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| Hill Babies in the Deep South! |
Once again Hill Babies leaves the San Francisco Bay Area for new trails, this time exploring the environs around
Oxford, Mississippi in the Deep South. We came down because I was reading a short story at the Southern Writer's/Southern Writing conference. Unless a story has pictures, my Hill Baby just wants to hit the trail.
ROWAN OAK
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| The path to Rowan Oak |
The best indoor trail we took was wandering through the rooms of Rowan Oak,
the home of William Faulkner in Oxford, Mississippi. On the self-guided tour one can learn all sorts of tricks to the master's trade, like how he scribbled notes upon the walls of his study, or his value to staying hydrated (in Faulkner's case, the man was fond of things stronger than just water), or that inspiration and elocution came easily in the soupy Southern heat (the day after Faulkner's funeral, by the way, his wife installed an AC unit).
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| eatin' on Faulkner's front steps |
My little Hill Baby stayed on my back through the tour;
this is not a home for a stroller or a wild child. Although plastic blockades prevent visitors from bumbling into the rooms where all the furniture is, the views inside the rooms are great, and the memorabilia is original. Faulkner's daughter's room still has her riding boots, her storybooks, and two antique dolls on her mantel.
Children can almost be children on the grounds around Rowan Oak, at the English knot garden with its wisteria, or the stables Faulkner built in the Fifties, or passing through the columns of cedars, or in the pastures. Perhaps best for the Hill Babies types is the
trail through Bailey's Woods.
"It's terrible to be young. It's terrible. Terrible." --William Faulkner
HIKING BAILEY'S WOODS
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| art in Bailey's Woods |
The path through Bailey's Woods is about
half a mile to two-thirds of a mile, there and back. The
trailhead is marked at the Rowan Oak parking lot, and will lead you to the campus stadium. Even when Rowan Oak is crowded with visitors,
this trail seems underutilized--we were the only people on it when we walked there.
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| Bailey's Woods |
Beyond peaceful, only noisy from the insects, the trail was serene in the dappled light under tall trees. My baby was totally sweaty on my back, much like an overgrown, hot little monkey, but she presently conked out in the heat. Although she didn't get to appreciate the hike,
my husband and I loved it. We walked across undulating land, riddled with chunky tree roots breaking through the sandy soil, and over a dry creek (a great place to explore, by the way). People like to complain about the Mississippi heat, but even in the middle of July,
the air is noticeably cooler in Bailey's Woods.
STAYING IN OXFORD
We lodged at the Inn at Old Miss, right on the University of Mississippi campus. It's quite pleasant to be so close to a large wooded area, and who can complain about the free breakfast (oatmeal, grits, fruit, cereal, juice, coffee, etc)? There are also baby cribs if needed. The Inn is about a third of a mile walk to downtown Oxford through the historic Depot neighborhood--highly recommended to stroll through in the evening when the sunset goes on and on, the lightning bugs come out, and you're destined for a gut-bomb of a Southern dinner.
EATING IN OXFORD
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| practicing shooting toothpicks |
Our
favorite Southern dinner in downtown Oxford is at
Ajax Diner. There are comfy booths, but nobody cares if children sit at the bar, and after the meal, you're encouraged to shoot a toothpick through a straw at the ceiling. (Note to parents and guardians: try a Bloody Mary, and eat the fried catfish with sides of sweet potato casserole and fried okra--YUM!) And if you have second thoughts about shooting a cocktail toothpick through a straw, you really need to try a Bloody Mary; recall
William Faulkner's words:
"Setting an example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age."
Our
favorite Southern breakfast in Oxford is at
Big Bad Breakfast on North Lamar. They specialize in homemade jam and make their own sausage, and their biscuits are almost as big as a baby's head. On
Saturdays, there's a
small farmers' market in the parking lot outside with live music, free puppies, and a whole lot of fresh vegetables and honey.
SQUARE BOOKS, JR. IN OXFORD
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| In the playroom at Square Books, Jr. |
Square Books, Jr. in downtown Oxford is an awesome bookstore for kids and teens. Not only is it filled with great children's literature, but there's a good changing table in the restroom, and an extensive play area for toddlers with doll houses, toy car tracks, mini shopping carts, blocks, and couches for hot, tired parents to lollygag upon while their children go bonkers.
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| The cat of Off-Square Books |
At my reading at Off-Square Books, just around the corner from Square Books, Jy., the patrons were cool about kids. My kid was sweet on the house cat, which distracted her while I read. Later, she got up on stage and had herself a good time, pretending to sing in the microphone.
TAYLOR, MISSISSIPPI
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| Taylor |
Taylor is
a "hamlet" south of Oxford, a twenty-minute drive down Taylor Road where lofty vegetation encroaches on either side of the road, and the houses are few and far between with their corrugated rooftops and occasional horses.
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| Plein Air Farmers' Market |
TAYLOR, MS FARMER'S MARKET
On
Saturdays in Taylor, from about the
early morning until noonish, there's a
sweet farmers' market where kids run around in the central area, acoustic musicians play, and local folks sell things like fresh juice for fifty cents, gluten-free pastries, heirloom vegetables, blackberry pies for a dollar, pickled quail eggs, wood carvings, and jewelry.
LAST NOTE on BBQ
They say the best shredded, barbecued pork is in Memphis. Upon posing the question of where to eat after we flew in to Memphis, some local ladies sucked their teeth and highly recommended
Jim Neely's Interstate Barbecue. We went and were loaded up with more meat than I'd ever need to eat again, and barbeque sauce up the wazoo.
The baby seemed to like it, too, spices be damned.
RELEVANT LINKS
Rowan Oak
Ajax Diner
Big Bad Breakfast
Square Books, Jr.
University of Mississippi
The Inn at Old Miss
Taylor Plein Air Farmers' Market
Jim Neely's Interstate Barbecue
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| number one fan |
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| meat fest at jim neely's |
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| ye olde bbq stand |
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| palomino on the road to Taylor |
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| kissing the Hill Baby in Ajax Diner, Oxford |
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| a cool old house in Oxford |
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| teaching the baby to draw at Ajax Diner |
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| number one talker |
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| my reading in Oxford |
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| the little ham |
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| Faulkner's mint julep recipe |
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| some info on Rowan Oak, Faulkner's home |
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| Faulker's living room |
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| Faulkner's study |
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| horses of Mississippi |
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| another pretty, old house in Oxford |
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Full moon over Oxford
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November—We drive to Los Angeles so Mom can read another of her interminable stories, and I fall in love with a gregarious and handsome young man named Jacob. He gives me my first toothbrush. We even bathe together, but don’t ask ‘cause I won’t tell! I meet two other boys in LA, August and Max. I’m like the belle at the ball, but my heart (and bellybutton) is for Jacob. Back in SF, my parents try to indoctrinate a leftist agenda on my impressionable self by having me serve soup at the local Occupy movement. Well I insist on being fed, too. We also ride in Critical Mass, a huge posse of renegade bicyclists that take over the SF streets and make a hullabaloo. November is such a full month, my mind is a-whirl … or is it puppy love?
The month is halfway over, but there’s some event called the Winter Solstice coming up, and I hear I might get buck-naked and dance around a Yule Log, howling like a tiny wolf. Yes, my hippie-at-heart parents are forsaking this other event they call “Christmas,” and so they’re bringing me to a cabin in the Oregon woods (and in the process breaking the hearts of my grandparents three, who I’ll dearly miss). But truth be told, I’m excited. I’ve never spent multiple days in the outdoors, I’ve only seen stars in picture books, and I have a new pair of snow boots. I’m hopeful for a grrrrreat ending to 2011—for YOU and ME BOTH! Let’s keep each other posted. Happy holidays!
