A Visit to Pine Bluff, Arkansas with Guests: Jimmy Cunningham and Michael McCray

A Visit to Pine Bluff, Arkansas with Guests: Jimmy Cunningham and Michael McCray

"Pine Bluff people change the world." Michael McCray 

"The blues is an adaptation to pressure; it’s a mindset before it becomes a note." Jimmy Cunningham 

In this episode, I explore the vibrant culture and rich history of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with tourism experts Jimmy Cunningham and Michael McCray. Discover the significance of Juneteenth, the unique blues heritage, and the exciting developments in the area. From the Delta Rhythm and Bayous to the delicious local cuisine, this episode is a celebration of community, resilience, and the transformative power of travel.
 
Discover the festivals and events that take place in Pine Bluff, including the Jazz on the Lake series and homecoming celebrations. Each event showcases the community's spirit and the rich cultural tapestry of the area.

Resources

Explore Pine Bluff

https://explorepinebluff.com

SUBSCRIBE FREE Weekly Travel Tuesday Newsletter

https://ageless-traveler-s-travel-tuesday.kit.com/b368fe9fec 

JOIN OUR PRIVATE FACEBOOK SALON AT https://www.facebook.com/groups/840951897411276/ 

Check out our Website: The Ageless Traveler https://agelesstraveler.com 

Leave a voicemail or text- https://fanlist.com/agelesstraveler/inbox/ask-your-travel-questions-here 

Get our discounts when you book hotels, rental cars, and tour guides, use these links created for you by The Ageless Traveler

Cruises It

https://theagelesstraveler.membercruises.com/home-page

Expedia

https://expedia.stay22.com/agelesstraveler/vhJWi3-pJc

Booking.com

https://booking.stay22.com/agelesstraveler/ilhSeKdutq

Hotels.com

https://hotelscom.stay22.com/agelesstraveler/4wOCouV7MN

Transcript

Adriane Berg: Hello. Hello, Hello. And this is Adriane Berg. And this is the Ageless Traveler. And you know, if you've been reading my articles and you've been reading my newsletter, that I have come back from the great state, the natural state of Arkansas. But there's something I missed and I'm not intending to miss it forever, and that is Pine Bluff. I was so impressed by what I heard about this area. Now you all know that I'm a blues nut, I'm a Motown nut, I'm a jazz nut, and this is a good place for nuts. I think, as you will hear, because we have with us Jimmy Cunningham and we have McCrae, Jimmy, director of tourism development for the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission. Michael, public relations and cultural development specialist for Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission. They're going to really explain to us some of the fabulous things that are being planned for Juneteenth, but a lot more than that because this is not a seasonal place. This is a place you can go all year round for all kinds of wonderful culture. And they're just developing things that I don't think I've seen almost anywhere else in the US So let's start with Jimmy first because there's been a real substantial development here and really a lot of dollars being put in. I'm just going to mention a couple of things. Phase one of DRB Blues and Wellness Plaza that's officially inaugurated, 2026. There's also this wonderful, and I'm going to call it a trail, a blues trail that is really multi state that's happening. Tell us about this. Just looking at the music history at Pine Bluff.

Jimmy Cunningham: Yes. Well, this is a fertile area when it comes to music, blue, blues, jazz, but, but particularly the blues. And the area that you're referring to, Pine Bluff here in the Arkansas Delta is the trailhead for the Delta Rhythm and Bayous highway, which runs from our city all the way to Indianola, Mississippi. So it's 120 miles away and about seven or eight counties. But it is prime Delta 8 area and prime blues area. So this is a travel way, a corridor where the chitlin circuit kind of grew. If you don't know about the chitlin circuit, it's the area, the corridor where many black performers traveled through the Jim Crow era because they couldn't stay at hotels or because they couldn't access certain facilities. And promoters and producers, set up a system where they said, hey, you could perform. Here you go, two, three, you know, way, Cities down the road or four or five cities. And so you had this kind of informal system across the south and across the Midwest where all this traveling was going on. And because you had the two biggest cities in the Delta, Pine Bluff and Greenville with Indianola right next to it, you had a healthy, vibrant area where everybody, B.B. king, little Milton, Big Bill Brunsey, Sippy Wallace, Let me, Reed, Albert King, and so many of the great legends were born. They came through. And then they also attracted folks from other areas. You know, the big names from out east, people like Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, they were all traveling through the area. So now what we've done is we've come together as cities, about seven or eight cities on this 120 mile stretch. And we're all working collectively to develop placemaking that helps to tell a common story so that we can better equip tourists with information and education about the importance of this part of the country. You often hear about the blues in Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta in particular. You don't hear nearly as much as you should about the Arkansas Delta. But I'll tell you what, when you combine the story of the chitlin circuit and the blues, which nobody else is doing in any real formal way, you come up with a, a, a corridor that's packing power, musical punch, educational punch, intellectual punch. And we're investing resources, major resources in doing that. We will be building out in Pine Bluff the largest outdoor gallery dedicated to Delta music and culture in the country. That will be in the Delta Rhythm and Bayous cultural district that is being developed now. We had $2 million that came from the city. We have other funds that are pouring in and we're telling this story like nobody's business.

Adriane Berg: You know, I have an idea as, ah, you're talking to me. I recently went on a road trip because I actually studied a master class. It was an audio class of books, places across the United States that are famous for particular books. And it was a wonderful road trip. And I could just envision that 120 miles becoming a course where at, ah, each one of your placemakers, you can actually listen wherever you are, anywhere in the world about the, people that actually were there. So not only the history, but the people, a bit of their music, and it makes you want to travel. So this is a fabulous road trip and to me it's a great.

Tell us a little bit about Juneteenth, what it means

Now I want to go over to Michael for a minute and I want to ask you about Juneteenth. I know there's a lot of Stuff being planned for that. And if we want to go, this is a great time of year to go. As I say, it's not the only time of year. But tell us a little bit about Juneteenth, what it means for the few people on Earth that don't know what Juneteenth is and how you're celebrating it.

Michael McCrae: Thank you, Adrian. I do want to take, one step back and add a little bit more color to it. Jimmy Cunningham just described. And when you started to talk about the Mastercap class and all the different layers. So in addition to kind of the music and the chitlin circuit, there's also the history that's kind of the social blues, which is what gave rise to the musical blues. And so there's a great civil rights heritage. There's a Civil War legacy. There's all these other complex layers that makes what we're cooking in the Delta. It's a little bit more flavorful. So it's. It's not your. It's not your granddaddy's blues. What the story that we're telling is the total story of the blues, kind of from the conditions that created the inception. And so that's one of the. The more unique things about how we're trying to approach the subject. And to that, that's the perfect tie in to what is Juneteenth. And essentially, Juneteenth is the date that Galveston received news of freedom. So even though the slaves have been, emancipated, they didn't know they were free. You're not free if you don't know you're free. And so when the last Union soldiers reached Galveston, Texas, that is what this celebration is about. And it's come to kind of represent almost, the fourth of July or Independence Day in the African American community. And so there are various celebrations that happen across the country, but specifically across the South. And each community kind of adds its own flavor. And we actually have a very unique Juneteenth story that I'll let our tourism director tell a little bit better. But I think that's the. The story of Fountain Brown.

Jimmy Cunningham: Fountain Brown, Yes. Fountain Brown gives us a very interesting perspective on the Emancipation Proclamation, of course, that was issued in 1863 by Lincoln. And it basically said, hey, we're setting the slaves free in the areas that we, In basically in areas that we don't control throughout the South. And so. But it was a paper tiger, because you may have heard about it, but if you weren't free, you just weren't free. When the Union soldiers came to Pine Bluff, people all over the delta converged on this city in a big way. City was sitting at a thousand people in 1860. By 1863, 3,000 folks were flooding the city. These were runaways from all over. So by around, November or so, freedom was secure in the city. The Union soldiers had come, but there was a situation that developed. This whole idea of freedom was new, and it was different. And there was an enslaver named Fountain Brown who was a minister, and he had set his enslaved population free. But someone came, a white guy out of Texas came to him knowing that he had these formerly enslaved people who were actually still working on his. On his land. He says, hey, how much will you give me for, though? For two, women and their families? Well, they're free. They're not supposed to be up for sale. But Fountain Brown decides the green that the guy laid out for him was bigger and better than what he had before. And he took the money. The guy from Texas then takes these, these women and their children, and they go to the state of Texas. Their husbands are gone, they've gone out to work, and they end up coming back looking, of course, for their family. Their family is nowhere to be found. Fountain Brown, we don't know why he decides to go to the Union soldiers and turn himself in. Was it his conscience? Was there too much word on the grapevine? What was going on? We don't know. But we do know that he turned himself in and they had a court trial. That court trial was the first time that the Emancipation Proclamation was tested in the United States. Would it hold? Did it, in fact, confer freedom? And in fact, they ruled that it did. This case was appealed to Lincoln, and Lincoln said, no, it does hold. I'm the one that signed it. And, eventually the. The families were reunited. They were returned. Fountain Brown served time in prison and ended up coming back to Pine Bluff just before he got here. He died after five years. But this was the first test of the Emancipation Proclamation. It happened on our ground. And it is directly connected, obviously, to the freedom story of, enslaved people. So part of our celebration here is not only, you know, we, you know, Lincoln freed the slaves, but the first test for that document came on our ground. Piece of history, that we, we revere.

Adriane Berg: There's a depth here. There's a depth here that you may not realize when you think about Arkansas in general and its history and Pine Bluff in particular. Now, we're going to take a Little bit of a break. We're going to come back and I see that Michael has something to add. We're going to start with that as soon as we come back. But I have to ask you too, because I have now experienced Arkansas as the natural state, the outdoor activities, and Pine Bluff has its fabulous share. So you guys, whether you are history buffs, whether you're music buff like myself, whether you're an outdoor enthusiast, one of my favorite words, don't you go anywhere because we're going to be going back in just a minute to Pie Bluff. For our free weekly newsletter, Travel Tuesday, just visit asustraveler.com click subscribe and enter your name and email for a surprise gift. What's the surprise? Well, if I tell you it's not a surprise, what I can say is that Travel Tuesday tackles travel barriers like money, health, companionship and even travel burnout and gives you a taste of what our blog and podcast have to offer every single week, helping you explore the world effortlessly.

Arkansas claims itself as, ah, the natural state

And now we're back and we're actually going to start with the comments that Michael wanted to make as we're talking about the history and Juneteenth of Pine Bluff in the great state of Arkansas. But Arkansas also claims itself as, ah, the natural state. I didn't know why until I got there, but then I really experienced it and you can experience even further in Pine Bluff. So we're here with the director of tourism development for the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission. That's Jimmy Cunningham. We're here with Michael McCrae, public relations and cultural development specialist, also for Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion. So just for a moment, Mike, I know you wanted to add something to that wonderful story or to the issue of history at Pine Bluff. So let's tackle that.

Michael McCrae: First, the point I just wanted to add, was, Jimmy, the Boone Murphy House, that was the site where the Fountain Brown turned himself in or what, what was the physical location?

Jimmy Cunningham: Yes, we think right now, because the Boone Murphy House, which is on the national historic register, it is the second home for the union soldiers in Pine Bluff. All indications are that that would have been the place where Fountain Brown would have turned himself in. So we have a physical spot that, you can look at experience. It's a beautiful small wooden frame home that has been preserved now for over what, 140 years or so. But it's, it's there and that history resounds.

Adriane Berg: Now. The state of Arkansas has 53 state parks. It's got seven areas that are managed by the Federal park system. It's got thousands of, thousands of miles of lakes and waterways. So, Michael, what do you. Do you want some fresh air? What are you doing for Pine Bluff? And then I'm going to ask Jimmy the same question.

Michael McCrae: Let me. Let me respond to it this way. As we were talking about this theme of, emancipation and just wanted to be crystal clear, even though we had the. The Emancipation Proclamation, you weren't free unless you made it to either up north or to an area where the Union controlled. There were two population centers, two or three population centers that had Union camps. And as a result of that, there was this great migration of African Americans to Pine Bluff, also to West Helena. And the way that they came was the bayous and the rivers became the pathways, the highways to freedom. So we happen to be in Pine Bluff. We are at the head of the longest bayou in the world, Bayou Bartholomew. And the bayou watershed actually contains the top three longest bayous in the world. So we live in bayou country. And from that, there were all types of developments. It impacted the culture. It impacted music. I mean, you were literally in the bayou was your freeway to freedom. So when you come to, Pine Bluff and you experience the outdoors, some people talk about outdoor recreation. I like to call it heritage adventures, because you're not just. You're not just kayaking, you know, on a lake. You're boating on the rivers that. Where free people came or there was the pathway to freedom or that people were baptized in. it was. So it's more to it. And even with the Arkansas river, there's the story of how there was a Civil War battle, the Battle of Pine Bluff. And some of the newly inside, newly freed people played a. A central role in one of the few urban Civil War battles, the Battle of Pine Bluff. As a matter of fact, it was their efforts that helped turn the tide of the battle, where the Union soldiers were outnumbered, I think, three to one. It's basically 3,000 Confederates versus 1,000 Union soldiers. But it was through the efforts of the contraband camps that turned that tide of battle. So you're not just. You're not just going outside when you go camping. You're camping on the grounds where the contraband camps were that changed the tide of the Civil War, of the Civil War battle, the Battle of Pine Bluff. And that battle is what freed the Arkansas River. So you had the waterways that flowed all the way to Little Rock, which has become the state capital. But previously, it was at Arkansas Post, one of those sites that you had just mentioned before. That's being administered by the National Park Service. So Little Rock has not always been the capital of the state, but control over the Arkansas river is what allowed that transition to grow. So, it's more than just outdoor rec. It's a trip back in time. It's a trip through culture and heritage. And that's what you get when you come to Pine Bluff.

Adriane Berg: Very, very inspirational.

Adrian: When Jimmy talked about the bayous, everybody really enjoyed it

And I want to talk to Jimmy because I tell you, Jimmy, when you talked about the bayous, that's when everybody really, really had this experience. Because, you know, if you can't tell folks, Jimmy has a beautiful voice, he's an award winning storyteller, he's an author. And, and when he tells his stories, you really do listen. And you talked about the bayou, you talked about gators, you talked about the kind of thing that you don't see in Disneyland. So tell us a little bit more about that as you did. You really wowed us. I. It's one of the things that makes me so much want to go to Pine Bluff.

Jimmy Cunningham: Oh, wow. The bayou. Bayous. Bayou country is, it's magic. The meandering Bayou Bartholomew, for instance, as Michael mentioned, the longest bayou in the world with, with, with the bullfrogs that sound like bulls at night and water moccasins that watch from afar and just the biodiversity. This is the second most biologically diverse, stream in North America. it winds in what would be, just 100 miles of, of a straight line from Palm Bluff to around Bastrop, Louisiana. It's about 100 miles, but because it meanders from its ancient time, you're looking at 360 miles or so of this beautiful foliage and cypress trees and tupelo and hanging catfish. Jumping alligator gar. Alligators themselves. you can see as you wind through this, this, this natural pristine beauty. I mean, I, I could literally see where an area. There was a baptism from church members who might be singing a, spiritual. And then just around the corner as you make your way around here's a moonshine steel, so you could get communion down the way and get baptized further up. So it's just that kind of dynamic of knowing that all of this is happening. These stories of, of mystery and murders of juke joints that were way out, that were after hours places where people played where in town. We had one juke joint that played in town up to about one o' clock and then they all packed up in a 1941 Cadillac and took all of their. The moonshine and the band instruments followed Folks out to the waters and they started the, the, the whole thing back up again. It kind of reminds you in some ways of the Color Purple, of those scenes of juke joints and so forth. And by the way, one of those juke joint scenes happened to be written by J. Mayo Williams, who is a, blues man, a Blues hall of Famer from Pine Bluff. But the bayou itself is just this, this magical place where so many things happened and occurred. And I, just sometimes sit and you know, just kind of watch the, watch the waters. I fish in the bayou as well. So we're talking about brim and catfish and of course you have to know the bayou. You kind of. It's a friend and it's a foe. It, it floods and, and we all curse when we can't get to it. And it's making water go all over roads and everything else. And then when you come back with a bounty of, of like 20 catfish to fry, it's your big friend, it's your best friend. So, you know, people are intimately connected to the waters over here and the bayous themselves. The Bayou Bartholomew splits into these side bayous. You have these other smaller bodies of water that that even go into neighborhoods sometimes. So you don't have to go way out into the boonies somewhere to get to, you know, this, this, this sort of natural, you know, water buffet. You yourself can go into smaller portions right in the city and experience it. And it is, it's fun. And then, Adrian, I don't mean to, to go too far, but this is also a place that's very interesting because unlike Louisiana or Florida, where you see alligators all the time, you see them less here in the bayou. So you have this combination of people who saw a gator, but then you also have the specter of the gator story. You go to a spot and, and somebody says, you know, there was a gator there last week. He was sitting there, you know, with a plate, eating, and, and we just all ran. I mean, it's like the abominable gator story from week to week. So because you don't see them all the time, you see them sometimes. There are as many gator stories that are as fun to listen to as the gator sightings, which gives you a different dynamic because you always, you know, you always miss the 50 foot gator, but you saw the five foot one,

Adriane Berg: you know, sounds a little bit like the legend of the Loch Ness monsters where you're always looking. Ah, but somebody else saw it.

We're going to take another break and talk about food

Now we're Going to take another break when it come back and we're going to talk about something very important and that is food. You mentioned catfish. There's a lot more to talk about. I will say still working off this is the truth, 1.6 pounds which I gained in one week in the great state of Arkansas. so I'm not sure we want to discuss this. But you guys, I'm drooling already. Don't you go anywhere. We'll be right back.

Cruises it is the top agency for all the main cruise lines

If you've been thinking about a cruise, I've definitely got you covered. With Cruises it now we have just become affiliated with them. And who are they? Well, Cruises it is the top agency for all the main cruise lines and some of the less known cruise lines as well. Cruises it has access to booking space that's been open years in advance so you can get the best cabins. That's just number one. But they also make the prices lower. The cruise lines give cruises at their own exclusive agency discounts. And if you're not from the cruise line, they have their own agency discounts that would apply as well. So you get both any discounts you would normally get on the cruise line plus additional discounts that are given exclusively to Cruises it because they bring in so much business on top of all those discount perks. When you book with them, you get the best rate guaranteed. And this is because cruise fare watch system takes place. Now, what cruises it does is it tracks the pricing until the final payment date. So you keep in mind that to get the best rate guaranteed, you have to use my site. We have affiliated with them specifically. I sat down, I met with them in Tucson, Arizona. I met with Marianne Weather. We're now become good friends. She gave me a direct line, not only a link which you can certainly use right away, but if you have questions, even a specific phone number. Cruises it offers this not just to anyone that is one of our followers. If you have friends and family, you can bring them in too. So just take a look at the show notes and you will see our dedicated phone line and our dedicated link. Happy sailing.

Michael McCrae and Jimmy Cunningham recommend Pine Bluff for barbecue lovers

And we are back. And if I haven't convinced you already, and Michael McCrae and Jimmy Cunningham have not already convinced you that you've got to put Pine Bluff on your list. The food will take you the rest of the way. It really is a different kind of southern cooking than I have experience in the Carolinas or in Florida or even in New Orleans, which is supposed to be the, you know, the centerpiece, let's say of American cuisine. It is different. And, it's something worth discussing. So I'm going to ask both of you, because both of you have mothers and both of you have families that cook and barbecue and so on. So we'll start with Michael. If you would send somebody to Pine Bluff or its environs or nearby to eat in a place that you like to eat, where would it be?

Michael McCrae: M. Well, actually there are quite a few, but one of my favorite spots is actually a lunch at our municipal airport. We've got this wonderful kind of soul food, home cooking, Southern star restaurant. And catfish is great. All the food is good. But it's one of these places that it's not. You wouldn't normally think to, you know, I want something, you know, I'll go to the airport. But people literally fly in from miles away and they stop. They'll redirect their travel so that they can come to Pine Bluff so that they can get some of that good gratis home cooking. So it's, it's one that's, it's kind of noteworthy. And then from the, if you want to go, for our fine dining experience, we have this new great casino, the Saracen Casino Resort, that has the, Red Oak Restaurant. And so this is top shelf cuisine. You know, the, the chefs are award winning chefs in all types of competitions. people, some people say that the, the best restaurant in Little Rock is in Pine Bluff, and that is the Red Oak Steakhouse. So those are, those are two of my favorites.

Adriane Berg: How about you, Jimmy?

Jimmy Cunningham: Well, you can't talk about this place. And Michael mentioned soul food. you can't talk about this place without talking about barbecue. you know, barbecue is a, is a big staple in the South. And of course, you know, depending on where you go, you, you kind of have these different, methods of preparation. I like to go to a place called kids barbecue, which is just down the street from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where I graduated. Go Lions, go. So I've traveled quite a bit, gotten, you know, a lot of, barbecue in different places. And you know, barbecue is a religion in some senses. I mean, you, in some places, you know, you sort of have the AME barbecue and that's the, the Methodist barbecue is where you, you sprinkle the seasoning on. You kind of rub it on and you sprinkle it and so forth. But then you have the Baptist barbecue. That's where it's dunked and, you know, dipped baptized in the sauces. And you, you sort of, you know, you get that and Then, you know, there's the dip plus the, the zinger seasoning, which is kind of the Pentecostal barbecue. And I, I think I, I would say that we are probably somewhere and Pentecostal.

Adriane Berg: I see.

Jimmy Cunningham: Put it on the continuum. but you know, to put, you know, slaw on your, on your barbecue and to you know, chug it down with some good old sweet tea around here is something that we, we always do. What you will find here also is that next to catfish, which, you know, is, is king, is, is buffalo. Fish and buffalo, you know, when I mentioned, man, I had some good buffalo, if I mentioned it to the wrong person in the wrong region, they see fur and hoofs and legs, right? No one thinks that here. When you say, you know, buffalo, you're talking about a fish and it's a bony fish. But if it's prepared and cut right, you kind of develop a taste. It has its own distinct taste, but it's very good. And people cook it. They cook the ribs. So you cut them up and you know, it's my, as my, grandmother used to say, you know, cut it down, low as a greasy spot on the floor. Cooks up great. Boy, I tell you, I don't know when people get fish the rest of the year or on days of the week. I mean there's, you know, maybe people have days of the week that they get them in other places, but God knows the blessed holy day of fish. In Pine Bluff and in the Delta, it's Friday. Yes, Friday Fish and Blues is, is what we do. As a matter of fact, we even have an event here that is, monthly and it is the CATF Friday Blues and Soul Night. So we have citizens that converge on this one spot. A food truck rolls up with, with catfish. They get all the catfish they can get. And then they go into a bistro where we celebrate with, regional bands that come in from Tennessee, from Memphis, from Louisiana and from Arkansas. And we rock with the best blues and soul that is this side of the Mississippi. So the food, the music and the sounds, they all collide. Food is better when it, when it's in a communal setting and when there's an event taking place and it's that much more succulent and it goes to the next level.

Michael McCrae: Just like Juneteenth. I want to add one more thing to what Jimmy just said, because we're talking about food. Arkansas has two James Beard award winning establishments and they won the. In the category of American classics. One is Jones Barbecue in Marianna. And the other is Lassie's Inn in, Little Rock. Of course, barbecue spot is the barbecue spot. But the Lassie serves those buffalo fried buffalo ribs that Jimmy was just talking about. So we have been recognized for the, for the fish and the barbecue and the blues, but, you know, we're American classics. So there's something else that most people don't know about Arkansas.

Adriane Berg: You know, I'm a pescatarian, and I still gained 1.6 pounds. So you should know that the fish is extremely good in Arkansas. But let me show you how much I'm beginning to love Arkansas when I hear the word buffalo. I used to think about the furry animals that you would talk about. Now I think buffalo. I think river. The great buffalo river. You see, I didn't even know it existed a couple of weeks ago. Now you say buffalo, I say river.

Michael, what's your favorite season or most exciting season in Pine Bluff

I want to go back, Michael, to the fact that I'm truly planning to go. And I want to talk about seasonality, discuss, special festivals in addition to the ones that Jimmy talked about, or what goes on during the holiday season. It would be wonderful for people to hear because they're thinking about going, but they don't know when exactly they would be going. So. And of course, the weather. They think about the weather as well. So what would you say, Michael, about, what's your favorite season or most exciting season? In addition to Juneteenth, of course.

Michael McCrae: Right. It would have to be UAPB Homecoming. It's the Golden Lions, you know, Arkansas Eminence. They just completed, I, think it was the 28th annual fly in. So definitely by 30th, there'll be a whole Memorial Day festival to go along with the black pilots fly in. So those are two of the special times for me. I don't know if Jimmy wants to add some that I didn't think of.

Jimmy Cunningham: Oh, yeah, sure. So, you know, we have the Jazz on the Lake series that happens throughout the month of May. We have a beautiful lakefront Lake Saracen. And, we have weekly jazz events there where people gather and we bring in, artists from, from all over the place. Juneteenth is a time when we have a lot of fun. And then also the casino brings in artists all the time. So they're bringing in, I think next month they've got John Legend. I think last month they had the comedian Leslie Jones. I think Cool in the gang came. Johnny Gill is scheduled to come. They've got several others, but there's a lot of activity going on. Over there. And as Michael says, there's homecoming is on. Is full tilt. It is a community homecoming where folks, that have attended the university or those that have never had any association, but folks just converge. It is this city just on jet fuel. It is turkey leg stands, it is barbecue. It is catfish spots, it is gumbo spots. It. It is a party in every standing building that you can think of. I would not visit necessarily in the. In what we call the cold months. Now, the cold months for us are, not the cold months for other places. I mean, they're not the coldest, you know, and we like, we get down to 40 and we're, you know, shivering like we're out of our minds. And that's around maybe, you know, December, January, February kind of thing. But once we come out of those cold, cold climbs of 40 degrees.

Adriane Berg: Yes. Terrible 40 degree weather. I know. Get out the mittens. So, yes, I will say that if you haven't been. I've been to a homecoming in the south and I've been to the homecoming in the north. It's not the same thing, I can tell you that much. I was really surprised. I have not toilet papered so many trees in my life since going to homecoming in the south, if you get what I mean. It's a riotous situation. Okay, so I'm going to thank you both so much. And this is the beginning because we're going to be covering, what you're doing. So, Michael, you really are building here. And the name of Pine Bluff is becoming some destination that really is, as you say, associated with history, associated with outdoor activity, with good food and good community. But if you wanted to add one more thing that you want people to know, what would it be?

Michael McCrae: Pine Bluff people change the world. It's something in the water. It's in the DNA. When you start to get the list of people that have made significant contributions. Now, they may not have always been in Pond Bluff when they did it. You'll just start to see that there's this strand of, you know, I don't know if it goes back to the fact that we were populated by people who had had to escape to freedom, but there's this resilience in our character, in our DNA. And these people, tend to be able to take on the world. So if we have one more, one last thing to leave you with, it's people from Palm Bluff change the world.

Adriane Berg: That's so beautiful. And Jimmy M. Same to you. We learned a lot.

Michael Strauss: Blues is an adaptation to pressure

But if there's one More thing you'd like to leave everyone with, what would it be?

Jimmy Cunningham: I would say this. And this just ties in with Michael. Because he stole my thunder. That was my thought. You weren't supposed to say that, Michael. But I will say this. We're trying to talk to people about a new way to understand the blues. Not just as something that's sad, something that is down, something that, you know, made people feel bad. But blues actually is an adaptation to pressure. It's a mindset first, before it ever turns into a note. And when and what happens is people experience something. And you can stop at the tears or you can continue on. And everything about our community is, something happened, pressure was applied. But the community adapted and moved and pushed. And that is a much broader definition of what the blues represents. It may be I cried, but then I fill in the blank.

Adriane Berg: Yes.

Jimmy Cunningham: And that is the spirit of what we're made out of.

Adriane Berg: That is so beautiful. And I do want to say this. We're all looking for transformational travel. So if you're like me and you love music and you love the good food, you should certainly go to Pine Bluff because it is a number one destination. But more importantly, if you don't know the blues, if you don't listen to this kind of music, if you haven't been to a culture like this, if you've never been to a bayou, this is where you have to go. Because that's transformation. That's transformation. When you see something through the eyes of the folks who love it, you love it, too. And for everybody, you know what I'm going to say. Please do get our Travel Tuesday. It's a free newsletter. You get it@hstraveler.com and please do join our Facebook salon. And for everybody, never stop traveling.