The day after Thanksgiving we went for lunch to Anchuca, an antebellum mansion in downtown Vicksburg that is now a bed and breakfast with a cafe. The dining room was small and, frankly, I was expecting small salads and cucumber sandwiches or the like. Erica and I got a bowl of seafood gumbo and a panini, "The Vick" to share. The gumbo was, oddly, free of rice, but had a good flavor and an acceptable amount of seafood. The Vick was a cheeseburger panini -- topped with both Cheddar and Swiss and caramelized onions and mushrooms. It was, simply, incredible. The onions and mushrooms created a delicious sauce for the sandwich, and the Ciabatta bread was the best I've ever had.

The day after Thanksgiving, we were in Jackson, MS to see Jimbo Mathus Knockdown South at Hal and Mal's. Hal and Mal's is a large multi-room restaurant and venue and the back room where Jimbo was playing didn't serve food (nor have draft beer). But we were able to go over to the other side of the restaurant and order some take-out and bring it back (which is why the presentation is so... styrofoam). The fried food sampler was everything we could have wanted from such a thing, including fried pickles, everything coated in the same flour batter. The red beans and rice came with some fairly tasteless french bread and a surprisingly large sausage.

Jimbo Mathus has gotten a lot more Mississippi redneck in both dress and music since his Squirrel Nut Zippers days, and both suit him well. Things seemed a little shakey for the first couple of songs, but the band seemed to warm up and really got into a groove. Viva la swamp rock!