Although I did not have the money to take a long trip out of town, on the day after my birthday, I decided to drive up to Jackson, Tennessee for the day, and I enjoyed myself. Jackson’s downtown is beginning to undergo something of a renaissance, and there are now some destinations to attract visitors. My first stop was Third Eye Curiosities, in the New Southern Hotel building across from the courthouse. On Facebook, it bills itself as “the only brick and mortar record store between Memphis and Nashville,” but that’s not quite true (see below). But it is an excellent record store, and it did not take me long to find a great Black gospel record by The Mighty Kings of Harmony on the Memphis-based Klondike Records label, which was a division of the Holiday Inn hotel chain.
Then I planned to visit a downtown book store and Turntable Coffee Counter, so I was quite surprised to find that the bookstore, Velvet Volumes, was actually in the same space as the coffee bar, and both were sharing space with a second vinyl record shop in Jackson. Despite the fairly grey and depressing day, the coffee shop/bookstore was warm and cheery, and fairly crowded for a weekday afternoon. I found any number of records I would have liked to buy, but not wanting to spend any more money on records, I bought a breve latte and sat down to enjoy it, before walking down Main Street to the former Greyhound depot, which has been turned into a Doe’s Eat Place restaurant.
I actually considered eating dinner at Doe’s for a moment, but remembering that every Doe’s I had ever seen was quite expensive, I decided instead to try the new local restaurant Central Creek American Bistro on North Highland Avenue just past the new roundabout. The restaurant is dark and somewhat romantic, nicely decorated, with white tablecloths, low lighting, and a full bar. Prices, however, are quite expensive. I opted for a double burger with fries, and my food was quite good, although I felt like the price was expensive for what I got. I intend to go back on another occasion and try a steak, which seems to be their specialty. Altogether, it had been a pleasant afternoon and dinner, and I headed back to Memphis satisfied.