DuckSouth.com

I've come across a few hotspots in the last couple of months while stranded out in the fields on my spray rig. Some are great, others not-so-great. I'll list 'em as I come to them, y'all do the same.

Lake George Grocery: Hwy 16 about 5 miles E of Holly Bluff
Thank goodness for portable buildings on turnrows! This little store is small, but well worth the stop. The lady behind the counter is sweet as pie and fixes a mean bologna and cheese. I ordered two sandwiches and could hardly stuff down the first, due to super-thick cuts of our beloved pork by-product. You wanna see some deer? The walls of LGG are lined with B&C and P&Y monsters, some taken from the Swamp, I'm sure. But don't forget to check out the antlers in the milk crate on the floor (is that one shed a Mulie???) Lots of good pics of local folks with ducks, deer and whatever else, up over the counter. Oh yeah, and the new Delta Mud Racing mud track is directly behind. Wing's Wag: ****

Holly Bluff Grocery: Downtown Holly Bluff
Sorry, I can't recall the official name of this place, but if their catfish tasted more like catfish instead of gasper-goo, I'd have probably remembered it. I've eaten here a few times, but never again on Friday. Cooking catfish the wrong way ought to land you 2-5 in Parchman, yet some folks get away with it unnoticed. The service is good, though, and they have plenty of cold pop and tater chips. I'm sure the lunches Monday-Thursday are excellent; I'll have to swing by there and found out another time. Wing's Wag:**

Roy's Store: Hwy 1 about 10 miles N of Grace at Chatham
Man, if there were only a cardboard box set up on this end of Lake Washington, it would be just as busy. This place is packed with folks most of the time, what with the brim biting and a nice, cool breeze blowing in from the lake to take the sting out of the summer-time temps we've had lately. I've only had the cheeseburger basket, but it was promptly delivered to my table by a nice, smiling lady. The food is good, but the trinkets on the wall are better. Old seed sacks, cotton scales, tin signs, fishing nets, fishing poles, fishing everything, and a bass and a rattler to boot. This place gets the award for coolest, hardwood floored store on the edge of a lake. Y'all gotta stop in, but watch the traffic if the fish are biting. Wing's Wag: ****

Onward Store: Hwy 61 about 15 miles S of Rolling Fork
Well, if you're in the mood for some Teddy history, you've stopped at the right place. You'll find everything you need to know about President Roosevelt and the beloved Teddy Bear here, as well as some killer plate lunches. Go to the back room if you dare, or sit at the front table, or even on the huge front porch. This store has always been a favorite of mine, and I'm sure you'll like it too. Pick up a Sojamax Redneck tee shirt while you're there, and drive slowly at night because the deer hug the roadside. Wing's Wag: ****

Maranto's: Intersection of Hwys 14 and 61 at Anguilla
This place is the typical roadside service station, with Delta style high prices. A 20 oz. Coke: 1.30 Yep, the treats are high-dollar but the cheeseburgers are mouth-watering. Whenever I'm close to Anguilla at dinner, I get a craving for one of these tasty burgers. But beware, the speed limit is 45 thru town and 46 gets you the blue light.
Wing's Wag:***

Trail Lake Grocery: Intersection of Hwy 438 and that other little road, about 5 miles East of Arcola
Heck, there ain't much else out here but grasshoppers, so stop on by the TLG. I've had their bacon-egg-cheese sandwich and it is delish. The service is great but the selection is a little slim. But I do think the store just re-opened so they'll probably have more in time. Wing's Wag: **

Fratesi's Grocery: Hwy 82 about 3 miles E of Leland
CRAWFISH-no further comments. Wing's Wag: ***** If you see Jason, ask him what the big conspiracy is about..tell him Rob wants in. My last name is really Heflini.

Westside Mini-Mart and Bait Shop: Hwy 49 Belzoni
Good ole Westside, they've got everything you need. From crickets to chicken strips to treestands, you can get it all from Mark. The gals in the back can work a stove, son, and don't get smart with Mrs. Janie or you'll have to pick your butt up out th' parking lot when she gets done with ya. They've got a huge dining room and everybody knows everybody here. Wing's Wag:*****

Rick's: Hwy 61 Rolling Fork
This is the same Rick's of Greenville and Isola, but the lunches here are much better in my opinion. They'll have anything from jambalaya to chicken and rice, and peach cobbler is always under the hood. And they usually have supper ready for you as well. Don't pass by this place if you are rolling thru the Fork. Wing's Wag:****

Peterbo's: Hwy 49 about 1 mile south of Isola
You're knockin' on my back door now, and can see the famed Isoler dove field from here. Peterbo's has made Southern Living magazine and the food is exceptional. Sunday dinner is great....if you can find the line short enough to stay inside the building. During the week they have a good buffet, and hamburgers and catfish plates are the norm during the evening. My mom has picked up fish plates every Friday night for several years now, and they love 'em. Don't pass up Peterbo's. Wing's Wag:*****


That's all for now. My stomach will lead me elsewhere in time and I'll fill y'all in.

Wingman

Rob,

Thanks for all the info. Transplanted down to Vicksburg three years ago, originally from Tupelo, I do not know any of the places down this way. The only place I have eaten while on the road hunting is Chuck's, I think, in Rolling Fork. I will have to print this post up and break out the atlas and make some notes.

Brad

i'll give my vote for onward store...i make it an almost daily occurence during duck season...gator

Onward Store Best Bets:

1) Bell pepper cheese burger with fat fries
2) Hot tamales in a tin can with extra sauce
3) Slab country ham and cheese sammich with extra mayo and dill pickles
4) Slab hog head cheese(souse) sammich with green habanero hot sauce
5) Slab hot roast beef sammich with extra gravy and fat fries

All of the above are rendered totally fat-free, when consumed with a
diet Yoo-Hoo soda. Yeah, right!!!

Sorry to report this season went to the Onward store from the Forrest and discovered the Pig Pie has been discontinued!

Wingman, can you believe I have eaten at every one of the places you have mentioned! It seems the names of a couple of them have changed though. Man, I remember stopping at Fratesi's when I used to work for the Highway department in the summer. I'd always eat lunch there because the swimming pool used to be right across the street and the scenery was pretty good! I have eaten many a Honeybun from the store in Holly Bluff and Lake George Store when hunting out that way. I actually helped put the black top road in between Arcola and Wayside...whupped many a water moccasin with a range pole wading in the rice fields out that way. I remember eating at the place on Lake Washington, but I think the name wasn't the same. Dang good memories! Thanks for dredging them up.

Don't forget about the Bourbon Mall. That's about out in the middle of nowhere as I can imagine. But it's good.

I am with Wingman on PeterBo's The Food is the best around hands down!!

A friend of mine mother used too own Old Roys store up at Lake Washington, we used to spend a good bit of time up there, boy I miss those days.

Onwards got excellent bugers and spicey fries.


Chucks in Rolling Fork has got the best butterscotch milkshakes in the nation. You dont go to Rolling Fork without getting one.


My mamma told me the little store in Carey, MS has good boiled shrimp on the weekends, gonna get up there and try that before too long.


Got taken to a buffet place near Forrest or Morton a while ago called the Back 40 (I believe) and it was awesome.


If you want to get a good sandwich in V'burg you got to go to Bucks on Hwy. 80, I believe it is now called Johns.



Oh yeah, eating is one of my favorite HOBBIES.

Now if you want to talk about getting your money's worth, stop and eat the lunch buffet at the Traceway restaurant in Mathiston. For exaclty $3.50 you get your choice of 1 meat, 2 veggies, either cole slaw or potato salad, choice of bread and drink. Trust me, this is one big ole plate of food. They serve half of webster county for lunch I think.

Yeah - the Onward Store is the home of the $9.00 six pack and their policy is that they don't sell cuts of lunch meat of less than $1.00. I've hit about 1/2 the places on that list and Marantos (if it's that old Amoco)used to have the best damn fried chicken legs on earth.

Nobody did lunch like my great grandmother did. When I was 10, I started driving a tractor for my dad in the summer. He and I,(mostly he) would farm about 800-1000 acres of soybeans every summer. All we had was 4 row equipment. My ggm had about 300 acres around her house and I used to love working that land because I knew what was in store for us at lunch. There would always be 5 or 6 vegetables(I ain't talkin store bought either); chicken, roast, or ham, home made bread, fresh fruit pies or cobblers for desert. My dad used to get a kick out of me about two hours after lunch. The hot sun and exhaust coming out of that straight pipe international would almost do me in and I would swear that I would only eat half the next day. Guess what, next day, same scenario.

The combination of warm summer sun and a home-cooked meal is responsible for many a cotton plant being plowed up between 1 and 3 pm. Seems like once you eat, and that engine starts it's lullaby, more cotton dies during those two hours than any other time of the day

Wingman

Breakfast bisquits at Davis Grocery in Satartia.Nothin can beat em after a cold mornin in the swamp!

I almost forgot to mention that Louis and Carol are as fine people as you'll ever meet!

I recomend the bacon cheeseburger and onion rings at Onward. Tamales aint bad either.