Mississippi

HOW ABOUT THE PIANO? – Find the intersection of state highways 8 and 1 along Main Street in Rosedale. This is the “crossroads” of blues fame, where legend says master bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to become the best guitar player around. You may not become any more musically inclined, but look around, and you might begin to understand where Johnson – and the blues – started.

CONTROL OF NATURE – Climb up the earthen levees in Greenville, away from the beautiful downtown, and gaze upon “Old Man River,” the Mississippi itself, once home to Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln, as it rolls south. Levees like this one, all up and down the river’s course, attempt to keep the powerful waterway in check, but sometimes they fail.

RESTORED – Beauvoir, the plantation of Confederate president Jefferson Davis in Biloxi, was partly wrecked by Hurricane Katrina. It has since been restored and re-opened, although work continues on some of the associated buildings. Take a few minutes for the cemetery of old Confederates who passed their last years at Beauvoir while it was an old soldiers’ home. Find it at 2244 Beach Blvd., Biloxi, or visit www.beauvoir.org.