It's the Blues

Friday June 3 2011

The blog title of Tornadoes or the Mississippi Blues meant that if there were still threats of tornadoes we would go somewhere else but if it was clear we would do the Blues Highway and the Natchez Trace. Today we left Missouri headed for Memphis and Highway 61 which is the Blues Highway. We took Highway 63 south from Missouri into Arkansas. Right away we saw Wild Hogs BBQ and took a picture for the contest I have entered. The longer we went the hotter it became. We stopped in Hardy, AR to sightsee. Hardy's main street is comprised of the town's original buildings which now hold touristy types of businesses. We walked through 2 antique stores mainly to get out of the heat. Then we continued on south. Highway 63 was nice while we were in the Ozarks but it eventually became a proper 4 lane with little scenery and eventually we turned onto Interstate 55 headed for Memphis. Over the Mississippi River we went and took the first offramp because the sign said there was a state information center there. There was not and oops, we were on an onramp back onto I55 going back across the Mississippi with no way to turn around. So we crossed the river 3 times today. Following the GPS instructions taking an offramp that will eventually take us to Highway 61 just as we see that the next offramp IS Highway 61. Oh well. It is only a few miles to Mississippi and we are looking for another BBQ restaurant. We saw many BBQ restaurants but none of them had BBQ or Barbecue in the name. I guess we will get a picture in the Nashville area as we do not want to turn back to Memphis. Just before Tunica, MS we see an information center. They tell us how to find the local historical signs about the Blues Highway and we start collecting pictures. We get to Clarksdale just as the information center there is closing but they invite us in and give us some information. Tonight we will stay in an air conditioned motel and walk into the historical area for food and music as we were told it was only a few blocks. It was slightly more than a few blocks and the area was very run down. We did have a nice meal at "Lady at the Levee" restaurant. The service was good but seemed to be given grudgingly if not grumpily. It was 9:30 when we finished our meal and it was dark outside. We did not know what type of area we were in but we were close to downtown so we walked into the downtown area looking for the "Groundzero Blues Club". There was not a sign of life in the downtown area. We did find the club but decided we did not to be walking back to the motel later at night so we skipped the club and walked back to the motel. We had no problems but were still glad to get back to the air conditioned room. We will explore the town Saturday morning.