Aberdeen, Mississippi

If you are a follower of the TV shows like, "Flip this House" or "Holmes on Homes," you can appreciate our little side trip yesterday to Aberdeen, Mississippi. This is the hometown of Billy Brasfield, known in the make-up world as "Billy B." He has made a name for himself as a professional makeup artist to the "stars." He is a native of Aberdeen, Mississippi, just about 20 miles south of Fulton, Mississippi.

Billy B left Aberdeen to "make it big" which he has done, perfecting the art of makeup for the likes of Lady Gaga and Wynona Judd. He has recently embarked on a project in his hometown which surprises even himself. He left Aberdeen never intending to return to live, but somehow this little town tugged at his heart and he came back to find many of the fine, older Victorian homes in disrepair. Having a flair for the flamboyant, Billy B has taken the town's movers and shakers under his wing and pushed for rebuilding and re-establishing the town, "one house at a time." He has purchased numerous houses on the cheap and sets out to renovate them into their former glory, then rents or helps finance homes for local buyers.

His efforts have landed him a successful television show on the HGTV network known as: "Hometown Renovation." We have been fans, since Terry is a Mississippi native and always interested in home construction. We took a drive down through the town today. We did the architectural driving tour, but it was a little difficult to follow and I'm sure we missed a lot. We did get to see quite a few lovely examples of Victorian architecture. I didn't take a lot of pictures as we tried to find some of the houses BillyB has showcased on his show. It was a lovely town and it is amazing that this man is focusing on rebuilding the town where he was raised.

Last year he began a drive to save the "Five and Dime Store" on the Main Street. Quite a lot of money was needed, something like $350,000 for purchase and renovation. He was able to convince his friend Wynona Judd to make a personal appearance in one of the historic homes in the town and have dinner with many of the town residents who purchased tickets to attend. This event was recently aired on the HGTV channel.

We enjoyed our visit to Aberdeen and on the way out of town we stopped to take a picture of a tug and barge going through the Aberdeen lock.

We continued on our way back to Fulton through the town of Amory. Amory has a locomotive on display in their park on the main street. This locomotive brought President and Mrs. Roosevelt to the town for an appearance in 1934. The engine is massive and was eventually retired and given to the town.

It was close to lunch time when we were in Amory and we found an interesting little restaurant called "Bill's Hamburgers" where we stopped and ate. It was interesting and the burgers were very good.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Fulton and heading up to Red Bay to await our service appointment. Hopefully we will get our work done quickly and be on the road by mid-week.

Till next time. . .

Dale