Contents
A P R I L 2 02 2
Events
11 6 8
VO LU M E 3 9 // I SS U E 4
Features
REASONS TO CELEBRATE Car shows, food fests, gardening extravaganzas, and live music everywhere you look
REFLECTIONS Location, Location, Location by James Fox-Smith
NEWS & NOTEWORTHIES
36 41 46
When God sends you to North Alabama by Chris Turner-Neal
(DE) TOURING MUSTANG ISLAND Embracing the road less traveled, Gulfside by James Fox-Smith
THE GRAND CANYON OF THE SOUTH Descending into the Red Bluff by Chris Turner-Neal
On a beautiful spring day in early March, 2020, photographer Brian Pavlich drove his utterly prosaic SUV to Natchez, Mississippi. His mission: Capture a cover-worthy photograph featuring five of the most beautiful vehicles ever built. With hundreds of highly desirable Porsches, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Ducatis about to descend on Natchez for the annual Euro Fest Classic Car and Motorcycle Show, what better picture to feature on the cover of Country Roads’ April 2020 issue, we thought, than one of gorgeous classic cars swooping along the Trace at the height of springtime? Best-laid plans … As the whole world knows, the week following that photoshoot brought the cancellation of Euro Fest and every other event across the country as COVID-19 spread. Plans for that magazine cover had to change too, leaving our classic car photo shoot all dressed up, so to speak, with nowhere to go. But the resulting pictures were too good not to hold onto. So now, with the world open for business again and the Euro Fest Classic Car Show returning to Natchez this April 22–23, we can finally put Brian’s terrific photograph on the cover. We are grateful to the drivers, who brought their rare and valuable vehicles out to the Trace from Natchez, and as far afield as Baton Rouge and Jackson, Mississippi; then patiently drove around all day while we photographed them.
Read about one of the cars to be featured at this year’s festival , a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT “Boano” Coupe, in Publisher James Fox-Smith’s story on page 52.
50
6 Restaurants Worth Stopping For by Jyl Benson, Sam Irwin, Lucie Monk Carter, Chris Turner-Neal,
Catherine Schoeffler Comeaux, and Christie Matherne
Culture
52
MAN MEETS CAR How an impossibly rare 1956 Ferrari made its way from the Mille Miglia, to Baton Rouge by James Fox-Smith
56
The trials and jubilations of the road trip by Christie Matherne
60 64
A SMOKIN’ COLLECTION Douglas Diez’s 5,000 historic pipes
by R. Stephanie Bruno
VICKSBURG CIVIL WAR MUSEUM Charles Pendleton transforms his collection of guns and ephemera into a museum. by Cheré Coen
4
A P R 2 2 // C O U N T R Y R O A D S M A G . C O M
Managing Editor
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot Alexandra Kennon
Creative Director
Kourtney Zimmerman
Contributors:
Cover image by Brian Pavlich
JUST GET IN THE CAR
Associate Publisher
Arts & Entertainment Editor
HOT PURSUIT ON THE NATCHEZ TRACE
ROAD EATS
James Fox-Smith Ashley Fox-Smith
On the Cover
Cuisine
Publisher
BRING ME TO BIRMINGHAM
Escapes
66
SUNSHINE’S CALLIN’ A road trip along the Florida Coast by Kristy Christiansen
74
PERSPECTIVES Rebecca Rebouché is a dreamer, a naturalist, and a myth-maker. by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Jyl Bensen, R. Stephanie Bruno, Kristy Christiansen, Paul Christiansen, Cheré Coen, Sam Irwin, Christie Matherne, Kimberly Meadowlark, Lucie Monk Carter, Brian Pavlich, Catherine Schoeffler Comeaux, Chris Turner-Neal
Cover Artist
Brian Pavlich
Advertising
SALES@COUNTRYROADSMAG.COM
Sales Team
Heather Gammill & Heather Gibbons
Custom Content Coordinator
Lauren Heffker
Advertising Coordinator
Laci Felker
President
Dorcas Woods Brown
Country Roads Magazine 758 Saint Charles Street Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Phone (225) 343-3714 Fax (815) 550-2272 EDITORIAL@COUNTRYROADSMAG.COM WWW.COUNTRYROADSMAG.COM
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Copyrighted. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Country Roads magazine are those of the authors or columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, nor do they constitute an endorsement of products or services herein. Country Roads magazine retains the right to refuse any advertisement. Country Roads cannot be responsible for delays in subscription deliveries due to U.S. Post Office handling of third-class mail.