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.