I’m going to Jackson. Sure, you’ve heard the phrase before, it’s only been sung by one of the most famous country and western stars of all times, Johnny Cash. And there has been an ongoing debate about to which city names Jackson the famous songs refers. For the record I would like to put in my vote for Jackson, Mississippi. Actually, I had never been there before and only just visited it for the first time last summer. That was the summer I turned twenty one and my cousin, who was born and raised in Jackson, invited me to his house to celebrate. My cousin, Kyle is a year and a half older than I am and he and his girlfriend had recently gotten a place together, so he figured it was the perfect location for my birthday party.

Well, as it turned Kyle’s girlfriend was extremely unhappy with Kyle that weekend for reasons which I may never know. What I do know though is that Kyle and I spent the entire time in one of the older, or as Kyle liked to say vintage hotels in the downtown area, and this made the whole weekend that much more exciting and original. Like I said, I had never been to Jackson, and instead of spending most of the time at my cousin’s place, we were out investigating the city all weekend. And we had an incredible time.

One of the places we went to was a club called Thelma’s Lounge. It was really cool and this is actually where we ended up on the night I turned twenty one. I wasn’t eager to make this major life transition so that I could hang out in bars to drink a lot. It was more that I wanted to feel free to experience some of the bands and musicians that play at them. We also toured the Mississippi State Capital building. I known that’s not a standard item on most people’s twenty first birthday weekend, I just love capital buildings and like to tour them. And of course we went to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame , which was absolutely incredible. Instead of punishing Kyle, his girlfriend actually did us a favor. I don’t think he told her that though.