I was flabbergasted months ago to learn of the Grammy Museum in Cleveland.
What? An honest-to-goodness Grammy Museum in the Delta? Surely, kind sir, you jest! A quick Google search confirmed the information. I knew immediately that I had to go.
Finding myself with a free Saturday, I made the quick-and-easy trip to Cleveland. (Yes, I actually left Greenwood for a day. I spend most of my time and tax dollars here at home, but the truth is, you have to go out of town to go to the Grammy Museum.)
As is my habit, I made the trip something of a photo safari, as well. This has been a feature of my road trips for almost a decade now: Choose a destination and photograph anything interesting along the way (including the destination). I knew the Grammy Museum would make great photos, but what else might I discover?
Not far out of Schlater, I spotted an airfield used by crop duster pilots. Indeed, there was a crop duster parked at the fueling station by the highway. Instant photo opp! I pulled over and asked the man at the fuel pumps if I could take pictures of the plane. “Sure,” he replied, “just don’t touch anything.” Chemicals, you see.
I excitedly photographed the crop duster, then got back on the road. Along the way, I passed a nicely preserved, 1950s-era filling station called Dockery’s, complete with vintage gas pumps and faded Coca-Cola signs. I made a note to take pictures there on the return trip.
The Grammy Museum was everything I hoped it would be. The main exhibit was “MTV Turns 40,” which instantly made me feel old. I grew up in the Eighties, when MTV was still A) new and B) playing music videos. I absorbed a steady diet of MTV as a teen, so it was a thrill to explore the channel’s (now-ancient) history.
They told me I could take pictures in the museum as long as I didn’t use my flash. Well, I don’t use flash, so that was easy. I photographed Bruce Springsteen’s guitar, as well as Jon Bon Jovi’s leather jacket, Duane Allman’s Gibson Les Paul guitar, and Taylor Swift’s costumes. The Lynyrd Skynyrd exhibit prompted me to download its music, and I nearly flipped out when I saw the guitar used by U2’s The Edge.
The best part? I had the whole museum almost entirely to myself.
As I wandered the exhibits, I realized I must find or create a way to photograph more music events and/or memorabilia. I’m still working on how to make that happen.
I stopped by the Dockery Plantation on my way home. Turns out, there’s a Blues Trail marker there, suggesting the plantation was the original site for “the birth of the Blues.” (I say suggesting because the marker says, “The Birthplace of the Blues?”) I found an audio-visual station inside the old mill, which was filled with incredibly elaborate machinery. I’m still not sure what the mill had to do with the blues, but I took some of my favorite photos there.
Driving back across Sunflower and Leflore counties, I felt successful in my mission to explore and photograph new places. I consider having a camera in my hand (and built into my phone) an excuse to have adventures. I have found plenty in this area thus far.
- Contact Dan Marsh at 662-581-7235 or dmarsh@gwcommonwealth.com.
