The wonder of blues
Elvis. Right: Jacqui has a go B.B. King music saturates the very air in this part of the world, its people are known for many other talents too.
Star scribes include Tennessee Williams – we stopped at his beautiful home in Columbus – and Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty, whose lovely house we saw in Jackson.
We also enjoyed the work of current artists at the Mississippi Craft Centre, in Ridgeland. Blacksmith Lyle talked us through creating a bulldog bottle opener with a southern drawl as entertaining as his skills.
At the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, paintings, sculptures and poetry adorn the walls. I was struck by a line from the 17th century poet Matsuo Basho: “A field of cotton – as if the moon had flowered.”
Our trip included cotton picking,
Elvis’s first home. Right: Cookery class
relaxing on Mississippi verandas, touring the film locations for The Help in Greenwood and rejoicing in the local cuisine.
We breakfasted, brunched, lunched and dined to our belly’s content on fried chicken, fried catfish, fried tomatoes, sweet potato in brown sugar and cinnamon, black-eyed beans, spiced-up veg, bread and butter pudding, banana bread…
We even learned how to cook it, southern-style, at the Viking Cooking School, in Greenwood, from kitchen manager Loren Leflore, whose charm was immensely, er, stirring.
But it mustn’t be forgotten that much of this talent was rooted in the dark past of slavery and segregation – the brutal story of which is told in words, videos and pictures at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in City full of fun and creativity Jackson. It’s a sobering experience to learn of the suffering of individual victims.
In contrast, no visit to Mississippi is complete without going to church, in particular, a spirited service at Jackson’s Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.
Never have I experienced such exuberance, joy, wisdom and humour. The gospel choir’s singing and dancing was extremely moving – tissues are an essential.
Allcomers are welcome and the lifeaffirming service is followed by a huge helping of soul food.
My soul and my body were both well nourished in Mississippi.
The state may be the poorest per capita in the US, but it’s rich in creativity and hospitality.
Mississippi, missing y’already…