A day on the beach

At Sun, Sea and Surf

It’s beach day today, time to laze by the ocean on a couple of sunbeds with nothing more to do than listen to the sound of the waves breaking on the beach. In the morning, the ocean is rough with waves crashing onto the beach, great to attempt some wave jumping but brutal or should I say exposing if you get it wrong as I did. Dave was considerately crying laughing! In the afternoon, the waves are gentler and the breeze stronger, fanning us gently as we watch the world go by. Pizza for lunch, take away salad for tea with wine, and an evening stroll to a very cool bar Sun, Sea and Surf, but there’s no way we could eat here as even the youngsters have their mobile phone’s out with flashlight on just to read the menu! They do however, have a very cool fire pit, but why is this needed tonight when it’s 28⁰C?  A perfect day in all.

Fort Lauderdale to Hollywood and back

Stephen Spielberg's yacht

We’re both eager to get out and about this morning, the reason, we want to explore on the water taxi. The stop is a short walk from us through the lobby of the Hilton hotel and the concierge is only too willing to sell us tickets. The yellow water taxi soon arrives and as we cruise along captain draws our attention to places of interest. Right now, he says this is where the working class live, Dave and I look at each other, that’s right he continues they’re only millionaires here not stupidly rich like further on! That’s the house Mr Wells owns (founder and owner of Wells Fargo Bank), that’s where Jane Fonda used to live, that house sold recently for $23 million, that house was given as a wedding present to his niece it’s now worth $48 million, the list goes on and on and our mouths open more and more. Then there are the yacht’s, initially the ones we pass are only 2 or 3 storey’s high, then we come to the really big boys including Steven Spielberg’s yacht which is more like an ocean-going liner! Apparently, we could hire it for a week for $1.2 million excluding gas, food and tips!

Bahia Cabana

Then there's the celebrity stories the most notable one about the Bahia Cabana, it has 2 periods for happy hour, 4pm - 7pm and 7.30am - 10.30am the latter being specifically for Nick Nolte when he was living here in Fort Lauderdale, apparently he liked to drink late or was it early!  

Lunch at The Downtowner

As we want to go to Riverside we have to change water taxis, the next one goes up the river under bridges that have to keep opening for the large boats. Being nosey we want to travel to the end until the taxi turns around on its return trip, then get off at the first stop. This however gets lost in translation and we end up getting off at the second stop. What a fortunate error, there’s a man playing soft guitar jazz and blues at The Downtowner, which makes for a perfect lunchtime spot to watch the boats coming and going while sipping a cold glass of wine and eating spicy chicken tacos and a mahi mahi sandwich. A stroll along the riverside shopping and hotel area afterwards is pleasantly accompanied by window shopping in some very high-class shops, shame they’re shut, but Dave feels this is the best time to go shopping!

Margaritaville

The taxi now takes us back to the under the bridge exchange point to go to Hollywood. The double decker taxi arrives and departs with us sunbathing on the top deck while listening to the captain tell us about the intercoastal waterway which runs all the way to Texas, hope the taxi stops before that point! It takes 30 minutes to reach Hollywood or Margaritaville, past the huge cruise ship which is like a city, past the container port and the airport and the national west lake park. Now Margaritaville is completely different to Fort Lauderdale, younger, more vibrant and noisy. The beach flows off the boardwalk and on the other side are lots of bars and restaurants. It’s strange to think that on one side of this strip of land is the Atlantic Ocean and on the other the intercoastal waterway with the everglades beyond. All this is too much for me we retreat to the bar by the water taxi stop. Well as it says on the sign, “It’s 5 O’clock somewhere”, 2 margaritas’ later the taxi arrives and the trip back begins along with more banter. “If you’re goin’ out drinkin’ tonight take the taxi, let us do the drivin’, or better still we’ll come drinkin’ with you, heck I’ve only hit 2 icebergs this week!”

The walk back to the hotel is hot and very sweaty but after a cold shower and an hour rest we’re ready to stagger to Franco and Vinnies just down the road. For once it’s a more European pace for eating, food appears at a more leisurely pace and the chicken and sausage special and chicken with aubergine are both huge and delicious. We can’t manage all the food or wine, I don’t think I’ve ever been given a doggy bag of wine in a plastic container before. 

Bikes!!!

This morning we’ve decided to use some of the “Boris bikes” from outside the hotel to bike around the adjacent Hugh Taylor Birch state park. So, bikes hired we set off down the sidewalk towards the park, now I’m not a natural on a bike so I’m nervously wobbling all over the place and jumping off at every stop. Dave on the other hand is a natural and soon diagnoses part of the problem my saddle is so high I have no chance of touching the ground. Saddle adjusted, the ride continues with much more success. We can’t believe that we’re in the middle of a busy city, the only noise is that of birds and cicadas. The trail through the park is through thick trees and mangroves coming out eventually on the inter coastal canal. Here there are amazing waterfront mansions across the water from us all with their own dock for their boat, naturally. As we stand there a huge “gin palace” passes us, so large that the bridge over the canal must be raised, stopping the traffic on the 6 lane Sunrise Boulevard. Bike ride completed its time to relax on the beach, dozing and people watching and swimming in the sea.

Us & The Bikes in Hugh Taylor Birch state park

This evening we stroll down the promenade until we come to a casual dining restaurant, The Deck. It’s up a set of steps overlooking the ocean and unusually it’s outside. The grilled chicken and rigatoni Bolognese are all good home cooked fare. The stroll back is breezy and refreshing, as is the drink in The Parrot bar where sport is being displayed on every TV and no 2 TV’s are showing the same game or sport. There’s even a frisbee game being televised or Disc League as it’s called over here.

Fort Lauderdale by the Sea

Fort Lauderdale by the Sea

Another hot and sunny day greets us this morning, eager to explore we walk towards Fort Lauderdale by the Sea. At first the walk is along an esplanade running next to the beach then expensive mansions with sea views and eventually high-rise hotels and condominiums. We’ve now been walking for an hour and are hot and dare I say, sweaty, time for a drink and a cool off in the air-conditioning of a café before going on further. Dave wants to go on the beach but every turning ends in a gated and fenced car park, its miles till we find an access onto the beach. By now I need to cool off, I’m almost running to get in the cool water. Dave sensibly sticks to paddling and when we’ve finished strolling through the waves into Fort Lauderdale by the Sea, I wish I’d done the same! I’m now very soggy as we eat our burgers in Mulligans Beach House. And even more embarrassed to get into the uber car still looking like a wet T-shirt ad from the front at least. We’ve managed to walk 3½ miles in 34⁰C heat, and Dave in flip flops! Must have a snooze by the pool to recover!

Our Friday night out in Fort Lauderdale starts with an uber ride to Treasure Trove where all the locals seem to be out in force drinking beer and shots, we stick to the beer. We’ve put our names on the list for the restaurant, Coconuts, a very cool riverside restaurant where we can dream of luxury yachts as we sip drinks on the riverside deck. The tall table inside gives great views of the sun setting over the marina as we tuck into Jambalaya and tuna salad. Over a bottle of wine, we indulge in people watching, the large family in front of us, the large guy is obviously the patriarch and the children are so well behaved. There’s lots of couples enjoying romantic meals together. A short stroll takes us to Ibiza, a Mediterranean styled restaurant with uninterrupted views of the ocean and a superb sax player cum singer songs by John Legend, Mike and the Mechanics and Neil Diamond.

The marina from Coconuts restaurant deck

Fort Lauderdale beaches

Fort Lauderdale Beach

Well, fortunately this morning the weather is fine, after gazing open mouthed at the stunning view out of our room window we set off to walk the beach. And what a beach it is here, miles upon miles of white gold powder soft beach. There’s not many people on the beach the major activity is from the pelican cruising above the wave like some malevolent prehistoric bird before it suddenly folds its wings and becomes a streamlined dart diving into the water for fish. This beach is a protected nest site for turtle so every now and then there is a cordoned off area presumably where there is a nest site. After all this walking a sleep on a sun bed on the beach is the perfect solution. At 1pm we decide it’s time for lunch and just as we’re thinking about moving, bang, a huge clap of thunder and instant torrential rain. Dave’s never seen me move so fast, packed and running across the beach and road straight into Primanti Brothers Pizza for lunch. What huge slices of pizza! The rest of the afternoon is spent watching lightening and torrential rain before going down stairs for cheese and wine and meeting an American couple from North Carolina. The restaurant Seasons 52 proves to be a wonderfully romantic setting for an evening meal with candle light and wine. The food is great too, chicken flatbread to start, pork tenderloin and BBQ chicken salad to follow with key lime pie and pecan pie to finish. The walk back to the hotel is warm and pleasant, so much so that we’re enticed to stop for a nightcap in McSorley’s Irish bar.

Jan outside Seasons 52

Storms over Fort Lauderdale

Our alarm is set to wake us this morning as we need an early start to get the flight from New Orleans to Fort Lauderdale. This morning there are lovely warm fruit pastries for breakfast and fresh coffee as always. The taxi soon gets us to the airport and we get a whirlwind like tour of bag drop and security leaving us shaken if not stirred by the end. The flight is a little delayed by bad weather coming out of Miami, uhh ohh. We’re about last to board by seat number and should we be alarmed when the flight captain addresses the plane and says it was a little rocky on the way over so I’m going to keep the seat belt signs on today, gulp! He was right, 15 mins from our destination the plane is ‘arocking and ‘arolling and dropping, I nervously keep concentrating on my card game! Not sure if Dave is rocking in time to the music he is listening too on his headphones or the turbulence anyhow he does not seem to notice! After this landing is a doddle, as is the pick up by Rae our driver in an E-Class Merc despite him going to the wrong terminal and we arrive at the hotel Sonesta. Check in is smooth and as we get chatting to the receptionist we detect a Scottish accent, turns out she is from Stirling although she has lived here for over 30 years

Our room at the Sonesta Hotel

It is so far removed from the last hotel it is untrue, modern, floor to ceiling glass windows, white and chrome. What a spectacular room, floor to ceiling windows along two walls with views down the beach and another panoramic window looking out to sea, just wow…. The hotel is doing a special today, 80’s music and corn dogs. What are they we ask each other, turns out they’re large hot dogs covered in a slightly sweet dough fried and very good with ketchup or mustard. Another first for us.

As we get ready to go out tonight a thunderstorm rolls in off the sea, how spectacular, watching forked lightening light up the sky and waves of rain surge down the beach obliterating the tall tower blocks in the distance. It’s nature’s own light show. It’s too wet to wander far but just around the corner is a bar called The Parrot, which has been serving visitors and locals since 1970. Just to be extremely British we order fish and chips and very good it is too. On the down side the waitress tells us this weather is here for the next 10 days, we leave in 7 so let’s hope she’s wrong.

New Orleans meanderings

Dave with the jazz musicians

Our last day in New Orleans starts with torrential rain and a thunderstorm, thankfully we’re in the main house here at the hotel so the walk down to breakfast is not a wet one. When the rain stops we walk out into the city just to soak up the atmosphere, nowhere in particular to go to. Just outside the French Quarter is Louis Armstrong park, it is completely deserted apart from the statues and the guy trying to cut the grass, it’s more like aquaplaning really! The old US Mint is our next stop, not only does it have old memorabilia on coins it has a small art and jazz museum too. Our wandering takes us back to the French Market, it’s not so crowded today, so we take time to wander along the stalls. It’s time to try another New Orleans must, a muffuletta. It’s a large flat bread roll filled with salami, ham, mortadella, provolone and mozzarella cheese, but the iconic ingredient is the olive salad. Ours is served hot so the cheese is gentle melting into the other ingredients, yummy. As we eat there’s the bustle of the market, birds tweeting and in the background distantly heard jazz from the band at the Gazebo café.

The French Market

More wandering through the old streets drinking in the atmosphere brings us to The Golden Lantern. From the bright light outside the bar looks tiny but it is a typical American bar with a large u-shaped bar and a back room. The barmaid and locals make us feel very welcome and are interested to compare notes on our and their political situations and the world in general. The barmaid seems to believe that more of us Brits carrying guns would solve a lot of our problems, we and another local disagree amicably.

It’s back to the hotel for fresh baked hot cookies and coffee before getting ready for our last night here in NOLA. The walk to Frenchman Street takes us yet again down streets lined with old houses all in different colours and uneven brick pavements. Abita is on the corner and Dave has been looking forward to the steak here all day, it doesn’t disappoint him and my comfort food of red bean stew and andouille sausage is equally good. To finish the evening live music curtesy of Louise Cappi at Vaso before a final drink in our “local”, Cosimos.

Ferry to Algiers Point

Having explored the Garden District, the French Quarter and Frenchman Street this morning we’re going to take the ferry across the Mississippi to Algiers Point. As we walk towards the ferry at the bottom of Canal Street we pause to look inside a pink wedding chapel, the guy asks us how we’re doing and where we’re going today. When we tell him he asks why we want to go there, implying there’s nothing there, the lady in the chapel says they’re from the UK – well that explains everything!

New Orleans from the Mississippi

Mississippi Levee

The Canal Street ferry to Algiers Point is a workhorse which joins the 2 communities either side of the Mississippi, waiting for it to arrive reminds me of commuting to Liverpool on the Mersey ferry. The only difference is that there are no seagulls and it’s hot. The trip only takes minutes and we get great views of New Orleans, the bridge and the Natchez paddle steamer from the ferry. The few people on the ferry soon disembark and disappear into Algiers, we set off to find the points of interest I’ve researched, to be honest these seem to consist of a few building styles which are interesting but not going to take long to see. The most interesting thing for us is the Levee, how much higher it is than the land below it and how high the Mississippi is on the other side. There are trees and telephone poles sticking out of the water’s edge, we guess the river is running high at the moment. As we approach the ferry terminal again it starts to rain so we dash for cover in a blue British telephone box, it looks like the Tardis but is the entrance to The Rose and Crown pub. The pub turns out to be a very British pub serving British beer! The pub owner comes from Coventry, he is not around today but we are looked after by a friendly bartender, Brad who is excited to tell us about his upcoming holiday in Perth Australia.

The rest of the day is spent dodging the rain, lunch in the food court of the huge retail outlet by the cruise ship port followed by a walk through the warehouse district back to Bourbon Street. It starts raining again, this time heavily so we shelter in the Bourbon Bandstand and listen to Doc Lovett and the Louisiana Remedy playing a good set of blues music. What a great way to shelter from the rain, though it is dripping down from the ceiling onto strategically positioned mats!

Sunday on Frenchman Street

Frenchman street by day

After breakfast, we set off to explore the Frenchman Street area. The walk takes us through gorgeous tree shaded streets, walking on old brick pavements that are frequently uneven. The houses are painted in a multitude of colours and frequently adorned with exotic plants and in all areas, there are mardi gras beads festooned on trees, plant pots, decks where there are rocking chairs.

Frenchman street is throbbing with the sounds of lazy soft jazz, the buildings are more dilapidated but all look like they can tell a few stories. The coffee shops all seem to have a more ethnic feel none of the big chains are in evidence here. The record store has an endearing note on the door, please don’t let the cat out! Inside the store there are rack upon rack of CD’s and vinyl’s and headphones for customers to listen to music before they buy – very old fashioned. In the back of the store there’s also a stage area all set up for a band to play on. As we leave Frenchman Street we run into the French Market, a huge area with lots of small enterprises selling their goods, places to eat local food and of course jazz music. We stop for refreshment and a cool down in the airconditioned bar of The Crescent City Brewhouse, where we lunch on crawfish gumbo and pulled pork & crawfish boudins. It’s amazing how long you can make one drink and a glass of water last when you’re hot! Time for a bit of souvenir shopping, a very hot a sweaty event and afterwards we can’t wait to get back to the cool of the hotel.

Jazz at Maison

The walk back to Frenchman Street is still hot and steamy, the lights are gradually dimming and a few people are beginning to sit on their front steps in rocking chairs. We pause for a drink in our adopted local Cosimos, no tourist’s other than us in here tonight. There are however some interesting characters, the tattooed man with the 3-legged dog, the loud guy at the end of the bar and the lady with the chameleon! In Frenchman Street, there’s a night art market going on with lots of stalls selling pictures, jewellery etc. At Adolphos we discover there’s a long waiting time of over an hour but no worries he’ll call us. Names noted on the list we wander into Maison and listen to some soft, sshht, sshht, jazz with a good female vocalist before heading back to Adolpho’s after all we don’t want to miss the call. The food upstairs is wonderful, shrimp and crawfish marinara linguini with salad and garlic bread to die for. As we leave the restaurant, there’s a great mardi gras band playing, people are dancing in the street, a guy’s selling beer and of course the traffic has slowed to a crawl so everyone can listen to the beat from the street. The walk back is very deep south, hot humid air, people lolling on street corners and the golden night light over the city.

The Hotel St Pierre at night

In the footsteps of the Past

Dave outside The Columns Hotel in The Garden District

The smell of breakfast wakes us, the hotel provides a complimentary breakfast and to our delight the hot option is sausages and scrambled egg. Fortified we walk off to find the trolley stop to go to the Garden District. I’m hoping to follow a garden district walking tour and Dave wants to relive his youth. The trolley arrives and we hop on and rattle our way along the road to Washington Street where we get out along with most of the passengers on the tram, all heading to Lafayette Cemetery and the Garden District. The cemetery is easily found and feels very hot and steamy with its tall enclosed walls and blocks of above ground mausoleums. Next, I try to direct us on the walking route but fail miserably and it is getting hotter and more humid by the minute, it looks like Dave might dissolve any minute so the walking tour is abandoned and we search out The Columns Hotel. This is the place Dave stayed when he first came to New Orleans 35 years ago and has long wanted to revisit. He’s not disappointed, it is exactly like it was all those years ago, dark wood lined rooms and bar, stained glass windows and white columns on the exterior. It is also air-conditioning an excellent improvement to the hotel!

Inside The Columns Hotel

We ride the trolley back to the French Quarter and after buying a roll, yes one is more than enough for these 2 Brits, we follow our ears to Jackson Square and munch our lunch listening to a large brass and drum band who have everyone toe tappin’, thigh slappin’ and dancing to their beat. When their set finishes I suggest a trip round the St Louis Cathedral and the inside is as impressive as the outside, there are huge paintings on the high vaulted ceilings and some lovely dark wood furniture but the overall impression is of light. The next stop on our eclectic tour of the city is the oldest gay bar in New Orleans where we can sit on the iron work balcony and people watch.

St Louis Cathedral

After recovering in the cool of the hotel, we walk back to The House of Blues where an Americana band, The Right Lane Bandits, are playing tonight. There’s a good party atmosphere going, with a Guns ‘n’ Roses tribute band playing the main hall, but a good number of the audience seem to be in the courtyard restaurant where we are. The rain pours down while we’re under the canopy eating adding to the steamy atmosphere. The food is surprisingly good, philly cheese steak for me and meatloaf for Dave. Once the 2 hour set is finished we walk back to our local bar, Cosimos which does a good JD & lemonade or American whisky.

The Right Lane Bandits at The House of Blues

New Orleans

Early start for us today as we must off hire the car in New Orleans by 10.30am, some 175miles away. The journey is traffic free until we reach the big cities if Baton Rouge and New Orleans but even then, we’re not delayed. I haven’t mentioned much about our car or sat nav and that’s because they have been completely trouble free. We’ve loved travelling in the luxury of this brand new, big black Dodge Journey and the integral sat nav has made even the driving directions through big cities stress free. There isn’t time for long goodbyes as we are checked in at Enterprise and whisked into a complementary car for a ride to our hotel in minutes.

The French Quarter

The short ride to the Hotel St Pierre, gives me a brief glimpse of the gorgeous old streets of New Orleans, the French styling of lattice iron-work balconies, narrow streets and pots of exotic flowers everywhere I look. Our room is an attic room with a tall skinny window looking down on the central courtyard that’s arranged around the small swimming pool. There’s a huge 4 poster bed in the room, so romantic but we will need steps to get up onto it!

Band set up on Royal Street

Bags unpacked we set off to explore the city and wander around the picture postcard streets wowing at the ironwork balconies, the flowers, the tiny brick courtyards and colourful buildings. Refreshments are taken in a courtyard bar and afterwards we pause to watch bands set up in the street, drums, chairs and all. We bumble into Jackson Square, see the St Louis Cathedral, the riverfront and iconic city trolleys. The city is beautiful, exotic and bewitching, I think I’ve fallen in love with it already. Back at the hotel they lay out coffee, cold milk and the most delicious array of warm fresh baked cookies, we enjoy these whilst relaxing round the pool in elegant wrought iron chairs with comfy cushions whilst we make friends with the hotel kitten. That should keep us going till tonight!

A G&T in the courtyard before we leave sets us up for the night on the town. The streets of the French Quarter are starting to buzz, the night is hot and steamy and Pere Antoine’s entices us in. It’s a large, old restaurant set on the corner of two streets with large ceiling to near floor windows which are open. The place is filling up fast, we order a New Orleans speciality, gumbo soup to start, jambalaya, red beans and creole shrimps to follow and nona’s fruity bread pudding with rum sauce to finish. The words have no sooner left our mouths than the soup appears and a couple of minutes later the main course. As we struggle to eat all this food before it gets cold the waitress whispers to me I’ve got your dessert on the go it’ll be with you in a minute! I have to ask her to slow down a bit apart from anything else we can’t fit any more food on the table. Absolutely stuffed we roll out of the restaurant and waddle down the streets to ease our stomachs. Later on we pause in The Blue Moon Bar to listen to a live party band, watching the show as brides to be, birthday people are included in the show.

Us in Jackson Square in-front of St Louis Cathedral

Natchez & Antebellum mansions

Kristine and Paul have kindly given us a voucher for breakfast at one of the Antebellum houses, so this morning I’m particularly eager to get out. Dunleith is a large hall that is now a hotel and wedding venue, the breakfast buffet is in the old carriage house. It’s a very grand building, the kind you feel you should whisper in. the hot breakfast turns out to be grits, crispy bacon and vegetable frittata, Dave would like some nice Cumberland sausage to go with it. In addition to the breakfast we’re able to take a free tour of the downstairs of the main house, where we’re shown huge 16ft tall ceilings, hand painted wallpaper, rococo furniture and French chandeliers.

Stanton Hall

Inspired by this tour I drag Dave into the next Antebellum Mansion on my list, Stanton Hall. Now, here we really strike it lucky, as the last cruise ship of the season is docked in town, all the guides are assigned to a room in the mansion and dressed in period costume. Each room is explained along with the history of the owners, he only lived in the house for 9 months before he died, however his wife lived another 20 plus years! We’ve discovered that you can’t explore blues music without delving into North v South, the Civil War, cotton and slavery, it’s all interlinked and one of the ladies is very knowledgeable about slavery and cotton, very interesting.

A Natchez House

Dave manages to tear me away and continue with our blues music tour, looking for plaques, but what’s this on the corner, another church. I dash up the steps and inside before Dave protests, it is surprisingly ornate inside with a blue arched ceiling, stained glass and lots of carved figures. After this interlude, we spot 2 more blues markers and then the Blues and Biscuit café, just the thing for lunch. We get to try corn & shrimp chowder and chicken & sausage chowder, all lovely and evocative of southern cuisine. A short walk back home for washing and packing before going out in the relative cool of the evening is now in order.

Natchez Cathedral

By 7.30pm its all sorted and we’re walking back to the centre of Natchez to dine at the Rolling River Restaurant, it’s getting very black over there I comment and just as we get inside, the tropical rain starts. It’s like a white curtain coming down and bouncing back up from the road. Fortunately theres a good acoustic country singer, Taylor Spring, to keep us entertained and great food, hamburger steak for Dave and a salmon sandwich for me but really it’s a huge steak of salmon in a bun with salad. Both are delicious and washed down with a bottle of Californian champagne, yummy. It’s still raining when we come to leave so our waitress calls us a cab, he arrives and is possibly the most southern guy we’ve met so far. “This’ll be the best music yee’ll ever listen too” he greats us with and starts playing a recording by Sam Phillips (Sun Studios) of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. He’s probably right.

The steamboat moored at Natchez Under the Hill on the Mississippi

Plantations, paddle steamers and moonshine

Us on The Trace Parkway

Mount Locust Plantation House

We’re on the road reasonably early today not because we have far to go but we want to travel on the Natchez Trace Parkway which is a national park and has a maximum speed limit of 50mph. The problem is that I can’t find much information on where to join it, I know that it is 444miles long and has some information centres but not where we are. We eventually manage to get on it 45 miles before Natchez and start to thoroughly enjoy the slower pace of travel through tree lined avenues, we don’t pass another car. The first stop we come to is a place called Mount Locust an original plantation house. It’s not as grand as I imagined but then it is very old. There’s still a wooden porch with a rocking chair and the rooms are laid out with beds and dining furniture, out the back is the cellar (a place where they stored collected water) and the large bell. It still rings well, how do I know, well Dave had to try it out! The place feels like you can hear the slaves singing in the cotton fields, and see the travellers coming up the Mississippi to the house, walking their way back to Nashville and beyond. Our next stop on the Trace is Emerald Mound, it’s an ancient Indian burial and Temple mound which took 300 years to build. Dave is amazed, how did you manage to sneak a temple into a blues music tour he wants to know, sheer genius I say!

Dave in his Rocking Chair!

The Trace ends in Natchez and we drive to the end of the road where we are staying for an impromptu picnic. What a view from the top of the bluff, the Mississippi river stretches out for miles in-front of us, there’s a wooded area far below us and perched on the top of the bluff are a row of gorgeous old houses in all sorts of pastel colours. Time to check in and meet our hosts, Paul and Kristine. Their main house is a tall, Victorian house that looks a bit like the haunted houses you see in old black and white movies. The welcome from Paul includes a potted history of Natchez which is apparently his short version and only lasts 45 minutes! They are both very friendly and great hosts. Kristine walks us to our home for the next 2 days, The Hideaway. It is a lovely one storey Victorian villa with a front porch and a back deck. There is a huge living room, kitchen dinner, and 2 bedrooms all furnished with older furniture in keeping with the villa but it has all the latest mod cons of air conditioning etc.

The Hideaway

Unpacking now takes only 5 minutes, we’ve both learnt not to waste time on this process, then it’s off for a walk down the bluff for a drink in Bowies before going to the Pig Out Inn for an evening meal. We know America likes its fast food but this is beyond fast, the salad is ready prepared in a plastic tray, the pulled pork and beef is cut with the speed of light and the sides of beans plonked on our plates and plastic cutlery thrust into our hands all in the space of 1 minute. Have a good day y’all, follows us as we sit stunned in a red plastic dinning booth, “Can I help y’all” to the next customer.

Well, dinner finished, it’s a short walk to The Inn under the Hill to wait for the live music. “I’m a damn yankie, where yee from?” greets us from a young man sitting by his Yamaha motor bike. Pleasantries exchanged, we go on to discuss North/South differences, travelling and politics all as we watch the Natchez River Paddle Steamer pass, then start to drift downstream. Another local man appears, nods to the boat‘s “gooin to daack”, where we ask as there’s only a road going into the Mississippi here. “Heere”, he nods and sure enough the steamer the size of a small cruise ship edges closer and drops the gangplank virtually on the front porch of the Inn. While this is going on our first friend is producing a clear glass jam-jar from under his T shirt, “try it” he whispers. “What is it?” we whisper back, “moonshine”, he says. The tiniest sip is enough to burn my lips and turn them instantly numb, heaven knows what it does to your stomach never mind the brain!!!! The band has now started playing, we make our excuses and move inside to listen, good blues music with a guest appearance by “The Grateful Dead’s” harmonica player.  But, we only manage to last an hour, that moonshine sure is strong.

Wine tasting and Blues Markers

With Lonnie at Williams Winery

Now we have no plans for today except that we think there may be a winery at Greenwood so we drive in that direction. We find the old fire house which has been converted into a winery but it says on the door that wine tastings are only on Friday or Saturday, but just as we’re about to leave the owner opens the door, come in he says, I have 4 folks here from Switzerland just starting a tasting come and join them. The tasting only costs $5 and covers 8 wines, a lot of blues and southern history along with lots of stories from Lonnie the owner and wine maker. Partway through, Lonnie’s friend drops by to take pictures for an article about Lonnie’s Fig wine. Not only does he want to photograph the wine and Lonnie, suddenly Dave and I and our 4 new Swiss friends are part of a fashion shoot! Many photos later, (oh how I wished I’d washed my hair and put on some makeup) and armed with ideas for blues history site to visit, we leave Lonnie.

Dave and WC Handy Marker

Next stop, the blues trail marker of where WC Handy first “got the blues” in 1902. It turns out to be a plaque by a deserted railway line in a very rundown collection of houses, I can almost hear the guitar being played with the knife and the train leaving the station. Round the corner is a plaque to Emmett Till the young man whose death sparked the start of the Civil Rights Movement. We continue on our travels spotting another blues trail marker for the Staples Singers and here we have our luckiest encounter of the day. A local man spots us taking pictures and directs us to Dockery, the birthplace of the blues a short drive away. Here there are plantation buildings that have been restored and tell the story of how the tenant farmers started singing to communicate with each other, pass the time and entertain themselves on a Saturday when work was done. It’s all accompanied by some video footage and traditional blues music over loud speakers throughout the farm buildings. It’s so eerie to hear those voices it takes us back in time.

Dockery Restored Plantation Buildings

We continue on to Cleveland and the Grammy museum but a Taylor Swift exhibit is not enticing so it’s a short drive home for a meal in Nola, a local Indianola restaurant where we discover grits and shrimp.

Indianola and BB King

Clarksdale Crossroads

Our journey today will be on more country roads rather than a fast interstate highway as we’re going to Clarksdale, which has a big history with “The Blues”. The journey takes us along roads that are slightly raised above the level of the surrounding fields, past tin shacks, wooden “shotgun” houses and large brick built homesteads, such a variety. Farm machinery looks just abandoned where it finished working and there’s lots of flooding beside the roads. The Crossroads are marked by a couple of guitars above the crossroads of 61 and 49, so insignificant really for a point on the map that has inspired so may blues songs. We are hoping to lunch at Ground Zero Blues Club but after a few circuits of Clarksdale we find it is shut because of Memorial Day. Ahh, this might mean we will struggle to see other places on our list, and yes, every other café we look at is shut…

BB King Museum

The Super 8 at Indianola is just like our Travelodge at home but it is clean and spacious if not homely or quaint. We set off to just find the BB King Museum and end up touring the place for 2 to 3 hours, it is the one place that is open today. The museum is a wonderfully set out and gives a excellent account of BB Kings life, civil rights, musical and personal life. I feel like I know this man before we leave. The most poignant bit is visiting his grave at the back of the museum, both of us alone on the 29^th May, 2 years to the day from when he laid in open coffin here before his burial the next day.

By now we are starving, and after investigating many cafes, restaurants and bars we eventually find an open one, Guadelahara, a Mexican restaurant provides us with good filling Mexican food, corn chips and salsa, filled empanadas and steak and shrimp on rice. With full stomachs we stagger back to the hotel and notice that no one else is walking around here.

Graceland

The storm has passed on and the air is fresher but as we walk downtown we can see the damage caused, lots of branches of trees are down. We’re eager to get to the Rock and Soul museum early as today we are going to Graceland.

The drive takes about half an hour, just time for us to soak up some video of the King himself, playing music. We check in and collect our tickets and get booked on to a tour which is in an hour and a half, we’re both a bit disgruntled, what should we do till then? We’re directed to the large halls of exhibits, costumes, life story, cars, motorbikes, fairground stalls, the halls of exhibits go on and on, no need to worry what to do at all. I do notice that all the costumes on show are from when Elvis was a young, slender man!

Dinning Room at Graceland

Reception Room at Graceland

It’s time to board the shuttle bus to take us to Graceland, we’re no sooner sat down on it before we’re going through the famous music gates and up to the mansion. What strikes me first is that the house itself is not that big. The tour is all with ipads and headphones, the living room with its 15-foot sofa, the dining room all laid out for dinner, the kitchen remodelled in 1970. The tour continues through more exotic rooms a basement den with mirrors on the staircase ceiling, a bar and at that time state of the art TV and music system, on to the Jungle room a very exotically decorated room with tall carded chairs, green shag pile carpet on the floor and ceiling and animal statues. Finally, the Racket Court with its bar and piano where he recorded his final 2 songs, the office space, swimming pool and memorial garden where Elvis, his mum, dad and grandma are all buried and a plaque to his twin brother who was still born. It’s been fascinating, yes there was obviously money spent here on the house but the overall impression was of a much-loved family home. Finally, there are his airplanes to view, gold plated bathroom sinks, leather and suede huge armchairs and a bed, flying Ryanair will never be the same again!

Racket Court Room & piano

The trip back to Sun Studios is again accompanied by more Elvis film clips, we collect our tickets and again we have an hour and a half to wait. We’ll go and get something to eat round here! Well, it is Sunday of the Memorial Day holiday and nothing is open except McDonalds, the girl serving us has the thickest southern drawl accent I’ve heard yet, the only thing I understand are the numbers she shouts every couple of minutes. Somehow, we manage to order.

The Sun Studio tour is the bit Dave has been most looking forward to and although it is only 2 rooms, it’s packed with memorabilia and the tour guide is excellent with a very good sense of humour and lively delivery style.

Singing in Elvis's Mike

Finally, tonight blues music on Beale Street, we start in the Juke Joint, where a band are on the tail end of their set but they’re really rocking the joint. On to the Rum Boogie Café for typically southern fare, BBQ chicken, beans and salad and of course live music. There’s a 7-piece bad set up playing blues soul music, Ride around Sally, Soul Man, the tour of our youth continues. The vocalist has a great falsetto voice and the guitarist, the biggest set of teeth you’ve ever seen all constantly smiling and their trousers, huge baggy pants in pink or cream! After, this it’s time to just join in with the locals and cruise up and down Beale Street soaking up the atmosphere, listening to the music and ogling the folks and how they’re dressed, nothing it seems is too short, too brief, too tight whatever shape your body is!!!