TrueSouth episode 9 review: Oxford, Mississippi
Back home in Oxford, John T. Edge & Wright Thompson check-in on friends from the first two seasons of TrueSouth.
By: Bossman Slim
Photo: via @johntedge
John T. Edge and Wright Thompson sitting in lawn chairs on the front stoop enjoying a cocktail made me yearn for spring. It’s bitter cold right now across the South. There is a Winter Storm Warning in Dallas, New Orleans, Jackson, Birmingham, Nashville, and all the way up the coast to Maine. Nothing sounds better than a warm evening, cocktail in hand on the porch surrounded by friends.
The good news is you can warm up with Edge through the dim blue light of your screen and the cocktails and food being served up in episode 9 of TrueSouth. We’re in Edge and Thompson’s hometown of Oxford, Mississippi this week. Home of the Ole Miss Rebels, Lane Kiffin, and the legends of Archie Manning, John Vaught, and William Faulkner.
Episode 10 is a different sort of episode, in the way that 2020 was a different sort of year than we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes. With the pandemic throwing a wrench in the TrueSouth team’s plans, the kickoff episode to season 3 is more of a check-in than a dine-in. Edge and Thompson take us through what the pandemic has been like for them in Oxford, and how they’ve been keeping up with the restaurant and bar owners they’ve come to know on the road shooting TrueSouth.
Oxford, like the rest of us, was hit hard. City Grocery, the “Cheers” of Oxford, is a staple for Edge and Thompson in normal times. But neither had visited since the start of the pandemic - the grocery was shut down, only doing the occasional virtual happy hour that wets your whistle but doesn’t satisfy the soul like bellying up to the bar. The bright side for City Grocery: the time closed gave them the space to make needed improvements that otherwise get pushed to the wayside.
After checking in on City Grocery, Edge checks in on others who became part of the TrueSouth family, from Laha’s Red Castle in Hodgenville, Kentucky, to Kuan Lim of Lucky Palace in Bossier City, LA, and Sophia Vaughn of Silver Sands Soul Food in Nashville, Tennessee. Lim has been fighting a second bout with cancer, but he’s resilient in the face of struggle. The same could be said for Sophia Vaughn, who had her own difficulties to overcome, including catching the virus. The struggles of these small business owners are ongoing - while some have reopened to limited capacity, patrons are slow to return. As Edge notes, this is worrisome, because these are the people who are like glue to the community, who take care of their neighbors; lose them, and communities can quickly unravel.
The end of the episode takes us to St. Leo in downtown Oxford. The setting looks like the perfect spot to bring a date or gather with friends, the drinks look perfectly crafted, and the food looks like the best Italian food you’ll find in Mississippi. A great last stop before Edge is finally able to hitch the car up to the motorhome and hit the road, onto the next adventures, cocktails, food, and history that TrueSouth has in store.
You can watch the episode on ESPN+ or set your DVR to record it on its next rerun on SEC Network. Visit John T. Edge’s website here, and buy a TrueSouth hat while you’re there.
Next week a new episode airs on Monday the 22nd, so we’ll be up watching and have a review soon after the show. Edge will be in Bowman, SC, back to the roots of his Mother’s hometown. You can watch the trailer below to get pumped and ready. See you back here next week!