wakesetter93

Mrs. WS93 and I just returned from a wonderful weekend at The Alluvian Hotel in Greenwood, Mississippi. While Greenwood is far from the beaten path, it has become a popular destination thanks to Viking Appliances, which was founded and still headquartered in town, and the Viking Cooking School. With my wife, father, brother and sister-in-law all wonderful cooks, looking to expand their horizons, we planned a quick family trip for the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Getting to Greenwood isn’t easy as the closest airports with regular passenger service are Jackson and Memphis. My parents were driving in from North Carolina as they were relocating to Louisiana for the winter and my brother and sister-in-law drove up from their home in Shreveport.

I had a few Delta companion vouchers that I needed to use by 1/31/23 and managed to find the proper fare buckets for an AUS-ATL-JAN RT on the dates we needed. Due to our late arrival in Jackson, we booked one night at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Jackson Airport and would make the drive up to Greenwood the next morning for our two-night stay at The Alluvian.

Hope you enjoy this slightly out of the way trip to Mississippi!

In this Trip Report

• AUS-ATL-JAN via DL Y
• The Alluvian Hotel
• Weekend in Greenwood
• JAN-ATL-AUS via DL Y+

Links to Previous Trip Reports

• Stately Oaks and Broad Magnolias: Homecoming in Baton Rouge Plus Mileage Running
• A Weekend Getaway in NYC: 72 Hours in the Big Apple
• She Let Me Get Away With This?: A Semi-RTW Honeymoon via UA, QR, EY and AF J
• Better Make it a Double: Bachelor Party on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
• Silicon Hills: Moving to Austin
• Another Birthday Adventure: Skiing in Park City
• Denver, Tahoe and Points In-between: Mileage Running for 2022 Status
• The Redneck Riviera: A Week in Destin
• On Our Way to See the Tigers Play!: Weekend in Los Angeles
• Especially in Michigan: 48 Hours in the Great Lakes State
• A Semi-International Vacation: Long Weekend in the US Virgin Islands
• Searching for Snow: Skiing in Colorado Again and Again
• Sun, Sand and Surfveza: Christmas in Tulum
• South Texas Road Trip: 36 Hours in the Gulf
• Crisscrossing the EU: Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Portugal
• On my way to see the TIGERS Play: National Championship Weekend in New Orleans
• Heaven to Hell and Back: Colorado, Chicago, and the Cayman Islands
• Traveling for Turkey: Thanksgiving in Western North Carolina
• Christmas in Europe via AA, BA, and AF

wakesetter93

This trip started off like many of my recent trips, in the back of an Uber headed to AUS. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 3:19p but I had a meeting from 1:00-2:30p so we got to the airport just after noon. Security was light and thanks to CLEAR we were airside in just a few minutes and off to the SkyClub.



AUS SkyClub

The AUS SkyClub is one of my favorites, its quite large for an outstation, has multiple seating areas, and some fantastic views out over the ramp. I settled in at one of the workspaces by the window and took my call while watching the action on the ramp.

Entry


Dining

Bar

Workstations

View from my “office”

After my call was over, Mrs. WS93 dropped off a glass of bubbly and we relaxed a bit before heading down to our gate after a quick stop in the restroom.





Delta Air Lines
DL 2350
AUS-ATL (Austin-Bergstrom International – Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International)
Seat: 26D (Economy)
A321-200 (N301DV)
Scheduled: 3:19p-6:30p
Actual: 3:19p-6:18p

The gate area was packed and we were going to be completely full on the way to Atlanta. We boarded and headed way to the back of the plane, and found our seats 26 D-E. These are some of my favorite seats when traveling with someone as row 26 is in a 2-2 configuration instead of a 3-3 due to the exit doors, it also gives you a ton of legroom. The only downsides are the lack of a window and the monitors/tray table stored in the armrest.






Even though there’s not a real window, I still managed to get a WN 737 MAX out the exit door portal

Though we had a full load, we still pushed back on time and taxied out without a wait. Once airborne, I fired up my laptop, hoping to get some work done, only to find that my client computer has Delta’s inflight wifi blocked. Having made a valiant effort to at least attempt to work, I gave up and traded out my work computer for the moving map, some snacks and a vodka soda. Before long, we were on our descent into Atlanta and parked at the B gates.


At least I tried


We had a roughly 1h 45m layover so we headed off to the SkyClub. Since our flight was departing from the C gates, and our gate was directly adjacent to the club, we headed over there. This was a good call as the line for the B Sky Club went down the concourse while we found no wait at the C club.






We grabbed a pair of open seats near the bar and I headed off in search of some food. While the food isn’t gourmet, it was enough to fill our stomachs. I also spied our waiting B717-200 out the window that would take us to Jackson.





N997AT

Delta Air Lines
DL 2648
ATL-JAN (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International – Jackson-Evers International)
Seat: 21A (Economy)
B717-200 (N997AT)
Scheduled: 8:00p-8:25p
Actual: 7:57p-8:17p

We waited until I got the push notification from Delta saying boarding had started before heading downstairs to the gate.



Once onboard, we settled in for our short flight to Jackson. 21A on the B717 is another great seat as there is no seat in front because of the exit row.




Once airborne, the FA’s did a shortened service of coffee, tea or water due to the flight length. I just had a cup of coffee and some snacks. I finished my coffee just as they were making the final pass through the cabin before landing.




Once on the ground, we headed outside where my dad met us to give us a ride over to the Fairfield and our room for the night.

JAXPax

Looking forward to it! Reminds me I need to finish up my first trip report in years... my latest couple months of travel to Muscle Shoals, Beckley, Parkersburg, Paducah, and other such garden spots.

You could have flown into Greenville, MS... about 50 miles due west of Greenwood and get an airfare subsidy so it's not usually ridiculously expensive.

wakesetter93

Thanks JAXPax! I saw Greenville as an option (The EAS is run by Contour from DFW-GLH and BNA-GLH) but it was out of the way for both folks with cars and I had a Delta companion certificate that was expiring that I needed to use. Therefore, it made more sense to just go to Jackson even though the airport ia 1h 40m from Greenwood.

nequine

Wow at them managing to do a coffee run in the short time of that later flight!

wakesetter93

There was a time zone change, so the flight was actually a little over an hour from gate to gate

nequine

Ah, in that case plenty of time!

wakesetter93

After a restful night’s sleep in Jackson, we hit the road for the 1h 40m drive up to Greenwood. The vast majority of the trip is through rural areas and small towns on two lane roads, this is not an easy place to get to. As we approached town, we saw a hand painted sign welcoming us to Greenwood, the self-proclaimed “Cotton Capital of the World”.



Upon our arrival I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice-looking hotel located on a charming street filled with shops and restaurants. Since I had absolutely nothing to do with planning this trip, a first for me, I had no idea what to expect. There was a marked loading/unloading zone in front of the hotel as well as ample, free street parking which we used for the duration of our stay.




The front desk was located straight ahead from the main doors and was part of a nicely appointed lobby that was already decorated for Christmas. We were advised that our rooms couldn’t be guaranteed for check in until 3:00p and, since we arrived around 2:30p, we had some time to kill before we could access our rooms as the hotel was completely full. With that in mind I set off to explore the remainder of the hotel, starting with the large lounge area adjacent to the lobby.

Alluvian Lobby


The lounge area was in the shape of a large L and had a variety of different seating types. Though empty when we arrived, every seat in the lounge was full during both nights of our stay as guests used the area for drinks and to meet up with friends. At the rear of the lounge space was a bar, though it is only used during happy hour on Thursdays, as well as a business center and some other, smaller seating.

Alluvian Lounge


Up on the 4th floor was a large lounge/dining space with a number of tables, chairs and couches. This room is where breakfast was served each morning and was open for use throughout the day.

Alluvian Breakfast/Sitting Room


Also on the 4th floor is a large, covered balcony that overlooks the street and shops below but, due to the temperatures during our stay, this went unused. There was also a small, but well-appointed fitness center located here as well.

Alluvian Fitness Center

Right at 3:00p we received a message that our room was ready, so I headed back down to the lobby to pick up our room keys and retrieve our bags. We were assigned a king room on the second floor which was quite spacious. Immediately upon entering the room there was a foyer with a large closet on the right.

Alluvian Foyer

Ahead was a seating area with a couple of chairs and a small table.

Seating Area

Which was directly across from a wall mounted tv above the dresser. Also, on the dresser there was a Keurig machine with coffee mugs as well as an ice bucket with rocks and wine glasses.




Past that was a king-sized bed, flanked by a nightstand and small desk.



Around the corner was the bathroom, which had a decent sized vanity as well as a large shower.



Our particular room happened to overlook the interior courtyard which had a fountain that created some relaxing white noise when the window was open, though given the temperatures we never opened it other than when we first arrived.

Alluvian Courtyard


The Alluvian hotel was built by Viking, for Viking and that is evident throughout. With people mainly wandering off the beaten path to visit the cooking school and the spa, it caters to that crowd and is much nicer than anything else in town or within a few hours’ drive. If you’re interested in making the trip, book early as both the hotel and cooking school fill up quickly!

wakesetter93

After settling into our rooms, we all met back up in the lobby to go out and explore main street. The weather was extremely cold, so we popped in and out of the stores and did some window shopping. Directly across from our hotel, we found a wine and whiskey store that was doing free samples. We made ourselves at home here for a while and chatted with the owner before buying a few bottles for the road.



From there, it was time for dinner. We made reservations at Giardina’s, the restaurant located on the property and were quickly shown to our table. Each table is located in individual “rooms” which created a very enjoyable, relaxed experience.



The menu read as follows:




We started off with cocktails and then a variety of the appetizers including the onion rings, crawfish dip, pimento cheese deviled eggs and crawfish hushpuppies.






For my main, the delicious, seared scallops with angel hair pasta


And to end the meal, a coffee with Bailey’s and the crème brulee



After dinner, we headed out to the lobby lounge and played some cards before retiring for the night.


The next morning, my dad and I were up early for breakfast before heading out for a walk around Greenwood.







After exploring for an hour or so, we headed back to the hotel as it was time for most of the family to head off to their cooking class. The cooking school is located across the street from the main hotel and is in the same building as the spa. The cooking classrooms and the store are located on the lower level while the spa is on the second floor. There was also a viewing area of sorts that allowed us to spy on the rest of our group while they were cooking.



As they were wrapping up their cooking class, it was time for me to head off to the spa. The helpful spa attendant checked me in, showed me to the locker room and lounge, and informed me that I was the only person with an appointment during that time slot so I could make myself at home. She also brought me a glass of champagne to sip on while I waited on my appointment.








After a relaxing massage, I headed back to the hotel where my brother and I watched some of the college football games in the lounge before meeting the rest of the family downstairs for dinner. Surprisingly, Greenville doesn’t have very many restaurants and after Giardina’s, the Crystal Café was ranked 2nd.



The food was good, but far from high end. Though I couldn’t complain as I love fried catfish.



After dinner, we piled back in the van and headed back to the hotel where we caught the LSU v. UAB game in the lounge before turning in for the night.

wakesetter93

We met my parents down in the Alluvian lobby around 9:30a for the drive to Jackson. As we were pulling into the airport my phone buzzed with a delay notification.




Heading inside, we made our way to the DL counters to see if they had any info or if any other flight options were available but, with delta only flying JAN-ATL we headed through security to wait it out as we had a long connection in ATL to serve as a buffer.



There should be a plane here

Once through security, we made our way to the only dining option in the terminal, the Riverbanks Bar and Grill. There was only one server and one bartender working and they were doing the best that they could to attend to a full flight of delayed pax plus the additional customers who were waiting. We sat down and ordered drinks and snacks to wait out the delay.

Not much happening here




The delays continued to pile up and the poor DL gate agent was overwhelmed with a number of pax who were all trying to make international connections (Amsterdam, Madrid, Johannesburg, etc.). I called DL and got through to a great agent who rebooked us on a later flight to Atlanta with a later connection into Austin as we were certainly going to miss our original connection. This process took a while and at one point Mrs. WS93 and I had 10 tickets issued between the two of us. Fortunately, they got everything squared away, though we lost our exit row seats by virtue of moving to the later flight.


Both the delayed flight and our new flight arrived within 5 minutes of each other and clearly they were not prepared to load 2 717s simultaneously at an airport that only sees 5x-daily to ATL. The delayed flight ended up using the adjacent UA regional jet gate while we prepared to board from our original Gate 17.



Delta Air Lines
DL 1271
JAN-ATL (Jackson-Evers International – Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International)
Seat: 28B (Economy)
B717-200 (N945AT)
Scheduled: 3:42p-6:04p
Actual: 3:41p-5:48p

Initially, there were no agents to board our flight as they were trying to get the earlier one boarded but eventually someone came down and we got started.


No agent in sight

I settled into my new seat which was the third to last row of the plane and right by the engine, which blocked most of the view.



Even though we had a delay with boarding, we still pushed off on-time, right behind the other, delayed flight and flew one behind the other all the way to ATL. Once airborne, the FAs came through with a coffee/water and snack service.



The 717’s are the only mainline aircraft in the fleet that don’t have IFE, so I passed the time watching the sunset through the partially obstructed window.





We landed and taxied over to Concourse D where we arrived 15 minutes early. After deplaning, we made our way over to Concourse A, where our flight to AUS was departing from, and the SkyClub.





The Concourse A SkyClub is located up one level from the concourse, and we were welcomed in after a scan of our boarding passes. Though the lounge was rather full we managed to find an empty table and snacked before it was time to head to gate A32 for our flight home.







Delta Air Lines
DL 2370
ATL-AUS (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International – Austin-Bergstrom International)
Seat: 14C (Comfort+)
A321-200 (N320DN)
Scheduled: 7:46p-9:15pp
Actual: 7:46pp-9:07p

Boarding was already underway when we arrived at the gate, and we headed straight down onto the jet bridge.



Once onboard, we settled into our seats and had an on-time departure from ATL.


There wasn’t much to talk about from this flight as we were both exhausted. After the snack service I dozed off and woke up as we were on final descent into Austin.


We arrived into Gate 8 a few minutes ahead of schedule and were home in South Austin 30 minutes later.




Thanks for coming along on this quick trip to rural Mississippi!

Loose Cannon

Thanks for the Trip Report and thanks for the pictures of Greenwood, Mississippi. That is one city I've never been to or through during my trucking days. It looked wet in Austin on your return.

wakesetter93

Thanks LC!

Unless you were hauling cotton or Viking appliances, you would have very little reason to find yourself in Greenwood. It's pretty far off the beaten path. It's been a rainy winter in Austin this year. We're supposed to get more tonight.