What see and do in Mississippi?

OK..... I have 4 vacation days left for the year. I
have a brother who lives in Memphis Tenn who wants me
to come down and visit....and that's abt a 6 hr drive
from north Missouri (where Im at).

Ive never really been to any of the southern
states.....and Im thinking I could kill two birds with
one stone and drive to Memphis and see my
brother....and then take out and just "ramble" farther
south.... maybe down into Mississippi?

But.... what to see and do? Id have a total of 7 days
if I use my remaining 4 vacation days and leave early
on a Friday after work.

Im thinking maybe drop down and see Natchez
Mississippi? Id like to avoid any big towns and visit
small towns and get a real taste of life in the south.

However....... I could also drop down to memphis and
either go east to The Smokies.... or west to east Texas

Advice? G

wrote in message
...
OK..... I have 4 vacation days left for the year. I
have a brother who lives in Memphis Tenn who wants me
to come down and visit....and that's abt a 6 hr drive
from north Missouri (where Im at).

Ive never really been to any of the southern
states.....and Im thinking I could kill two birds with
one stone and drive to Memphis and see my
brother....and then take out and just "ramble" farther
south.... maybe down into Mississippi?

But.... what to see and do? Id have a total of 7 days
if I use my remaining 4 vacation days and leave early
on a Friday after work.

Im thinking maybe drop down and see Natchez
Mississippi? Id like to avoid any big towns and visit
small towns and get a real taste of life in the south.



If you want a real taste - you must go to Hattiesburg to Mack's Fish Camp
for seafood - fried whole catfish, fried catfish fingers, fried catfish
filets; fried frog legs, fried clams, even fried dill pickle slices. That's
just half the buffet table. Absolutely marvelous. Last time we were
there, we timed our trip south from St. Louis to be there at dinner time,
and we stood behind a couple in line who had timed their trip north from
Central Florida for the same purpose. (phone 601-582-5101)

Vicksburg National Military Park is a nice way to spend an afternoon, and
there are a plethora of antebellum homes if that's in your line. A drive on
the Natchez Trace Parkway is nice.

Chris

If you want a real taste - you must go to Hattiesburg to Mack's Fish Camp
for seafood -

Vicksburg National Military Park is a nice way to spend an afternoon, and
there are a plethora of antebellum homes if that's in your line. A drive on
the Natchez Trace Parkway is nice.

Thanks Chris..... Im abt two hrs north of St Louis.....
have brother in Memphis tho.

Will definetly check out both places above!

I was just looking at the map atlas and noticed that Th
Trace doesn't follow the Mississippi River like I
assumed it did.

I wrongly assumed th it paralleled the Mississippi
River all the way to the Gulf. Instead The Trace cuts
diagonally across the state of MS.

It appears that US Route 61 does follow the River
pretty closely and its marked scenic as well.

Does anyone know anything abt following 61 down to
Natchez?? Or should I stick with using The Trace
when leaving from Memphis?

When you were hiking back north cross country saves a lot of steps. FFM

wrote:

I was just looking at the map atlas and noticed that Th
Trace doesn't follow the Mississippi River like I
assumed it did.

I wrongly assumed th it paralleled the Mississippi
River all the way to the Gulf. Instead The Trace cuts
diagonally across the state of MS.

It appears that US Route 61 does follow the River
pretty closely and its marked scenic as well.

Does anyone know anything abt following 61 down to
Natchez?? Or should I stick with using The Trace
when leaving from Memphis?

According to :
I wrongly assumed th it paralleled the Mississippi
River all the way to the Gulf. Instead The Trace cuts
diagonally across the state of MS.

Correct. The Natchez Trace is a roughly diagonal route from
Nashville to Natchez.

It appears that US Route 61 does follow the River
pretty closely and its marked scenic as well.

This would likely be a more interesting and colorful route
than the other possibilities, especially if you're into
Blues music. The Mississippi Delta, which US-61 goes
through, is considered to be rather poor and depressing
compared to the rest of the state. Which, of course, is why
it was the birthplace of the Blues.

I've been kind of wanting to check out this blues club that
Morgan Freeman opened up in Clarksdale:

http://www.groundzerobluesclub.com/

Does anyone know anything abt following 61 down to
Natchez?? Or should I stick with using The Trace
when leaving from Memphis?

The Trace is nowhere near Memphis, so I think your choices
for traveling to the coast are US-61 or I-55.

If you're up for an interesting side trip, you should swing
by Oxford, a quaint university town with a really nice
downtown area. Oxford is home of Ole Miss, was the home
of William Faulkner, etc.

Several miles outside of Oxford is a little artist village
called Taylor, home of the world famous Taylor Grocery.
Taylor Grocery has the best catfish in Mississippi, which of
course means it has the best catfish in the world. They
also usually have live music. You should call ahead and
make sure they're open on the night you're there. Your
mouth will love you forever!

I have some photos of Taylor on my web site:
http://davidsimmons.com/pers/photo/taylor/
Don't be turned off by the rustic appearance of Taylor
Grocery. It's a lot nicer on the inside.

After visiting Oxford/Taylor, you could take MS-6 (which
may be labeled US-278 on your map) over to Clarksdale and
take US-61 south from there. I don't think you'll miss
anything interesting by skipping the very north part of
US-61, unless you're into casinos.

On your way south you could stop in Leland, MS and see
the Jim Henson exhibit:
http://www.lelandms.org/kermit.html

David

--
David Simmons
"Today is a fine day for science!" -- Dexter