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.