Grabbing a slice of hillbilly hog heaven

If you are one of my faithful followers, you may recall my very first blog post which explained my inspirations for this endeavor and also the profound influence my grandmother had on my thirst for travels, great and small.  Whenever I take a road trip anywhere, I sometimes think of her.  But I especially think of her whenever I make the drive between my current home in Springfield, Ill., and what I consider my “true home” in Louisiana.  My grandmother never met an interstate she liked.  In fact, she insisted on taking the two lanes.  After all, you only get to know people and the towns they’re from if you see them up close and personal.

All of this is a rather long-winded explanation of – once I learned the April and I would be driving northbound on U.S. Highway 51 through Tennessee, Kentucky and Southern Illinois on our road trip earlier this year – why I had to make a pilgrimage to a place from my past travels with my grandmother: the Harper’s Country Hams Company Store near Clinton, Ky.  

No, we didn't come for the jumbo quail.

Honestly, you really can’t miss this sign up on the ridge where the Harper’s Hams complex is located. 

I think she may have overdressed for this adventure.

Hooray for the Hollywood Café, Robinsonville, Miss.

Of all the destinations I frequent when I travel, I can’t think of any location that looks more out of place than the islands of casinos and the strip of commercialization that connects them that appear out of nowhere in the north Mississisppi Delta about 15 minutes north of Tunica, Miss., and a half hour south of Memphis, Tenn. 

Yet, somehow the Tunica Resorts area works, probably for the reasoning that Las Vegas works in the middle of a desert.  There’s not much else there.  And, in fact, the casinos that were built in part of unincorporated Robinsonville, Miss., starting in 1995 were at one point the third largest gaming destination in the country (the ever-expanding gaming industry has since pushed it back to eighth place).  To me, the draw was a fun, affordable halfway point in between my home and New Orleans.  The rooms are typically cheap, the slots are often loose and the atmosphere is undoubtedly mini-Vegas.  I thought The April would love it. 

The April did, in fact, love the Jacuzzi suite I chose.  But here’s the problem if it turns out crowds, noisy casinos and giant imposing glitzy structures aren’t your thing:  Your dinner choices at Tunica Resorts are either at the casino or a smattering of fast food joints and chains near an outlet mall on that same commercial strip surrounded by cotton fields. 

We almost resorted into driving into Memphis until I remembered the one place in old Robinsonville (the only place, in fact) that, thanks to my love for the blues, I’d always wanted to go to:  the Hollywood Café. 

A soulful side trip to the Old Country Store, Lorman, Miss.

If you’re a food aficionado like me, you’ll go out of your way to try a classic restaurant, diner or roadside stand that has achieved legendary status among those in the know.  In fact, you’re liable to go out of your way to make that destination an important component of any road trip you’ve planned.  Fortunately for me, The April and I think similarly, and I’ve been converting her to a fellow food fanatic.  So it was no surprise to me when she discovered a place I had not even heard about but which was reportedly worthy of a side trip on our way back from New Orleans. 

A commoner drinks at Napoleon House, New Orleans

If I had to name one place on my regular rotation of French Quarter hangouts I wished I frequented more often, it would have to be the Napoleon House.  After all, Napoleon House has everything you look for in a classic New Orleans drinking and/or dining experience.  It just happens to be on a quieter section (at least to me) of Chartres Street slightly shielded from tourists who aren’t as “in the know” as they should be.

Fortunately, I remembered to introduce The April to the Napoleon House on our most recent visit to the Big Easy.  As it turns out, it was one of her favorite stops of the entire trip.  

Doesn't she look happy?