X5 on her first journey…

X5FX · #1 04-02-2007, 04:34 PM

...to Greenwood, Mississippi of all places.

Total distance 800 miles
Averaged 19 mpg overall
Average overall speed 68 mph (per trip computer)

Average highway speed 92 mph

We left Baton Rouge around noon Friday for the 350 mile journey to Greenwood, Mississippi.
Greenwood is home to the Viking Range Corporation and the Viking Cooking School…little did I know how much fun the weekend would be.

A front was heading toward us after leaving behind the damage from several twisters in Dallas the night before. The conditions were very windy and grey skies, so we opted for the Interstate route as we had a date with cooking school at 6pm. The wind made for an interesting ride as we were blown all over the interstate, but I was able to average 90mph and 19.6 mpg on the ride up with ease. The X handled remarkable well considering the conditions.

We had a great weekend, eating at some very interesting places including Luscos, a grocery store in Greenwood, built in 1933. The owners wife cooked Italian food in the back, and they started serving the owners homemade wine as well. So they built partitioned rooms with dining tables in the rear of the store so their customers could drink in private (the county was "dry")…the partitions still remain and so does the incredible food from the 4th generation owners. We had to bring our own wine, hidden in a garbage bag until we were seated in our private dining room:

NOTE: These two exterior shots of Lusco's are not mine...I forgot to bring my camera. I found these thanks to Google.

Didnt bring my camera inside, so used the cell phone...this was our "private" booth:

On the return we took a detour down the Natchez Trace Parkway, an ancient trail that runs from Nashville to Natchez, MS.

We had the two lane winding road, pretty much to ourselves and the X just loved the road. The speed limit was 50mph but we far exceeded that, slowing down for the occasional bicyclist. The road was a blast, and my little 3.0 handled it well, actually overall I never had a need for more power. On the Natchez Trace I had to pass only 3 or 4 times, but the x cruised right past the slower traffic with ease. On the Interstate I never had issues passing either. Overall the X5 made the road trip very enjoyable.

We found this waterfall along the trail:

A side road led us to Canton, Mississippi on our quest to find the "Two Sisters", and their great home cooked southern meals located in an old house:

Who knew Kermit was born in Leland, Mississippi? and who knew they had a museum? we just had to do a quick U-turn and go look:
(more pics soon)

Its amazing what you will find on the backroads of America:

BB King was born in this parking lot...well not exactly:

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330i2X5 · #2 04-02-2007, 04:59 PM

beautiful pictures....love the post...thankyou

rickp · #3 04-02-2007, 05:07 PM

So where are the pics of the Viking ranges? I love those things. Looks like you had a good time. I want a HUD now!

thisX5life · #4 04-02-2007, 05:11 PM

rickp beat me to it, I love the photos showing the HUD! Can't wait for mine to be ready. Thanks for sharing!

JV · #5 04-02-2007, 05:36 PM

There's a great photo testimonial to Nav+HUD in the E70.

Seriously, some of the best pics ever posted on this site, and what a great part of the US to visit.

trueX5er · #6 04-02-2007, 05:45 PM

AMAZING pics!!!! Very cool! Thanks!!!

X5FX · #7 04-02-2007, 05:50 PM

Thanks for the comments.
A little more info on our destination...my wife bought herself this trip as her birthday present from me.
Our ultimate destination was the Viking Cooking School and the Alluvian Hotel, owned by the same man who was born and raised in Greenville, MS. The hotel is fabulous... like the finest hotels in NYC. It is located in downtown Greenville and the Cooking School and Viking store are across the street, it was truely an amazing weekend. The food was great, met some very interesting people and had a blast touring the back roads in our new x.