Days 24, 25, 26 Clarksdale MS, Memphis, Norman OK

  Norman, Oklahoma, United States
Saturday, May 31, 2008

As we crossed the border from Arkansas to Oklahoma the road seemed to widen with fewer crazy drivers, the sky seemed a bit bluer and the air a bit lighter....we've entered the West...and it feels good.

States Added: Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma for a total of 22 (plus DC)

On the iPod:
Mississippi: Delta Blues, some dating back to the 1920s. Not our favorite music to listen to but it sure puts you in the mood.
Memphis: ELVIS!! Plus we listened to Paul Simon's Graceland and Marc Cohn's Walking In Memphis when the time was right.
Oklahoma: Mostly Garth Brooks, with a Flaming Lips song thrown in for good balance!

Culinary Experiences:
NOLA: Muffelatta (sounds like a sheep organ, but it is actually a local specialty sub sandwich with olive salad.
Mississippi: Turnip Greens (which, for the record, are better than collard greens) and fried catfish. The area is also known for hot tamales. The restaurant we went to offered them fried (of course) but they were great. The meal we had at a blues club in Clarksdale was easily one of the best of the trip.
Oklahoma: A true culinary treat when you're on road...a home-cooked meal!

Tourist Activities:
Mississippi: Vicksburg National Civil War Battlefield. Traveled the Blues Highway through the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi Delta Home

Stayed at the Shack Up Inn which really has to be experienced to be believed.

Shack Up Inn - Our Shack

Tennessee: Graceland!

Elvis

Graceland

We also went to the Peabody Hotel and saw the famous Peabody Ducks in the fountain. It would be just like ducks running free in the Davenport Hotel/Fountain. Connie got to walk down Beale Street.

Non-Tourist Activities:
Mississippi: Visiting a local animal shelter (see hardships below)
Oklahoma: Visiting with friends Bob and Sheila.

Bob and Sheila

Their home has been an oasis for two smelly, dehydrated, weary vagabonds. PLUS, during dinner a bell went off and a strange voice came from the master bedroom. It was their severe storm warning system.

Weather Map

We sat on their front porch and watched a beautiful thunderstorm that luckily never turned into anything more...much to Bob's chagrin.

Wild Animals: Armadillo, but the only ones we've have been road kill.

Hardships:
1. Connie has been sick off and on since Charleston. Just as she started to feel human again, Bob got the mother of all headaches in Memphis. We both seem to be on the mend now.
2. Just as we were pulling away from the Shack Up Inn (on the Hopson Cotton Plantation) we saw a little Labrador-mix puppy running down the highway. What are you going to do????? We stopped the car and grabbed the pup and named him Hopson. We took him back to the Inn to get him some water (horribly dehydrated) and a box to put him in until we figured out what options we had, which we found to be very few. The guy at the inn said that it was common and that their county was too poor to have an animal shelter. WHAT??? He suggested we take him up to a wealthier county to see if there was a shelter that would take him. The pup had fleas and we were going to put him in our car for an hour? Grief. On our way North, we happened to get out our trusty iPhriends and found an animal shelter (sort of) right there in Clarksdale. We took him there and found a rather odd place being run by what appeared to be inmates from a local correctional facility. It was the best we could do. We did what we hoped would be best for our buddy Hopson. We hope he gets unbelievably lucky. And yes, we changed our clothes and vacuumed the interior of the car within two blocks of dropping him off.

We'll leave you with a billboard we saw selling wine as we drove through Oklahoma: "Just like California...but less fruity"

Happy Trails! Bob and Connie