Today is my third wedding anniversary, but we’ve been celebrating all weekend. After the market on Saturday, we headed out to Greenwood, MS for an anniversary weekend in the Delta. It was super classy.
We loaded up the car and headed out to Greenwood via back roads–my favorite way to get any place. About two hours later, we arrived at our swanky hotel, The Alluvian. This hotel is a bit of a celebrity in Mississippi, and I had just been dying to meet her.
What is it with fancy hotels and telephones by the toilet?
After checking in and admiring our pretty room, we went to lunch at The Crystal Grill, another famous landmark in Miss. To say this place has an eclectic menu is an understatement. They have everything from beans and greens to spaghetti and meatballs to frog legs to tamales to lemon ice box pie to a million other things. I got the vegetable plate lunch and asked for turnip greens, broccoli casserole, salad, and german potatoes. I received greens, salad, yams, and corn. The greens were definitely good. The rest I could have done without. All in all, I wasn’t so impressed with this place, but I’d be willing to give it another try. I will say that the homemade pies looked decadent, and had we not had dinner reservations, I would have definitely ordered a piece of lemon ice box. Didn’t want to spoil dinner and all.
We drove around the sleepy little town after lunch and saw the Viking Cooking School and sales store. Believe you me, I wanted to go home with some cookware, but refrained from that as well.
Excellent zinfandel from my step-sister and brother-in-law
After getting ready for dinner, we went down to the hotel bar and restaurant Giardina’s for before-dinner cocktails. Then we walked to Delta Bistro for our anniversary dinner. It is a BYOB establishment, so we brought along a bottle of wine we received as a gift at Christmas. We booked the chef’s table, which turned out to be a little more casual than we expected but absolutely perfect. We received excellent service and enjoyed getting to watch the kitchen staff all night. The food was delicious, and all in all, it was the perfect evening.
We had planned to stay for two nights–the first to do all of the above, the second to lounge by the pool and relax. The Alluvian doesn’t have a pool, so we were moving to a different hotel. The pool there just looked sad. Just sad. Also, Greenwood turned out to be a much smaller place than we expected, which would have been fine except that our Sunday dinner options were limited to Chinese buffet, Mexican, and Pizza Hut.
We decided just to go on home and enjoy relaxing there. Somewhere along the way, I had a brilliant idea for how we could spend the rest of our anniversary weekend.
Here’s a hint
Wait for it….
It’s coming…..
It’s almost here….
Boom
We got a baby pool. I won’t lie, it’s awesome. It even has cup holders. It’s 80 inches across, which is plenty big enough for two people, and it is about two feet high. Best $25 we’ve spent in a while.
The setup
Just to show you how redneck it is, I’ve captured our hangout. We have two chairs (still haven’t bothered taking off the tags), an ice chest full of Coors Light and Miller High Life, and hot sauce- and dill-flavored chips. What you can’t see is the boom box blaring Tom Petty and/or the Stones and the lazy dogs lying around.
So, we’ve had one super classy, completely decadent night in Greenwood and two trashy, also decadent days in our backyard. Happy anniversary to us.
We're so happy.
So which of Taylor Bowen Rickett’s delectable stuff did y’all have? I have to say I did a tapas style gnosh at Giardinna’s 2 weekends ago and it was great (hot tamales, cup of seafood gumbo, and end with Giardina’s special salad). Basically an upscale version of Lusco’s. Crystal Grill was good the one time had Sundya brunch there, but it’s definitely a hit or miss country food place. Cottonlandia is a actually a pretty cool museum, esp. the early MS clay pot stuff from pre-Columbian Indian sites. Plus there’s a;ll kinds of blues tourism (between BB King, Robert Johnson and Hubert Sumlin). Tallahatchie Tavern would have been worth a drive as well as the site of Emmett Till’s alleged wolf whistle in Money (the Bryant Grocery); that’s where THE Bridge across the Tallahatchie (cf “Ode to Billie Joe” was too). Great baby pool!
Sounds like we should have talked to you before we went, George. I had no idea so much was close by. I would have loved to do a Sunday lunch/dinner at Lusco’s or Giardina’s, but both were closed. In fact, nothing was open except the mentioned fast food and The Crystal Grill. Sad we missed the blues museum and other attractions, too. Guess that’s what we get for being there on a Sunday. We’ll definitely head over another day, though.
Happy anniversary, Kristen! This sounds like a fantastic weekend to me, baby pool and all!
Thanks, Dawn! You and Kirby should get one. It’s so fun!
Edmond looks so happy!!!!!
Glad to hear you had a good time.
I am on the rig, coming home tomorrow.
Thanks, Frank. Safe travels home.
I love that you guys bought this little pool!
It’s so fun, Selena, you should seriously consider getting one, too!