Murals and Other Art

Well, do I even have to say it? We got off to a slow start today. I know you are shocked, shocked, shocked! We decided to stick around Vicksburg for lunch--you know, all our days and plans revolve around our next meal! We left the hotel and headed for the Coke Museum. Vicksburg was the first place Coca-Cola was bottled. The museum is small but very interesting and informative. When we finished there, it was not quite lunch time so we walked down the hill to the flood wall to look at the murals. They were very well done and each one had a plaque telling the history of the area. We learned a lot and decided it was a good way to learn a little history. We walked back up the hill and headed to Rusty's (thanks, Kristi!) for lunch. As usual, we attracted the crowd. No one was there when we got there but it filled up quickly. Obviously, a hot spot for lunch. We decided to head north on 61 and then switch over to the Great River Road. We read about Margaret's Castle--a little place w/ some religious writings. We came upon it--we couldn't miss it. We parked, took some pictures and went to the door. The home health nurse was there, but she told us to come on in. We met the owner and creator of the outside (and inside) artwork. I don't believe we found out his name but he may be Rev. H.D. Dennis and he is 92, 94 or 95. He was in WWII, his mother died when he was born, he was raised by white people, and he believes in God. He has read the Bible and let us in on some little known Biblical "facts"; most of which we were in the dark about. We spent a more time there than we would have liked to then got hurriedly got back in the car. It is so hard to contain laughter when we're together. The key is not to look at each other but even that doesn't always work--case in point, the earthen lodge. We headed on to Greeenville via the Great River Road--not much going on in the MS Delta today. We made a pit stop in Greenville, drove by Doe's and headed to the 61 Blues Museum in Leland. Not much going on in Leland today either. The Blues Museum was small but full of information. I thought we might have to do CPR on the elderly worker though. She was in kind of a bad way today. When we finished there we drove around looking for the Jim Henson Museum--like I said before, we have the hardest time finding attractions in the smallest of towns. After we got back on the highway, we found it but it was closed so we drove on to Greenwood, the site of our next meal. We went to the Crystal Grill (thanks, Alex) for dinner. Dinner was great and so was the pie. Yes, Jim, there is still at least a slice of pie left in the South. We got an entree, 2 sides, drink and dessert for $13! We found the Alluvian and went inside for a look-see. Very nice. Time to move on. As always, we toured the not so nice part of town before leaving (not by choice but the Garmin doesn't want us to miss anything-except what we are looking for). We headed up Hwy 7 to Oxford and tomorrow we have a real treat--Graceland Too! Kerry, this one's for you!