We now come to the final blog entry on our trip to Laurel, Mississippi. Part 1 and Part 2 chronicled different aspects of the trip and some of our stops for food, shopping, and fun.
In my final write-up I wanted to talk about the Laurel Mercantile and the Scotsman General Store. Though the Napiers are a team we can consider those destinations to be Erin's shop and Ben's place. When we first arrived in Laurel and had dinner at The Loft, we parked adjacent to the historic district where the first thing I saw was Ben's old Chevrolet truck parked in front of his store. I will never admit that my eyes watered...lol...it was really fun to see it in person. It's iconic on the show. I doubt I would be wrong in guessing it is the most photographed truck in America, if not the world. Heck, I've never taken so many pictures of any truck in my life.
The General Store was closed for the day with the promise of reopening the next morning. So, Cynthia and I made our way into town to check out the Thursday Farmer's Market and see what we could see. Before we walked through town and wandering about I spotted the Laurel Mercantile. There's something sweet and appropriate about Erin and Ben's "places" being within eyesight of each other.
Let's chat for a moment about the Laurel Mercantile (after all, ladies first).
The outside of the building has, like most of historic Laurel, a nostalgic feel to it. The buildings are old. The murals which mark the district are colorful and eye-catching. An old truck (not Ben's, though it could be another truck of his) is parked near the Napier's renovated Airstream trailer - "Jolene" - on an artificial grass lawn. It's not an overly big store, but big enough and it is clearly selling what people want.
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For reasons I cannot explain I came upon a social media post where a fan of the show posted how disappointed she was with the prices. Erin chimed in to reply pointing out something I loved - everything sold in their two stores is made in America, adding if it costs more to keep small businesses afloat in the USA it's worth it.
You go, girl! She is spot on.
I have been telling folks for decades on my show (how scary is it I can now say "decades"...SMH) how we ought to take that exact approach - buy American whenever, wherever possible and pay more as needed. So, I did...in fact, I kind of went a little nuts, especially at the Scotsman General Store.
Ben's place is also a location for a lot of filming on Home Town because it features Ben's woodshop. It was busy with activity when we stopped by, but not for filming/videotaping, but it looked like improvements were being made to the woodshop area. Maybe for filming purposes, maybe for the shop itself. Any woodworker knows you can never have enough space or tools. Inside the General Store is a walk-in cooler with every kind of glass bottle soda you can remember and imagine.
It was like walking back in time just wandering into the cooler and looking around.
Out front was the old blue Chevy truck with Ben's big old cowboy hat. Inside and in the bed it looked well used.
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We now come to the inevitable - did I ever find Ben and Erin?
Yes...and no.
No, we never stumbled upon them. To be honest, unless something weird had happened, had I seen them I would have maybe waved. Intruding into the life of public personalities is something I struggle with which is so bizarre since I was raised with a nationally known father who got stopped literally everywhere he went and in my own little world I have so many people who like to say "Hello" to me when I am out. It's flattering, but I never want to be a bother to people.
However, there is a yes answer in my Search For Ben and Erin. I found them. They were on every painted utility box, in every renovated home (whether they actually did it or not, they likely inspired the decision to renovate in this small town). I found Ben & Erin in every welcoming word and smile, in each business owner so happy you walked into their store to visit and maybe, just maybe, buy. They were on each mural and holding each shovel or running each machine working on the infrastructure in Historic Laurel.
Maybe one day, fate will smile on my show and I will add Ben and Erin to the list of more than 7,000 guests I have interviewed. And maybe, just maybe someone in Laurel will hook us up for an interview (I will tape it because I need a little more time than morning drive allows). Regardless, by visiting Laurel, Mississippi I really do feel like I met Ben and Erin Napier and as corny as it sounds, I am better for it.