Clarksdale, Crossroads, Tutwiler

So after a good night of sleep in an air conditioned motel room we get off to a late start. We want to explore the area a little bit before we continue on. The weather forecast is a heat alert for the area and I have decided not to go further south but to go east and catch the Natchez Trace at Tupelo. Our first stop is the post office so that we can ship the Barbie doll we have been carrying. It was listed on Ebay and the auction closed last night. Then we go to the Delta Blues Museum. It is quite interesting to find out how many blues musicians came from this area. After the museum we walk across the street to the Ground Zero Blues Club. It is open for lunch so we go in and have a soda and some fried green tomatoes. There is no band here at lunchtime but the tomatoes were quite good. There is a restaurant called Abe's BBQ so we get our Mississippi bbq picture there and go in search for the Crossroads sign where blues musician Robert Johnson supposedly met the devil and sold his soul to learn the blues. We did not find it although Linda says it was by Abe's BBQ. We went south of town to the Hopson Plantation which played a big part in blues history. Behind the plantation is the Shackup Inn where one can stay in old shareropper houses which have been converted to motel rooms, A Harley rider tells us where the crossroads sign is and we go back to town. Sure enough it is right across the street from Abe's BBQ right where Linda said she saw it. Now it is back past the Hopson Plantation to Tutwiler which is considered the birthplace of the blues. There is a mural there depicting the encounter that led to the blues. Our bike's "precision" thermometer reads 105. I am skeptical so I turn on my weather radio which also has a thermometer. After stabilizing it indicates 108. Regardless of the thermometer's accuracy it is definitely hot and humid.Then we go back north again past the plantation and finally catching Highway 278 and go east towards Tupelo which by the way is the birthplace of Elvis Presley. Linda says that she is not feeling well so we stop for gas and rest awhile inside a McDonalds and cool off. We don't know whether the issue is heat, green tomatoes or something else but decide to stop at the next motel and stop for the day. This turns out to be the town of Oxford about 45 miles from Tupelo. Tomorrow we will get an early start to try and cover some miles before the heat gets over 100 degrees.