Al and Mark "Trulove" are entering DOE'S EAT PLACE in Greenville, MS. This was an incredible experience for me...and I learned quite a lot.
We had just driven through a 'scary part' of town with drug dealers 'everywhere'.
Then I noticed that right across the street from the front door of this place was a Policeman sitting in a police car. When we all got inside there was another police officer sitting at the front table and later found out that he would sit there during business hours. Mark just kept smiling saying this is one of the best restaurants in town..."you just don't want to come here after dark"... After checking out the patrons, the pictures on the wall of so many well-known people, the incredible menu, the wonderful smells, and the happy people enjoying their meal I just knew that it was winner. DOE'S EAT PLACE has been family owned since 1943 and is actually older than I am....If I ever get back to Greenville, Mississippi I am going there .....for LUNCH.

DOE'S EAT PLACE's "Wall Of Fame".

Mark "Trulove" took us to Doe's Eat Place in Greenville, MS. He told us it was a 4 Star Restaurant and very well known.... but we had never heard of it.

After we got passed the Police guards and walked through 2 kitchen areas into the main eating area we realized that it really is a famous restaurant. There were so many pictures of well-known people on the walls that we felt a little 'out of it' not to have known about this place.

Check it all out at: http://doeseatplace.com

Some of the pictures of former patrons hanging on the walls of Doe's Eat Place, Greenville, MS.

Newspaper article on wall in Doe's Eat Place, Greenville, MS.

A Casino on the Mississippi River in Greenville, MS.

One of the other things I wanted to see in Greenville, MS was the Walnut Street Blues Bar... The three of us stopped here for another beer and had a great time.
This is a very well known and a long standing Blues Bar on Walnut Street.

Court House in Greenville, Mississippi

We drove by the Courthouse in Greenville and were shown what was called the "Hanging Tree". We could still see the notches on this branch where they would just bring someone out of the Court House and hang them (with or without a trial). It was truly an erie sight. It is hard to see the notch in this picture...maybe it is a good thing.

Mark "Trulove" took us also to Greenville, MS.....where he spent lots of time when he was younger.

This is the house where he lived with 'a few other guys' and was then known as the ANIMAL HOUSE. I know that will make sense to some people reading this...

The house was HUGE and gorgeous.....

Signs just outside Leland, Mississippi..
Not only did we see the Highway 61 Blues Museum but this is also the birthplace of
Kermit the Frog!!!!

check out Leland at the following: http://www.lelandms.org

This is another mural painted in an alley in Leland, MS.
It is depicting the many early Crop Dusters in this area where crop dusting first started.

"Mark Trulove's" ancestors were some of the first crop dusters and used WWI fighting aircraft. This is an example of the planes that were flown by Mark's ancestors and was painted from an old family picture.

Leland, Mississippi mural which was one of many.

Another mural painted on a building in Leland, MS.

Some of the things I wanted to see in Leland, MS were the numerous murals
painted throughout the city.
Here are pictures of a few.

Al sitting on old bench in front of the Holly Ridge Store with "Mark Trulove" enjoying a cold beer with the owner's of this famous blues history store.
(One of those beer's Al is holding is mine)!!! IT IS HOT IN MISSISSIPPI!!

Charley Patton, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Jimmy Reed and many more Bluesmen sat right here.

Holly Ridge, Mississippi

We drove out to Holly Ridge Store and met a very nice lady and her parents (in blue).

She grew up here in Holly Ridge and had brought her parents back for a visit.

Holly Ridge has been mentioned in many a Blues songs....

Here we are ~ Way out in the cotton fields.

I was laughing so hard because this is all we could see....Cotton and more cotton.

Mark "Trulove" stopped in his pickup truck as close as we could to get for us to snap a picture of this "cotton picker" headed straight towards us. It was quite an experience for us Northerner's!

We would never have been allowed to go out in the cotton fields or do any of this without our great friend, Mark "Trulove".

Someone once said "It is not what you know ~ but who you know"....!

Black field worker picking up dropped raw cotton from the ground.

I did notice that he was wearing what looked like ear phones so he could listen to music all day...

Here comes the tractor with the newly picked cotton which will be put into the compactor.

Notice all of the already completed 'units' on the ground ~ this activity goes on all day long during picking time.

The whole process was very interesting to watch and only imagine how hard that must have been when it was all done by hand....and in the Mississippi heat and humidity. WOW.

Full container of raw cotton just picked from the fields....
ready to go into the compacting bin.

Up, Up and Away..into the Compactor Bin...

Dumping the cotton just picked from the fields into the Compactor Bin.

Here the 'field container' has totally emptied the cotton into the compacting bin, and is headed back to the fields to get more raw cotton. You can see how full that compacting bin is now....
The man on the ground is picking up any cotton that fell out and didn't make it into the compacting bin...

This red machine moves through the cotton and compacts it into the final 'unit'. It continually is slowly moving back and forth to compact the cotton.
This 'wonderful' description comes from a complete novice....ME! (;=0