Tunica Mississippi, located near the Mississippi River, until early 1990s was one of the most impoverished places in the United States. The town now lies on the fringe of a growing gambling resort area, with major casinos attracting visitors from nearby Memphis, Tennessee, West Memphis, Arkansas and all over the Southeast.
The Tunica area is now the third-largest gaming region in the United States after Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Its effect on the local economy has spurred population growth in unincorporated parts of the county outside the town of Tunica proper. Since 1990, the town's name has been popularly associated with multiple casinos in proximity to the Mississippi River. However, the casinos actually start in the community of Tunica Resorts some ten miles north of the town of Tunica, and extends to the DeSoto County line. While is Tunica we were given tickets to see the Aretha Franklin Concert at Harrahs Tunica.
Mississippi Blues Highway - U.S. Route 61 is the official designation of United States highway that runs 1,400 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana, to the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River. The highway is often called "The Blues Highway" because it runs through the Mississippi Delta country, which was an important source of blues music. U.S. 61 has been referenced in music by various artists with roots in the region.
The junction of Highway 61 and Highway 49 in Clarksdale MS is designated as the famous crossroads where, according to legend, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for mastery of the blues and skill with the guitar. It was on this stretch of highway that blues singer Bessie Smith died in a car accident on September 26, 1937.
The Blues Highway Association founded in 2002 is working to promote the area’s importance to The Blue. They have developed maps and guides identifying blues and other heritage sites. The Mississippi Blues Trail markers tell stories through words and images of bluesmen and women and how the places where they lived and the times in which they existed–and continue to exist–influenced their music. The accompanied slideshow is not the complete Blues Highway which I hope to complete in the future.