A collection of miscellaneous thoughts and pics of things we saw along the way....

1.  Airport Newsstands and the Political Divide

For whatever reason, it had been a while since my last layover in a "red state" airport.  But this year I have had layovers in both Atlanta and Dallas, and each time I was surprised to see an airport newsstand I'd never seen in Sea-Tac, SFO, or Kennedy - the Fox News Channel store!  Apparently Fox only places its stores in airports where their loyal viewers are most likely to be found and stays away from liberal hubs like New York and Seattle.  So I eagerly went inside looking for aisles of mugs and t-shirts filled with anti-Obama Tea Party slogans, but was disappointed to find the usual mix of beach novels, Doritos and cheap trinkets.  Maybe Fox isn't so bad after all one you get to know them....[thinking]....well, maybe not.

2. Donk Cars - High-Risin' in the Dirty South

Growing up in California in the 80s and 90s, I became accustomed to low riders (preferably with hydraulics) as the hip-hop car of choice, with the '64 Impala being the emblematic example:

But as we drove through the outskirts of Memphis and down into Mississippi, we found that down South, the opposite trend had occurred - cars being raised up on oversize wheels with huge rims, known as "Donks" or "High Risers" - we saw these cars everywhere:

Very interesting and original, yes, but I'll take that Dr Dre-style Impala over the Donk any day of the week - guess it's just my West Coast roots!

3.  Best Name for a Strip Club Ever

Sadly, no pictures, but as we drove US Highway 61 through Woodville, MS, I spotted a sign for "Illusions Gentelmen's Club" and had to laugh - no pretenses here - if you come in, you just get the illusion of female attention, nothing more, nothing less.

4. Finger to Heaven in Port Gibson

Passing through the picturesque town of Port Gibson, MS, we noticed a wide variety of historic churches alongside the many historic homes that lined the main streets.  But one house of worship stood out from the crowd - the First Presbyterian Church.  While most Christian churches around the world opt for a cross at the apex of their steeple, First Pres had other ideas, placing a hand with an index finger pointed to the sky atop their steeple:

A closer look:

Thankfully, they chose the right finger!  :-)

Got to love the creativity, and as an attorney, I'd be calling every pro athlete that points to heaven after a big play and demanding royalties!

I'm no stranger to the South, having spent seven years in North Carolina during college and immediately after, but after ten years in New York and a move to the west coast, my memories of the land below the Mason-Dixon Line had started to fade.  But spending ten days driving through the deep south afforded me the opportunity to get a fresh take on the state of the whole "north-south" thing in the 21st Century.  And while I was again amused by white southerners' obsession with calling anyone from other parts of the country "Yankees" (in the rest of the country, 150 years later, no one cares), what I found most interesting was the enduring legacy of the so-called "Lost Cause of the Confederacy" movement and how the Confederate States of America and its symbols often serve as a proxy for opposition to modern political and social movements.

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The the Confederate battle flag (the so-called "Stars and Bars") continues to be a controversial symbol in cities and towns across the U.S., as the motivations of those who seek to fly it are questioned by others who find it deeply offensive; a good example is the state flag of Georgia, which was changed in the early 2000s in response to public outcry over its use of the "Stars and Bars".  Interestingly, Georgia's use of the Confederate flag did not date to the time of the Civil War - far from it, actually.  Georgia had adopted a flag featuring the Confederate emblem for the first time in the mid-1950's in the wake of Brown v Board of Education and the first stirrings of the civil rights movement, lending credence to the argument that the Stars and Bars' symbolism carries strong racial overtones (a similar situation occurred in South Carolina, where the Confederate flag was raised on the grounds of the Statehouse in Columbia for the first time in 1962, again in direct response to the civil rights movement).

Following Georgia's changes to its flag, Mississippi is now the only state to use the Stars and Bars on its state flag (as pictured above).  Mississippi's use of this Confederate emblem also does not date to the Civil War or its aftermath.  Instead, the current flag dates to the 1890s, when efforts were being made to re-cast the Confederate cause in the Civil War as noble and Godly, with military defeat only coming due to the North's overwhelmingly superior resources.  This movement has been dubbed "The Lost Cause of the Confederacy", and we saw its legacy across Mississippi.  For example, many of the small towns we passed through have a picturesque central town square with a courthouse at the center.  We noticed that on the grounds of each such courthouse (and other places across towns without a courthouse square) were what looked like memorials to Confederate soldiers; however, these stone monuments that tended to date to the late 19th and early 20th Centuries not only remember those who perished wearing the Gray, but also prominently glorify the Southern cause.  For example, this monument, erected in the 1900s, stands in the central square in Oxford, MS:

I was taken aback by two things here - first, the reference to "patriotism" of those who sought to divide the United States (this word would be very understandable if the monument dated to the 1860s, but 1907, not so much) and second that the Confederates were fighting for a "just and holy cause".  In my view, you can say what you like about the merits of southern society in the 1860s, but any society, whatever positive elements it may have, that includes the enslavement of fellow human beings cannot rightly be described as "just and holy".  I can only imagine the emotions that the continued existence of hundreds (if not thousands) of such monuments across the south must evoke in African Americans. 

But in a state that just recently decided to get around to ratifying the 13th Amendment, it seems these monuments aren't going anywhere anytime soon, as evidenced by a recent voter referendum on the Mississippi state flag.  In 2001, Mississippi residents defeated an initiative to change the flag and remove the Confederate emblem by a vote of 64% to 36%.

A few other examples of similar monuments:

An inscription on the monument above (in a park in Natchez, MS) reads

"From each 'Lost Cause' of earth, Something precious springs to birth, Thought lost it be to men, It lives with God again". 

To me, this quote brings up a bigger issue than just the thorny tangle of slavery and the Confederacy - do those who lose wars get to honor their dead?  The tempting answer is that the sacrifice of life for one's country is a selfless act that can be universally recognized; however, the rub lies in the meddlesome fact that it is impossible to divorce the sacrifice of life with the 'cause' for which the sacrifice was made.  And because the history books are written by the victors, losing causes are most often associated with immorality and villainy.

For example, the Yasukuni shrine in Japan, honoring those Japanese who sacrificed their lives for their country in World War II is seen as highly controversial, and some of those commemorated there are viewed by some as war criminals.  While one can clearly understand the viewpoint of those who feel this way, I am reminded of Robert McNamara's statement in the documentary film "The Fog of War" in reference to the U.S. firebombing campaigns against Japanese cities in World War II:  "[Air Force General Curts] LeMay said, 'If we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals.' And I think he's right. He, and I'd say I, were behaving as war criminals. LeMay recognized that what he was doing would be thought immoral if his side had lost. But what makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?"

Definitely an interesting issue that merits debate.

For most people, southern food means BBQ and all things fried, but we set out not only to find the best of the area's most famous cuisine, but also to see what else we could discover along the way.  Here are a few highlights:

1. Abe's BBQ, Clarksdale, MS

We stopped in to Abe's on a stormy Saturday night amid tornado warnings to grab some classic southern cuisine before we checked out the legendary blues scene in Clarksdale.  Abe's is best known for ribs and hot tamales (more on the deep south tamale obsession below); unfortunately there were no ribs on this night, so we ordered a pork plate, a beef plate, tamales, and sweet tea (which seemed to defy science in the amount of sugar that was somehow dissolved into the liquid).

There was no attempt to have any greens or other traditional southern veggies on the menu - Abe's was all about the meat!  The food was solid, and the tamales had a nice kick - we were off to a good start, despite the pleadings of our arteries.

2. Gus' World Famous Fried Chicken, Memphis, TN

This was one of our best meals - Gus' original restaurant is in tiny Collierville, TN, but has since expanded to Nashville and Memphis, allowing us to give it a try.  And Gus delivered, with golden crispy, moist fried chicken with a bit of a kick - probably the best fried chicken I've ever had!  We were disappointed that they were out of collard greens on this day, but we couldn't pass up sides of fried green tomatoes and fried pickles, and of course a dessert of pecan pie - snarf!!! 

3. Arcade Diner, Memphis, TN

On Monday morning we visited the Arcade Diner, Memphis' oldest restaurant, in operation since 1919 and a favorite haunt of Elvis (they still have his famous peanut butter and banana sandwich on the menu!).  Although it has been featured in a number of major movies (Great Balls of Fire, The Client, The Firm, 21 Grams, Elizabethtown, and Walk the Line, among others) and well-known by tourists, it still has a very laid back and local atmosphere.  I ordered sausage, biscuits, and gravy, and Jenny loved her sweet potato pancakes....and even tried grits for the first time:

...and you know that chivalry isn't dead in the South when you see this sign in the men's bathroom....










4. Local Products

Having recently lived in New York and now being a resident of Seattle, I am quite used to local craft products, often lovingly made by local hipsters, so was curious to see if there was any evidence of this trend down south.  While one would rarely associate the deep south with the word "artisinal", we did find several local products that were excellent that are well worth a mention in case they ever become more widely distributed.

 - Sweet Magnolia Ice Cream, Clarksdale, MS

Made by a sole proprietor out of his house in rural Mississippi and featuring hand-written labels, Sweet Magnolia Ice Cream is taking the Delta by storm - the shop owner we bought it from in Oxford told a local magazine that she couldn't keep it stocked.  So on a warm, sunny Mississippi spring day we made a special trip to pick up a pint.  When looking through flavors, we simply couldn't pass up Bourbon Pecan, and the cashier at the market offered us a spoon without us asking and told us we could hang out in the parking lot as long as we liked.  We took it back to our B&B and ate the whole thing in about 10 minutes sitting on a porch swing - doesn't get any better than that!

 - Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale

Another amazing find was this beer, claimed to be the only brew in the world made with pecans, and damn is it good!  Made in tiny Kiln, MS, this is some great beer - if you see it in your local store or pub, give it a try!

 - Cathead Distillery

This Mississippi distillery stands out by promoting live music and the blues - according to their website, "By all means possible, we look to align ourselves with foundations who support live music, genuine arts and the fine southern heritage that is the BLUES. We pledge to provide $1 of every 750ML sold to help support foundations that agree with our cause."  Cool stuff - pick up a bottle of their vodka if you're down south and support the blues! 

5. Under the Hill Saloon, Natchez, MS

Quite possibly the place we visited with the most character was Under the Hill Saloon in Natchez - old enough to have an association with Mark Twain and dripping with history, this tavern along the banks of the Mississippi is straight out of a movie, and the owner/bartender JD is no exception - when I first came in, both Jenny and I thought "this can't be for real" - but it was, and JD just made the place perfect (except, sadly, for the clientele, who on this night were a bunch of lame steamboat tourists with questionable views on issues of race and the like, but they were easily ignored).

JD and I had the following exchange (possibly made more difficult by the fact I was about a foot and a half taller than him) - me: "what bourbons do you have?" him: "all kinds".  me: "ok, Knob Creek on the Rocks".  him: "don't have that".  I then had a quick look behind the bar, and quickly determined that "all kinds" consisted of two choices - Wild Turkey and Makers Mark - both solid, but would seem to be easily listed!  Can't put into words how awesome JD was - straight out of central casting.

6. The Curious Case of Hot Tamales in the Deep South

While I wasn't surprised to find excellent tamales when I was in San Antonio a couple of years ago, I found it interesting that many BBQ joints in the Mississippi Delta featured "hot tamales".  We made a special stop at Fat Mama's Tamales in Natchez, which also featured "knock you naked margaritas" - hot tamales and margaritas at noon on a weekday?  Hell yes!

But back to how tamales became southern cuisine...according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, "In the Mississippi Delta, African Americans developed a spicy tamale made from cornmeal (rather than masa), which is boiled in corn husks.  In northern Louisiana, tamales have been made for several centuries. The Spanish established presidio Los Adaes in 1721 in modern-day Robeline, Louisiana. The descendants of these Spanish settlers from central Mexico were the first tamale makers to arrive in the eastern US, and Zwolle, Louisiana, has a Tamale Fiesta every year in October."  Another example of the melting pot of history creating unique and interesting food! 

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Well, that wraps up the high points of Mississippi and Memphis - if you're headed that way, we also highly recommend City Grocery in Oxford, Pig Out Inn BBQ in Natchez (excellent ribs and sauce) and rooftop drinks at sunset on the roof of the Madison Hotel in Memphis - I'll leave you with a pic from that awesome vantage point high above the mighty Mississippi:

Stay tuned for more highlights from our trip! 

Over the next ten days I'm heading down south for a road trip from Memphis to New Orleans that will hopefully be filled with incredible music, food and culture, and hopefully will not result in me gaining 20 pounds! 

I will share some of my observations and photos along the way and see if this blogging thing agrees with me!