Good times are in the air in this Mississippi college town.

Story by Taylor Bruce

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER | APRIL 2008

A HOMESPUN ODE TO WRITERS, MUSICIANS, AND DEEP-THINKERS PASSING THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY, WEEKLY THACKER MOUNTAIN RADIO SHOW IS THE BEST THERE IS ABOUT A PRETTY FANTASTIC SOUTHERN PLACE.

Once upon a moon, Thacker Mountain was just the firetower hill where Ole Miss college boys took their dates. It was just a small bump in topography outside the Delta town-jewel of Oxford, meant to liven-up the stargazing. A classic stretch of a word, the Mountain wasn't much, but it did the trick.
To Mississippians these days Thacker means radio, still a gathering spot, but not because the firetower transformed into a broadcasting post. A homespun ode to writers, musicians, and deep-thinkers passing through the university, weekly Thacker Mountain Radio Show is the best there is about a pretty fantastic Southern place.
As Jim Dees, local's local and clever-tongued host of Thacker, will tell any visitor, "Any trip to Oxford begins on the Square." Dees' politeness doesn't let him plug the radio show, but it's true: Thursdays on the downtown Square is the peak. "Thacker is very Oxford," he says.
Off Square Books, the satellite shop to the famous Southern literati hangout, both owned by the current mayor Richard Howorth, will pile more than 100 in the shotgun space as the show's bluegrass band soundchecks. Bookcases push against the walls, late-comers sit on the sills of opened windows, and Mamasita the orange cat pads around like something Faulknerian. Usually, the hour-long program - described often as a Mississippi Prairie Home Companion, but more like a living room - begins with a writer conversation and reading (Roy Blunt Jr., Jack Pendarvis, and Elizabeth Gilbert have stopped by) then showcases a musician or two, often in transit from New Orleans, Memphis, or Birmingham. Outsiders will revel in the smart and ecclectic regionality of Thacker, and because it's Thursday, the show will start the perfect Oxford experience.
Oxford is a boutique town by blood, whether bookshop or radio program, so most any eating-out will feel very local. First, grab one of six rooms at the Oliver Britt House, a modernly fashioned B&B near the Square remodeled last fall. Bottletree Bakery's famous for apple pies, but the breakfast croissants and sausage biscuits keeps the comfortable place packed. Begin at this coffee stop but plan around Oxford's suppers. Several will delight, whether the respected City Grocery, down-the-road catfish joint Taylor Grocery, or the newer and beloved, L&M's Kitchen and Salumeria, where Batali-trained chef Dan Latham brings Italy's approach to the pig to his home state. "Being from the South," Latham says, "pork translated."
Listen up: take notice of Oxford. It is the only Southern small-town where a salumeria is no surprise, the bookish become mayor, and the radio still rules.
LOGISTICS: Memphis, a Northwest hub, is an hour's drive. The Oliver Britt House, from $85; 662-234-8043, www.oliverbrotthouse.com. Thacker Mountain Radio Sow,www.thackermountain.com. L&M's Salumeria,www.lmskitchen.com.