Day 7: Memphis TN to Clarksdale MS
One of the shortest drives of this trip: 100 miles, which – aside from the very beginning, leaving Memphis – were driven mostly on the old route lying west of the new Highway 61: the original “blues highway.” Not the prettiest landscape, and the gloomy sky didn’t help, but on the flip side, with the temperature dropping significantly, wearing my leather jacket doesn’t make me look like an idiot anymore.
Clarksdale: a tiny, unassuming, and rather deprived city at first glance, hosting a number of iconic, incredible blues bars. After all, the devil’s music was born in the cotton fields around here.
Blues music, Mississippi beers, catfish, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, a night spent in a shack with a rocking chair on the porch. My accent surprisingly seems to expose and uncover my alien status, but I am obviously trying hard to blend in.
I might buy some overalls and a harmonica. That might help too.
Driving from Memphis to Clarksdale Cheat Sheet
Accommodation in Clarksdale
- Shack Up Inn, 001 Commissary Cir Rd, Clarksdale, MS 38614. This quirky place has a slogan ‘The Ritz We Ain’t,’ which sums it up perfectly: an unusual, unique and fun lodging accommodation composed of a number of restored sharecropper shacks built in the shotgun style of the South. I stayed in the Electric Blue Shack. A great experience all around.
Where to eat and what to see between Memphis to Clarksdale
- The Hollywood Cafe, 1585 Old Commerce Rd, Tunica Resorts, MS 38664. easy to miss and unassuming from the outside. However, it was one of my favorite meals during this road trip. It was my first (and favorite) encounter with fried green tomatoes. The grilled catfish was to die for: traditional Mississippi Delta cuisine at its best.
- Levon’s, 232 Sunflower Ave, Clarksdale, MS 38614, a very busy little family restaurant with decent food at reasonable prices.
- Ground Zero Blues Club, 387 Delta Ave, Clarksdale, MS 38614, the iconic blues bar famously owned by Morgan Freeman.
- Red’s Lounge, 398 Sunflower Ave, Clarksdale, MS 38614, the real-deal Mississippi juke joint. It’s a fantastic place and a dream destination for any blues music fan out there.
- The Crossroads, 599 N State St, Clarksdale, MS 38614, where, according to popular music folklore, blues legend Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for superior musical ability.
Driving from Memphis to Clarksdale FAQ
The shortest route from Memphis, TN, to Clarksdale, MS, is 79 miles. However, I drove for 100 miles, attempting to stay off the highway as much as possible and visit a few landmarks along the route.
It can take around 1 hour and a half to drive from Memphis, TN, to Clarksdale, MS, using the fastest route.
The drive is very short, and there isn’t much along the way, but the fascinating Delta landscape.
Aside from the Blues Highway 51, all the major attractions are in Clarksdale, and they include the incredible blues bars this pretty small city boasts.
Any car would be able to handle this short drive.
More photo and videos taken from Memphis and Clarksdale
My two weeks itinerary on a Chicago to New Orleans road trip
- Chicago to New Orleans – main article
- Day 1: Chicago to Indianapolis
- Day 2: Indianapolis to Louisville
- Day 3-4: Louisville to Nashville
- Day 5-6: Nashville to Memphis
- Day 7: Memphis to Clarksdale
- Day 8: Clarksdale to Greenville
- Day 9: Greenville to Natchez
- Day 10: Natchez to Lafayette
- Day 11, 12, 13: Lafayette to New Orleans
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