Road to Pascagoula

I had this great plan for my day in Mississippi.  But like all great plans, there were some technical difficulties.

My day started like the previous with a big smoothie courtesy of John and a nice little sit down and strategy meeting.  We discussed what route I was going to take and all the important things along the way.  My original idea was to drive from Little Rock to Greenville Miss, and eat at Doe's Eat Place.  A hole in the wall shack that is famous for their steaks as well as hot tamales.  Then on to Greenwood Miss for a tour of the Alluvian Hotel and Viking Cooking School.  After a bit of pictures and answers I would move on to Lorman Miss to visit the Old Country Store, which Alton Brown claimed had the best fried chicken he had ever tasted.  Then down to Pascagoula for a nightcap with the Chenoweths and call it a night.  Nope!  Does doesn't open till 5 and the Store is only open for lunch, the bastards.

So with those plans derailed I decided to head straight to Greenwood to visit the Alluvian and hopefully get some lunch. 

The trip to the Alluvian was almost without incident.  About thirty minutes into Mississippi I was driving through a heavy construction area and as I switched lanes I saw what appeared to be a big chest of drawers in front of me.  I quickly got back into my lane but the jacked-up mudding tired truck behind me didn't like my moves.  He guns the hemi engine and blows past me, and right after giving me a dose of southern hospitality he turns around in time to slam into the chest of drawers and swerves off the road.  Pretty sure he messed something up on that truck.

Arrived at the Alluvian hotel and was warmly greeted by Nadine and shown around the facilities. It was AMAZING!!!!  Every room was a little different but they all had the tri-fecta, down comforter, pillow, mattress pad.  After ooohhhing and ahhhing over the rooms she showed me through the restaurant and explained the speakeasy style of the design.  It was so cool, every table was curtained off and you had a little buzzer to let the staff know when you needed anything.  After a brief kitchen tour we headed over to the Viking Cooking School where I was shown around by the executive chef.  It was a dream facility.  All state of the art Viking Cook tops and ranges, appliances and tools.  I was full of want!  But after my tour I needed food so I headed down to the Delta Bistro.

This place was amazing!! Casual atmosphere, mason jars for lights, funky art on the walls and a polished concrete floor.  I had the Alligator bites with comeback sauce and a house pickled jalapeno, and a fried green tomato BLT with sweet potato fries.  Whatever comeback sauce is I fell in love.  It was like a smoother romesco sauce but creamier.  That combined with the alligator bites and the sharp punch of the spiciest/sharpest jalapeno I have ever had was an instant winner!  The BLT was good, but the tomato was not the star, just a minor support character in an OK play.  I walked back to the kitchen and thanked the chef, and headed out for the last leg of the day, Pascagoula in 5 hours.

When I arrived I decided to show up in a bit of style so I changed into my new suit in a gas station parking lot at 9pm and drove into the goula where I met up with Amy and the Chenoweths at Scrantons.  A few cocktails and stories later we were all laughed out and very tired.  Plans for tomorrow included lunch with the Chenoweths and Biloxi.  I was going to need my rest.

Stewart