“To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi” – William Faulkner

While we left Mississippi today, I can’t help but acknowledge this place is a little different to most that I’ve been, and it’s an area I would require much more time to better understand it. Clarksdale was a hoot. Today was spent at a couple of music museums, much to the chagrin of the girls. It appears the locals remain indoors and stay out of the sun. This somewhat desolated town has many hidden treasures. One such pleasure today was to watch a local musician set up on the footpath outside his store and play to an audience of, well… us. We had to change our plans and delayed our trip to Memphis by a few hours, travelling in the heat of the day – another 100 degrees.

Again the roads are a breeze, and while most locals tend to drive with one hand – with either a mobile phone or extra  large drink container in the other – such is the prevalence it must be mandatory.. Still the major roads are long, straight and flat and well maintained and high speeds (about the equal of our legal speeds) are easily maintained .

We crossed the border into Tennessee and our surroundings instantly changed. Memphis is just over the border but the landscape, people and even the cars just seemed to change from only what we had been experiencing only a short distance away. And I suspect there are no casino’s in this state.

We have our digs near to the “entertainment” hub – Beale St – which is memphis’ equivalent to Bourbon St in N.O. or Bangla Rd in Phuket. We caught a band late arvo, blues for some and MOR for the others, but genrally took it easy in the heat. A walk to Beale St found the 3 block street was heavily blocked by security and police, requiring patdowns and metal detectors to gain entry. I decided Beale St on  Saturday night was probably not for me and plan to retire early. But the Saints are on at 1am. A quandary presents itself.