Lots of folks from southwest Mississippi go to Mountain View, Ark., for vacation, and for many good reasons. But after a nine-hour road trip, it’s fair to ask: Isn’t there somewhere closer?
Mountain View bills itself as the Folk Music Capital of the World. Last weekend I saw at least two dozen people from southwest Mississippi there.
In addition to music, the area offers mountain scenery, fishing and floating in the White River, a national forest, good restaurants, shops and a wide variety of lodging.
But after the long journey home, I couldn’t help but wonder if there’s something more or less comparable in Mississippi and Louisiana.
I’m imagining a town with a few thousand people and the same sort rustic, hillbilly, folksy ambience, with plenty to see and do.
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I can think of one similar place right off the bat: the Pecan Festival outside Richton. Thousands attend this nostalgic event in the shade of a vast pecan orchard, with all sorts of old-time music, food, crafts, music and activities.
Dogwood Cross performed there at least two years, and we stayed at nearby Paul B. Johnson State Park. However, the festival is a single event, not a town where you can base yourself anytime you like.
There are several fine tourist towns in Mississippi and Louisiana, and I have been fortunate to drive through most of them en route to canoeing destinations over the years.
In Louisiana I can think of Natchitoches, St. Martinville and St. Francisville, to name a few. Mississippi boasts Natchez, Oxford, Clarksdale and Gulf Coast towns like Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian.
But none of those is quite what I have in mind.
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North-central Louisiana, on the other hand, has a bit of the Ozark flavor.
The town of Farmerville is situated near sprawling Lake D’Arbonne and D’Arbonne State Park. It’s not far south of the Arkansas line, so there is a hint of Ozarks in the trees and topography.
The town has a watermelon festival the last weekend of July each year, with such events as arm-wrestling and watermelon-eating contests.
Down the road 35 miles to the southwest is the town of Arcadia, which has at least two claims to fame: Bonnie and Clyde, and the tallest “mountain” in Louisiana.
The outlaws Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down nearby in 1934, and there’s a historical marker there.
Arcadia holds Bonnie & Clyde Trade Days the weekend before the third Monday of every month, with over 200 vendors on a 130 acre-tract.
Driskill Mountain, 535 feet, is located off Highway 507 south of town. Lake Claiborne State Park is 15 miles to the north.
The North Louisiana Bluegrass Club performs the second Saturday afternoon of every month at the Old Railroad Depot Museum in downtown Arcadia.
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In north Mississippi, Corinth has bluegrass on courthouse square every Thursday night, and proximity to Shiloh and Pickwick Lake. Mississippi’s tallest peak, 806-foot Woodall Mountain, is located 20 miles to the southeast off Highway 25.
Snow Lake Shores is an enchanting village in Holly Springs National Forest but more a retirement area than a town.
Amory and Aberdeen are interesting bergs along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
Water Valley is a surprisingly charming town that has been written up in the New York Times and Garden and Gun magazine.
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But to be honest, none of these places can quite match Mountain View.
After all, there are many pleasant small towns, but few can entice you to spend several days and go back year after year.
Maybe the trick is to pick one of the aforementioned sites for a base and explore the surrounding towns and countryside.
Or, shift focus and concentrate on the things that make Louisiana and Mississippi unique, like Cajun culture and Delta blues. For all its appeal, Mountain View can’t compete in those areas.
