Farish Street, Jackson Mississippi
 

Passing through Jackson on a road trip in the next couple of weeks and would like to see a couple of historic blues sights. Would a drive down Farish Street in the morning be safe? Some reviews on TA are scary.

Staying at a hotel about a mile away on Monroe, so it would be easy to drive over there. Any suggestions and/or possible routes to make the most of a quickie drive before heading on our way?



Thanks!

You'll be fine driving. Personally, I wouldn't walk the area, especially at night.

Thanks, TomAmes. I figure if we drive down there in the morning before we head out of town we will be ok. It us such a shame that so many of the old sites on the Blues Trail simply don't exist anymore...

I agree. If your schedule puts you there near meal-time, you might check out one of these spots:

Frank Jones' Corner (http://www.yelp.com/biz/frank-jones-corner-jackson). It's right on Farish St. A little hole-in-the-wall with decent food. Primarily a night-time blues-spot, but I've only been at lunch. Decent hamburgers etc, and they had a guy singing/playing the blues the couple of times I went.

Elite Restaurant (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/176/9934...aurant-Jackson). Several blocks off Farish on Capital St. Little changed from the '50's or '60's, but very good food with a widely varied menu.

Mayflower Café (http://www.yelp.com/biz/mayflower-cafe-jackson). Similar to the Elite, also on Capital a couple of blocks closer to Farish. The quality of the food has dropped some IMO, and the menu isn't as broad as the Elite's. One of the scenes from the movie "The Help" was shot here.

OMG -- the Mayflower is still there?

I remember being in there one night in the seventies when Senator Jim Eastland was so drunk he had to be carried out by two aides, as limp as a sack of potatoes.

The food was pretty modest to begin with, but there wasn't a lot of choice in downtown Jackson in those days. It's historic!

Thanks so much for those tips, Tom. I wonder if Elite was a chain. There is one in Waco, Texas. Great story about the senator, too ! Another historic moment, haha.