April 19, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Lunch in Meridian.

The weather was glorious. Full sun and 65 degrees. Twice, our excursion was cancelled due to storms but not today. Chris and I had a spendid time on our excursion to Meridian. If you take the big highways, driving to Meridian takes about 90 minutes but we take the back roads, the roads less travelled. Chris picked me up at 9:30 and brought me back home at 3:30. We both enjoyed every minute. Meridian is a city of over 40,000 and keeps active dure to two military installations plus a large medical facility. So downtown Meridian is busy. The buildings seem to be all in good condition with several old building still being used. We were surprised how active the downtown area was with the streets full of cars and lots of people bustling around. I could not find even one empty store front. We drove around the downtown area, although we had no idea where we were going and we drove around the neighborhoods close to town. We were impressed. But we drove to Meridian to have lunch at Wiedmans, a restaurant that first opened in 1870 and has been open ever since. The place in in a lovely old building right downtown. Christ was told that the food was wonderful. We looked at their menu on line and it seemed that they were like a New York Deli but in Mississippi. But after having lunch there today, it is clear that they are closer to New Orleans food than New York. Their food was wonderful and we will try to return. We ate three courses and enjoyed every bite. We drove home on back roads, finally using the Natchez Trace. Both Chris and I enoyed our excursion to Meridian. The smaller roads in Mississippi are a delight and today we drove them both coming and going. Now I look forward to our next excursion, which will be to Vicksburg. A friend told Chris that a new restaurant has opened so he wants to check it out. I will be ready.