The Great Southern Small Town Tour: Dreaming of 2021 Motorcycle Trips

This time of year gets pretty depressing for me.  Gone are the warm weather months, where you could usually find me on my motorcycle somewhere on a great road in this great nation.   It is a time for reflection, looking for some eye-opening rides, looking for some things that have defined this Nation.  We have been to some great places in the south in the past, but there is just so much yet to see.   

2019 and 2020 were some special years riding in Texas, the Cumberland Gap in  Kentucky, and of course, here in Tennessee.   This next year, we will concentrate on some rides closer to home, mainly in the south, where we have so much more to explore. 

 I am here in Tennessee dreaming in this cold weather of future trips in the year of our Lord 2021.  Here is what I have come up with so far.

Ste.  Genevieve, Missouri- A French Canadian settlement on the western bank of the Mississippi. Established in 1735, it is the first organized European settlement west of the Mississippi River in present-day Missouri.

Greenville, Mississippi and the Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center -  Greenville part of the Mississippi Delta Blues Trail.  Where American music was born.  We have been to the Delta before but not this far south.  Then across the river is the infamous Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center. Home to George Takei while he was a child.

Canton, Mississippi  -  The quintessential small southern town with most of its building in the United States National Historic Registry.  Canton was important as a rail and logistics center during the Civil War.    Wounded soldiers were treated in or transported through the city, given this fact has a large Confederate cemetery.

Water Valley, Mississippi - Other than being close to Oxford, Mississippi, the home of Ole Miss, there is nothing exceptional about this place, but I want to go here for some reason.  

Natchitoches, Louisiana, and Texas - The sister cities are the oldest settlements in the area.  Natchitoches Texas being under 9 different national flags during its history.  Its first newspaper was published in Spanish.  Natchitoches, Louisiana, is the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase.

Monroeville, Alabama -  To Kill a Mocking Bird, Breakfast at Tiffany's.  This is home to 2 of the greatest writers of the last century, Harper Lee and Truman Compote, who were childhood friends.