Tag: Holly Springs

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Day Trippin’: Cabin Fever? Get Away Without Going too Far

CREDIT: Jesse Davis

After a year of quarantines, shutdowns, and cabin fever, a little road trip can really cure a vacation itch — without the time off from work, hotel fees, plane tickets, etc. that often accompany an actual vacation. With several options within a few short hours of the city limits, it’s easy to hop in the car, see the sights, unplug, and have some fun — and even be back home by sundown.

Calico Rock, Arkansas

My status as an angler is amateur at best, but when I was younger, my family used to make pilgrimages to Calico Rock in Izard County, Arkansas, to fish for trout in the White River. I’ve done well enough with lures and live bait, from the boat and from the shore, but I’ve never made the leap into the die-hard world of flyfishing. Whether I caught much or not, though, it was some of the most fun I can remember having.

As I recall it, as the water swirls around your rubber waders or the bow of your boat, it’s cold — piercingly so. The White River, fed from the depths of Beaver Lake, is famously frigid. It’s the kind of shocking chill that will jolt you awake, driving thoughts of the city and the job from your mind. All the better to tune into the quiet rhythms of the Natural State.

Jesse Davis

Jenkins Fishing Service on the White River

I made the three-hour trip to Calico Rock myself just a few weeks ago. Fishing season had not yet started back up, but I enjoyed myself hiking along the banks of the meandering Calico Creek. I snapped a few photos, thought about fishing trips of old and those still to come, and enjoyed the clean, crisp, cool air.

Of course, the adventurous Mid-Southerner venturing into the Arkansas wilds need not stop at Calico Rock. The Little Red River and the Black River are known to be excellent fishing spots as well; and Lake Ouachita, a jewel of a lake, is hard to beat for camping, hiking, and canoeing. Or, for those less sporty types, and I’m speaking from experience now, just kick back by the campfire with a good book and a bottle of bourbon and enjoy the scenery. — Jesse Davis

Taylor, Mississippi

The rustic village of Taylor is, as Faulkner called it, “a postage stamp of native soil.” But it’s an interesting stamp, and reputedly the only real Mississippi town name that Faulkner allowed into his novels. It’s also a nice day-trip destination — about 90 minutes from Memphis — offering a melange of vintage small-town structures, local art galleries, and memorable food, both plain and fancy.

The story goes that in the 1970s, when real estate prices started rising in Oxford, a number of painters, potters, musicians, and other refugees moved to Taylor, giving it a cachet of bohemia that still remains. The weathered and largely unrestored main thoroughfare also remains, with a few plank buildings and a rustic gas pump and board sidewalk. You can visit local galleries and shops, drop into Carter’s Store for “dry goods,” and, if you’re willing to hang around on the front porch until a table opens (a pleasant experience, usually), you can eat some of the famous catfish at Taylor Grocery & Restaurant. You can also take it with you if indoor dining is still not an option you’re interested in.

Google Earth

The Plein Air development in Taylor, Mississippi

Google Earth

Carter’s Store

grittaylor.com

Grit

If catfish isn’t your thing, you’re in luck. You can sample some fine Southern fusion cuisine — and maybe an artisanal cocktail or two — at Grit, which is located in the new Plein Air development, not far from Taylor’s main drag. (Which is a very small main drag, for the record.) The homes in Plein Air are classic Southern design, with front porches and lawns, sort of like Seaside in Florida or Memphis’ Harbor Town. It’s a nice neighborhood, and “The Mill” is a popular site for weddings. There are a couple of shopping opportunities in Plein Air, as well. And the drive back can be fun, if you explore the backroads. Which is what Faulkner would recommend. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Reelfoot Lake — Tiptonville, Tennessee

I’m on my vintage Indian Scout with the sun on my back and the wind in my hair. Helmet be damned. The daydream comes to a sudden halt with four words, “Are we there yet?”

I came back to reality driving a 2014 minivan with two “I’m bored” preteens and a “Where are we going again?” septuagenarian.

Earlier at home, my 7- and 9-year-old nieces uttered the words “I’m bored” one too many times. Aunt Juju sprang into action loading everyone in the car for another infamous “crazy aunt” mystery trip. On these trips, I don’t say where we are going; It’s a surprise. Thirty minutes in, someone always asks, “How long until we get there?” I look at my phone and say, “In about when-we-arrive hours.”

Julie Ray

Nature Center, like the recently opened Youth Ninja Course, are open to the public.

The 7-year-old was wearing a tie-dye sweatshirt with Christmas tree pajama pants. Reelfoot Lake in Tiptonville, Tennessee, is about 100 miles through some quaint small towns and, luckily, has a relaxed dress code. Bald eagles, a gorgeous lake, and fried chicken at Boyette’s would be the best bet to fill the void on a cold, overcast day.

Google Maps suggested Highway 14. Not only is this route an extra hour, it’s boring. Best take Highway 51; it’s more entertaining, and the route is only two hours. We missed the bald eagle tour, the park was closing soon, and the kids got hungry hours ago, necessitating a stop at Sonic. No one was hungry for Boyette’s, but we did see eagles and find a Youth Ninja Course — a very scaled-down version of American Ninja Warrior‘s obstacle course. That was a hit.

I’ve been to Reelfoot Lake and Boyette’s before via Highway 51. You’ll just have to take my word that it’s a worthy day trip. Best enjoyed on a vintage Indian Scout. — Julie Ray

Holly Springs, Mississippi

A day trip for me means eating. A trip to Holly Springs, Mississippi, only about an hour from Memphis, ensures lots of good eating. And more.

A must is Phillips Grocery, known for its hamburgers made with secret ingredients. I like to eat on the porch and drink a Nehi grape or orange with my burgers at the restaurant, housed in a circa 1882 saloon. They also have a great chicken sandwich.

Alice McLallen Kerley

Phillips Grocery

Marshall Steakhouse, a massive restaurant owned by Randall Swaney, is a shrine to beef. In summer, catch a show on the outdoor stage. You also can eat outside at one of the many tree-shaded picnic tables.

For fabulous catfish, barbecue, and other cuisine, visit Clancy’s Cafe in Red Banks, 10 minutes from Holly Springs going toward Memphis. Desserts include cakes made by owner Tyler Clancy’s grandmother.

Places to go between eating include the Marshall County Historical Museum, which area Baby Boomers might compare to the old Pink Palace Museum, which was full of everything. This museum encompasses several floors and includes vintage clothing, toys, dolls, quilts, and old farm tools.

The nearby Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery exclusively features art by the late Holly Springs artist.

Check out the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum and Cultural Center of African and African-American History, which highlights worldwide contributions in history, art, and culture.

If you’re an Elvis fan, drive by (it’s not open to the public) Graceland Too, which the late Paul MacLeod once devoted as a shrine to the King.

Venture less than an hour away to Tupelo to see more Elvis. This is where his childhood home is located. And grab something to eat at one of Elvis’ former hangouts, Johnnie’s Drive-In.

Finally, on your way to and/or from Tupelo to Holly Springs, get an extraordinary homemade apple or peach pie at Flick’s Truck Stop in Potts Camp.— Michael Donahue

The Clinton Presidential Museum and Library — Little Rock, Arkansas

Though it has, like other national installations featuring historical government archives, undergone temporary closure, the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock should be on anybody’s future list, and should be generally available soon, given the advent of multiple vaccines and, as of early 2021, intensified anti-COVID policies at all levels of government.

Located just off the first interstate exit at Little Rock, as one heads west on I-40, the library stands in cantilevered splendor on a 30-acre park. Inside, it contains archival collections and research facilities, as well as mementoes galore of the 42nd president’s time in office: photographs and videos of key historical moments and artifacts of Clinton’s travels as chief executive, along with replicas of documents ranging from important treaties to personal correspondence with the likes of Elton John. And yes, a saxophone.

Jackson Baker

at Resolute desk

Visitors have the opportunity to go interactive, sitting at exact replicas of the cabinet table in Clinton’s White House conference room and at the famed Resolute desk in an Oval Office space that models Clinton’s taste and, we learn, has been largely replicated in Joe Biden’s choice of decor. And not just sit; both of these historical spaces are outfitted with easily operated audio-visual reminders of the events, both momentous and personal, that occurred there and can be re-experienced by the visitor.

A lot of history here at one’s beck and call, and close by! — Jackson Baker

Delta Bound

Memphis is lucky to have, right on its doorstep, nothing less than the crucible of some of America’s greatest music. That would be the Mississippi Delta, of course, and for anyone hankering to get out of town, it can be the perfect escape. Thankfully, barreling down Highway 61 (in a convertible, anyone?) is COVID-safe.

Along the way, watch for the signs of the Mississippi Blues Trail (msbluestrail.org), which alert travelers to significant locations in the music’s history. One of the first you’ll see stands in the cemetery where Memphis Minnie is buried, just west of Walls, where she grew up. Others are found near Tunica, Clarksdale has over a half dozen, and that’s just the beginning.

Stopping off to soak in the Delta landscape, while learning blues history, is a glorious escape on a sunny day. But the blues museums along the way are also an option. In one recent trip to see several Delta museums, I had them all to myself. The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, and the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, among others, can provide hours of education and entertainment.

Alex Greene

B.B. King Museum in Indianola

Alex Greene

Robert Johnson’s grave in Greenwood

Alex Greene

Delta Blues Museum

Alex Greene

Hubert Sumlin marker in Greenwood

But there’s more to the Delta than just music. See the current Delta Magazine for a comprehensive guide to public art in the region, from murals to sculpture to architecture. The area is bursting with creativity, as spaces like the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience in Meridian, the Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden in Cleveland, or the H.C. Porter Gallery in Vicksburg make abundantly clear.

Meanwhile, those who love non-musical history have plenty to discover, starting with the multi-state Civil Rights Trail (civilrightstrail.com), which has many markers and sites through the Delta. Greenwood sports the Museum of the Mississippi Delta, covering prehistory, Native American life, art, agriculture, and the Civil War.

But beyond such curated experiences, the simple art of walking and exploring can thrive in the Delta, whether it’s taking in the historical downtowns of Clarksdale, Greenwood, or other towns, or — my favorite — exploring cemeteries. To sit beside Robert Johnson’s final resting place outside of Greenwood, as dusk sets in, makes for a day trip that reverberates deep in the soul. — Alex Greene

Wilson, Arkansas

With the redevelopment and building boom going on in Downtown Memphis and other parts of town, you might be forgiven for not looking too far outside the Bluff City Bubble. But if you avert your gaze slightly, you’ll catch a glimpse of a small-city renaissance happening just 45 minutes up I-55.

The town of Wilson, Arkansas, (population hovering just under 1,000) has been reborn over the last decade since the Wilson family sold its land to The Lawrence Group in 2010. The group, which has experience running wineries and vineyards, is revitalizing the former logging and sawmill town into a Delta tourist hotspot.

Courtesy City of Wilson, AR

The Grange at Wilson Gardens

The city’s 21st-century approach is built around the Wilson Wine Experience, which includes frequent six-course thematic dinner events curated by Norbert Mede and Chef Roberto Barth. Set at different historic locations around Wilson, Mede’s keen taste for good vintages meshes superbly with Barth’s unique approach to Delta cooking.

Those with a bit more thirst can focus on one of Wilson’s weekly wine tastings, and easily spend the better part of a day catching some music at The Grange at Wilson Gardens, or diving into the free Hampson Archeological Museum, which contains artifacts of the pre-Colombian people who inhabited the Delta from 1400 to 1650.

Even if wine (and it’s some good wine) isn’t your thing, there’s something for everyone in Wilson, and there’s even more on the horizon. Month by month, the city adds more activities to its roster, including a crawfish festival slated for the end of April. So keep an eye on the calendar; if you need a quick escape, it’s always a good time to visit Wilson. — Samuel X. Cicci

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Book Features Books

Graceland Too — Revisited

CREDIT: Tom Graves, from Graceland Too Revisited

On the evening of July 15, 2014, Paul B. MacLeod, age 70, shot and killed the 28-year-old man who tried to enter MacLeod’s house in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Two days after the shooting, MacLeod himself was found dead on his front porch, the cause of death ruled to be natural causes. But the crowd that gathers at 200 E. Gholson in Holly Springs on Saturday won’t be there just to remember the late Paul MacLeod. They’ll be on hand for an auction not only of the house’s contents but of the house itself, a house known as Graceland Too.

Since opening his door, any hour of the day or night, to the public, MacLeod acted as the onsite guide to his cluttered collection of Elvis memorabilia, a collection that ran from front porch to backyard and from floors to walls to ceilings. Elvis busts and full-figure cutouts; rooms wallpapered in Elvis albums and album covers; Elvis concert photos, curtains, and wall hangings: It was Elvis everywhere, and never mind the kitsch factor. This was more like folk art run riot and raised to the level of room-size art installation. There was a pink limo parked out back. There was a faux electric chair wired to a (working?) DieHard battery and inspired by Jailhouse Rock. But there were non-Elvis decorative touches too: fake Christmas tree branches, Mardi Gras beads, chain-link fencing, and barbed wire. The house itself (including the glass in its windows) could be painted a bright blue one year and a combination brown/white the next — with little to no rhyme or reason why the colors went where. But the tourists were certainly there. They could be drunken college students by night or foreign tourists by day, and they weren’t just treated to one man’s fixation on all things Elvis. They met the man himself, Paul MacLeod, who claimed to drink a case of Coke a day.

Among the visitors were journalists and publishers Darrin Devault, who teaches at the University of Memphis, and Tom Graves, who teaches at LeMoyne-Owen College. Devault and Graves are amateur but accomplished photographers too, and they’ve documented MacLeod’s collection in Graceland Too Revisited (Devault-Graves Digital Editions), subtitled “Images from the Home of the Universes*, Galaxys*, Planets*, Worlds*, Ultimate #1 Elvis Fan.”

In recent phone interviews, Devault called the house “the wackiest place I’ve ever seen.” Graves — borrowing from music writer and cultural critic Greil Marcus — called it a fine example of a vanishing species: “the old weird America.” But Graceland Too isn’t just endangered. It’s soon to be extinct, and the exact date is that auction date: January 31st. No telling how high the bids on individual items could go, but MacLeod claimed his collection was worth millions, though, judging from Devault’s and Graves’ images, it’s hard to spot the rarities. Impossible, however, not to recognize MacLeod’s single-mindedness.

“Graceland Too was a two-part attraction,” Devault said. “The first was the artifacts. The second was Paul. He was a raconteur of the highest order.”

“A dyed-in-the-wool Elvis guy” is how Graves described him. “Bric-a-brac chaos” is what Graves called Graceland Too — chaos captured in the color-saturated imagery of Graceland Too Revisited.

The publishing team visited Holly Springs twice to take photos: the first visit during Graceland Too’s “Blue Period” in July 2011; then in August 2014. The end result, so far as the authors know: the only evidence in book form of MacLeod’s collection. “We want readers to be able to touch the pages, get a good sense of the color,” Graves said of the book, which differs from the digital editions normally produced by the Devault-Graves Agency.

“We looked at Paul MacLeod as a man who devoted his life to something he believed in,” Devault said against any charges that Graceland Too Revisited is simply a spotlight on an eccentric individual. But the book already puts those possible charges to rest. On the dedication page, it’s there for all to see: “To the memory of Paul B. MacLeod, an Elvis fan who showed us how to chase our dreams.”

Categories
News The Fly-By

Graceland Redux

Memphians have a weird relationship with Graceland. Those who have never passed through the gates hold it as a point of native pride; and those who have been there try to justify it with excuses about visiting relatives.

But there’s another Graceland, located an hour south of Memphis in Holly Springs, Mississippi. It’s Graceland, Too, one man’s six-decades-running residential homage to all things Elvis.

For the uninitiated, Graceland, Too isn’t meant to be a re-creation of the real thing. Instead, it’s a smallish house stuffed to the gills with Paul McLeod’s massive collection of Elvis memorabilia (among other things). McLeod will welcome you into his house anytime, day or night, for the low, low price of $5. After you’ve been to Graceland, Too three times, you’re eligible for a lifetime membership, which entitles you to free admission.

Once inside, McLeod presents his collection, room by overstuffed room. There are records and photos and binders full of notes cataloging each time Elvis has been mentioned on TV in the past 20 years. There are three TVs that run constantly, each on a different channel. There are records and books and Elvis-themed tchotchkes of every imaginable kind. Nearly every surface is wallpapered with newspaper clippings and neon sheets of paper printed with quotes from visitors.

Though the house is devoted to Elvis, very little of the tour is. The tour is more about McLeod’s monument: its creation, its visitors, its upkeep, and its constant changes (like building a replica of the “Jailhouse Rock” set in the backyard, largely out of kitchenware).

Visits to Graceland, Too are a rite of passage for curious Memphians, tipsy college students, and Elvis fans looking for something a little different. But in the past few years, this already-strange attraction seems to have gotten weirder. Now, with its owner in poor health, a few Memphians are trying to ensure the collection’s preservation.

“When our group traveled down to Graceland, Too for the first time, we had no intention of doing anything but drinking some beers and getting some laughs from Paul and his eccentric collection,” University of Memphis graduate student Amy Gregory told me via email. “However, we stuck around after the tour and started talking to Paul and got a feeling that he was trying to reach out to us for some kind of help.”

Gregory and her friends Joe Sills, Matthew Nolen, Meredith Nolen, and Brandon Allen followed McLeod to Annie’s, a Holly Springs diner, where he told them that he was concerned about people stealing from him and that it was getting harder to run Graceland, Too in his old age.

“It’s rare to come across a college kid from Memphis, Ole Miss, or Mississippi State who hasn’t heard of Graceland, Too. But a lot of those kids go and they do what kids do — they steal things from him, make fun of him and all of that,” Sills told me via email. “Paul has a lot of crap inside that place; but he also has some very real treasures, and, at one point, he had many more that have since been stolen.”

Moved by McLeod’s story, the group put together the Blue Suede Benefit, scheduled for December 14th, to raise money for McLeod’s medical bills and other expenses. The benefit will be held at Annie’s in Holly Springs, with entertainment from (what else?) an Elvis tribute band and a silent auction featuring items from Graceland, Too.

While the benefit will help McLeod in the short term, Gregory and Sills are hoping to find a way to make sure that the Elvis collection finds a lasting home. They admit that not everything in the collection is worth saving but want to make sure the most valuable items are kept.

“Our group has tried to tap all of the resources we have to help preserve some of it,” Sills said. “We’ve reached out to the Library of Congress, the University of Memphis, and Ole Miss, but we haven’t gotten very far with any of them yet. Cataloging that place would be a monumental task, but I do think it’s a real piece of Americana that should be preserved somehow.”

Tickets for the Blue Suede Benefit are $20 in advance and $25 at the door and can be purchased at gracelandtoo.org.