Postcard from the South | Number 3

A WRITERS’ TOUR OF THE SOUTH
Trip Highlights #1

BOOKSTORES & COFFEE

As I sit waiting to fly back to Des Moines, my thoughts return to a couple of trip highlights—authors, bookstores, and coffee. This brief post features coffee and bookstores. (Check out Postcard from the South | Number 4 for Author Highlights.)

Highway 61 Coffee | Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg, Mississippi

If you visit Vicksburg, Mississippi be sure to visit Highway 61 Coffee located next to Lorelei Books. Both are outstanding. At Highway 61 Coffee, cappuccinos don’t require an extra shot. “Ausgezeichnet” for a Starbucks quad-shot Vente cappuccino kinda gal.

Lorelei Books | Vicksburg, Mississippi

And, Lorelei Books. Wow! What a delight. According to the manager, Haley Sellers, who let me pick her brain about how to own, operate, and make a success of an indie bookstore,  the owner and she tailor selections for travelers. Their local readership knows books not on bookshelves can be ordered. Some of the genres Lorelei Books carries for travelers are local and regional history, and new memoir. For locals, Lorelei Books hosts author events and Storytime for kids on Saturdays. I love their bookstore tagline on their website:

“Luring Booklovers to Lore. Books of paper and ink sold in a brick-and-mortar bookstore by human beings. Come enjoy real life with us.”

Oxford, Mississippi

In Oxford, Mississippi, I’d mention Uptown Coffee just off the square, but their cappuccino scalded my tongue and throat badly, and the guy sporting a cap and convict-worthy-body tats told me when I asked for another, “just let it cool off.” He was obviously too young to remember the McDonald’s lawsuit.

Square Books | Oxford, Mississippi

Whereas the bookstore on the square, Square Books, is über-worthy of mention. Man, what a selection of Mississippi writers they have. Picked up a slim and compact biography on Faulkner written by M. Thomas Inge.

Bookshelf inside Square Books

It’s an awesome thing when you stumble upon communities supporting bookstores with coffee and espresso shops worthy of mention.

Snapshot of book logo up top, snapped from the side of Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi