Cross Country Tour – Day 5

2 September 2016

I slept a little late this morning – too much wine the night before during the party.  Ann prepared a great breakfast and too soon it was time to get on the road.  I can’t express how much I appreciate what Ann and Reid did for me by hosting the party of old (yes, we’re all old) colleagues.

I took highway 45 south out of Tupelo and headed to Meridian, MS, my birthplace.  I was born in St. Joseph’s hospital on 12th Street and 28th Avenue (it’s been gone for years). My dad was fond of telling how he had to sell his prize calf to bail me out of the hospital.

Meridian holds many memories. My maternal grandmother liked to dine out on Sundays for dinner (that’s lunch to you non-Southerners – the evening meal is called supper). She rotated the restaurants and about once every two months, we’d drive 90 miles to Meridian from Morton on old highway 80 and dine at Weidmann’s on 22nd Avenue.  Other venues included the Gulf Cafe in Morton and the Heidelburg Hotel in Jackson.

Weidmann’s is fine dining at its Southern best. I had my first prime rib there and when asked how I wanted it prepared, said medium. Fortunately the chef was smart enough to send it out rare and with horseradish.

Weidmann’s was established in 1870 and until the 1990’s never closed their doors, even for Christmas.  After that, they did close holidays and the place really closed in 2010. It has since reopened and maintains its previous elegance.

One peculiarity, they didn’t serve bread unless you ordered it.  Instead, on every table was a hand made crock of homemade peanut butter with a stack of crackers.  I have one of the crocks at home, but alas, the peanut butter is gone.  They are known for the original black bottom pie.  I have the recipe.  Let’s just say that bourbon is featured prominently in the recipe.

From Meridian, I headed west on I 20 to Pulaski, MS, so named for the revolutionary war general. This was my dad’s birthplace and he grew up there and went to school in a one room school house where his mother was the teacher.  My paternal grandparents lived “out of town” from Pulaski on Searcy Hill in a dog trot house built in 1885 by my dad’s grandfather.

For those who don’t know, a dog trot house is built with a long hallway open to air with rooms on either side.  There was always a breeze through the opening and dogs liked the coolness and shade, thus the name. The house had three fire places and the kitchen had a wood burning stove. The outhouse was a two seater and toilet paper was corn cobs from that year’s harvest.

I always wondered why we never had hot food when I visited on weekends.  Much later, I realized how smart grandmother was.  She got up at 4 am and cooked all three meals of the day before the sun rose – trust me, you don’t want to use a wood burning stove in the summer!

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I then traveled 481 north to Morton where I spent most of my formative years. I stopped at the Morton Cemetery to see my maternal relatives.

The last stop in Morton was the most important in relation to this trip. As a kid, my parents,off and on, lived with my grandmother after my grandfather died, or I was always sleeping there with my grandmother even though we had our own house.

I would lay awake there at night and listen to the transfer trucks roar westward on highway 80 which fronts the house.  This was before Mississippi had any interstates and highway 80 was, at the time, the only highway that ran from the east coast to the west coast.  You can imagine the traffic on this two lane road!

Then there’s the story of me and my cousin Jimmie getting “arrested” by the chief of police, Lauris Sessums, for playing in the highway.

I used to dream of pulling out of my grandmother’s driveway one day and heading west to New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington. I can tell you this was the beginning of my trip today.  Now I get to attempt my dream.

With the graveyard visits, the “official” start of my trip, and getting to see my brother Archie, his wife Tanis, and a surprise visit with my niece Ashley, it’s been an emotional, yet satisfying day.

Tanis prepared a wonderful dinner for us all with Archie doing the ribs on the grill. Later, we watched the local Brandon Bulldogs lose to the visiting Clinton Arrows by a touchdown, thanks to the Internet and live streaming of the game.  Small town America is now high tech!