Anyone who has been through a divorce can testify to the monetary and emotional expense it extracts from its participants. Rarely is a divorce amicable and if children are involved then multiply the pain and consternation by a thousand.
I went through a divorce 15 years ago, but the actual process of the dissolution of marriage was far easier than what would come in the years following it.
My daughter was a year and a half old at the time. When the divorce was finalized, she moved with her mother to Plano, Texas – roughly 500 miles from Jackson.
The four years following the divorce, my daughter would spend a week in Jackson with me every month. That arrangement worked pretty well for a few years, but then she started Kindergarten. Those week-long trips to Tennessee weren’t possible anymore. Thus began my trek to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex every other weekend.
The word “sprawl” doesn’t begin to explain what the DFW area is like. From the sky, it looked like the Super Nintendo version of SimCity that I would play when I was a kid – neatly organized boxes of residential housing that looked identical. The skyscrapers of Dallas would always give way to strip malls and cul-de-sacs regardless of which direction you would look – North, South, East, or West…it was all the same. A monotony of concrete and coves.
I hated Plano with every fiber of my being. I hated the sterile appearance. I hated the treeless front yards. I hated the lack of character. Everything blended together into a haze of uniformity. It felt nothing like Jackson.
The first weekend of December in 2012, I bought tickets for my daughter and I to see The Little Mermaid Jr. in a town just north of Plano called McKinney. After the play was over, we heard some music from a few streets over and walked toward the sound. We rounded the corner and stumbled upon a place that became my home every other weekend until my daughter finally moved to Jackson last year.
The residential architecture of McKinney isn’t all that different from Jackson – craftsman style homes built in the 1930’s, a few Victorian styles thrown in for good measure. The downtown square, however, was much different from Jackson’s – it was vibrant.
Downtown McKinney had restaurants, wineries, a magic shop, a record store, and bars all surrounding the old courthouse which had been turned into an performing arts center that hosted concerts and plays. When I would visit McKinney on those weekends, I often thought about the potential for Downtown Jackson. Well, that potential is no longer a possibility; it’s a reality.
Over the last several years Downtown Jackson has exploded with new businesses. The staples of downtown – The Tavern and the Dixie Castle – are now joined by a plethora of shops and restaurants and entertainment options. The Columns and North Jackson are great for sales tax dollars, but they lack the culture and character of the city.
If you drive south on Highland and navigate the roundabout, you’ll see the genesis of downtown’s development – The Jackson Walk. When The Lift opened ten years ago, it was a lonely building surrounded by hope. Several months later, Rock-N-Dough opened. Grubb’s followed two years later. Other shops and businesses filled out the other side of The Walk including Garner Blue which was incubated in The LOCAL.
The LOCAL was the brainchild of Matt Altobell and Paul Taylor and provided spaces for creatives and entrepreneurs to nurse their young businesses in a space with low overhead. Several shops that started there now dot the growing landscape of businesses downtown. On a given Friday night in the spring and summer, the area of The Jackson Walk and the Farmer’s Market is crowded with people enjoying a meal and a drink before heading to The Amp for some music.
Hub City Brewery opened three years ago this month. Not only can you buy their beer from the tap at their building on West Main; you can also buy it at most local grocery stores and restaurants. Across from Hub City is the best barbecue in town at Baker Brothers. If you continue east on Main Street, you’ll eventually find your way to Turntable Coffee that also houses Greenhawk Records and Light Trap Books. Just across Main Street from Turntable is Doe’s Eat Place which I think has one of the best bar setups downtown – an indoor/outdoor garage space that feels intimate even when the door is open. The NED is on the same block should you feel the need to scratch your live entertainment itch with a play or a concert.
Last month, I attended my first art show only a few hundred feet from The NED at Havner’s Frame Shop. Charlie and Trista are doing excellent work to help promote local artists. The value that adds to our town is difficult to quantify because measuring culture can be tricky; you either have it or you don’t. Havner’s has it and they’re sharing the gospel of art with all of us.
Several blocks over on East Lafayette, you’ll find Grounded Plant Company which probably has the best social media presence of any downtown venue. Not only are they selling some excellent flora, but they’re also hosting Tarot readings, flash tattooing, and disco parties. Who else is doing that? NO ONE.
A few blocks south of Grounded on East Baltimore is Third Eye Curiosities – a record store run by local musician Hunter Cross. I’ve bought my fair share of Guy Clark and Waylon Jennings records there and even wandered down the road to Peppermint Addie’s for a scoop of ice cream before heading back to my house in midtown. Records, coffee, and ice cream are my main purchases now that I’m in my early 40’s and a somewhat responsible parent, but my vices weren’t always that simple.
Before downtown was as populated as it is now, I would spend a lot of the Friday nights I was in Jackson drinking whiskey and gin at the Downtown Tavern. Most of my 30’s was spent in the smoke filled bar on Liberty Street and I’m so happy that it was reopened in 2021. Every now and then, I’ll drop by and have a drink and feel the warmth of the Benchmark in my throat after a sip. It’ll remind me of why the Tavern is and was so special to me – it was here before almost anything else.
Before my daughter moved to Jackson to live with me, I didn’t cook a lot. Thank god for the Ribeye Special at the Dixie Castle, though. There are many nights when I’d sit in that wood paneled restaurant and enjoy every bite of my steak. The service was always great and the price was even better.
Honestly, each downtown business probably deserves its own article, and I know there are a few I left out. That just speaks to the growth that’s happening right now, and I wasn’t sure that we’d ever get here. What’s exciting, though, is that this is only the beginning of what I hope is going to be an eclectic and diverse area of Jackson. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the work of Beth Ann Simpson and the works she’s doing at the Jackson Downtown Development Corporation.
If you’re out and about this first weekend in February, trek on down to Downtown Jackson and see if there’s something that interests you. I’d be willing to bet there is.
