Sunday
We made our traditional stop at Neimerg’s in Effingham, IL where the food is pretty good, the waitstaff is friendly, and the pies are excellent, and it is a good location to rendezvous on the way down, and then made a stop at the phenomenon that is Boomland!
Really, Boomland is better experienced than described. Stretching across what would be about a city block in Chicago, it boasts fireworks section large enough to supply a small war. Ah, but that is not all! It offers a huge variety of food, clothing, and an endless supply of items to enhance your dwelling place.
I do not understand the appeal of a condiment that threatens to kill you, but apparently there is a market for that sort of thing.
The inventory offered at Boomland is such as to appeal to those who drive trucks, ride motorcycles, and serve in the military. Those can be large and diverse groups of course, but that should provide an adequate description. It tends to the religious and patriotic, categories that of course are not mutually exclusive. Precisely who or what is being worshipped is subject to interpretation.
I would never describe Boomland as underwhelming, but its merchandise this year is somewhat sparse in comparison to other years. Since Covid, the selection has decreased a bit. If you have your heart set on a jet black gargoyle wielding a broadsword, you would be disappointed this year.
I personally tend to gravitate to the food section, looking for the discontinued and expired items. The cherry salsa and pickled black-eyed peas I bought were yummy, and I was disappointed not to be able to buy more bottles of Ass-Kickin’ Ketchup.
I was tempted with one item, but decided to give it a pass. While I agree with the sentiment, I am not sure we are all missing the same thing.
We reached Clarksdale, MS at about 7:00 and headed for dinner at the Mexican place we always do, and here is this year’s crew.
This represents a pretty typical weekend in Clarksdale, MS, which can rightly claim to be the home of the blues. Then again, so can a dozen other towns in the Mississippi Delta, including Tutwiler, where W.C. Handy supposedly discovered the blues while sitting in a railroad station listening to a drifter playing his guitar.
Then it was off to grocery shopping!
Clarksdale has one grocery store, namely Walmart. It used to have another one, but it closed. Rumor has it that it has a newer one so that locals can buy fresh produce and perhaps sell some of their own, but we have not found it yet.
That’s food for ten people for a week.
Hammerin' In the Delta 