The south, what can I say I have a love affair with it. Its diversity and many contradictions make it a fascinating place to live. Six generations removed from the Civil War and still struggling with the aftermath of segregation, the south is still in the process of evolving and it is fun to be part of that.
Its physical natural beauty is stunning, from the stark view of a cotton field in the Mississippi delta region; the swamps and the Bayous of Florida and Louisiana; the sand hills of North and South Carolina; to the Mountains and Hills of Tennessee, Georgia, and Arkansas. Then you have Texas which really is a region all on its own. Not to forget Alabama the land of Bear Bryant. Oh did I mention Kentucky a border state during the War of Northern Aggression, is an enigma all to itself? Let not forget the Mississippi river and the many rivers that are part of it. We are a muddy river nation.
There is a lot to do and see in the great south. I would say one life is not complete unless they have been to a Mardi Gras in New Orleans or seen Graceland in Memphis. Any civil war battlefield will send shivers down the spine. There is nothing that will soothe the soul like a sunset on the Cumberland Plateau or a swim under one of its many waterfalls.
The south is a spiritual place. Notes from a share cropper’s son explain it much better than I can.
"I grew up in the Delta. My family were share cropper’s. I went to school in Gunnison, Rosedale, Pace, Skeen, Boyle, Marigold and Cleveland…as sharecroppers my family would move from plantation to plantation all over Bolivar County thus explaining the number of schools. Even as a child I could feel the Delta, that spirit, that indescribable thing that wraps itself around you like a second skin you, FEEL it! I can remember standing in the yard of a shotgun house that we lived in on the Walden plantation. Just out of Rosedale near Pace, and just standing there FEELING the Delta. I was only five at the time, so there was no way I could articulate what I felt. I am know fifty six years old and still can’t articulate it, but I know it is there! I don’t know if it’s the air, or that muddy water, or that rich alluvial soil maybe all three, but the veil between the physical and the spiritual gets thinner the longer your there. That is the Delta." - Charles Hubbard
I would say this statement is the South. You can’t read about or go to school for it. You have to experience for yourself. There is a lot to see here in the great southern United States. So y’all come on down, you hear.
Links to some of my favorite places in the South.
Links to some of my favorite places in the South.
Mississippi Delta Blues: Clarksdale, Mississippi
Vicksburg and Natchez Mississippi
Motorcycle Ride to Chattanooga and Georgia
The Louisiana Bayou
6 States in 4 Days a 800 Mile Motorcycle: Day 1 Clarksville, TN to Piggott, KY
A Trip to the Hill Country of Texas
Finishing Up the Week in the Texas Hill Country
Magnolia Manner a Southern Plantation Home
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