Natchez, MS

2009-08-14: I woke up late, and I was still a bit tired, but today would be a long trip. I planned to cross Mississippi in its entirety, diagonally, via the Natchez Trace Parkway. I washed up a bit, badly in need of a shower, but I made do with what I had. Natchez wasn't far from where I'd slept, and when I arrived I explored the town a little bit. It looked to have a lot of history, though I was mostly passing through and did not look into it.

It was here that I had what I would call the definitive Southern experience. I had fueled and cleaned my car at a gas station, and I went in to get something to drink. There stood what I assumed to be some of the Natchez locals. Three men in their twenties or thirties were chatting with the clerk, a young black woman, in a way that suggested they were being distracting and wasting time. One of them was clad only in overalls, forgoing shoes, even. Another wore shorts and sandals but no shirt. The third, I don't recall, but it's likely his attire was more sensible.

In this place, 2 liter bottles of Coke were sold in a sort of carrier that held four of those bottles. The one in overalls struggled to pull one of them loose, and that was when his shirtless friend said (and I transliterate this as best I can) "cain't dew thait stewpid!". To which he replied, "cain tew!". I was a little culture shocked. I paid for my Gatorade and left, unsure what to think. I'd been told the south is "different" and I had a feeling what I'd witnessed was completely mundane. "Onward" was my only thought as I drove toward the head of the parkway.