Route 61 stretches 1,400 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway, for the most part, hugs the twisty Mississippi River. The southern section, which we planned to visit, is referred to as The Delta Blues Highway. For over 100 years, it’s been considered the heart of blues music.

More famous blues musicians have come from this area than anywhere else in the country. Son House, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, BB King, Sam Cooke, W.C. Handy, Albinia Jones, Memphis Minnie, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf and many others had Mississippi roots.

Highway 61 is the route that transported blues musicians and this uniquely American musical genre to Memphis and beyond. The influence of the blues has been far-reaching.

Modern artists, such as Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Buddy Guy, Bob Dylan – the list is extensive – have all said they were influenced by the Delta Blues.

We started our Highway 61 journey in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. First night out, we stayed at the Farr Equestrian Center, just outside town. A bike and hike trail runs atop the river levee, and we had an easy bike ride to the LSU campus and into downtown Baton Rouge to sightsee.

The Highway continues like a parkway, bordered by greenery and wildflowers, but not much else. Towns seem few and far between. In Port Gibson, we spent one night at Grand Gulf Military Park.

Port Gibson has Civil War history. Long story short: The Union Army defeated the Confederates here, securing the Mississippi for transport, which eventually led to the fall of Vicksburg.

The campground sits on a hillside on the grounds of the Grand Gulf Military Park. We walked the grounds and toured restored buildings, including an eclectic museum, chapel, home, and creekside mill that was used early on to generate a trickle of electricity.

The Mississippi River, which has been known to frequently change course and flood bottom land, devastated much of the original town. The town took additional hits from storms and Yellow Fever.

Today, Port Gibson’s population numbers fewer than 2,000 residents. It’s the County seat and there’s some commerce, but a drive through town feels more sad than hopeful. There’s a lot of poverty here and along the Mississippi. It’s easy to connect the dots; the blues weren’t born out of happy times.

We spent a very quiet evening in the campground with just a handful of other campers, and started out again in the morning.

Indianola, MS

We veered slightly east of the highway and went to Indianola to visit the BB King Museum.

BB King is heralded as the king of the blues. The museum is well done and powerful. We spent three hours there and could have stayed longer. If you’re ever close by, you should visit.

The interpretation is excellent, with exhibits and videos that tell BB King’s story through the lens of the times he lived in. He took some tough knocks in stride and triumphed. He inspired and influenced peers and his legacy still inspires artists.

His guitars, all called Lucille, were named for a woman who sparked a barroom brawl that almost claimed BB’s guitar. You’ll have to visit to get the whole story.

Clarksdale, MS

Intrigued by the write-up and reviews, we spent a few nights at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, MS.

Located on the old Hopson Plantation, the inn started simply enough. A few friends got together and transported a shack to this spot and renovated it. All they wanted was a place to hang out, listen to blues, and drink beer.

It mushroomed into something much more. Now, it’s a collection of refurbished sharecropper and tenant farmer shacks and repurposed grain bins for overnight guests.

The Shack Up Inn has hosted guests from all over the world. The Inn’s website unabashedly proclaims “the Ritz we ain’t.” Here, B and B stands for Bed and Beer.

The furnishings are a quirky hodge-podge that somehow works and feels comfy. Each shack has a name and its own personality. We stayed in Shorty’s Shack. The kitchen cabinets held two of each: plates, bowls, and mugs – and the same quantities of silverware and cookware. But, really, we had all we needed for our stay.

There are now several dozen shacks and grain bins that have been turned into inn rooms.

On our first night here, there was live music in the bar. Big T Williams rocked the house with his blues guitar playing.

The bar is a dizzying collage of decor with everything from model airplanes hanging from the ceiling to old concert posters, Christmas lights and totem poles.

Clarksdale is one of the poorest areas in one of America’s poorest states. It was an agricultural area, growing mostly cotton – an extremely labor intensive crop when planted and harvested by hand.

When the automated harvester was perfected, the vast labor force was no longer needed. Automation made plantation owners rich, but it pulled the economic rug out from under thousands of sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Many abandoned what little they had left and migrated north in search of jobs and a better life.

Talented musicians struggled to make ends meet. Most had day jobs and played music by night: Pinetop Perkins drove tractor on the Hopson Plantation. Muddy Waters was a sharecropper. Big Jack Johnson drove an oil delivery truck (hence his nickname “Oil man”)

Clarksdale keeps pressing to regain its economic footing. Promoting their musical heritage is helping to revitalize the area’s economy.

You can hear live music -somewhere- every night. Music festivals pepper the calendar and bring in crowds wanting to hear the blues. The town’s hotels and campgrounds sell out for festivals.

Clarksdale is working to open, or restore, venues, restaurants and businesses that are tourism-related. Covid impacted club life, but it’s almost back in full swing.

On our second night, we went to Ground Zero, a Clarksdale blues club co-owned by actor Morgan Freeman. It was great to get a double dose of live music.

We also visited the Delta Blues Museum, another destination-worthy museum. Here we learned more about the role Clarksdale played in the earliest days of the Delta Blues and the stories of Mississippi’s blues artists.

The Museum also holds workshops for young musicians to help hone their musical and professional skills.

I went down to the Crossroads…

A marker for the intersection of Routes 61 and 49 stands on the edge of Clarksdale. This is the famous crossroads, where the story says that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical prowess. His recording of Crossroads was adapted and made famous by Eric Clapton.

Legend or myth? In any case, it makes for a good story and photo op.

We left Highway 61 shortly after Memphis, and then headed into Tennessee. We’re glad we had the opportunity to explore the “Highway,” and enjoy some live music.

The SpokenVan Highway continues to beckon, and we’re off to more adventures in year five of traveling!