Makin' Music (5.7.11)

Hoola Hoop (5.7.11)

My sister-in-law Mandy is taking Hoop classes. By the end of the weekend, she had every one of us taking a turn at the sport. And, for those of you who have not tried... this is harder than it looks!

Clarksdale Caravan Music Festival (5.7.11)

Clarksdale has a multitude of Blues Festivals. The Clarksdale Caravan coincides with the first weekend in May. Open air jams with blues musicians from all over the Delta take place around the city's marketplace. There's also the Cotton Museum, music consignment stores, and gift shops to visit. None of us left empty-handed.

Pinetop's Piano (5.7.11)

The Pinetop Shack has a piano in its front bedroom (appropriately so, given Pinetop Perkin's talent). We were able to tickle the ivories a bit Saturday morning. What could be better than a mid-morning jam? (That's me, checking out the words to a song on my iphone. How did we ever live without those things?)

Midnight Jam (5.6.11)

When you come to Clarksdale, you come to hear the blues. It so happens that all who went on this journey with us were either in love with music already, or were married to someone (or parented by someone) who is. So, when in Rome...

Ground Zero (5.6.11)

Morgan Freeman's blues club, Ground Zero, was our first stop into town (although no one really understood why we had to leave The Shacks). From fried pickles and live music to catching up with old friends, we made our mark. Not to mention the marks that the kids left all over themselves.

The Shacks (5.6.11)

The days of sharecroppers may be gone, but, 15 authentic (albeit refurbished) shacks now sit on Hopson Plantation, off highway 61 about 1.5 hours south of Memphis. The Shack Up Inn is in a world of its own, where you could spend the day away in your rocking chair on the back porch or strumming your guitar. Each shack has a nickname, for example, "Pinetop" (where The Campbells' laid their heads at night) is named after Pinetop Perkins, one of the last Mississippi bluesmen still performing, who used to drive a tractor on that very cotton plantation. We stayed in Electric Blue, appropriately named for the shocking color of our exterior. And, yes, it did have electricity.