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🇺🇸 State · United States
Mississippi: the Delta, the blues and cotton
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Mississippi is the cradle of the blues and one of the most history-laden states of the Deep South. In the Delta, around Clarksdale, the music that would shape the world was born, at the famous crossroads of Highways 61 and 49. Along the river, Natchez lines up its antebellum mansions while Vicksburg keeps the memory of a decisive Civil War siege. The Natchez Trace Parkway, an old Native American trail, offers a peaceful scenic drive framed by forest. To the south, the Gulf coast unrolls beaches, seafood and casinos. Everywhere you find Southern hospitality, gospel churches and local cooking: catfish, tamales, shrimp dishes. A rural, endearing state, best discovered slowly, drifting along the water and the songs.
“The Help” (2011) filmed about 95% of its scenes in Greenwood, a Delta town that stood in for Jackson on screen.
The teddy bear was born here: in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear during a hunt in Sharkey County.
In Greenwood, the independent TurnRow Books was the film crew's daily hangout; grab a coffee among the shelves.
Spring and fall are the most pleasant seasons, with mild temperatures and lovely light for the river and the road. Summer is hot and heavy with humidity, and the coast carries a hurricane risk from June to November. A car is essential: this is a rural state with long distances and no dense passenger rail, so you chain together driving legs. Take the Natchez Trace at an easy pace. U.S. carrier coverage is decent in towns and along main highways, but grows patchier across the farmland Delta, the forested areas and some isolated stretches of the Trace.