Delta Blues Odyssey . . . Oddments and Miscellaneous, Part 4

A couple of the places we stayed in on our trip are worth mentioning. One tried to capture some of that blues vibe, while the other one exuded it.

Tallahatchie Flats is a conglomeration of old share cropping shacks moved to this location just outside of Greenwood. One of Robert Johnson's graves is just down the road.


We stayed in this cabin relocated from the Palo Alto Plantation.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale is a blues mecca. A who's who of blues (along with other notables such as Martin Luther King, Jr.) stayed or lived here. We were guests in the Mavis Staples room.

"Rat" . . . the proprietor of Riverside.

Following a car accident, Bessie Smith died in this room of the G.T. Thomas Hospital . . . long before it became a hotel.

Rat not only gave us a tour of the Riverside Hotel, but he also gave us a driving tour of Clarksdale! How many dad-blasted hotel proprietors would do that for ya? Well, Rat did. We could not have had a more accommodating host.