Day 32 - Beulah, Mississippi to Chatham, Mississippi (58 Miles)

The ride today was pretty uneventful with one notable exception. Mostly lots of cotton fields.

The one notable exception was the Winterville Mounds State Park. There are a number of burial mounds located in the park, the tallest of which is 55' high. It has been awhile since i have seen any Native American historical sites and the mounds, which were construceted between 1100 and 1400 AD, seem strangely out of place here. Archeologists are still studying these mounds and the Native Americans who inhabited this area. it appears that the tribal chief in this community lived in a dwelling on top of what is now the highest mound. When he died, the tribe buried him and his dwelling on the mound and the tribal new chief then built a home on top of the former chief's buried home on top of the mound. Unlike Effigy Mounds in Iowa, the State of Mississippi has actually constructed a stairway to the top of the highest mound for visitors to climb.

As promised, i called Bo Weevil shortly before i arrived in Chatham this afternoon. Bo met me just outside of the famous Roy's Store on beautiful Lake Washington. (There are so few stores around here that any store is famous!)

Roy's Store is a classic throwback to Mississippi country living in the first half of the 20th century. All of the local farmers tend to stop by for breakfast in the morning or to have a meal or a drink at the end of the day. The woman who owns Roy's Store gives credit to all the regulars. She keeps a card file containing a
5"x8" card for each regular customer on which she notes what that customer orders. No signing or anything.

Bo has lived here his whole life and knows everyone in the area. We had a late afternoon drink together at Roy's Store and i checked in for the night in one of the spartan fishing cabins they have overlooking the lake. We made plans to get together tomorrow morning for breakfast and a tour of the area.