Oh Them Cotton Fields

[therealsnape]

So far, everybody who asked us where we're from, which is everybody we meet, actually knows where Holland is. Several have mentioned wooden shoes.

So what happens when wooden shoe folk hit the Deep South?

They take pics of all the wooden houses with ironwork in Nawlins and eat yambalaya.

Then they take pics of every plantation on Plantation Road and eat Gumbo.

Then they take pics of cedars growing in lakes and eat gator.

Then they drive through the Mississippi delta (if you ever get remotely close to Indianola, visit the B.B King museum!!), and while they recognize the corn, which we grow, too, they wonder about the low, leafy plants in quite a lot of fields.

The museum was educational in this as well.

Yup, that's what cotton plants actually look like at this time of the year. We only saw them in school books and then they had balls of cotton on the branches.

The flowers are seriously pretty, though. A beautiful ivory-cream, and some of them are in all gradations of pink. So yes, we did stop the car, got out, and took pictures. There were not many drivers on the road, but the mirth of those that passed us was unmistakeable. (That's another amazing thing: the emptiness of your highways!)

Well, those drivers have something to talk about on the long winter nights. And if they ever make it to Holland, we'll just smile at their reaction to windmills.

Also, we bought a lovely little Christmas tree decoration in the shape of a littke angel with a ball of cotton for a body (proper cooton, textbook cotton, cotton that the folks back home will all recognise at once).

And we spent a day in a share-cropper's shack. There is a hotel that consists of a group of them. There is airco and a fairly simple shower but the rest of the place is pretty much as it was then. We spent the day on the porch, reading, resting, and watching them cotton fields.

Current location: Heartbreak Hotel, Memphis.

Comments

[lash-larue.livejournal.com]

My, you are doing the thing properly, aren't you? How on earth did you come up with your itinerary?

BB King is a National Treasure.

There is a building on our land, dilapidated past redemption, that used to be slave quarters. I suppose one day we'll symbolically burn it.

Be sure to back up the pictures, my camera just ate a memory card.

Say hello to Elvis for me.
L

ps: When them cotton bolls get rotten, you can't pick very much cotton.

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

The itinerary is a redy-made trip that has all the hotels and car rental, so we just follow that. With a few side trips to thongs we fancied more than the ones in the trip guide.

B.B. King's CDs are played while we travel and a great accompaniment they are.

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

THINGS, not thongs. And it was not even the mac, just a daft typo.

[lash-larue.livejournal.com]

I was just about to reply to that one. You know very well that I couldn't let that pass unremarked.

Alas, you beat me to it. "Typo", right. "Freudian Slip"?
L

PS - "The thrill ain't gone." The man can deal.

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

Not so much a Freudian Slip as Freudian Knickers.

Assuming the word 'slip' has the same double meaning in English as in Dutch.

[the-winterwitch.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, priceless!

[redbeargrl.livejournal.com]

You trip sounds like a resounding success. I hope you were careful about what you wished for at crossroads in the Delta. You never know when ole' Scratch will show up looking for souls like Robert Johnson.
I can't wait to see your picspam when you get home.
Travel well, be safe.

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

That shacks hotel was at walking distance from the church where Johnson might be buried. And we were near thosne cross roads, too. Now, what I should have done is ask Old Nick to give me the ability to come up with good plots ... There's another missed chance.

Also I often think of your wise words re fried food. Had nacho chips with pulled pork yesterday. By way of healthy option.

[redbeargrl.livejournal.com]

In Southern Cooking circles, pulled pork and nacho chips are considered "health foods."

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought. And there were jalapeno peppers as well.

[redbeargrl.livejournal.com]

Jalapeño peppers are considered to be the equivalent of a cardio workout in the South.

[minervas-eule.livejournal.com]

You send me down memory lane, but naturally we did not do so many things, having tiny children and no money, but I do remember those cotton fields and the plantations and the Spanish Moss on the trees in the swamps and the beautiful iron balconies in New Orleans...
Did your botanical education make you stop at the peanut-plants and tobacco fields as well?

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

That Spanish moss gives such a wonderful athmospheric feel to those swamps and plantation! We haven't taken pics of tobacco or peanuts yet, but I'll look out for them.

How's the South of F rance?

[librasmile.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a fascinating trip. Glad you could make it over here and see some of the country. I've never been to Europe and would love to go. =^)

Since you're exploring the history, if you can, try to pick up some info about how horribly the share croppers were exploited, not to mention the bondmen and bondwomen ( slaves ) prior to and after our Civil War. According to my grandmother cotton hurts to pick.

There was a lot institutionalized raced-based violence going on in the South (Upper and Lower). It's harder to do now because of passage of the Civil Rights Acts and the Voting Rights Act ( which our supreme court may have just significantly weakened ). My great-grandfather was a sharecropper( he was born in 1871 and died in 1972) and HIS mother was a freed slave, hence born into slavery. Hence this history is still not that far away.

The South is absolutely beautiful in its flora and fauna and has wonderful food and cultural elements. And socially folks can be quite hospitable. I spent every summer in either Virginia where my grandmother was from ( my great grandfather was from North Carolina ) or Maryland ( where my mother was from ) when I was a kid. However there's a whole complex history there, like a diamond with all its flaws.

Mississippi had a particularly interesting role. Look up the death of civil rights activist Medgar Evers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers#Assassination) who was assassinated in 1963 and whose killer wasn't convicted until 1994. There was also the death of 3 civil rights activists in Mississippi in 1964 - Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwermer and James Earl Chaney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_workers_murders). And there was the horrible death of Emmett Till (http://en.wikhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_workers_murdersipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till).

You'll probably see the info above as overkill and probably an intrusion on your fun so I apologize if that's the message sent. It's not meant that way.

Racial conflict and institutionalized racism has existed in EVERY part of this country from its inception. We should be justifiably proud at the progress we've made but we still have a long way to go ( especially in the wake of some reactions to having our first black president ). And the South, including Mississippi, was ground zero for much of that conflict.

Why don't always tell our whole history in this country especially to visitors, let alone ourselves, and I don't want you to miss out on knowing about that.

And yes I am African American =^)

Please enjoy the rest of your vacation and visit. We are glad to have you and we hope you come back! =^)

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

Thank you for those fascinating links! It's hard to travel here and not learn of the lives and deaths of people like Emmett Till and Medgar Evers, but their stories were mostly told in relation to the lives of musicians like B.B. King (because we're more or less on a music tour, so those are the places we visit.)

But thank you for sharing the info!

[librasmile.livejournal.com]

You're most welcome! The BB King Museum sounds like an absolute treat!

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

Wow -- you've seen more of the South than many Southerners. Impressive.

Here I had been worried when you said you were going to take a tour of the Deep South in July -- and the irony is that it's been at least 10 degrees hotter in the Northeast this last week than in Mississippi /g/. I'm glad you've had reasonable temps -- some summer heat can be welcome, but 95 degrees+ is a little much!

What did you think of gator? I tried it once -- and I'm sorry to report that I thought it tasted like what fried rubber bands would taste like.

I've been reading about Heartbreak Hotel on TripAdvisor -- sounds like a convenient location, at least. Can't wait to hear about Graceland (never been).

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

The weather is quite pleasant here. And I fully agree on the taste of gator. The sauce was by far the best part. At least it did not taste like chicken.

The Heartbreak lobby is so over the top that it becomes fun. And we have yet another huge room. I now understand why you called the NYC. Room 'small'.

[tetleythesecond]

I tried it once -- and I'm sorry to report that I thought it tasted like what fried rubber bands would taste like.
I had it once, and that's exactly what I thought! Not worth killing the beast for, more fun watching them wrestling.

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

I'm learning quite a lot about my country from your posts. (I'm all northern blood, although my mother did once live in Mississippi.) What a trip! Love the mental picture of you two on the side of the road snapping pictures. The holiday resting and reading sound absolutely perfect, too. You two sure do know how to take a proper trip!

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

We certainly have loads of fun! Thanks for travelling with us. (We hope you'll consider Wooden Shoes Travels for your future vicarious travel arrangements.)

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

(Wooden Shoes Travels is my main travel method! Got a pair stuck up on my rear-view window now, haven't I? ;D My car dances right along.)

[the-winterwitch.livejournal.com]

That sounds like more of a really awesome trip. Googling "cotton blooms" to see what you're talking about I got suggested I really wanted "cotton bloomers". *rolls eyes* I'm looking forward to your picspam, this time also for a little personal reasons; my maternal grandfather was a POW on a cotton plantation and often told stories about it and the country, but I never really have looked at pictures, only what you get with watching movies.

So yes, we did stop the car, got out, and took pictures. There were not many drivers on the road, but the mirth of those that passed us was unmistakeable.
:o) Reminds me of the reaction of Swedish drivers at us photographing elk traffic signs and red houses on our first trip, or the enthusiasm of visiting friends for half-timbered houses in our region.

*raises my cup of newly-bought MF Lapsang Souchong Impérial on a continued great trip for you*

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

I'll make sure to include a pic of the fields for you. Isn't it fun how the things we take for granted in our own country are loved elsewhere? Makes you look at them in a whole new light.

[tetleythesecond]

That sounds like a fantastic trip!

And the food! I LOVE gumbo!

That's another amazing thing: the emptiness of your highways!
You mean like the A61 when vacation time in Holland is over? *ducks*

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

You mean like the A61 when vacation time in Holland is over?
I've no personal experience with the A61, and certainly not during those halcyon days when the Holes and their caravans are gone. "Obviously," drawled Professor Snape. But our A44 is never as quiet as this, not even when the last Germ has abandoned their little ditch on the Noordwijk beach.

I've bought a book of Louisiana recipes, with lots of Gumbo variations, and next time you eat at our place,I'll make you a Southern dinner. Gator-free

[miss-morland.livejournal.com]

Mmm, yambalaya. I'm hungry just from reading this post. And also more than a bit envious, but not too much, because I'm glad you and Lord S. are having fun. :-) Will there be pics here?

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

Yes, there will be a picspam at some point.