Memphis, at last

I had way too many airline bottles of cheap red wine last night- but we got up at 6 AM the next day and got on the road to Memphis. It was a 10 hour drive, but we were bound and determined to get as far south as we could. We arrived to sunny 70 degree weather and beautiful views of the Mississippi. Heavenly....and the slider worked, the jacks went down, and so far, everything is running great.

Our neighbor had one of the most innovative ways to tow his truck and boat back to Wisconsin!

We decided to spend the week here..just enjoying the river. We got our absentee ballots mailed for the election on Tuesday, the 2nd—not that it really made much of a difference. Instead of watching the election results, we put in a movie….just too depressing for words.

Cotton Fields, Blues and Casinos

We talked about visiting the Delta Blues Highway for years and finally made it. Driving to Robinsonville and the Harrah’s RV Park, we passed through miles of hot, flat land. The cotton fields go on for miles and seem to reach to the edges of the casinos borders. The “Delta” of the Mississippi River is rich agricultural land—the topsoil averages 132 feet deep—in some places as deep as 350 feet. But, you can understand why the field workers learned to sing the “blues”….back-breaking work in achingly hot weather- with not a speck of shade in sight.

Note that the Horseshoes are upside down....all the luck is draining out!

The area was one of the poorest in the country—until the casinos moved in. They call themselves the “Casino Capital of the South” and claim to be the third largest gaming area in the country. It wasn’t what we expected—thinking “Las Vegas Strip”---instead we found tired looking hotels and casinos spread so far out that it was miles between them. Robinsonville is a town of 4 traffic lights on Highway 61. At each of the lights, you turn off and drive for miles alongside cotton fields to reach a group of casinos.
We took a day to drive south to try to find something of the Delta Blues music scene. In Tunica, about 10 miles south, we stopped at the Blue and White—a local tourist draw – serving typical Southern country cooking—grits, turnip greens and country ham.

We found a flier for the Wild Hog Music Fest and Motorcycle Rally in Helena, Arkansas and we were on our way to Arkansas. Driving through Lula, Mississippi- one of the poorest towns we’ve ever seen— a street of boarded up buildings.

"Downtown Lula"

We crossed the Mississippi River bridge into Arkansas and found ourselves in Helena. Highway 49 heading into town was filled with more closed down businesses and AME Baptist Churches.

Downtown Helena, Arkansas (Note the Buster Brown Shoe sign)

In its’ earlier days, Helena was a hub for dockworkers (and a major port of call for blues singers, bootleggers, gamblers and prostitutes).

Its’ real claim to fame came with the local radio station, KFFA 1630 on your dial, and the radio program called “King Biscuit Time”- the longest running daily blues radio show in the U.S. . Sonny Boy Williamson II hosted the show-sponsored by King Biscuit Flour –“Pass the Biscuits-It’s King Biscuit Time” –“King Biscuit- White….Dainty….Light”.

(Look beyond the truck to see the "King Biscuit Trailer")

Today, “Sunshine” Sonny Payne hosts the daily radio show.

The King Biscuit Hour Studio

You can tell that the town was once a prosperous place- with an active downtown, right on the Mississippi. Today, most of the buildings are empty with faded hand-painted signs – but the motorcycle rally had the town buzzing.

After a un-inspiring lunch at the “Road Kill Grill” (the Cajun Steak sandwich should be avoided at all costs—bad beef with cheese whiz on bad bread…)---the "Road Kill Grill" really does serve "road kill".

Camp Charlie and the Arkansas Travelers

After a brief reprieve from the group, it was off with Charlie and Gloria, Huey and Katie, and Brenda and John. We met up with Brenda and John at the Mississippi Welcome Center and caravanned to Charlie’s house in Searcy, Arkansas. Charlie was waiting for our call and by the time we got off the freeway exit, he was there in his car to escort us to Camp Charlie. Charlie and Gloria have a huge piece of property in Searcy- 45 acres. Gloria’s parents and Gloria’s daughter both had houses on the property. Charlie and Gloria had both a house and a “Civic Center" - perfect for Charlie's RV Park and Rally Central.

We got set up in the open field and then headed off for a personal tour of Charlie’s empire. Charlie was in his glory. Charlie is quite a character. He had a rough childhood- picking cotton in the fields, dropped out of high school in the 10th grade, joined the Air Force during the Vietnam War --and then came to Arkansas and started a auto body/paint shop that he has grown into a huge business (multiple locations with a great cash flow). He's turned over the operation of the business to his daughter and a general manager that he considers a son- so he's basically a figurehead- not really tied up in the day to day operations of the business. So, it leaves him with the time to travel and plan these insane pre-rallies. He is one of the most amazing people you'll ever meet- he has a heart of gold- and an overabundance of energy! He continued his private tours for the entire weekend as the rest of the 25 coaches showed up for his “pre-rally”.

He took the Cajuns for dinner on Friday night at the famous Arkansas Cajun restaurant- Who Dat’s. The chef put out quite a feast for us. The highlight of the pre-rally was Saturday night at Charlie’s Civic Center- complete with bluegrass band and barbeque. They had enough food for Saturday and for pot-luck on Sunday.

It was a bit of a challenge since Searcy is smack dab in the middle of White County- a dry county! It's 40 miles to the next county and the "First Chance/Last Chance Liquor Store". We call this place "Dry White Wineless County". Needless to say, we made a liquor run on Saturday to buy 2 cases of wine and beer.
The weekend at Charlie’s over, we headed out, caravan style, to Mountain View. It was quite a site to see about 10 motorhomes headed out of tiny Searcey. Leave it to Charlie, he had a photographer on the main road to document the parade. We arrived that afternoon to a tiny RV park and with the biggest coach, we got the cat-bird spot overlooking the mountains (also the only place in the park where we could fit).
We had an appetizer get-together with the Arkansas Travelers that night. It was an odd mix of people- there was a large contingency of Cajuns - who love to party, drink and dance- balanced by the Arkansas Baptists- who may drink, but only if they have it hidden in oversize, camouflaged thermal cups. They don't dance and don't seem to have a whole lot of fun.... Thank goodness for the Cajuns! (And for our “Charlie’s Auto Body” super-size thermal mugs to hide our wine)

We had 3 days in Mountain View. The guys headed out on Tuesday morning to run around town and get things organized. Brenda and I headed out to explore the town and its’ small antique shops and cute little stores. After dinner that night with the Arkansas Travelers, we all drove up to John Taylor’s Laid Back Pickin. In a huge old barn, we listened to John Taylor’s bluegrass band playin’ and singin’. They even had their dog trained to collect tips!

We took one day from the group and drove to Batesville, Arkansas and visited a museum of funerary stuff. They had old caskets and embalming machines. That night, the entire group headed out to a local catfish restaurant for dinner. After dinner, Charlie had arranged for some local musicians to do some “pickin” and singin’ for us at the campgrounds.