Clarksdale, Mississippi: Shack Up Inn

I am in the Gunny Shack as I write this. I love it. I grew up in the middle of an orange grove and the house was similar (although much bigger) than this, and this takes me right back. The staff is very cool, the prices are reasonable and you're about 3 miles from Robert Johnson's "Crossroads." It's different, it's quirky and it's very very cool. Not to mention they loaned me a guitar at the front desk and I have a piano in my shack.

A wonderful place. We visited from California, our 3rd visit. I just noticed that someone wrote that it was racist! When they set-up and opened the Pine Top Perkins shack, Pine Top (famous blues piano player) himself was there for the opening.

The people who own and run the Shack Up Inn are wonderful people. Most assuredly not racist, but have a love for all people and cultures. I highly recommend a stay there.

We just stayed at the Shack Up Inn. The staff is friendly and helpful. Our room was one of the "bins," as all the Shacks were rented. It was super cool, with a hand-painted mural on the bathroom walls of people dancing to the juke joint piano player. We met almost all the guests and had our own little party. There's a bar on the corner (just a short walk) that had a good band. Drinks were reasonable and the music good.

These "shacks" are actually former tenant houses, gathered together from the middle of cotton fields. I live in Mississippi and was floored when I heard about this place, where a middle class white couple can have a great weekend drinking beer on an authentic porch.

In reality these shotgun "shacks" represent the horrible living conditions of both white and black poor people for more than two centuries. I guess it's supposed to cute. Or slumming(?). Or whatever.

It's a sick concept. Do I even need to mention racist?

We found this [theme] hotel by accident. We stopped to take pictures of some old cars and found it was a hotel; they call it a "bed and beer." They have a bar open on Fridays and Saturdays. The lobby is out back of the bar. The "rooms" are small shacks behind the lobby. The shacks do have air conditioning. They only have six rooms at this time and are usually booked on weekends, so make a reservation if you plan on staying.

They are working on adding more rooms in a grain barn. They are putting in "penthouses" on the second floor of the grain barn. The guys in the office were really nice. We didn't stay since we had three more hours of driving before we stopped for the night so I can't vouch for what the rooms look like. If I am ever in the area again, I plan on staying there.