"Rosedale, MS: We found the place from the song!" Rosedale by BuickMackane

"I'm going down to Rosedale
Take my rider by my side..."

This classic couplet first appeared in a song called "Traveling Riverside Blues" by Robert Johnson, later powerfully covered by Led Zeppelin. More notably, this evocative verse was incorporated by Eric Clapton into Cream's "Crossroads," which primarily derived from another Robert Johnson composition called "Cross Road Blues."

I was always fascinated by the legend of the riverside town of Rosedale, Mississippi. However, until my daughter and I made our Delta Blues pilgrimage in January 2005, the closest I ever got to seeing "Rosedale" was when I was a teenager, dating a guy who lived out near Kennedy Airport in Rosedale, Queens, New York City.

Rosedale, Mississippi didn't appear to be much of a tourist mecca, especially not in the wintertime. Our mere presence shooting photos immediately attracted the attention of both the local police and the sheriff, who watched our movements until we turned around and drove back to Clarksdale, some 30 miles north.

We weren't exactly certain how to interpret the police surveillance; perhaps we were being so obvious that it made us potential targets for criminals. At any rate, it creeped us out, and we split after half an hour.

But, I finally did something I've daydreamed about for many years -- "going down to Rosedale"!!

• Pros:We really should have learned more about this place before we went.
• Cons:We may or may not have missed something here.
• In a nutshell:We're glad we can say we "went down to Rosedale"!