The Lauren Rogers Museum

When we moved to Mississississississippi, we swore that we would do something every weekend, even if we were dead tired. It was just one of those things that needed to be done--I mean, neither Mel nor I were particularly familiar with the South, and how could we have been? We can't let this opportunity go to waste.

So, today, we went to 1) the Petal Farmer's Market (Petal is the city adjacent to Hattiesburg on the northeast), and 2) the Lauren Rogers Museum in Laurel, which is about twenty-five miles northeast. (See? We live in the South. Everything, almost, is north.)

The Petal Farmer's Market was pretty pathetic. There were three tents, and we didn't even get out of the car. (As a side note, we went to the Hattiesburg Farmer's Market on Thursday, and it was much, much better. The tamale lady made some fine cuisine, indeed.)

The museum, though, was very good. We drove for a little bit--the speed limits are higher here in Mississippi, and you can cover some serious territory very quickly--and arrived in Laurel. It looked pretty descrepit at first, but we soon found the older, more historic part of town, which had some nice Southern-style mansions and such, one of which had been converted into the museum. Apparently, Lauren Rogers was a young man--yes, a man--who died soon after marrying. Anyway, the family estate got turned into a museum, which is proportionately very prestigious, especially considering how it's in a tiny town in the Gulf Coast. Heck, they even hosted Chihuly a while back (!). So, yep, it was nifty.

Driving home, though, was another matter. We were both starving, and we saw a billboard for a place called "The Flaming Pineapple," so, with a name like that, we had to visit. We took a wrong turn, though, and ended up back in Hattiesburg about thirty minutes later. Eh, oops.

So, so far, we've kept our promise.