Ida, a queer commune in rural Tennessee

[nibot]

Bree on the tire swing.

Last night, following up on open-ended invitations to visit garnered at the co-op conference in Ann Arbor, we stayed at a queer commune in rural Tennessee (map) called Ida, which sits in a wooded valley and has a couple wood-stove heated buildings, a barn, chickens, some friendly dogs, and hosts an annual music event called the "Idapalooza Fruit Jam" every September. We arrived to find friendly residents who showed us around, a yummy dinner awaiting us, and a cozy loft to sleep in. This seems to be a bit of a hot spot for intentional communities. Within thirty minutes driving ("10 country miles") are Small Mountain and Pumpkin Hollow, and Tennessee is also home to The Farm, a famous and longstanding commune. The author of Wild Fermentation, a reference familiar to any good hippie, lives at Small Mountain.

Heading towards Memphis tonight, then down the Mississippi river towards Baton Rouge tomorrow. Was hoping to pick up a copy of Lonely Planet's "Louisiana and the Deep South," but unfortunately it seems to be out of print. Hostels and couchsurfing opportunities seem a bit sparser down here.

Comments

[zdover.livejournal.com]

If you're in Alabama after next Tuesday night, I'll put you up for a couple of nights. I have a great house on a lake, and I know a bunch of cool people who for some reason or another are stuck down there. I'm in Berlin, Germany right now, but I'll be back soon.

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds great. I don't think we'll still be around, though: we're trying to make it to California for Christmas. Can you suggest any places for us to check out? We're heading down the Mississippi towards Louisiana in the morning.

[zdover.livejournal.com]

Well, Memphis is really probably the best thing in that region of the south. If you guys are staying near the interstate, you'll probably be passing through Jackson on 55. My sister used to live there before she was stationed in Baghdad, so I've written to ask her where to go in Jackson.

Listen closely. There is nothing in northern Louisiana. There's a casino in Shreveport, but if you've seen one casino, you've seen them all.

Eat as much Southern barbeque as you possibly can while you're there.

More soon.

[zdover.livejournal.com]

Here's what my sister said:

Have you ever heard of the sweet potato queens? There is a whole series of books written by Jill Connor Browne that describe the great places of Jackson (and life in general thru the eyes of a "Sweet Potato Queen").

http://www.fenianspub.com/ Fenian's Pub - an "Irish Bar"
http://www.halandmals.com/ Hal & Mal's - founders of the Jackson ST PATRICKS Day parade
http://www.dannysdowntown.com/ The local strip club
http://www.newstagetheatre.com/ - it's theater, I went to college with the guy directing "A Christmas carol"
www.martinslounge.net
Mardi Gras Restaurant and Voodoo Lounge - have a lot of live music there (Year and a Day play there alot)

Freelon�s - R&B Club, all the Jackson State folks go there
Keifer's Restaurant 705 Poplar Blvd - Greek food very fattening and good
Julep Restaurant & Bar - fine dining
Schimmel�s - fine dining

Mayflower cafe located on W Capitol St (think it was featured in the movie about Medgar Evers that had Alec Baldwin as a lawyer, Ghosts of Mississippi?)
The old WorldCom building is just off of I-20, just an empty building now

Hotels: http://www.bestlodging.com/cities/united-states-mississippi-jackson.shtml :
Cabot Lodge Millsaps
Millsaps Buie House

http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/JournalDestination.aspx?Caption=Jackson&LocationID=2622&Mode=2

I wouldn't recommend going on "the other side of the railroad tracks" in Jackson. The other side of the tracks is straight up ghetto. It's the capital so there is all that political stuff there like the two capital buildings (one is now a museum) and the governors house. Just north of the city there's "The Res" which is the lake that supplies Jackson's drinking water. People go swimming there and fishing but it is probably a little cold there for that.

Vicksburg is only 40 minutes away - casinos, national park (civil war site)

It all depends on what their tastes are, but I think there are enough links for them to find something entertaining to do for a few nights. Jackson has a combination of ghetto, history, arts, unique places etc

[cassiusdio.livejournal.com]

Cool, I didn't know Wild Fermentation was that well known. I'd love to visit those communities someday soon.

[erinmack.livejournal.com]

My LJ friend stickemup has been posting lots of photos from visits to her sister at Twin Oaks near Charlottesville! I admit I'm somewhat intrigued by intentional communities, but I think I'm way too anal-retentive to think I could ever thrive at one.

Wild Fermentation totally rang a bell for me, so I guess this officially makes me a hippie.