There’s practically nothing that travellers love more than a secret — a secret spot, a secret hotel (not so coincidentally, the name of a Budget Travel book I contributed to), any hot tip or insight that has the whiff of insider knowledge. Plus, if you’re asking the right people, the places you discover tend to be really really cool.
The truth, of course, is that there is rarely anything actually “secret”. Somewhere, someone knows about it. Sometimes a lot of someones know about it. Such is the case with related tips about one city in Mississippi I recently got from 2 different friends. But that doesn’t detract from their cool factor and on this side of the Atlantic, it still constitutes a find. Therefore my newest secret destination is Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Locals and blues fans know it as an historical blues town and an essential stop on the Mississippi Blues Trail. It’s here that Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the devil, at the legendary crossroads of Highways 61 and 49.
Secret option 1: Staying at a blues mecca
R. stayed at the Riverside Hotel, which is so secret it doesn’t have a website (!). The modest hotel has been in operation since 1944. Previously it was a hospital that allowed black patients. After a car accident, Bessie Smith died here — you can sleep in her room (and maybe die too? That’s up to you).
As one of the only hotels in the state that catered to black patrons, it has hosted luminaries like Duke Ellington and Sonny Boy Williamson II, an influential blues musician, and the rooms are named after blues stars — R. stayed in the Muddy Waters room. It’s not plush, it’s not fancy. That’s the point.
You can get a video tour from the late owner Frank Ratliff in this video that gives you a flavour of the place. The hotel is now run by his daughter.
Secret option 2: Staying in a sharecroppers’ shack
The other tip I got about Clarksdale, from my other friend coincidentally also named R., was about The Shack Up Inn. Here travellers stay in bona fide sharecroppers’ shacks on a former plantation. The Shack Up Inn slogan is “The Ritz, we ain’t!” The pictures of the rooms show corrugated metal ceilings and rough cypress construction, with minimal modern comforts. Whatever you do, don’t ask about the thread count.
It sounds like something that could veer into pantomime — “Look, I’m a well-off visitor, living like a poor person of yore!”. But I think there’s more to it than that. (Looking at the reaction of visitors in this video, you see not smugness but enthusiasm.)
Staying in the heart of blues country, checking into modest accommodations, listening to music at local venues and sleeping in these storied rooms is a way to connect with the place. It adds an extra dimension to your visit.
I think that’s a secret worth sharing.
Do you have “secret” places you recommend to friends?
The details
The Riverside Motel
615 Sunflower Avenue
Clarksdale, MS 38614
United States
+1 (662) 624.9163
You gotta call – no website
The Shack Up Inn
001 Commissary Circle
Clarksdale, MS 38614
United States
www.shackupinn.com
+1 (662) 624.8329
Twitter: @theShackupinn
Facebook: The Shack Up Inn
I have yet to visit Mississippi, but perhaps I should!
It looks great, right?
I’m nervous -could the thread count be that low?
I love the fact that the Shack up Inn is honest about itself – that’s why it must do well, it isn’t pretending to be something it’s not.
Trish, exactly. “If you’re looking for luxury, don’t come here!” It also means everybody there is approaching the stay with the right attitude.
Personal tips are always the best. Would love to visit Mississipi and these places sound like they have a great history too.
Sarah, I’ve really gotten into listening to Robert Johnson and some other blues artists as a result of hearing about these places. I think what I really like is that they combine real local stories and focus on the music at the same time being interesting places to stay in their own right.
I want to pack my guitar and go right now. (Apart from the dead in the bed bit.)
Great idea for a series on your blog…there must be loads of cities in this world with loads of delicious secret places!
Kirstie, that is the holy grail of travel isn’t it: Finding someplace cool that is your little secret (until you blog about it and tell all your friends).
Brilliant, I like the look of both of these places, they give a real sense of the history and culture of the area.