Hi Y'all,

Location: Greenville, Mississippi. Aren't we lucky? We get to stay in another hotel along the banks of the great Mississippi River.

Today we visited the "Center of the Universe" otherwise known as the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Flat, green and cotton fields as far as the eye can see. I felt dwarfed by so much vast space around me.

We stumbled upon The Party Hardy House of Spirits in Itta Bena and entered asking three questions: 1. Where is Robert Johnson's Memorial? 2. Where is Robert Johnson's gravesite? 3. What is the most popular whiskey amongst the blues crowd on a Saturdy night? The answers were 1. Who is Robert Johnson? 2. I don't know 3. Heaven Hill Whiskey, two bucks a pint. Well, the Voodoo Girls didn't want to arrive at Robert's place empty handed so we picked up a pint.

With whiskey and cigars in hand we headed out to find
the Mount Zion church in Morgan City. The site was lush, beautiful, serene and out in the middle of nowhere. Sue did the honor of pouring Robert a drink too.

The clouds were covering up the sky getting ready to dump buckets of water on us as we headed out to locate Robert Johnson's gravesite in Quito. This spot was a little trickier for us to locate and after driving up and down, over and over we decided Robert must be waiting for us down a dirt road off the main road and there he was. When we got out of the car, a gentleman named William came over to us and without asking any questions he said, "C'mon, I'll show you where it is." He had to be one of the kindest people we have met on our journey and where ever he is right now I send him good tidings. You could say he was Robert's neighbor as he lived in a trailer across the way from the little Payne Church and the cemetery. William told us to watch our step because there were water moccasins in the grass and he told us about a tree which had been near Robert's gravesite had been struck by lightening a few years back and that was how they knew Robert was buried there. Right about that time it started to rain hard and we had to make a mad dash to the car but not without having a smoke and drink with Robert.

After we left Robert's place(s), we went to go and hang out with Charlie Patton in Holly Ridge. We knew his gravesite was next to the Holly Ridge Gin but we weren't sure where. You have to understand the cemeteries are of the ole' boothill nature, overgrown, unattended and some tombstones lying on the ground knocked over. We found Charlie resting way in the back. My eyes were filled with tears as we approached his gravesite. There was so much silence around us. We drank whiskey and smoked cigars with him too. Sue played bartender and poured a drink for Charlie and I left my lip imprints on his tombstone. The date of Charlie's death was April 28, l937. Can you believe we were only one day late from his death anniversary? I get the chills just thinking about it.

We drove on to Moorhead in search of the
Southern Cross or as the tale goes, "Where the
Southern crosses the Dog."

Here are some shots of some juke joints we ran across and wish they had been open. Looks like some serve up some good bar-b-que.

The Alley Inn, Moorhead City

The La La Lounge
Moorhead City, Mississippi

The Sleeper's Lounge
Moorhead City, Mississippi

Anyway folks, we have done so much and have seen so much. "Wild times" ahead was definitely an omen.........the Voodoo Girls managed to get into some trouble today and who knows what could have happened.........instead the "out of uniform" policeman gave us directions on how to find our way "out of town." He was shaking his head the whole time and actually asked us at one point, "Just what exactly are you doing down here??" We won't be going to Yazoo City anymore.

Stay tuned folks because tomorrow will be another big day as we are headed to Cleveland to visit the Dockery Plantation where Charlie Patton, Henry Sloan, Son House and many more early blues musicians lived who shaped the music we know today as blues. If we have time we hope to stop in Tutwiler where W.C. Handy first heard the blues and then we hit Clarksdale to visit the Delta Blues Museum. We hope to make it to Memphis in time to put on our party dresses for the W.C. Handy Awards. Blues Mecca here we come!!!!

Blues to you,
With love from a wild blues child