After what seemed like an eternity waiting for the dust to settle and normalcy to return after my career change coupled with a whole bunch of catch up maintenance on Skyscraper, I figured it would be nice to stretch our legs on a trip somewhere.
A few months previous Karrie was reading Country Living magazine and ran across a piece on ML Provisions, a place where you can ” turn your style and story into an accessory that reflects your life”, in the form of a felt hat. I sent a message through their contact page to inquire about their waitlist. Lo and behold I got a reply email 2 days later with a link to their google doc waitlist. A month and a half after adding my credentials to the waitlist I got an email stating “It’s your turn to schedule your custom hat appointment. We can do any shape & color. We look forward to having you in the shop. Schedule through the link!” followed by a link to a calendly calendar. I was lucky enough that a month and a half out they had a date that worked for a “Karrie’s birthday week” trip.
As the appointment grew closer I started to plan our flight there. It was plain to see that rental car availability in rural Mississippi near small airports can leave something to be desired. Having had poor experiences relying on Lyft/Uber in similar circumstances I decided that while there were closer airports to ML Provisions location than the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (KJAN), there were non that had reliable rental car access on a Sunday in the Bible Belt. As luck would have it Atlantic at KJAN was within walking distance to the Avis location on the field, although a young Atlantic ramp attendant was nice enough to give us a short ride over.
Once we had our 2024 Nissan Kicks rental under foot we decided to pick out a hotel. Thinking it may be interesting downtown, we picked a Westin in the thick of things. After a short drive from the airport to downtown it became apparent that downtown Jackson was an abandoned desert on Sunday afternoon! We parked and walked around the beautiful capital building. Amazingly all we saw during our journey were police/security personal and homeless people through out the entirety of downtown Jackson. Luckily we found a nice restaurant that was one of the few open and ate dinner before making a stop at the Greenwood Cemetery.
The Greenwood Cemetery was an unexpected piece of our trip. The dilapidated entrance gate had a sign that said it was open sunrise to sunset when the gate would be closed, a note I suspect was from a bygone era when the cemetery was afforded a bit more respected. We parked the rental car at the end of the entrance road that came to a loop in the event anther car came and wouldn’t be able to pass the parked car on the single lane road. After a brief walk from the car we arrived at the section cordoned off from the rest of the grounds by a black chain on stanchions. This area contained the burial grounds for both known and unknown confederate soldiers. With (3) early era (1861-1863) confederate flags flying over head we walked the area and read some of the tombstones.
After the cemetery we retired to the hotel before waking up early to to grab some coffee at Native Coffee before our visit to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. Being EAA members we have free access to participating ASTC Passport Program properties. The program allows you to have access to participating museums for free! Before we travel anywhere we take a look at the current list and see if any facilities will fit into our agenda. We learned about Mississippi and got to see a (living) two headed snake on display among the other exhibits.
Around 9:40 we loaded up into he car to ride down to Cherry Grove for our appointment at ML Provisions. The studio is located about 30 minutes south of Jackson, on the second floor of a barn out in the country side. The surrounding area is filled with woods and sparse inhabitants. When you arrive on scene, you pull up to a black automatic gate. While it has a terminal for entering a code for entry, there is no call button. As we had no phone number, we waited a few moments and the gate sprung open on its own. We pulled into the barn area and parked off the the north of the building before walking over to the white door on the northwest side of the building. Once traversing the stairs you are without a doubt in a working studio. Straight ahead of you is a refrigerator with drinks, a table for sitting and enjoying the snacks they have set out for you. Beyond that is a station where they sand and shape the blanks on spinning machines as well as other more specialized equipment. On the opposite side of the space are finish hats sitting as an example of what you will be building, hat blanks, and two tables with finishing accoutrement. During our visit we met Mary Lynne, Elizabeth (her sister), and another employee who did little speaking but lots of sanding. These are good, hard working, integrity driven folks. We felt right at home. If you do not have head measurements Mary will fit your head from their many blanks. Once you figure out what size you need she will give you the hats in various colors in that size you can choose. If you already know your head dimensions you can tell them ahead of time and they will have whatever color you choose ready for you. Once you select your specific blank you will discuss what type of shape you want, brim, top, etc. After those details are worked out, Mary took the blank across the room and used a cutting tool to trim the brim of the hat down to size. A bit of sanding on the newly exposed edge of the hat and she began to steam the part of the hat she was going to work on. Like anything else, watching someone who is incredibly skilled at that they do gives the illusion that it is easy. Mary makes this look so simple! You can choose the shape of the top of the hat, the style of brim, to brand or not brand, and various additions such as feathers, trim fabric. In the end you have a hat that is absolutely built to whatever you want. The energy in the studio is a great energy and run by great people. I would suggest that a trip to ML Provisions starts because of a hat, but in typical fashion turns into the human experience between strangers that for if only a brief few hours learn from each other and enjoy life together.
Made a quick fuel stop at Waynesboro Municipal (2R0) for some cheap fuel ($4.69/gallon)
Departing the airport they are happy to welcome you to the state.
Karrie enjoying downtown to herself! Capital building can be seen on the right between the trees.
Plaque at the entrance to the cemetery.
Plaque in the cemetery.
Interesting to see the Confederate States of America flags still flying here.
One of many unknown CSA soldiers buried in the cemetery.
This Brigadier-General who served in both the US Army (pre civil war) and subsequently Confederate Army chose to be buried here after he died at 82 years of age.
Another neat building from times of prior grandeur.
Some of the few people we saw in downtown Jackson on Sunday. The wear on the side of the building would indicate how frequent these spots are occupied and a sense of humanity there. If you are lucky enough to visit the orbiter Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center you can see similar use on the entrance door where the occupants of the orbiter would place their hands as they climbed in and out of the orbiter. Humans being humans.
ASTC Passport Program participating museum here we come (admission is $8 otherwise)!
Karrie and a reproduction 62′ long Basilosaurus fossil.
Two headed snake first placed on exhibit in 2003.
One of the things not in shortage in Jackson, unrepaired pot holes.
Pot holes like these are not typical of any place I’ve previously visited but routine in Jackson.
Entrance to ML Provisions taken just south of the black entrance gate.
Stairs leading down/up to/from the entrance door on the red barn.
The work station where the rough hat blanks get sanded and worked in to finished blanks.
Hat blanks with sewing equipment and sweat bands.
Example finished hats used to help the uneducated pick traits for their one-off.
Blanks for the choosing.
Karrie with her finished hat as my hat gets worked on. The hawk feather that adorns my hat was found while Mary was hunting turkey. Most of her feathers arrive this way to her shop.
Karrie enjoying her hat before we blast off from Mississippi.
