Mississippi River Road October 7-16, 2024

 Day 65 Tuesday October 8, 2024

We departed the RV Park about 9:30 for our 180 mile drive to Red Bay Alabama the home of all things Tiffin. We had a good easy drive and arrived about 1PM, checked in and setup in site 26 in Red Bay Acres. This is a nice RV Park, paved street, all concrete parking pad and picnic table/setting area pad and full hookups. It is U shaped with a pond in the center of the U. It cost more here than the other in town campgrounds but it is nicer and they have a nice building called the Red Bay Yacht Club that has comfortable recliners and couches to relax in, a pool table, other table games, etc., and they serve some light meals and have free coffee and popcorn. And the best cinnamon rolls around.  Lena likes it here because she can come here when I take the motorhome to the shops around town to get our service and repair work done. Most of the repair shops don’t have waiting rooms. 

After we got setup Doug Evans from Masters RV Service came to our site to clean our rooftop air conditioners and check the middle one for the vibration it has. That is the other nice thing about this RV Park they allow the mobile repair businesses in town to come to your site and do repairs and cleaning if they are on the RV Parks approved list. I assume the mobile businesses have to have liability insurance before they can be approved to work in the park. 

There is a Piggy Wiggly and Big Star grocery stores in town. We have been to the Piggy Wiggly but not the Big Star so this afternoon we checked it out. We had heard they have really good big chocolate chip cookies. They must have a bakery in the back because they had a lot of different types of cookies, cupcakes, cakes etc. Of course we had to get a few of the cookies to try. And oh boy are they good. 

Day 66 Wednesday October 9, 2024

This is going to be a busy day. 

I took the motorhome to Bay Diesel for my 8am annual service appointment. I also had them check the dash air conditioner because it did not seem to be cooling properly. They discovered that the compressor was leaking Freon and needed to be replaced. Ouch!

They also did an alignment. We had this done last year but we hit a bad pothole on I40 in Memphis on the way to meet the RV Caravan and we were concerned it had caused the wheels to be out of alignment. It was off some but not too bad. 

Then at 3:45 I took the motorhome to Nick Brewer’s shop to have him install a cell signal booster antenna on the roof. This should improve our cell service in the more remote areas we go to. 

Then just after 5 we walked over to join three other couple that we were on the Mississippi River Tour with. They were having a shrimp boil and invited us. Lena fixed a salad to go with the main meal and the other couples brought dessert, etc. Like us they are here to get service and repairs done on their motorhomes. They all have Tiffin motorhomes like us. There is someone here in town that can fix almost anything wrong with a RV. 

We had a good meal and good conversations about traveling with our RVs, both good and bad things that have happened to all of us. 

I received word today from Tiffin Mechanical shop that we are #6 in the queue to get called in for our jacks repair so it will be next week before we will be called to go to the service bay. 

Day 67 Thursday October 10, 2024

I had to take the motorhome back to Bay Diesel this morning at 7am so they could test drive it after the alignment yesterday and also to install the new inside grab bar at the steps that one of the guys accidentally broke when he went inside the motorhome during the wheel alignment process. He felt bad about it but I told him to not worry, things happen sometimes. 

We had not had any breakfast yet so when I brought the motorhome back to the RV Park we went to a new coffee shop named Belmont Coffee Company in Belmont Mississippi. Red Bay sets just across the state line from Mississippi. 

Then we took the motorhome to Sabrina Humphries so her and her crew could wash and polish it. It sure does need it. We have tried her and two other companies in town that does this and she is the best. She is a hard working woman. And her hard work has paid off because this year she bought a small 11 site campground across the street from Tiffin Motorhome Service Center and is having a large two bay building built there to accommodate her motorhome cleaning business. It should be finished in about three weeks. Then she can do her work out of the weather and not be in the hot sun and cold Winter weather. 

We went to the Red Bay Yacht Club until we got hungry and then we went to the Piggy Wiggly for lunch and then back to the Yacht Club to wait until the motorhome is ready. We sure have been doing a lot of running around since we got here. 

The motorhome was ready about 5pm. Sabrina was able to buff out the scratches we got on the sides of the roof when we pulled off the road several days ago into a parking lot that had some low hanging tree branches. The motorhome sure is cleaner after being on the road for 67 days. 

Day 68 Friday October 11, 2024

Today is cleaning day, laundry, inside the motorhome and washing the Jeep.

One evening on our tour we were having a get together to pass along useful tips and Sandra told the group about a cleaning cloth called E-Cloth for cleaning windows just using water and the cloth. Sounded too good to be true but we bought the kit yesterday at Happy Hollow, a store across the street from the RV Park. 

The window cleaning kit is two specially made microfiber cloths. You wet the waffle weave cloth with just water, squeeze it out, wipe your window, then use the other cloth in the kit to wipe the window while it is still damp. Well by golly it works the best of anything we have ever used to clean windows and mirrors and all you need is the two cloths and water. No chemicals. 

We have three full length mirrors in the motorhome and it seems we always had streaks on them after cleaning with a cloth and window cleaner. Not anymore and we also cleaned the shower doors with the E-Cloths. I also cleaned the Jeep windows with the cloths. 

They can be washed in the washing machine with no detergent and hot water and dried in the drier with no drier sheets 300 times. They are available on Amazon. They have them for glass and mirrors, counter tops and stainless steel. They come in sets, and are magical. We are believers. 

We joined the three other couples that are here in Red Bay for motorhome service/repairs that were on the river tour with us again this afternoon for another pot luck meal here in the RV Park. There was also another couple that was not part of the tour that one of the couples invited to join us. We had a good meal, good fellowship and Eric lite his gas firepit and we set around it for a while. When the sun goes down the temperature drops so it gets kind of cool outside. 

Day 69 Saturday October 12, 2024

Nothing going on today so after we had breakfast and did a few chores we decided to go visit the Worlds only Coon Dog Cemetery. It is about 20 miles from Red Bay out in the country down a narrow paved road. We visited it when we were here several years ago. Several new graves have been added since we last visited. Some of them are getting rather elaborate. You must get permission to have a dog buried here and it must be a coon ( raccoon) hunting dog. No poodles, shepherds, bulldogs, jack russels, etc. I signed the guest book and there had already been 4 or 5 visitors this morning and when we were leaving two more cars pulled up. 

From there we drove to Russellville AL and stopped at Captain D’s for lunch. We have not ate at a Captain D’s since we lived in Virginia. Then a stop at Harbor Freight for me and a stop at Walmart for Lena before we returned to the RV Park. 

Day 70 Sunday October 13, 2024

We slept late today to make up for all the early mornings recently. Then went to the Belmont Coffee Company for a Latte and muffin. Their muffin selection was slim this morning only pumpkin spice and one chocolate chip muffin. Then we stopped at the Big Star grocery store in town to get some more of their chocolate chip cookies. The selection was not as good as those at the Big Star in Red Bay last week but maybe they don’t do much baking for the weekend. The Big Star in Red Bay is closed for a few weeks due to a fire Friday morning in the back where they smoke their meats. After taking a few photos in the downtown area we returned to the RV Park for the day. 

We had a nice sunset tonight. 

Day 71 Monday October 14, 2024

Quite a bit cooler today with a predicted high of 73. I guess Fall is just around the corner. 

We are still waiting to be called by Tiffin to come to a service bay so they can try and fix our jacks. 

Day 72 Tuesday October 15, 2024

We are now #3 in the queue at Tiffin Service Center.

I was reviewing the annual service records on the motorhome yesterday and realized the crankcase breather filter had not been changed and was just a little past due. I called Bay Diesel to see if they could work me in today and change the filter. They said they could and was called at 10am to come in. 

Aaron jumped right on it and had it changed in a few minutes and while he was changing it he noticed there were three small holes in the serpentine belt. I told him to change it. Better now than on the side of the road. He had to remove the front two belts to get to the serpentine belt. He changed the filter and put the new belt on in 45 minutes. The holes in the belt was caused by small pebbles being pressed between the belt and the pulleys on the engine. The belts are ribbed and make great places for the little pebbles to get caught. 

I could have changed the filter but I would have had to remove a engine access trap door in the floor in the rear bathroom and they have been know to be really difficult to remove, especially with just one person. Aaron is really slim and agile and was able to shimmy up on top of the engine to get to the filter. I am not so slim and definitely not as agile as he is. And I probably would not have seen the holes in the belt because it is on the opposite end of where I would have been if I had gained access through the floor. 

Day 73 Wednesday October 16, 2024

Very cool this morning, not sure I am ready for cold weather yet. We are still waiting on Tiffin to call us in to fix our jacks. We didn’t even leave the RV Park today, hoping we would get the call we are waiting on. But we didn’t. 

Mississippi River Road October 2-7, 2024

 Day 59 Wednesday October 2, 2024

We joined the group in the park restaurant for a farewell get together with a continental breakfast provided by Fantasy. They had a small gift bag for every couple. Then everyone slowly began to pull out and head to wherever their next stop is. Like us some are stopping in Red Bay Alabama for service and/or repairs before heading home. 

We pulled out at 10AM for our 147 mile drive to Laurel Mississippi where the HGTV show Home Town is filmed. Sure glad we didn’t have to drive back through the busy roads through New Orleans. We were headed East so we were soon away from the city since our RV Park was on the East side of the city.  I-10 took us on the bridge over narrow end of Lake Pontchartrain which is still probably 3-4 miles across. Laurel Mississippi is pretty much on our way to Red Bay Alabama so why not. 

We have lost count of how many times we have crossed the Mississippi border on this trip. 

We arrived at Sleepy Hollow RV Park about 12:30, checked in and setup in site 54. This is a nice campground, even has a level concrete parking pad. Amazing. There is traffic noise from I59 through the woods but we don’t hear it much unless we are outside. 

After we had lunch Lena did some more laundry and we rested awhile before we drove into Laurel to look around some. We found the small downtown section and some of the nice residential areas but didn’t take but a couple of photos. The sun was just not cooperating so we will come back tomorrow kind of early morning for some good photos. We did recognize one building that Erin and Ben remolded for their show Home Town and also saw the building that Ben has his woodworking shop in. 

There are a couple of tour businesses in town that will take you around in a golf cart but the tour cost $25-30 each for 45 minutes. That seems a little expensive and we think we can find enough on our own to satisfy our curiosity. 

Day 60 Thursday October 3, 2024

We drove into downtown Laurel for breakfast at Lee’s Coffee and Tea. We both got a Latte and an Omelette. We got there just before a rush of people came in but it still took awhile to get our order. It was all good but the Lattes could have been a little hotter. 

Then we walked down several streets and took some photos of some of their murals and the old buildings. We recognized one building that Ben and Erin remodeled an apartment in on their TV show. 

This is an apartment that Ben and Erin remodeled 

Ben’s woodworking shop

Then we walked over to Scotsman General Store and Woodshop. This is where Ben Napier from the HQTV show Home Town has his woodworking shop that is shown on the TV show. There is a big glass window into the woodworking part of the building but of course we couldn’t go in the shop. They were not doing any filming today so I could take some photos of the shop. They have a variety of cutting boards for sale in the store that they make in the shop. And of course Tshirts,etc. They even have a little cafe there. There is a nice place outside like a small park with picnic tables, corn hole boards and artificial grass. I bought my first souvenir of the trip, a tshirt that actually has a pocket on it. I really think there should be a law that men’s tshirts should have a pocket. 

Then we drove over to the Visitor Center. It was featured on the TV show last year when they opened it. It is located in one of the public housing units that was built in 1940 as part of the New Deal. There were six family two story apartments in each building. They saved one of the end apartments and have it furnished just like it would have been in 1940. On the TV show they had one of the former occupants that lived in one of the apartments when she was a child on the show talking about living there. 

The carpet on the floor of the Visitor Center is made to show where each room of the apartments were. They saved the lumber from the apartments they took down and used it to frame up a simulated building inside the Visitor Center. There were several information panels on the wall describing some of the history of Laurel. We had a guide take us around then we could go back and take photos. This was a rather unique Visitor Center. They are very proud of their history here in Laurel and are working to preserve it and keep the downtown thriving. Ben and Erin Napier and their TV Show Home Town has been a big part in reviving downtown. They own several businesses in the downtown area. 

We rode through some of the residential area that has a lot of beautiful homes. We got some information about an area that we can do a walking tour on our own but we will not do that today. 

It was getting hot so we made a stop at Walmart and returned to the RV Park for lunch. 

We returned to downtown Laurel just before nightfall to see how the streets are lit up. We have seen the overhead strings of lights they have that crisscross some of the downtown streets. There were quite a few people out enjoying the night and patronizing the open restaurants downtown. We felt safe to walk anywhere we wanted to and was able to get several nice photos, even some of the murals we didn’t see this morning. The camera on the iPhone does a good job with just a little light if you hold it steady. Lena even got one of a cat out on the town. 

Day 61 Friday October 4, 2024

We were getting light rain this morning as we were finishing breakfast but it kept things cooler as we headed back to downtown Laurel to find the remainder of the murals. We got a map from the Visitor Center that shows the restaurants, shops, murals and points of interest downtown. Also we got a Walking Tour guide for some of the more historic homes near downtown. We have rode down some of the residential streets but today we will park the Jeep and walk the streets. 

Laurel was incorporated in 1882. There were miles and miles of virgin yellow pine forest in this area and was eventually know as the yellow pine capital of the world and I bought the tshirt to prove it. 😂

Several lumber mills were operating here at one time. Following World War I Laurel shipped more yellow pine than any other location in the World. The peak of prosperity was reached in the 1920’s when the mills were producing one million board feet of lumber a day, enough to stretch 189 miles if laid end to end. All the large lumber mills closed in the 1930, partly due to the Great Depression and the dwindling supply of timber. 

One mural was blocked by construction and we could not find one that was on the map so we started our walking tour of North 5th, 6th and 7th streets. This historic residential district is considered the largest, finest and most intact collection of early 20th century architecture in Mississippi. 

There were some beautiful homes on these streets. We had to be really careful walking on the sidewalks because the old oak trees had caused the sidewalks to break and rise up causing potential trip hazards but we didn’t have any scraped knees when we finished. Some of the houses on streets one or two blocks over were not as nice and not as well maintained but that is the same in any town. 

We decided to go to the other coffee shop in town across the street from the one we already tried. This one was named Merchant’s Coffee. The coffee was good and it gave us a chance to set down for a while because we had walked about 1.5 miles. 

Then we rode around some more of the residential streets and decided to get lunch at Bird Dog Cafe. This is one of the buildings that Ben and Erin remolded on the TV show Home Town. It was a house but they converted it into a cafe for the new owner. It was nice inside. The light fixtures and tables were kind of an eclectic mix of repurposed items. The base of our table was the metal frame of a pedal sewing machine as were two others beside it. 

Our food was good except my sweet ice tea was just a tiny step up from water. I also got French onion soup and a half sandwich. I have had French onion soup many times and it always had a layer of melted cheese on top. This didn’t and the cup was a small cup, smaller than a coffee cup and it was only half full. It was good but I felt kind of cheated. My turkey sandwich was really good. Lena got a chicken salad sandwich and a small salad. She said it was good except the dressing on the salad tasted like nothing but vinegar. Sure glad we went when we did because when we left, the front porch was full of people waiting for a table. 

We returned to the RV Park for the remainder of the day. 

Day 62 Saturday October 5, 2024

We will be leaving here this morning but only have about 90 miles to go and checkin is not until 1PM so after breakfast we drove back into Laurel to check out their Loblolly Festival they were having today downtown. 

  

For a fairly small town they had a huge turnout of people and every street downtown was lined with vendors selling everything from funnel cakes to hand made woodworking items. There were several food vendors with mobile food trailers. We shared a funnel cake and latte. First funnel cake we have had in ages. 

We returned to the RV Park and got everything ready and pulled out just after 11am. We had a good drive to Philadelphia Mississippi and checked into site 37 in Pearl River RV Park. It is actually located on the Choctaw Indian Reservation and is across the street from Pearl River Resort and Casino. The RV Park is just a cleared area with 44 concrete RV site park, full hookup with river rocks between each site and not a sprig of grass or a shade tree in sight.

Philadelphia is the hometown of the country musician Marty Stuart. We came here to visit his country music museum but discovered yesterday that it is temporarily closed. We had heard that he donated 60,000 items of country music memorabilia to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville TN. So we are guessing they are having to rearrange the remainder of his collection in the museum but that is just a guess. He is a huge collector of country music memorabilia. 

All of our food is frozen so we drove down the street to El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant for a late lunch. We had the best Mexican food we have had in a long time and great service. 

Day 63 Sunday October 6, 2024

We didn’t do much today and it seemed kind of good to take it easy. We got up late, ate breakfast and then drove the 4 miles into downtown Philadelphia MS which is a small town. Not much going on today since it is Sunday. 

We found the building that is supposed to be Marty Stuart’s Congress of County Music. The signs on the building states it is the future home of the Congress of Country Music. One sign shows a building that looks like the center of it is an old church with the Ellis Theater on the left and around the corner to the right another section of the building. The center section looks nothing like the sign. Maybe that is the plan and if it is they have a long way to go to make it look like the sign. Apparently the Ellis Theater is operational based on the marquee. 

We found a few murals and then stopped at the old train depot which is a small museum but it was also closed. So we went to Walmart for some milk and ice cream and returned to the RV Park. 

Day 64 Monday October 7, 2024

After breakfast and a couple of maintenance items on the motorhome we drove back into the metropolis of Philadelphia MS. 

Our first stop was the old depot we stopped at yesterday. There was not much to see there but one of Marty Stuart’s guitars a few framed photos and three very nice homemade quilts. They appeared to be preparing for an event in one large room. The man preparing a large vase of greenery asked us where we were from. We made a comment about the destruction from Hurricane Helene in Western NC and from his comments he hadn’t even heard about it. 

Then we went to the Neshoba County Historical Museum. We found it when we were googling the area looking for something interesting to visit. We would have never know about it otherwise because we didn’t see any sign about it. It is in the 19th century George Pegram home about a block off the street that runs through downtown. We were greeted at the door by Mrs. Charlene Walker. Lena said when she signed the register the last entry was in September. As Mrs. Walker was taking us around the different rooms she told us she was 95 years old. I sure hope I am as spry as she is when I am 95 years old. They had a lot of displays on the history of the area. We discovered that Little Debbie Oatmeal cakes were developed by O.D. McKee that was from Philadelphia MS. 

As we were leaving she suggested we visit the Williamsville Store just outside of town. It was established in 1902. It didn’t look like much from the outside but it surprised us when we went inside. They stocked about any kind of shoe or boot for anyone from a kid to grown men and women. They also had a huge selection of casual and work clothes for men and women. And there was also a fairly large grocery store on the opposite side. We didn’t need anything so we departed and stopped at J’s Coffee House when we noticed they had beignets. We bought 4 and returned to the RV Park to make our own Lattes. We had beignets when we were in New Orleans and they were much better than the ones we got today. Today’s were not near as light and flaky. 

Mrs. Walker at the museum told us we needed to ride out and checkout the Neshoba County Fairgrounds so we did that later in the day. She said something about they built small houses out there on the fairgrounds but we did n’t understand the concept of what she was saying until we got to the fairgrounds. 

We didn’t drive onto the grounds even though one gate was open but there was a road that ran right down the fence line so we rode down it. There were dozens and dozens of small 2 and 3 story small house built along the perimeter of the fairgrounds. They were so close you could barely walk between them. I guess there must be must a party atmosphere during the fair. She said that she has over 20 people in hers to cook for. Can’t imagine where 20 people could sleep in the houses no bigger than they were. A different concept for a county fair than we are accustomed to.