Hannibal · St. Louis · Tupelo · The Delta · Natchez
Beautiful Humans
It is an embarrassment of human richness, kindness, and amazing stories that we have encountered down here.
We have had more remarkable interactions with amazing humans than we know how to process so far. This is a very special trip that goes beyond the road to the heart. Again, it is too much to really put fancy prose to—but how can it be that we have had time on the planet with these amazing people in the past week?
Brenda at Aunt B’s
Eating her delicious soul food and hearing about her remarkable family lineage. Could folks be any friendlier?
Called back to the Riverside
A young descendant of the original owners spent two years in Japan, but felt his family and history beckoning him back to preserve this landmark. A monumental task.
A beer and an impromptu concert
An eclectic harmonica shop, a refrigerator we were invited to raid, a workbench where harps are transformed—and the blues played a few feet away.
A grave, an artist, a spirit
A generous woman took us to Robert Johnson’s gravesite and told us about her deep connection to the place, the people who created art there, her jewelry and her life—oh, and her time with B.B. King.
The Blue Biscuit
A friend of hers spent time with us talking about Mississippi, cheffing for Morgan Freeman, and wishing we could stay longer—because wouldn’t that be fun?
The photograph we didn’t take
A man drives by, rolls down his window and tells us he may be the only living person who was actually in the courthouse for the Emmett Till trial. Our independent research bears this out. REALLY. We spent twenty minutes talking history, race relations, cotton farming, and restaurant recommendations in nearby towns.
He’s 93 and amazing. Living history. So generous to stop and chat. We did not get a picture of this, sadly.
How can it be that we have had time on the planet with these amazing people?
Already told you about Faye, the one-woman history center in Hannibal. Our friends Donny and Ann in St. Louis, so warm and kind. Dancing and howling too late at Red’s Juke Joint with folks from Alabama and parts unknown. A couple from Terry, Mississippi, with whom we shared a table and many stories over dinner in a historic house in Natchez. Instant friends or something like that.
It is an embarrassment of human richness, kindness, and amazing stories that we have encountered down here.
A little vague about folks’ names and stuff because we’re not sure who likes being on the internet—but we love them all.