The land where the Blues began. Where Route 61 and 49 meet 355 miles from New Orleans and just 75 miles from Memphis. We had the opportunity to visit Clarksdale mainly because we wanted to go to Ground Zero Blues Club owned by actor & local resident Morgan Freeman, Bill Luckett and Howard Stovall. Ground Zero opened May, 2001 and is located at "0 Blues Alley" next door to the Delta Blues Museum. Down the way a little bit you find Madidi a unique dining experience also owned by Freeman and Luckett.
When visiting Clarksdale expect to see juke joints and clubs with their throbbing rhythms and people enjoying life. There are many blues artists that call Clarksdale home, Muddy Water, W.C. Handy, Robert Johnson, Son House, John Lee Hooker, Ike Turner, Howlin' Wolf, Charlie Patton and the list goes on and on. There′s an annual Juke Joint Festival held in downtown Clarksdale every April that features a bus shuttle between multiple juke joints and hotels at night, Cat Head′s Free Mini Blues Fest on Sunday, history tours, delta food and monkeys ridin' dogs.
Remember when a man′s word was as good as his bond? Well The Mississippi Delta families still carry on this tradition in its land of mystery and magic. Other attractions in Coahoma County are the Hopson Plantation Headquarters & Shack Up Inn, casino gaming, Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival, Tennessee Williams Festival, the Bluegrass Festival and several other events through out the year.
When making plans to visit Clarksdale, I searched the internet for hotels there. Well what I found was far more interesting than you could imagine. They offered regular hotels but also little wooden shacks from days gone by. My most interesting fine was the Shack Up Inn/Cotton Gin Inn. Just click on Shack Up Inn and you are in for an amazing treat. Can you imagine a hotel room made inside a gin mill. There's nothing like it. No we did not stay at the Shack Up Inn, but we did leave our name and address on the bar at Ground Zero.