Bertrand, MO- Cornfields, Catfish and Lambert’s Cafe

After several months spent revisiting Mobile, Jackson, and Memphis it was great to finally get on the road to somewhere new! We started the drive from Hernando, Mississippi to Bertrand, Missouri as the beautiful bald eagles that I had been stalking for two weeks but on a heck of a show above us.

Thanks to a low bridge on 55, we had to detour through the city of Memphis. The drive took us right down Elvis Presley Blvd – for about 30 seconds, my house was on the same block as the Graceland mansion! We also ended up crossing the Mississippi River on one of the worst rated bridges in the country. Thankfully, John declined to share that information until we had safely driven across with both vehicles, all of our pets, and everything we own in tow.

The rest of the drive was actually pretty boring thanks to the wide open country of Arkansas and southern Missouri. We pulled in at The Magnolia Campground and Store and were promptly greeted by owners Glenda and Rick. They gave Harley some love and made sure that we knew that the patio at the store is dog friendly. We were also given our pick of the available sites and were able to get one on the end of the row with some extra grassy space for Harley and room to park both of our vehicles. One side of the house looked out onto a neighboring field and gave the best views of the sunrise each morning. There was also a cornfield directly behind the campground which gave us some really peaceful scenery for the week.

During much of our stay it was REALLY windy so we spent several days just relaxing in the house. Harley had injured herself the week before and was having a hard time going up and down stairs and jumping up onto the furniture and her lawn chair so this gave us a great opportunity to let her rest and recover as well. Because we had only intended this stay as a stopover between Memphis and St. Louis, we had absolutely nothing planned for the entire week and it was glorious.

We took short walks around the campground every day – it was on the smaller side (about 14-16 spaces, I think) but was very clean. The sites were full hookup and there was also a very clean public restroom. The dumpster was conveniently located and each site had a fire pit with plenty of firewood. And there was also the store.

We walked over to check out the store on Tuesday afternoon. They had a variety of snacks and beverages but they also had a deli that served sandwiches and salads for lunch every day. In addition, every day the cafe featured a different hot menu item. Tuesday was tacos/nachos but we were really looking forward to Catfish Friday and made plans to come back for dinner then. We satisfied ourselves with a locally bottled grape soda and a slice of ooey gooey butter cake on this visit.

We also drove into the nearby town of Sikeston one night to have dinner at Lambert’s Cafe. We had eaten at the location in Foley, Alabama during our stay there and really enjoyed it so we were excited to visit another one of their restaurants. We both got the chicken fingers and, of course, enjoyed the fried potatoes and the rolls. For those that may not remember, the rolls were GIGANTIC and are served by being thrown at you from across the room.

We were very sad to hear that Rick, one of the campground owners, suffered a heart attack on Thursday during our stay. Thanks to some quick thinking by his wife, he was able to get to the hospital immediately and receive the care that he needed. As you read this, please send a prayer or positive thought to them. They are such kind, wonderful people and we want to wish them both the best and hope for Rick to have a speedy recovery.

Because of being in the hospital, the store was closed on Thursday. We really didn’t expect things to open up again for a few days but, thanks to friends of the owners and some folks in the local community, the staff were able to open the store and restaurant on Friday. We walked over for the Catfish dinner as planned and it was absolutely delicious. We enjoyed fried catfish, hush puppies, fries, coleslaw and beans and were so stuffed afterwards that we could barely move. If you find yourself in the area, even if you aren’t staying at the campground, be sure to stop in for a bite to eat.

On Saturday, our week was up and it was time to move on. We had enjoyed a quiet stay, although we really wish we had been able to spend more time with the owners but definitely understand how they were occupied due to the circumstances. We were sad to go but were excited about continuing our journey on to St. Louis. In fact, John was so excited to get moving that he forgot to put the stairs to our house inside when we left and we drove off without them. We didn’t realize what had happed until we reached the next campground about two hours later. Thankfully, even with all of the craziness they were dealing with, Glenda agreed to have our stairs moved to someplace out of the way until we could come back for them in a few days.