Today has ended up being quite annoying, mainly because I have been spoiled for choice of appropriate song titles for the post title. The obvious one was Janis Joplin - Bobby McGee as we were at one point "busted flat in Baton Rouge." By busted flat I mean having a row about how to get into a Starbucks car park. However in the end for reasons I will explain later Margaritaville was victorious.
I accidentally woke up rather early today but declined to move until 9:09 when it was a more civilised time to be up. After the debacle of yesterday morning Mum and Emma followed the strict instructions I had given not to disturb me under and circumstances and as such had already gone out for breakfast. This was great because I was free to go to the low rent diner adjacent to our hotel where I enjoyed an utterly fantastic steak and omelette based breakfast.
Even though breakfast steak is a tough act to follow the day actually improved, on returning to my room I was delighted to find the mid-morning movie was 'every which way you can', which brings the holiday's Clint Eastwood ratio up to an impressive 50%, given I watched 'The Mule' on the flight over.
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| Philo Beddo goes for a Philo Beddo style run |
I joined the action at the point where the lead character goes for a run in his jeans and plimsolls, a classic bit of cinema.
Once the film had finished it was time to hit the road. The vague aim for the day was to head somewhere half way ish between New Orleans and Memphis. The spot I selected for this was Vicksburg with a route designed to take in views of some spectacular swamp land, skirt round Baton Rouge then head North on via the historic town of Natchez. En route we were able to take a 'celfie' which is a portmanteau of car and selfie.
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| car selfie |
We had also vaguely planned to tour a former plantation, we were not that successful in that respect mainly as we missed the exit for the one out of Django unchained and could not turn back for 20 miles. Our next attempt involved following a load of massive signs saying 'plantation this way' only to be greeted by a sign saying "VISITORS NOT WELCOME."
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| The driveway of the unwelcoming plantation, nice trees |
The next attempt to find a plantation involved stopping at the Louisiana tourist information centre. We told the two old ladies who were manning the desk that we were heading North and wanted to visit a plantation. Having heard we were heading North and therefore about to leave Louisiana they pretty much refused to help us. We only became aware of the Mississippi equivalent because I spotted it on a map, I am surprised it had not been tippexed out. After this odd experience they invited us to sign the visitor's book, presumably to justify their existence.
The assistant at the Mississippi centre was much more useful and suggested a visit to plantation houses in downtown Natchez which was where we headed next. As far as we could tell Natchez was closed. A cafe we visited said, sorry we have just closed and we are a restaurant not a cafe. I queried this as the massive sign outside said "Cotton Alley Cafe," but was not given a satisfactory explanation. Also unsatisfactory was the coffee that was served when we finally found somewhere that was open.
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| Natchez - "closed" |
Whilst in Natchez it was time to book a hotel for the night. Vicksburg is home to many nice hotels, all of which are available to travellers who have the sense to book more than six hours in advance. Luckily the singer Jimmy Buffett was able to rescue us with three rooms at his 'Margaritaville' island living themed hotel. On arrival it was immediately clear why there were rooms available, the place is weird. It is nice, the room has a nice view and is clean, but the common areas are just odd.
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| view of the river Yazoo |
The hotel is on the banks of the river Yazoo, a tributary of the Mississippi (probably) which was named for the 1980's band Fun Boy Three. After a quick rest we headed for downtown Vicksburg for dinner, but not before pre-dinner drinks in the Jimmy Buffett inspired bar. There we had a competition to see who could look the most miserable whist wearing a massive hat, here is Emma's attempt:
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| Emma in a hat |
It wasn't really a fair competition as mum and I are generally much happier than Emma.
An early night tonight as tomorrow's agenda requires a full day. I have three surprise activities planned, specifically breakfast at Dennys, a car museum and a visit to the birthplace of Elvis, Mum and Emma will enjoy at least two of the three, proving compromise need not be a dirty word.
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