Mississippi Highway 61
 

One of my roommates and I are taking a roadtrip down to Memphis and then through Highway 61 in Mississippi, Clarksdale and Rosedale. Its kind of a Blues music pilgrimage. Does anybody have an recommendations or precautions for us? We are northern white city folk, which is a little different than southern black country folk. We aren't all that worried about it, we've heard of the Southern Hospitality. We're pretty much going for the music and the culture.

I grew up right out side of New Orleans and my driveway was on Hwy 61. I dont know much about Mississippi, but if yall make it over to Louisiana New Orleans will provide you with all the blues you can handle. The Jazz and Heratige Festivle in NO is a truly wonderful experience. As far as dealing with the country folk... Some places can be just as bad, if not worse, than any ghetto Ive been to in any city. Racism is a bitch. Just go with the flow. Southern hospitality is real. Sorry I couldnt help more. Have a godo time

Thanks! We were originally planning a two week circle, going through all the best music cities. We were going to start with Memphis, shoot down to New Orleans, up over to Kansas City, and then hit Chicago on the way home. We couldn't get two weeks off from work at once though. We're both big jazz and zydeco fans too so I imagine we'll make it down to New Orleans next year.

We figured if we encountered any shit for being white, we'll just go with the flow, move on, we certaintly aren't going to try to win their favor, I think that's probably the worst approach. We'll be fine I'm sure.

Make sure you stop off at John Hurt's birthplace in Avalon, Mississippi.

- Blacks won't bother you at all.
- Whites will piss you off because you will constantly overhear them making assinine racist references.
- The police won't bother you at all. I have found that in MS, they are just happy to have any out-of-state dollars in their state.