Day 5: The Delta

Vicksburg MS to Indianola MS

After breakfast, we started out at 10:00 and made a hard turn to the north. We took US 61, called the "Blues Highway," and runs through the heart of the Mississippi Delta. The Delta is the flat fertile bottomland between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers to the Tennessee border. Did I mention flat? The roads are straight as an arrow and lightly traveled with churches, some very modest homes, grain silos, and a few businesses in the small towns along the way. The fields have been planted in straight lines as far as the eye can see with cotton and corn broken up by breaks of trees.

At Leland, we took US 82 east and headed for the BB King museum in Indianola, MS, which opened at 12:00 on Sunday. At the museum, we found a spray of flowers next to the entrance in memory of BB King, who died last Thursday. The museum exhibits and videos were excellent. He was born nearby and began his music career in Indianola.

Indianola MS to Robinsonville MS

We left the museum at 2:00 and continued our drive through the Delta and some thunderstorms north on US 49W and back on US 61 to the hotel at Sam's Town Casino, one of many casinos on this part of the Mississippi River where we got a cheap weekday rate. It is just south of Memphis and a good position for tomorrow's assault on the city.

We arrived at 4:00, had libations, and then ate the early bird special at the casino's steak restaurant. Mom had the tenderloin au poivre and I had the beef and shrimp kabobs. We walked through the casino on the way back to the room. Individual entertainment and to bed.