A journal for South Louisiana.
HIDDEN GEM- Fat Boy's Seafood Kitchen in Manchac is Tangipahoa Parish's "best-kept secret". Photo by Jesse Brooks. By Jesse Brooks Fat Boy's Seafood Kitchen, a short-order eatery in Manchac has recently re-opened for business for weekend hours only after COVID-19 pushed them into hiatus. While diners far and wide are familiar with Manchac because of... Continue Reading →
YEAR'S END- Jesse Brooks & The Living Past will play a consecutive three-night in-state run next week before their final show of the year at Nick's Ice House in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 9 p.m. Photo by Emily LaPrime. Tangipahoa Parish-based rock and honky-tonk soul band Jesse Brooks & The Living Past... Continue Reading →
THE BIG 3- Scott, Louisiana may be the Boudin Capital of the World, but it is also a mecca for specialty meats and other main features for your next holiday dinner gathering thanks to three major shops. Photo by Jesse Brooks. By Jesse Brooks Holiday cooking is something people often stress too hard over or... Continue Reading →
By Jesse Brooks Memphis is a resilient city that has seen many challenging times in American history. Whether it was the Great Depression, civil unrest or a recession, Memphis seemed to always come back better than ever. It may seem typical for anyone from Louisiana to compare New Orleans to Memphis, but there are some... Continue Reading →
STARTING POINT- Owned by Sam Phillips in the 1950s, Sun Studio is considered to be where the first rock-n-roll record was made, Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats. Eventually, a label formed, Sun Records, which launched the careers of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and more. Photo by Jesse Brooks. By Jesse... Continue Reading →
Steak & Eggs at Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford. Photo by Jesse Brooks. By Jesse Brooks For any center of learning, there is always a constant flow of people moving in and out while adding their point of view, changing the culture and bringing those changes into a closely bonded tradition that is meant to... Continue Reading →
Town Square in Oxford, MS. Photo by Jesse Brooks. By Jesse Brooks Our second side as we move north on Highway 51 will take us to the literary hub of Oxford, Mississippi. When the county seat of Lafayette County was founded in 1832, they chose to call it Oxford after the university city in England... Continue Reading →
IMMORTAL- One of the three alleged gravesites for bluesman Robert Johnson in near Greenwood in Money, Mississippi. Photo by Jesse Brooks. By Jesse Brooks For the next two weeks, we will explore two visits that serve as side trips accessible from Highway 51: Greenwood and Oxford, Mississippi. Our first side trip, a route west of... Continue Reading →
By Jesse Brooks As Highway 51 approaches Highway 8, the route faces a crossroads again. Grenada, Mississippi. There’s a town square with local businesses sitting all in a neatly kept row. The further down the highway we go, the scene begins to look familiar. So, why come to Grenada? The answer may be the water.... Continue Reading →
By Jesse Brooks As I write this, we are at the end of the second day since we learned that we lost Anthony Bourdain, world-renown chef, television host and author. He took his life at the age of 61. On Thursday night, I was preparing to go to bed and I was bored. My wife,... Continue Reading →
Small Town Stories 