportunity.
Tomorrow we will tour the Delta Blues Museum. Apparently the only reason to visit Clarksdale, MS.
And, finally, an announcement. We have a firm date on which we will arrive home, Monday, August 4. This will give us time to deal with 5 weeks worth of mail and household responsibilities before setting out on August 16 to return the girl child to Charleston and the beginning of her junior year in college.
A&L
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