Postcript

Highlights?
Really too many to mention, but here goes with some sort of "top 10" (possibly subject to change given more thought and reflection):

• Travelling with and meeting up with old friends (the pleasure is always better shared)
• Preservation Hall, New Orleans
• Monmouth Plantation House, Natchez (beautiful accommodation and THE best - and most expensive - meal of the trip)
• Tallahatchie Flats, Greenwood (quirky but great accommodation - probably about as close to the real Mississippi Delta as we got)
• Natchez Trace Parkway scenic drive
• Sun Studios and Graceland, Memphis (particularly the tour of the home of Elvis, rather less so the adjacent museum)
• Barber Motorsports Museum, Birmingham
• Muscle Shoals Studios
• National Blues Museum and Jeremiah Johnson Band gig, St Louis
• Architecture Foundation River Cruise, Chicago

"Been there, done that"

• Lafayette
• Natchez
• Jackson (and its rather better, in our opinion, neighbour Vicksburg)
• Greenwood
• Nashville
• Birmingham
• Cape Giradeau
• Fort Madison
• Davenport

Been there but would like to return some sunny day

• New Orleans
• Clarksdale
• Memphis
• Chicago (again!)

Missed but "must do" some day

• Red's Blues Club, Clarksdale
• Open top Cadillac tour of Memphis
• Stax museum, Memphis
• Willie Dixon's Blues Foundation museum, Chicago
• Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
• Candle-lit dinner cruise on Lake Michigan, Chicago

Grateful thanks and appreciation again to those that pointed us in the right direction through their own past experience i.e. Martin, Jeff and Linda and to Sam and Jenny at AmeriCan & Worldwide Travel in Tunbridge Wells who put the whole thing together perfectly (and patiently!) and made our little dream come true.

Thanks, too, to those that have joined us by way of reading the blog. The blog was only ever intended as a diary to remind us of where we went, what we did and who we saw along the way and if others enjoyed it, too, that's an added bonus.

Thought for the trip: "Someday isn't a day of the week"   ;0)

Day 23 - Chicago and home

A quick breakfast at the Corner Bakery Cafe on South Michigan Avenue (sampling another of Lashonda's cappuccinos) and then over the road to the Art Institute of Chicago , according to Trip Advisor, the Number 1 museum in the WORLD (actually that depends where you look but it IS pretty impressive whether or not it is actually #1).

Certainly it has some very famous works of art including Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks", Mark Chigall's "America Windows" and Claude Monet's "Stacks of Wheat" to name but three. However, perhaps most appropriate, given the nature of our trip, is Pablo Picasso's "The Old Guitarist"

To be honest, four hours was not enough to give the place justice but time is no longer on our side and Chicago O'Hare airport is calling us for the night flight back to the UK. Having flown out to the USA on a brand new state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner we flew home on the grand-daddy of the skies a Boeing 747-400 "Jumbo Jet" . Remarkably, the original Jumbo first flew nearly 50 years ago - actually before Concorde - and, in its current guise, it is still going strong.

Day 22 - Chicago

Our final full day - breakfast at Yolk on Michigan Avenue before strolling to the Field Museum , the Chicago equivalent of London's Natural History Museum. On the way we walked through the edge of Grant Park and saw the Agora leg sculptures and the final marker post of our Blues Highway trip: Blues Trail Marker
Journey's end.

We had read in advance that the Field Museum was good for half a day and planned to visit Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation museum, site of the old Chess Record label studios, in the afternoon. That will now have to wait for next time as the Field Museum kept us occupied for the full day. Highlights?

• Jan got to see some (stuffed) Passenger Pigeons Once the most abundant bird in North America, they became extinct in 1914 following a remarkably speedy decline in numbers
• Seeing Sue the T Rex dinosaur and the associated Waking the T Rex: The Story of Sue 3D movie and all the other various dinosaur exhibits
• The reconstructed pyramid and associated Egyptian exhibition
• The story of America's heritage from the original settlers, thought to have crossed from Asia, to date

We had dinner at the Eleven City Diner - great Jewish menu and food but the waitress must have been having a bad day. Perhaps she is the daughter of a taxi driver (see below)?

When we visited Chicago 7 years ago we put this in the blog:

"We had only been in Chicago for 36 hours but all four of us felt that it was a city that we would return to without a moments hesitation - warm, friendly people (except the grumpy tax drivers), fantastic architecture and just too many places to see in such a brief stay."

Well, we've had another good go at it - tomorrow, before we head to the airport for our flight home, we plan to visit The Art Institute of Chicago but it will still leave us with plenty to do and see should we be fortunate enough to visit again.

Day 21 - Chicago

Breakfast at the Corner Bakery Cafe (just like we did 7 years ago) and then a walk north along Michigan Avenue to the river front to book a trip on the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise - a most excellent and informative 90 minutes gently cruising up and down all three arms of the "Y" shaped river system around which downtown Chicago is built.

A quick walk to the Navy Pier where we lunched at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville followed by our second boat trip of the day, this time out on to Lake Michigan for a 40 minute Classic Tour with Shoreline Sightseeing - again, interesting and informative and it was fascinating to see how tiny our 15 storey Essex Inn hotel appears viewed from the lake surrounded, as it is, by numerous skyscrapers.

Continuing the theme of our Blues Highway trip, we visited the Rolling Stones Exhibitionism as it just happened to open on the Navy Pier in Chicago last Saturday for a 4 month stay, having previously been on display in London (New York is next). Very slickly put together, it traces the rise of the Stones to international mega-stardom with several interactive and static displays. Another 90 minutes well spent.

Finally we called in at Pizano's on Madison Street where we had our first meal 7 years ago when we arrived in Chicago to commence our Route 66 road trip. It hasn't changed and the pizzas still taste great!

Day 20 - Chicago

Our first stop of the day was our second visit to an Antique Archaeology store, as featured in the US TV series American Pickers, this time on the outskirts of Davenport at Le Claire, another town immediately adjacent to the Mississippi. Having picked up some souvenirs (to decorate Jan's "man cave") we headed due east 175 miles along I-88 towards our final destination, the USA's 3rd largest city, Chicago, Illinois.

Our hotel for the next three nights is the Essex Inn on South Michigan Avenue. Having checked in we took a somewhat tortuous 4.5 mile drive through downtown Chicago to return our rental car having added a total of 2,375 miles over the past 17 days since we collected it in New Orleans on Saturday, 1st April. We have spent a little over $200/£160 on fuel - about one third what we would have spent covering a similar mileage in the UK.

This being the home of the pizza, our evening meal was enjoyed at Lou Malnati's pizzeria in South State Street  :0)

Day 19 - Davenport

Another 100 miles north today up Highway 61 to Davenport to meet up for the afternoon with more of Chris and Tracey's friends from their 2015 Sturgis trip; Jeff Malloy, Terry Newland, Paul Waggener and Doug Dunlap. We met at our overnight accommodation, the Staybridge Suites , that just happened to be next to a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream store......it would have been rude not to partake.

We all drove down to the park by the Mississippi and spent an enjoyable couple of hours chatting and laughing (a lot). They had travelled 300+ miles/5 hours from Omaha, Nebraska, to meet up with us - what great friends they truly are.

We dined at the Texas Roadhouse (a new one on us) and visited the Cold Stone Creamery again before retiring (well, Chris did anyway).

Day 18 - Fort Madison

North and west out of St Louis broadly following Highway 61 for 200 miles in to the 8th, and final, state that we will be travelling through this trip, Iowa, and to the small city (11,000 population) of Fort Madison on the west bank of the Mississippi where we stay the night at the Boulders Inn and Suites Hotel

Some statistics about Fort Madison:

1. Average house price is $52,000 i.e. just over (at current rates) £40,000!
2. Average rental value is $300 per month
3. Average yearly household income is $34,318 i.e. roughly £25,000

Easy to see why many middle town Americans have considerably more disposable income, after housing costs, than the average UK household.

We drove down to River View Park for a stroll along the river front. While we were there 3 very long freight trains passed us on the adjacent track - apparently over 80 trains pass through each day, some up to 2 1/2 miles long. We ate dinner at the Palms Supper Club opposite the hotel.

Day 17 - St Louis

A quick 100 mile blast up the I-55 North and we arrived in St Louis at the Hampton Inn Downtown at The Gateway Arch just a couple of blocks from where we stayed on our 2010 Route 66 road trip. As an added bonus we were met in the bar by Chris and Tracey's friend from their 2015 Sturgis trip, Bill Bone, who joined us for a drink and then accompanied us to the National Blues Museum for the afternoon. Another great museum - the Americans do these things so well.

After Bill took his leave we had a stroll down to the Gateway Arch itself which is temporarily closed whilst building work is carried out at its base (luckily we travelled to the top of it last time we were here).

We were given a recommendation to eat at the Sugar Fire Smokehouse next door to the National Blues Museum which was handy as we returned to the museum itself for its "Howlin' Friday" live music performance and saw the Jeremiah Johnson Band perform three sets between 7pm and 10pm. Check them out on You Tube: Mind Reader , Southern Drawl and Skip That Stone were just some of the many excellent songs that they performed.

Day 16 - Cape Giradeau

It would have been rude to leave Nashville without returning to the Loveless Cafe , where we dined a couple of days ago, for one last Southern Breakfast before we leave the Southern states behind us as we travel ever onwards north to our ultimate destination, Chicago.

Today we drove 200+ miles through 4 US states: Tennessee, Kentucky (new to us), Illinois and Missouri ending up on the west bank of the Mississippi at the Hampton Inn in Cape Giradeau, Missouri. Different accents, the drawl has all but gone, and visibly fewer areas of ramshackle housing are just two noticeable changes that we are aware of as we enter the Mid-West.

The guy that checked us in to the hotel recommended a river front restaurant, Broussard's that specialises in Cajun cuisine (the owner moved here from New Orleans) and what a great recommendation it was with fab food and fantastic blues music playing in the background. After dinner we took a short stroll along the river side of the levee that protects Cape Giradeau when the Mississippi is in flood: Riverfront Park

As a delightful nightcap, the hotel provided milk and cookies for us when we returned later that evening   :0)

Day 15 - Nashville

On a personal note, the day started brightly for Chris and Tracey as we had a 10 minute Facebook messenger chat with younger son, Stephen, and Chris's Mum. Stephen turns 21 years old on Sunday, 16th, and, of course, we won't be there in person to celebrate and wish him happy birthday.

We should preface today's entry by, whisper it, admitting that none of our small party of four is even remotely a fan of Country Music - almost a sin in Nashville. However, when in Nashville.....

We kicked off by paying a visit to RCA Studio B , another iconic recording studio, however admittance is only by way of a combined Platinum ticket to enter the Country Music Hall of Fame so, sadly, our visit was restricted to admiring the building from only the outside. Next on our schedule was a visit to the American Pickers' Nashville Antique Archaeology store (Jan is a big fan of their long running TV series), a fascinating place packed full of old, interesting stuff. From there we headed off to the famous Bluebird Cafe but were thwarted again as we arrived only to find that the cafe doesn't open until 5pm so, for the second time today, we could only admire it from the outside.

Moving in to the afternoon, we dove to north east Nashville where the huge shopping centre the Opry Mills mall is located with the specific purpose of visiting Boot Barn so that Tracey could buy some cowboy boots (where better than Nashville?). Mission accomplished. On then to the hallowed home of Country Music the Grand Ole Opry for a backstage tour that was interesting and informative albeit some of the "famous" names of Country Music that have performed there honestly meant nothing to us cultural philistines. The Grand Ole Opry is an impressive place, accommodating an audience of 4000 on show nights, and has an unbroken record of broadcasting over the radio every Saturday night performance for more than 90 years.

Having returned to our hotel we walked past the Ryman Auditorium , home to the Grand Ole Opry before it was relocated out of town, to Broadway with its honky tonk bars and restaurants (Country music's equivalent to the blues of Beale Street, Memphis) for dinner at the Nashville Hard Rock Cafe (an antidote to a day full of Country Music. Sorry).

Day 14 - Nashville

Today is the day that we get back on track, following the detour to Birmingham, and return to our Blues Highway route with two nights in "Music City" - Nashville

Our quickest and most direct route (200 miles) would have been to drive north straight up Interstate 65. We chose a rather more convoluted route (250 miles) to take us cross country to another iconic place on the American, if not the world, music map Muscle Shoals and specifically to one of its two famous recording studios - Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, 3614 Jackson Highway The list of artists that have recorded there is almost endless but includes Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Rod Stewart, George Michael, Lynryd Skynryd and, of course, the Rolling Stones (3 tracks on the Sticky Fingers album including Brown Sugar and Wild Horses - apparently, or so the story goes, Keith Richards composed the final two verses of this whilst "medicating" in the studio toilet).

20 miles west of Muscle Shoals runs the Natchez Trace Parkway so, having driven the most southerly Natchez to Jackson section (80 miles) a week ago, on Day 7, we picked it up again to drive the northern end, the Cherokee to Nashville section (120 miles). This section includes the final resting place of Meriwether Lewis , he of the Lewis and Clark pioneers of the early 1800s that explored the American north west, oh, and some bends (curves) in the road, too - quite a novelty.

Situated less than a mile from the end of the Natchez Trace Parkway on the outskirts of Nashville is The Loveless Cafe (thank you, Martin) so what better place to stop for dinner? Click on the link and enjoy the menu - we did!

We rocked up at our hotel for the next two nights in downtown Nashville, The DoubleTree by Hilton having driven through light rain - the first sight of rain that we have had since leaving Lafayette on Day 5. The Weather Channel claims that the last few days have been the warmest Spring days (the temperature has regularly been in the mid to high 80sF/30C) in the southern states of the US since 1981 - how lucky are we?

Day 13 - Birmingham

Morning
Looking at a map of our route up and along the "Blues Highway" you might wonder why we diverted 200 miles south east to Birmingham, Alabama. The simple answer is this: the Barber Motorsports Museum , the #1 attraction (out of 88) in Birmingham, according to Trip Advisor, possibly the best collection of motorcycles under one roof anywhere in the world and definitely the best in the USA. Simples.

As recommended by Chris and Tracey's motorcycling buddy from Omaha, Nebraska, Jeff Malloy. It is probably a good point to thank Jeff for his recommendations for places to visit and things to do whilst on our road trip. Also, from back on the home front, friend and colleague, Martin Smith who kindly provided a list of "must do" experiences and places to visit along the way that have, so far, been absolutely spot on. Last but not least, Linda Arthur, Gillian's sister, who gave us some great pointers for New Orleans in particular. Grateful thanks, guys - we would potentially have missed some great stuff without your advice - much appreciated. You have all been with us very much in spirit.

Evening
We arrived at the Barber Motorsports Museum at 11 am and left at 5pm and pretty much had the place to ourselves. The museum really has to be seen to be believed as it is a purpose built structure over 5 floors with literally 100s of motorcycles from all eras, and a collection of Lotus racing cars, on display in light and airy surroundings and the rear of the building overlooks a purpose built 2.38 mile race track set in the most beautiful landscaped grounds - it was specifically designed to be "the Augusta" of the motor racing world.

In the morning we got chatting to the Senior Manager of Restoration and Conservation, Lee Clark, and he kindly offered us a "behind the scenes" tour (I think he liked the fact that we had travelled from England and he picked up on our evident enthusiasm for the place). He took us out on the bridge over the track itself (being used for Indy-Car testing today) and then took us around the basement of the museum, not open to the public, where all the restoration and conservation work is completed. He introduced us to Chuck Honeycutt, former motorcycle racer turned restoration engineer, and regaled us with tales of the racers and people that he had met and places that he had been all around the world for the best part of TWO HOURS! It doesn't get more special than that.

Another major highlight of our road trip and a day to be remembered, without doubt.

Day 12 - Birmingham

Today was "Elvis Day" - we started the day out on Elvis Presley Boulevard, some 9 miles south of downtown Memphis, and specifically at Graceland the home of Elvis from 1957 until his death in 1977. It is the 2nd most visited house in the USA (2nd only to the White House). The tour around the house itself was tremendous as it is, largely, preserved as it was back in 1977 and it provides a real insight in to its role in the life of Elvis as his haven of peace and tranquility. It is still occasionally used by Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis and Priscilla, when she is in Memphis (until recently she lived with her 4th husband in Rotherfield, East Sussex).

Across the road from the house itself are displays of various aspects of the life of Elvis including his cars and motorcycles, his period in the US Army, his records and films, his influence on other music stars and on fashion. Some, most notably the cars/motorcycles and his period in the US Army are very interesting. Others rather less so. Around every other corner is yet another brightly lit gift shop, too. God preserve us from brightly lit gift shops! Walt Disney would be proud of the whole experience on this side of the road.

Our route to our overnight stop in Birmingham, Alabama (another US state visited for the 1st time), some 240 miles south east of Memphis, took us, rather helpfully, via Tupelo, Mississippi, birthplace of Elvis . Here we found a very tasteful little memorial park, the home that Elvis grew up in, a timeline of his life, comments from various people with whom he grew up and two bronze sculptures up on a hill overlooking his birthplace where, apparently, he used to sit in his later years musing on who knows what. If there is a brightly lit gift shop there it was either closed or very well hidden. Top marks to Tupelo!

Another day walking in the footsteps of a music giant, albeit, one suspects, quite a reluctant one and one who would probably be astounded at the continued interest in his life and work the best part of 40 years after his untimely demise at the age of only 42.

Arriving in Birmingham after dark we dined at the Pappadeux Cajun Seafood Kitchen adjacent to our hotel.

Day 11 - Memphis

Up and out early for a packed day - and we will still only skim the surface of what Memphis has to offer. Grabbed a $3.50 (bargain) "all day" travel card for the trolley buses that serve downtown (except they are not trolley buses but just ordinary buses dressed up to look like trolley buses - rather bizarrely the rail lines and power lines are very much still in place. It appears that the "proper" trolleys are under repair).

1st stop, up the Madison loop, we visited the legendary "birthplace of rock 'n' roll", Sun Studio original home of producer Sam Philips and the "Million Dollar Four" - Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Another almost religious experience up there with Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Walking in the footsteps of giants. Wow!

A brief stop at the Trolley Stop Market for milkshakes ("Americana" flavoured with blueberries, strawberries and ice-cream - yummy!), cookies, pizza and lemon pie before leaping back on the trolleys to the Civil Rights Museum that is actually built partly within the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated on the balcony outside room 306 on April 4th 1968. "Sobering" is probably the best word to describe the contents of the museum itself which describe the history of the African Americans from the start of their mass importation as slaves right up to the silent protest movement in living memory that finally resulted in black people being treated equally in the eyes of the law. Or did it? It is hard to believe, having driven through and experienced a little of Louisiana, Mississippi and now Tennessee that everything is fine and dandy. The dark and heavy weight of history is still felt in the shadows, that is for sure.

Rather incongruously, having walked through the very rooms where Martin Luther King and his entourage stayed on that fateful day 49 years ago with signs asking, quite rightly, for "silence" and "respect" one exits straight in to a brightly lit gift shop! Only in America.

Continuing the "Only in America" theme we popped in to the Peabody Hotel to catch the 5 o'clock Peabody Duck March It really has to be seen to be believed.

Our day ended some 10 miles out of town at Corky's Ribs and BBQ restaurant that had been recommended to us twice - once by a lady we met back in Natchez and again today by a guy that Gillian and Jan got talking to in the Civil Rights Museum. We were not disappointed.

Day 10 - Memphis

We spent the morning at the rather fine Rock and Blues Museum in Clarksdale before jumping back on Highway 61 north to Memphis, Tennessee. As we left Clarksdale we passed through the famous crossroads where Highway 61 intersects Highway 49 and where, or so the story goes, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil: Devil's Crossroads

A couple of hours later we were back alongside the Mississippi itself at the Sheraton Memphis Downtown just a few blocks away, and a short tram car ride, from the famous Beale Street where we spent the evening at the Pig munching our way through a huge platter of B-B-Q ribs/chicken and pork before moving on to a bar with live blues music.

Day 9 - Clarksdale

After the generous and warm hospitality shown to us the previous evening, we returned to Steven's Bar-B-Q diner for breakfast and he welcomed us back like old friends. Then back on the road again......

Greenwood to Clarksdale is not very far at all, barely 60 miles across the very heart of the Mississippi Delta, but it contains within two spectacular museums:
1) In the morning, as recommended by a guy we got talking to in The Old Depot in Vicksburg yesterday, we visited the B.B. King Museum in Indianola - opened in 2008 whilst the great man was still very much alive, it is a powerful and moving tribute to a man who started life in a sharecroppers' shack (similar to the ones that we stayed in last night) but who went on to shape the world of blues as we know and love it today. B.B. King died in 2015 and is buried in a plot adjacent to the museum.
2) The afternoon saw us move on to Cleveland, Mississippi, to visit a museum recommended by Pete, one of our dining companions at Steven's Bar-B-Q the previous evening, the Grammy Museum that opened its doors only a little over a year ago and which is the southern sister to the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. As you might expect, the standard of video, sound and interactive technology is all first class. In short, an afternoon very well spent.

We arrived at our overnight accommodation, The Lofts at the Five and Dime , in late afternoon. In stark contrast to last night's wooden shacks, these are modern loft apartments above what used to be an old Woolworth store bang in the middle of downtown Clarksdale , now a mom and pop diner. We took a quick stroll around the deserted city centre, checking out Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club and various other Juke Joints before eating at the diner, 207 Yazoo. We spent the evening in an almost deserted Hambone Art and Music Club chatting to the owner, Stan Street, and listening to an excellent blues band fronted by the drummer, Grammy nominee (yes, really), Randy McAllister

Another packed day! Tomorrow we leave Mississippi behind and move on to Memphis, Tennessee.

Day 8 - Greenwood

Today we continue another 100 miles north to Greenwood "Cotton Capital of The World". We are staying in some quite "different" accommodation, the Tallahatchie Flats , old cotton sharecroppers' shacks located 5 miles out of town and 1 mile away from Robert Johnson's alleged final resting place (one of three in the area!).

Maybe there will be internet, maybe not........

Well, there is, of sorts albeit rather s-l-o-w. Anyway, here goes. Having investigated what Jackson has to offer we decided to return to Vicksburg for the day! We kicked off with the Lower Mississippi River Museum (free to enter) that includes a self-guided tour of a former working 1960s paddle boat MV Mississippi IV followed by The Old Depot Museum , a quick gander at the famous river front murals before rounding our cultural tour off with a visit to the 1st Coca-Cola bottling plant at the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum (Chris had his 1st ever Coca-Cola ice-cream float..... but not his last!). As we left Vicksburg we drove through the antebellum home district - more ostentatious displays of wealth.

Our next stop and overnight accommodation (see above), some 90 miles up the road, the Tallahatchie Flats in Greenwood is situated some 5 miles out of town literally on the Tallahatchie River flood plain. We were enthusiastically greeted by the site manager JB and his young daughter Rivers. Tracey and Chris were in Nellie's shack which, coincidentally, had a thermometer on the outside wall bearing a "Hastings" (oil company) logo. Having passed a ribs, chicken and burger diner called Steven's Bar-B-Q we decided that fate was drawing us there, too, and pleased we were that we chose to dine there as not only was the food excellent but the eponymous host and his wife and his friendly customers, including Mike and Pete, treated us to some good ol' Southern hospitality extending well past closing time. On the way to the restaurant we dropped in to the little grave yard some 1/2 mile down the road from the Tallahatchie Flats to pay our respects to Robert Johnson and also stopped at the Mississippi Country Music marker for Bobbie Gentry  adjacent to a (but not the) Tallahatchie Bridge.

Day 7 - Jackson

The day started with Miss Mary's French Toast in the Garden Room at Monmouth followed by a stroll around the beautiful gardens in the company of bluebirds, cardinals, squirrels, turtles and Stretch the cat.

Having checked out - somewhat reluctantly, it has to be said - we headed north up the Natchez Trace Parkway , a 444 mile scenic drive that follows an old native American path from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee, towards tonight's destination, Jackson , capital city of the state of Mississippi. The most interesting place en route was the Mount Locust Inn and Plantation best described as a 18th/19th century Travelodge, originally one of 50 similar properties along the Parkway but now the only surviving example.

We hopped off the Parkway west on to Highway 27 to visit Vicksburg and specifically the site of the key Civil War battle Vicksburg National Military Park For a ridculously reasonable $15 we got to drive a 16 mile tour route around the site of the battle that took place between the defending Confederates and the attacking Unionists. The Unionists ultimately only won because the Confederates were starved, and ravaged by disease, in to submission on July 4th 1863. The Unionist graveyard contains over 17,000 headstones. Amongst the many fascinating exhibits along the tour is the salvaged wreck of the USS Cairo  - an iron clad brown water (river) Unionist battleship that had the misfortune to be the 1st ship in history to be sunk by a mine.

Back east on Highway 27 we picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway again heading north and checked in at our overnight accommodation in Jackson, the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel once, in a former guise as the King Edward Hotel, the temporary site of OKeh records (in 1930): King Edwards Hotel

Day 6 - Natchez

What a way to start the day - a good ol' Southern breakfast in the Garden Room of an antebellum (literally "pre-war", US Civil War that is) mansion house. Many antebellum houses were destroyed by the advancing Union troops but a large number survived in Natchez as, although located in Mississippi state (a Confederate state), its population was largely in favour of the Union. The antebellum homes were extremely ostentatious displays of wealth mixing many styles including Roman and Greek columns and planned English park-like gardens. Temples to successful capitalism?

We had the pleasure of a guided tour around the Monmouth, our accommodation, by Gandy and it was quite amazing to learn that the place that we found in immaculate order had in fact fallen in to complete disrepair by the end of the 1970s before being purchased and restored by a (wealthy) couple from California. Our good fortune.

After the tour we drove down to the river front, high on the bluff (cliff), and spent a very educational hour or so in the outstanding Natchez Visitor Center (again, clearly no expense spared in its construction and execution). In many ways it was quite uncomfortable reading about the history of the place, its vast wealth based as it was very much on enslavement that, even once slavery was abolished, led to segregation and appalling treatment of blacks for generations and right into our lifetimes. Thought provoking to say the very least.

We then took a leisurely stroll along one of the marked trails - a 3/4 mile walk along the top of the bluff with panoramic views of the Mississippi River before heading in to a strangely deserted Main Street to view one of the many Mississippi Blues Trail markers: this one commemorating the Howlin' Wolf song Natchez Burning

We rounded the afternoon off visiting another magnificent (still containing many original pieces of furniture and artwork) antebellum home, this one curated by the US National Parks (equivalent to the UK's National Trust): Melrose Mansion It, and its outbuildings, took 8 years to build and contains over 600,000 bricks. Impressive!

Dinner? Where else but in the 1818 dining room back at the Monmouth. A mere taste of how life was and what went before. Perhaps just enough of a taste?

Day 5 - Natchez

The day started with a magnificent "Poor Man's Breakfast" (biscuits, gravy, poached eggs and sausage debris) served to us, and around 15 other guests, at a long kitchen table accompanied by another torrential rain and hail storm, thunder and lightning that, thankfully, blew through by the time we took our leave. Goodbye to the flat swamps and bayous of Louisiana and hello to the verdant rolling hills of Mississippi:

Travelling north up Highway 61, "The Blues Highway":

Situated just over 130 miles north east of Lafayette, Natchez is a small "city" (population 15,000) nestling on a high bluff on the outside of a large bend in the Mississippi River and our home for the next couple of days is what can only be described as sumptuous: the Monmouth Plantation House once known as The White House" of Mississippi as it was, for a while, the home of a former governor of the state. As we settle in late on Sunday afternoon there are tornado warnings being broadcast for Louisiana - looks like we left in the nick of time!

Complimentary hors d'oeuvres are served at 5.30pm accompanied by the Southern American states' speciality cocktail Mint Julep We rounded the day off with dinner at the Magnolia Grill at Natchez-under-the-hill overlooking the Mississippi river as yet another thunderstorm raged in the sky above. The Weather Channel advise that parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi are at high risk of tornadoes overnight and that, in places, up to 8 inches of rain have fallen in the past 24 hours. If we survive, we'll report back tomorrow...........

Day 4 - Lafayette

Farewell New Orleans - 2 days/3 nights was not long enough other than to get the briefest flavour of a lively and vibrant city. I have a feeling that we will be back. Highlight? Preservation Hall, without a doubt. A dream fulfilled.

Back to New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport then - currently having a new 50 gate terminal built to welcome all the guests expected next year to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city - to pick up our Jeep Patriot rental car to head west through Baton Rouge to Lafayette in glorious sunshine (around 80F/26C) on highways built partly on trestles across the swamps and bayous of Louisiana.

Our accommodation for the night is a 200 year old plantation house called Bois de Chenes (Wood of Oaks) situated approximately half a mile from the centre of Lafayette To be honest, the accommodation is beautiful and very impressive somewhat at odds with the ever-so-slightly knocked-around-the-edges state of the city itself. Our host at the Bois de Chenes, Ravi, only recently purchased the property and was most welcoming and enthusiastic about the project that he has taken on. Gillian and Jan's bed:

Chris and Tracey's:

Ravi arranged for one of his friends, Bobby, to come in and talk to us about the history of the house and the area and also to sing some Cajun songs. He suggested that we drove out of town to eat at Pat's Fisherman's Wharf in Henderson.

We feasted on Alligator nuggets (best described as tasting like pleasantly chewy chicken) and Crab and Corn Bisque (historic) for starters followed by Combo Fish Platter (oysters, crab, catfish, hush puppies), Hamburger Steak, Burger and local speciality Fried Shrimp Po' Boy Back at Bois de Chenes we spent a very happy hour chatting, generally putting the world to rights, with Houston and Jen, and their baby daughter, Madeleine, from Texas.