May 31, 2021 – Monday (for another 42 minutes … Memorial Day)
I’m on my Southern “nosing around/hope to find a new hometown” trip. So, greetings from nearly Atlanta. I’m tucked into my clean (ahhhh) hotel room on the outskirts of town … marveling at the mountains and many trees that seem to be in abundance. Who knew? (Apparently, not me!)
When planning this trip, I decided I’d just go to GA and NC and not go to MS. I don’t want to live in MS. Until yesterday, I’d never been in MS (arriving in Alabama and driving to Mississippi, I got two more states off my list of not-seens/yay! Just four more states to see … North Dakota, Alaska, Louisiana and Arkansas!). But, as life goes, a few weeks ago, I watched an episode of HomeTown (again) and that weird little flicker in my gut said, “GO!” … so, I just had to.
If you know me – you know I’ve been yearning for Laurel, MS for quite some time now. Every time I’d watch the show, HomeTown (on HGTV), something in me would say … “These are your people. This is your place.” So, this trip down South … was, in part, to figure out if Laurel was “my place” or not. I figured either I’d be buying a house come tomorrow … or I’d be saying it’s not my place.
And, well, after all this yearning and wondering … it is NOT my place. Very much NOT. SO very disappointingly NOT. Definitely NOT!
If you are familiar with the TV show – HomeTown – you know the town I’m referring to … but you know only what is shown on TV. To those watching, it’s the little, quaint town in Mississippi that is beloved by so many. Ben and Erin Napier and their friends/families have been breathing new life into this town for awhile now. However, there is so much “not seen” and so much left to do.
I hate to say it, but Laurel itself is a (sorry people) crap town. Kudos to all of those who are doing their darnedest to clean it up … revitalize it … revamp … reconstruct … bring it back to life. It’s going to take YEARS to bring this town around. MANY years. As in maybe another 15-20 or more … if they can do it.
Even when driving to the town, I wasn’t sure where it was. Laurel is SE of Jackson and just up the road from Hattiesburg … in the southern section of the state. It is pretty flat – so, I understand now why tornadoes seem to happen often. Hot, steamy summers and oh-so-much flatness = prime tornado conditions.
I flew from Denver yesterday (was it really just yesterday?) and 2 flights, 3 airports and a 3 hour drive later I arrived in Laurel. I booked a hotel online not knowing that it was on the wrong side of the wrong side of the tracks. Dreadful. I still hope I was the only one sleeping in my bed! No bed bugs welcome! Despite the floor not having a vacuum on it for about a month – and me practically wanting to sleep with my shoes on – my bed was comfy and I was happy to be there.
This morning, I drove around Laurel … about 9 times. The downtown area is pretty small and with all the construction/road work many of the streets were closed, so I just kept going around and around or up/down the same ones – slowly – and looking around. It being a holiday, a few other tourists and I were about the only ones on the road. I knew many places would not be open … and I was right. I nosed into the Mercantile (smaller than expected/pricier, too) … Ben’s General Store (workshop) had fewer items than my local cheese shop and goods from … WASHINGTON! Yes – they were selling Seattle Seed Company goods. I found that more than a little ridiculous! I then went into two small antique stores that were less antiquey and more fluff, gift shop with paint your own tiles (or something) along with selling hard drinks and lemonade. Weird. And that was pretty much it. The few other places I wanted to go into were closed … but mostly, there wasn’t much there!
I drove the beautiful 3-block area, near downtown, of palatial homes … gorgeous spreads/big trees/beautiful homes. Old money lived in them and omg … they were all so lovely. One different from the next and then different from the next. I ooh’d and ahh’d over the verandas and porches, porte-cocheres and gazebos, botanic garden and golf course worthy landscaping and lawns. I drove past (again even slower) and took it all in. Breathtakingly beautiful. And when I was out of those three streets, it was nice for a bit … and then it wasn’t. Pretty crappy, actually. Very run down. Past tired. LOTS of empty store fronts and buildings and run-down homes and neighborhoods.
I was told to go to Vic’s for breakfast. I was also told it was “the best in town”. If that was the best in town – these people need more places to eat. I walked in and I walked out. I wanted to go to PDI (closed) and ended up at McAlister’s Deli which was a step up from a Subway but with 100% better sandwiches. I got “The Italian” minus the brown spicy mustard … a warm/Italian sub that oozed melted cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing. It was fabulous. I thought I’d save half of it for dinner because it was so gigantic … but a few minutes (and 780 calories) later – it was all gone. Guess I was hungry! I almost wish I’d gotten another one and saved it for now!
I had visions of going to Pearl’s Diner for pie … but it, too, was closed. I saw pictures of the food there and … well, I’m not into canned green beans, watery collards or banana pudding. So, guess it really wasn’t too bad I couldn’t go in.
On my sixth pass through town, I wondered when this town’s peak was? As it seemed to have been in (pretty much) tatters for a LONG time. But, there were so many beautiful OLD buildings. How long ago was the town’s heyday? Tonight, before I sat down to write this, I looked up Laurel, MS. According to Wikipedia … Laurel was incorporated in 1882. So, yeah – it was a bustling town a LONG time ago. Yellow pine forests in the surrounding areas made it prime for the timber industry and lumber mills sprang up, seemingly overnight. Laurel’s lumber mills shipped more yellow pine than any other lumber mill – in the world – after WWI. The lumber boom peaked in the 1920’s (producing over a million feet of lumber daily – about 189 miles worth!) but continued until the late 1930’s. The population peaked around 60K in 1960 but has declined to about 20K currently. Oddly, with all the trees, the city was named for the laurel thickets in the area and not the pine trees. Just think – it could have been Yellow Pine, MS.
I was surprised at how much of the town they don’t show on TV (and it’s bigger than you think if you watch the show – the downtown area is pretty much all that is covered). I thought this as I passed the HELLFIGHTERS 50′ sign at the edge of downtown (motorcycle shop). You never see that … or the empty and/or run-down buildings and homes in the adjacent areas. The area is pretty sad.
And speaking of Hell … no one in the South drives the speed limit. It was 60 mph in some places, 70 mph in most. I, personally, LOVED going that fast as on the island our speed limits are 55, 30, 45, 20, 50, 35 … and that’s within 2 miles. Most of the time on the island I am stuck behind someone (most everyone) going 28 mph on the 2-lane highway. So, yeah, I love the speed limits down here. However, I did NOT like that this is pretty much the Autobahn of the South as NO ONE was driving 70 mph on the highway. I was afraid of getting run off the road so, I drove 72 … then 75 … then 78 … and I capped it at 80. That’s as fast as I wanted to go – but still – everyone was passing me and on my ass (even in the right lane)! There are no Little Old Ladies from Pasadena here … and if there are – they now all drive like bats out of Hell!
So … after spending the night/day in that HomeTown town … this is what I’ve learned. My lessons from Laurel (and other places South) …
The term “y’all” is alive and well and my just being in the South for some 30 hours, I’ve already adopted it into my vocabulary and I’m not letting it go. Y’all will have to get used to it!
Bless your heart … in a nice way … can mean just that. But, there are probably 347 ways that term can be used and I think most of them basically translate to … you idiotic, pathetic, simple-minded, moronic, clueless dolt. Basically.
I’m hoping not to adopt … “Yessiree, Bob” … but I’ve already got a “hankering” for some other Southern fancies. I’m “fixin'” to incorporate some of the verbiage. Yes, ma’am, I am! Yessiree, Bob.
Southern people (in general – not the witch at the gas station) are very nice. As in VERY nice. Very friendly and chatty and helpful. My kind of people.
Sweet tea is practically given by IV. My teeth hurt just thinking about it. I had “unsweet” tea … and y’all have to ask for it that way or y’all’ll get sweet tea. No thanks. I don’t need any more sugar in my diet. And from the looks of most of the Mississippians I saw … neither do they. (And while I’m not exactly a svelte Good and Plenty myself, they are a very chunky lot!)
I don’t think they serve coffee anywhere in the South. Just tea. I never did see a coffee shop around town. The only one I saw was Peet’s in the Birmingham airport and the only Starbucks sign I saw was in Oxford, AL … some 260 miles east of Laurel. I wanted to stop but I didn’t want to be up until 3am from the caffeine. Though I am now wishing I had!
Barbecue sauces and pickling spices have their own sections in the grocery stores. I love looking around other stores when I’m out and about to see what are local favorites. Today I was in a very sad little Piggly Wiggly (love saying that name but wanted to take a shower once I left the store). I noticed that most of the cake mixes were pineapple upside down, yellow, white or red velvet. I couldn’t find a bagged salad to save my life and they had the most fried chicken in the deli case than any grocery store I’ve ever been in! Fried chicken is pretty much sold everywhere! (And, from one who gets her chicken tenders from the local gas station – I love that!)
Train whistles are non-stop. I also love that! Something comforting about a train whistle. We have no trains on the island. I miss that sound.
Primary education is not as great, in most states down South (6 of the bottom 9 are southern states), as what I’m used to. MS ranks 43rd in the nation (it used to be 50th). So, I really shouldn’t have been TOO surprised when the young gal at the sandwich shop (yes, friendly and chatty) said she was going “abroad” to school soon. When I excitedly asked WHERE? … she said she was offered Paris but chose HAWAII, instead. When I gently told her that Hawaii wasn’t really “abroad” … as in another country … she said that it really was as it was far away and not really part of the US. Okaaaay. I didn’t want to get into it and tell her that Hawaii became our 50th state in 1959 and that she needed to do some homework! I figured she’d never see me again so I just told her she should see if she can switch to Paris and left it at that. Sheesh!
Tourist towns are just that … tourist towns. They are pretty much the same – anywhere/everywhere – with varying degrees of touristy goods and whatnot. Disappointing at best. I live in one. I know how it is. They are not sustainable for the locals. I hope Laurel is better than my town. It actually seemed to be … some nice shops/but still touristy … but there were so many empty store fronts. So much more needed … more shops, restaurants, galleries. But, I can’t blame newcomers for not coming. I also don’t blame Laurel’s residents for jumping on the band wagon of commercialism and consumerism while they can. But everything was touristy and pricey and just not that great. I commend their vision and energy and desire to do what they can. But …
And while the surrounding area and in the neighborhoods of the downtown area have trees … if I were to have one suggestion to the town’s people it would be to plant 1000 trees. The downtown area (under immense construction/road work – again, kudos to them) is soooo much concrete. And today, the end of May, was 87 and HOT. They need trees in the downtown area. I hope planting is in their master plan!
I left Laurel around 3:30 today … knowing my drive to Atlanta would take more than a few hours. But, leaving MS wasn’t too hard … the areas I saw were just not that pretty. Green in spots but already the highway grasses were looking like winter wheat that hadn’t been harvested. I don’t know what their weather is or has been – but I hope they get some rain. It was looking pretty dry. I drove across the state of Alabama – the entire state – and it is far prettier, greener and hillier (dare I say mountainy?) … than I ever expected. Driving into Birmingham is where the mountainy terrain started … part of the Appalachians. I had no idea! (Bless my heart – in not a good way!) The weather was perfect for driving and I had the windows down and the tunes up and it was a glorious day for a 5+ hour road trip. I enjoyed every mile.
The dream of Laurel is gone, but that’s okay. I needed to find out. I’ll go to bed and be like Scarlett O’Hara … as tomorrow is another day!
This took longer than expected … happy June. Y’all wish me luck on my quest.
And, bless your hearts … in a good way!