Charmed by the South

Before leaving Jackson, MS we found Eudora Welty's family house and toured her gardens. There really was not a lot blooming but you could see that it had the stately bones of a 1930's garden. See those 3 windows in the upstairs room? She did most of her writing from that room. 

This climbing rose was a pretty spot of color. 

We drove Highway 55 up through the middle of Mississippi and were pleasantly surprised at how lush and green it was. Trees line the highway and are rarely broken by  so much as a pasture, there's not a billboard, not a house, just pine trees, oaks,  redbud in hot pink splendor, and the further north we get,  we spy dogwoods bringing clouds of white amongst the greenery. Then, as we get closer to Oxford Miss. I notice rambling purple vining up trees; my hands had to be on the wheel or I would've rubbed my eyes. I thought I was seeing things but no, it was as I thought, WISTERIA! We are so proud of the wisteria vine that we keep carefully pruned as it twines the edge of our deck and here, in the south, it is an annoying roadside invasive growing to the tops of trees.

The soil is brick red and sandy and looks very soft. I can't imagine what needs to be done to garden successfully in soil like this.

We stopped to stretch our legs and sight see in Oxford Miss. (home of Ole Miss). It is a very quaint town with a square lined with fashionable shops and good restaurants. We spent a good deal of time perusing the books in this wonderful book store.

Then in mid-afternoon we arrived at the the beautiful home of our friends Theresa and David and they rolled out the red carpet for us.

Theresa's plant markers capitalized on their love of books. What a clever idea!

The inside of their house is full of antiquities and art from Russia of many sorts, an enormous collection of signed books and detailed trompe l'oeil painting. David gave us a magnificent tour of his many treasures.

Since both David's father and grandfather were Mississippi river boat captains, there was a lot of decor around the steamship  history of the Mississippi. By staying with David and Theresa we got the best possible introduction to Mississippi culture. 

Then off we went for a tour of Memphis in David's 1950 Willys Jeep. Top down of course. 

We learned that you are not doing a good job eating BBQ unless you really dig in and get sticky fingers.  Wet and dry ribs, pulled pork and beef, and BBQ spaghetti; our hosts made sure we had it ALL at The Bar-B-Que Shop!

Recognize this recording studio?

The Memphis Pyramid; currently being converted into a very large 

Bass Pro Shop

A Spectacular Sunset On the  Mississippi