Martha in Mississippi
Trip Start
Feb 25, 2010
1
41
60
Trip End
Ongoing
Greenville, Mississippi
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Good ol' Mississippi is nowhere along the way when driving from Colorado to Pennsylvania. In fact, it is several hours completely in the wrong direction. But when you have a friend like Martha whom you haven't seen in years, a few short hours makes little to no difference.
We left Kansas City early afternoon, and started our car heading southeast to Greenville - the heart of the Delta in Mississippi. We were so excited to enter a new state, since neither of us had been before. But even more exciting was the fact that we were going to visit Martha and her family. We've known Martha for years from Boulder, and we had the pleasure of meeting "Mama" a couple years ago when she visited her baby girl in Colorado. But to finally meet the entire clan and see where Martha gets all of her amazing southern charm was an irresistible offer.
We arrived around 8:00 to the family's little country store / gas station. Her family greeted us with open arms and big southern hugs, and we were already impressed with the true-sense of Southern Hospitality. They prepared such an incredible dinner, and even went over and above to make sure there were plenty of veggie options for me! We had cheesy potatoes, asparagus, corn on the cob, homemade rolls and an eggplant/zucchini blend. Delicious southern cooking! After chatting away for awhile, Martha decided to show us her town a bit. So, we headed to a local bar for a couple hours. On the way back, she took us on a traditional ride on the levy. Basically, we drove down some crazy dirt roads with lots of farm animals wandering around. It was 3:00 in the morning before we finally got back to her friend's home. Good friends of the family - and practically 2nd parents to Martha - put us up in their amazing home since Martha's house was under construction.
We were slow getting out of bed in the morning, but finally said our goodbyes and hit the road by early afternoon. We were so impressed with how welcoming everyone was - her family, her friends and even strangers at the gas station and bars. I believe that the further south you go, the more intense the charm of the south is. We are seriously counting down the days until we get a chance to really explore the Delta in Mississippi, discover where all the amazing blues music came from, and spend more time with Martha and her family.
Comments
The levy was NOT basically a dirt road with farms. It was way cooler. The levy runs for 2200 miles. It is basically a large plateau built to hold in the rising waters of the Ol Miss, and prevent flooding of the surrounding lands. There is a gravel service road on top, and that's what we went cruising on in the middle of the night, occasionally veering off the sides to chase a cow or other random set of eyeballs. I hung out the window most of the time and let the Mississippi air run through my hair. It was fantastic!!!