Musical Journeys: Blues Cruise Day 2

Blues Cruise Day 2; May 5, 2011

Had a little trouble with the shower at the Shack and couldn’t connect with the internet at the Shack lobby – woe is me; the biggest problem of the day. The Shack manager, Marc (Ms.), is from Hillsboro, OR of all places.

Had breakfast at the Delta Amusement Café (a gross exaggeration!) for a plate of eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy (bona fide, I might add). We visited the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale where we sat in Muddy Waters sharecropper shack (moved from it original site in Stovall) to the interior of the Museum. Art and Casey dropped enough $ in the gift shop to get a huge smile from the proprietors.

Then headed south from Clarksdale to the Dockery Farm; the historic plantation that was a stopping point for, among others, Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Howlin’ Wolf and Tommy (not Robert) Johnson. A few bricks from the old commissary were liberated for transport to Oregon. From there I went to Rosedale with my riders by my side and met the infamous Poor Eddie, Rosedale “travel guide”, for a brief history lesson of what really did not happen in Rosedale. Took our Chevy to the levee but the levee definitely was not dry. The river is expected to crest on the 15^th and there is a real question if the levees will hold back the river.

We found the crossroads of legend (at least the one used in the movie “Crossroads”). Didn’t look like much at 2pm but could be a bit spooky late in the day; Legba didn’t show. We were ready with loaded mojo sacks and a lit cigar.

On the way south from the crossroads, we stopped at the Mississippi Indian mound museum on Hwy 1. One of these is at least 50’ tall. They are conical in shape, flat across the top; the one we climbed had to be at least 50 yards across the flat summit.

Then we turned south to Vicksburg stopping in Leland for the Hwy 61 Blues museum. Those poor folks have had to cancel their June 6^th Blues festival to keep the motels available for people expecting to be displaced in the event of evacuation from the lower areas.

Tomorrow is the Civil War battleground site in Vicksburg, Indianola (birthplace of BB and Albert King) and wherever our travels take us on our way to the Greenwood festival for the 100^th birthday or Robert Johnson.