The Extra Mile Podcast

Visit Mississippi Executive Director Rochelle Hicks joined The Extra Mile Podcast to highlight prime Mississippi summer road trip locations. She also talked about Visit MS's America 250 efforts, the state's elite culinary scene, and even a recent show by The Black Keys in Clarksdale.

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Creators and Guests

Host
Paul Katool
Paul Katool joined the Mississippi Department of Transportation Public Affairs Division in 2016 as the agency’s first Social Media Strategist. In 2019, he was promoted to Digital Media Manager, where he led the creation of MDOT’s nationally award-winning Extra Mile Podcast. In 2022, Paul assumed the role of Deputy Director of Public Affairs, which includes helping to run the day-to-day operations of the division.
Producer
Drew Hall
Drew Hall is a media producer with experience in video production and journalism. He currently works in the Public Affairs Division of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, where he shoots and edits a range of content, including producing the award-winning podcast The Extra Mile. Drew holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Mississippi State University and has received industry recognition, including an AASHTO Best Audio Production Award. Previously, Drew worked as a photojournalist for News Channel 12 and Fox 40 News, developing his skills in visual storytelling and news production. Drew is married to Courtney Ann Hall, of Corinth, MS, and has one son, Jackson.
Guest
Michael "Mikey" Flood
Michael Flood is a Public Information Officer at MDOT. In addition to being the Central District PIO, he has covered the Southern District and was the assistant to former Commissioner Dick Hall during his final term. In addition to covering the media and construction and maintenance projects across Central Mississippi, Mike serves as a liaison between the Public Affairs Division and Commissioner Willie Simmons’ office. He started his career with MDOT in 2010 after graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Guest
Rochelle Hicks
Rochelle Hicks was appointed as the Director of Visit Mississippi, the Tourism Division of the Mississippi Development Authority by Governor Tate Reeves in July 2023. As Director, Hicks oversees the state’s tourism brand, advances tourism initiatives, and promotes Mississippi to a broader domestic and international audience. Hicks leads the effort to promote Mississippi as a destination for tourists by highlighting the state’s rich history, cultural and natural resources, and recreational opportunities. She and her team oversee many notable programs and initiatives including the operation of Mississippi’s 12 welcome centers. Prior to her appointment, Hicks was Director of Advancement Initiatives at Canopy Children’s Solutions. She has over 25 years of experience in the Mississippi tourism industry, previously serving as Executive Director of the Mississippi Tourism Association (MTA) and Deputy Director of the Ridgeland Tourism Commission. During her tenure at MTA, Hicks played a vital role in passing legislation to promote the states Bicentennial in 2017 and Senate Bill 2193 in 2019, which provides permanent funding for advertising and marketing tourism. Hicks currently represents Visit Mississippi as treasurer of the United States Civil Rights Trail, the Mississippi Blues Trail, The Mississippi Country Music Trail, treasurer of Travel South USA and is currently president of Mississippi River Country. She is passionate about volunteer service and serves as a commissioner on the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service and Canopy Children’s Solutions. A Louisiana native, Hicks attended the University of Louisiana. She and her husband, Jason, have lived in Mississippi for more than 25 years. They have two children, Isabella and Ethan, who are students at Mississippi State University.

What is The Extra Mile Podcast?

Tune in to The Extra Mile presented by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Co-hosts Paul Katool and Will Craft take listeners inside the world of transportation infrastructure in Mississippi.

Drew Hall:

MDOT presents the Extra Mile Podcast.

Paul Katool:

Welcome in to another edition of the Extra Mile Podcast presented by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. I'm Paul Katool and, regular cohost Will Craft. We mentioned it last time he's out. I don't think I mentioned it, but he added a, new member of his family, a girl dad times three. Very excited for But, we've got a great, fill in cohost, Michael Flood, who was on the show last time well, last two times, really.

Paul Katool:

Yeah. Last couple. So Highway Mike, thanks for, joining us and filling in.

Mikey Flood:

Job here. Always wanted to be a podcaster, so thank you.

Paul Katool:

Yeah. We're just making, dreams come true today. And, listen, Mike, it is starting to get hot in Mississippi. It is. Crazy time of the year, and no better time, to do a summer road trip Amen.

Paul Katool:

In Mississippi. And with that in mind, we have a really exciting guest today. We have Visit Mississippi Executive Director Rochelle Hicks. Rochelle, thank you so much for coming from next door and joining us. We appreciate it.

Rochelle Hicks:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to tell you all about all the great things we have going on in the state.

Paul Katool:

Absolutely. And we're just talking before the show, just an insane amount of things going on in Mississippi. But let's talk about you for a second. So I know you have kind of a long career that led to you being a Visit Mississippi Executive Director. So kind of take us through that and what led you to the agency?

Rochelle Hicks:

Yes. So I grew up in Natchez, Mississippi, really lived on the Vidalia, Louisiana side, but went to school in Natchez. So I claim both. But I grew up in a place where tourism is just always a part of our community. I mean, you know, we had bus groups that just lined the streets of downtown Natchez every day.

Rochelle Hicks:

So, you know, I just really appreciated tourism from an early age and understood what it meant to a community. So I just kind of, you know, fell into tourism and obviously fell in love with it the second I started. I worked for a casino in Natchez right out of college and then moved to Jackson with my husband. And we, I started at Ridgeland Tourism Commission, which is, you know, our local destination marketing organization down the street in Ridgeland. Worked there for twelve years.

Rochelle Hicks:

And then I became the director, for the Mississippi Tourism Association, which is our counterpart as the state agency. We work very closely with MTA to advocate for tourism and educate people about tourism and its importance in our state. And then was lucky enough to be asked to do this job and could not love it more. I mean, getting to go out and promote Mississippi to people who who have been here, people who've never been here is just the honor of a lifetime. And so I just love doing it.

Paul Katool:

Coolest job ever. Absolutely. Yeah.

Mikey Flood:

I mean, the unique perspective you must get over there. And for all of us that that for anyone that doesn't know, can you tell us what all falls under Visit Mississippi?

Rochelle Hicks:

So Visit Mississippi basically is the, you know, marketing arm for Mississippi where we are trying to entice people to come visit our state. Our main primary goal is to really entice visitors from out of state. I mean, obviously, we understand and we appreciate all the people. We want everybody in our state to go see what's in their own backyard and to go check out all the great things that we have to do. But, our primary goal is to really promote to people from out of state to come visit the state because that's new money coming into our state that then helps to pay for the roads that you guys are building, that pays for the education, that pays for the health care.

Rochelle Hicks:

So, you know, tourism is the fourth largest industry in the state. And, in 2024, we had over 44,200,000 visitors, with the majority of those being from out of state. So it's a big task, but we love tackling it. And we hope to continue growing that number of visitors every single year and how much they spend in our state.

Mikey Flood:

That's amazing. I didn't realize the tourism numbers were that high. That's, that's great to hear. You know, as we all choose to live in Mississippi, so we know a lot about what to do here. And anyone that says that there's not enough to do here is clearly misinformed.

Mikey Flood:

We were just talking about that before the podcast. But, as Visit Mississippi Executive Director, what would you say sets Mississippi apart? You know, what what makes Mississippi such a special place to live?

Rochelle Hicks:

Well, I mean, I know a lot of people say this, but it's so true. It's our people and our culture because, you know, as the team at Visit Mississippi, our job is to travel around the country and the world to promote Mississippi. And I just can't stress enough how much when we meet people, they're just like, if they've been to Mississippi, they're like the people. I've never encountered people that were so kind and generous and gave me all the details of what I should do and where I should go and who I should talk to. And then I think the other piece of that is our culture.

Rochelle Hicks:

They love our food. I know we're going to talk about that in a minute. They love our food. They love our music. They really just love everything about it.

Rochelle Hicks:

People are so just blown away when they come here by the people and the culture and all the things that go along with that. I think that to me, it's our people and our culture for sure.

Mikey Flood:

Well said. Love it.

Paul Katool:

Those are excellent answers right there. So let's let's get into it with a little bit of an MDOT tie in. So I mentioned summer road trip and the way the MDOT's broken down is we have a northern, central and southern district. So if you could, the Visit Mississippi Executive Director, kind of tell us maybe a spot to hit in each little district for us.

Rochelle Hicks:

Well, I have to say it's hard to choose as a director because there are so many great things. But if you're looking for a great road trip, I will say the Natchez Trades Parkway is such a beautiful roadway. And it is one of the top visited national parks in the country. I may misspeak here, but I think it's one of the top five most visited parks in the country. So, you know, the beauty I mean, you know, I know you have to drive a little bit slower, but that's, you know, by design so that people take in the beauty and the wildlife and really just enjoy it.

Rochelle Hicks:

And then, you know, our job is to also then encourage people to get off the Natchez Trace and go visit the communities along the trace. You've got, you know, Tupelo. You've got, so many small towns throughout, Kosciusko. You know, you've got Natchez. You can veer off the trace to Port Gibson, Vicksburg, Jackson.

Rochelle Hicks:

Like, there's just so many places. The trace, I believe, is four forty four miles, and the majority of that is in Mississippi. You know, there's a sliver that's in Alabama, and then there's a small part that's in Tennessee. But the majority of it is in Mississippi. So I would be remiss if I didn't say to definitely use the Natchez Trace Parkway for a road trip.

Rochelle Hicks:

In addition to that, I would say you have so many beautiful places in North Mississippi as far as Tupelo, Oxford. There's so much to do in just those two communities alone. You have Tishomingo County. You can go visit the national park. The state parks in Tishomingo County are absolutely Of course.

Rochelle Hicks:

And people would not even realize that they're in Mississippi because it just looks like you're at the Grand Canyon, right?

Paul Katool:

So

Rochelle Hicks:

then if we venture south a little bit, I think when you get to Central Mississippi well, let me back up. Highway 61, the Mississippi Delta, Highway 61 is celebrating their one hundredth anniversary over the next year. So, something that is, you know, truly to be celebrated because there's just so much to see. And then you can get down to the southern part, the central part of the state where you've got Jackson, Vicksburg, Natchez. You know, it depends on what you like to do.

Rochelle Hicks:

If you're a history buff, Natchez, Vicksburg, it means so much to see and do. We're thrilled with the new interpretive center that's gonna be built in Vicksburg at the, the National Military Park. That's gonna be an incredible thing to see in the next few years. You know? And then to venture, like, to the southern part of the state, you've got Hattiesburg.

Rochelle Hicks:

There's so much to do and see there. And then go down to the coast and drive along the beautiful, you know, Gulf Coastline. Right. That is just unmatched. I mean, it's just gorgeous.

Rochelle Hicks:

And, you know, so there's there is no lack of places to take a road trip in Mississippi.

Mikey Flood:

No doubt. And the Natural Trace Parkway, I've driven it just about every time of year, and that's what's really cool is taking taking that drive on different seasons, seeing the difference of, you know, how how different it looks from fall to summer, something like that. But, wow, what an advocate for Mississippi you are. It sounds like we got the perfect guest for today's theme. That in mind, there any big events happening in Mississippi this summer in the near future that you would like to highlight for us?

Rochelle Hicks:

Yes. So as I was telling you guys earlier, Visit Mississippi has had the honor of getting to work directly with the American two fifty Mississippi Commission to commemorate the nation's one hundred and fiftieth birthday. So we have just been working on that for really almost two years. And now it's gonna culminate over the next few months. And so we're really excited.

Rochelle Hicks:

I'm gonna, refer to my notes here so I don't miss anything. But, there's just a lot of things going on. But for one, on June 20, we have an event called United in Song, an America two fifty Mississippi celebration. That's gonna be at the Mississippi Coliseum here in Jackson. It is a free event.

Rochelle Hicks:

You can go reserve your tickets now. Please go check out our website, which is america250.org. Sorry, that's the national site. But our site is america250.ms. So go check that out, you will see not only our big event that you can go reserve your tickets at the Coliseum, and I'll come back to that in a second, but you also can go look at all the events that are going on around the state.

Rochelle Hicks:

We did spend over $1,000,000 in grants that were funded by the legislature to really give our communities around the state of all sizes to promote America's birthday. So there's everything from exhibits that they are curating to July 4 events that they're doing. I know that there's just so many great things going on. I encourage you to go and check out things that are going on in your region of the state and go just try to hit several of those events because they're going to be great. But our event specifically at the Coliseum is called United in Song.

Rochelle Hicks:

It is a celebration. It's gonna have a lot of patriotic music that has been, curated by, some people in the local community that have done an incredible job. Tim Walker with Christ United Methodist Church has brought together a choir of over 500 voices that are volunteers from around the state. They've been doing having, practices all around the state throughout the past few months. So we're going to have that choir of over 500 people.

Rochelle Hicks:

You're going to have an orchestra from here. We're going to have some special guests such as Steve Azar and some other special guests that are going to be performing some great Americana songs and some great Mississippi songs. We have some legends in Mississippi in the music world that we want to make sure that we highlight. So it truly is going to be a special night. It's about a two hour show.

Rochelle Hicks:

Please do not miss it. Free tickets. You just have to go reserve those. Go to our website. It tells you all the details.

Rochelle Hicks:

And also go follow all of our socials as well because america250.ms has several social channels as well.

Mikey Flood:

Saturday, June 20, Mississippi Coliseum. Check it out. Is that family friendly, kid friendly?

Rochelle Hicks:

Family friendly, kid friendly. We have lots going on. Yeah. It's gonna be great.

Paul Katool:

Mike, bring the fam. Yeah. We'll do.

Mikey Flood:

It's a date. We'll bring all

Paul Katool:

of his girls. Yeah.

Mikey Flood:

No kidding. Yeah. He can bring all three girls.

Paul Katool:

Amazing. Well, go America. Love to

Mikey Flood:

I know. Right?

Paul Katool:

Yeah. Love to Wow. Do your good stuff there. So listen. I'm a former line cook turned communications pro.

Paul Katool:

So always wanna talk food. We love food. Everyone loves food.

Mikey Flood:

Chef Paul is what

Paul Katool:

we call. It's great. Yeah. That's right. So listen, lots going on in the culinary world.

Paul Katool:

Even where I live, I live in Belle Haven. There's like LV's in Toledo right there, which is crazy. You can walk to it.

Rochelle Hicks:

It's amazing.

Paul Katool:

But there's a lot going on all around the state. So kind of highlight the, the culinary scene for us in Mississippi.

Rochelle Hicks:

Culinary has always been one of our top pillars that we promote from Visit Mississippi. But, year, last year we really highlighted music, and this year we're highlighting culinary. So, We're super proud. We've partnered and done some great events to celebrate our James Beard winners in the past. This year, we were really proud to partner Well, actually, last year in November, we partnered with Michelin, and so we're super proud to be one of six states in their first ever Michelin region of The United States, and it's called Michelin Got American South.

Rochelle Hicks:

So there's six states: Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina that partnered with Michelin. We're super excited and proud for the first Michelin announcement in November. We had 10 restaurants from coastal region of the state, Oxford and Jackson. And so, we are super excited about our second year with them. And that will be announced this year in November as well.

Rochelle Hicks:

And we know we're going have more restaurants that are going to be recognized by Michelin. The reach that Michelin has is just unmatched. So we really are proud that people are seeing and recognizing that Mississippi has this incredible culinary talent, just like lots of other states do. So we're super proud of that. We have two culinary commercials.

Rochelle Hicks:

Please go check out our website, visitmississippi dot org, and you can see because a lot of times when we talk about things that we're doing and people are like, Well, I don't see that. And that's because we market to out of state visitors to come in state. You probably don't see a lot of our commercials and things like that. But you can always please follow our socials and go check out our website periodically. You can sign up for our newsletter where you hear all the latest news about what's going on, what we're working on.

Rochelle Hicks:

But yeah, we are really proud of our culinary scene in Mississippi. You're right, Belle Haven is just killing it. So many parts of the state that are doing the same type of things, that are just really creating these spaces for food and family and music. And it just is incredible to see, and we're proud of it.

Paul Katool:

Love that. Mike's stomach is

Mikey Flood:

Yeah, it is. Feel it. Yeah, absolutely. Well, food and then music is another big topic here we always like to, to to address. But, is there, is there any any big concert or, you know, aside from what's happening at the Cotts team on the twentieth, any any big musical event that's, taking place this summer or in the near future you wanna highlight?

Rochelle Hicks:

Yeah. There are so many music events going on. The first one that comes to mind is Jelly Roll that's going be at Brandon Amphitheater, which I think is going to be a huge draw for people from all over to come see Jelly Roll. I actually got to go see Zach Bryan recently at Davis Wade at their first ever concert in Davis Wade. The energy there was amazing.

Rochelle Hicks:

So fun. Then we recently were really excited to have the Black Keys do an impromptu performance at Red's in Clarksdale.

Mikey Flood:

Amazing.

Rochelle Hicks:

So many of the most famous musicians in the world think of Mississippi as just the Mecca, where they just come to really soak in the culture. The Black Keys did that before they set out on a big tour that they're doing. We have been lucky to work with Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience. They are literally traveling the world with blues musicians, and it's just a Mississippi commercial. Right?

Rochelle Hicks:

Right. It's just they are just out there talking about Mississippi and how Mississippi is the birthplace of America's music. You know, when when, I first started in this role, you know, we were kinda thinking about, what's our, you know, what's our tagline gonna be? And, you know, the highway signs that MDOT puts out for us. Thank you so much.

Rochelle Hicks:

You know, and we appreciate y'all's partnership with our welcome centers as well. You know, says birthplace of America's music, and that was pinned several, you know, administrations back. And we were like, and that's who we are. We are. Like, if you think about genres of music, most of it was born from the blues.

Rochelle Hicks:

100%. And, you know, we have the king of the blues, you know, B. B. King, the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. There's just so much that can be attributed to why Mississippi is the birthplace of America's music.

Rochelle Hicks:

And there's a lot of artists out there that say that right now.

Mikey Flood:

That's right. Mean, yeah, it's pretty incredible to think, you know, bands like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, even the Black Keys. I mean, all of that, their their music traces back to Delta Blues music, and, it's pretty incredible to think, and and we're honored to to live in a state that, you know, that is is called the birthplace of America's music. That's right. Very great.

Paul Katool:

Even if I wanted to leave Mississippi, I couldn't just because me and Mike are just huge music fans. Yes. This We is the best place in the world to live if you wanna check out music and see music.

Rochelle Hicks:

That's right. It really is. You can listen to live music seven nights a week. You know, there's can, you know, listen to a great band and walk around the corner and have an incredible meal. And, you know, it it just really is.

Rochelle Hicks:

And I didn't even touch on all of our attractions that we have in our state that are incredible and our Miss Me on the Map podcast. So I encourage I encourage your listeners to please go check out our website because we do have a lot of great things going on that we're proud of, and we want everybody listening to be proud of that as well as Mississippians, you know, and tell their friends about it from outside of the the state so that they come come visit.

Mikey Flood:

And that's Mississippi on the Map Podcast. Yep.

Rochelle Hicks:

The Map is the podcast, and, it is incredible. It's, hosted by Charlie Worsham, who is the 2024 CMA Musician of the Year. He has his own incredible album out right now. Just, we had some great guests, and we're you know, we have some great new guests coming. So I just encourage you to go go listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Mikey Flood:

You're right about, you know, just turning the corner and seeing another you know, we just had a wonderful Saturday night in Fondren. And, you know, we just went and got dinner, and there was live acts playing outside at, the station, and we just went to the pig and pint to eat and just it was just such a beautiful scene, you know, this time of year to to to live in this state. And, you know, yeah, it's a it's a great state to live in for for being a music fan, as Paul said.

Paul Katool:

Absolutely. Visit Mississippi, as they say. Yes. So let's That's right. Little corny there.

Paul Katool:

So we've heard, you give really good information so far. So we're gonna get your opinion now. Yeah. Honestly, And, we might get you in trouble a little bit because you're the director of But it's okay. So we mentioned we're big food and music people.

Paul Katool:

I'll take the food question. Where are some of maybe your favorite places to eat? Maybe around here, like when you're on a on a road trip in Mississippi?

Rochelle Hicks:

Yes. Well, let me just say that we have so many incredible places. Some of my favorites, I would say, you know, it was really fun whenever we shot our culinary commercial because we got to go, you know, around the state and and shoot at some great restaurants. And I was just blown away by Linea in Mhmm. Cleveland.

Rochelle Hicks:

And Oh, yeah. You know, the accolades that they received, I'm not gonna call them out because I don't remember exactly, but I know that, like, top 20 pizza places by the New York Times in The United States. I mean, like and, you know, the bake she made us pizza and bagels, and it was just like, I mean, I was blown away. And, you know, I think about like, you know, I'm from Natchez, so, you know, there's so many great places there. There's Dunleith, which, at the castle, which has, you know, just if you want to have like an incredible meal, my family and I went there and had our, meal Christmas meal there, which was amazing.

Rochelle Hicks:

You know, down under the hill, you've got Magnolia Grill, which is one of my favorites. They've got the best gumbo. You know, here in Jackson area, I love Polito, Amerigo, all locations. That's kind of my family's, like, go to place for our family celebrations because I've just never had a bad meal there. The people there are incredible.

Rochelle Hicks:

I love Sombra. I love Mexican food. One my favorites. I love Kessler Prime. I was there last night.

Rochelle Hicks:

I mean, you know, we have Ely's. I mean, I could go on and on and on. I mean, there's just I really and that's one of the things I love about Mississippi is that we tend to support locally owned restaurants

Mikey Flood:

Right.

Rochelle Hicks:

Versus chains. And that's not the case in a lot of other states. And I feel like we just have so many incredible chefs and restaurants that, I mean, I really can't couldn't say in the past five years a bad meal that I've had in our, you know, part of the state. And really not anywhere in the state. I mean, you know, Siren Social Club, I got to go there for the first time not long ago down the coast.

Rochelle Hicks:

Incredible. I love to eat, so I really you know, I have a few my go tos, but, like, I really don't have a a serious favorite because I just I love to go try out new places, and, you know, I just love to eat.

Mikey Flood:

And that is a great answer. There was, like, probably three or four of those that you mentioned that I did not recognize. So I know Drew and I, when we're traveling the state, have to get them on our list of, places to check out because we're always looking for for new places to eat. And and another question, we don't wanna get you any trouble. You know, you keep it in Mississippi.

Mikey Flood:

You can go outside of Mississippi, but we always ask, you know, a favorite concert experience or favorite musical experience that you've had in your lifetime. You know, what would be your favorite concert that you've seen?

Rochelle Hicks:

Well, most recent one was definitely Zach Brian. Yeah. And not just because it was only a few weeks ago, but because it was the just the atmosphere in Davis Wade was electric, you know? So that was definitely at the top of the list. And it was also cool because it was the first time ever to have a concert there.

Mikey Flood:

That's a big crowd.

Rochelle Hicks:

It was big crowd. And then but probably my most favorite, and I know this is some people might but Taylor Swift. I

Mikey Flood:

mean Alright.

Rochelle Hicks:

Taylor Swift. Swifties. I I'm a Swiftie. I have a 22 year old daughter, and we have gone to every one of Taylor Swift's, you know, suit concert series throughout, you know, my daughter's life, and we got to go to the one in New Orleans.

Paul Katool:

I was

Rochelle Hicks:

gonna ask if you went

Paul Katool:

to the New Orleans.

Rochelle Hicks:

It was just it was incredible.

Mikey Flood:

Yeah.

Rochelle Hicks:

And I'm going to Bruno Mars, so I feel like that might you know, I'm going there in October, so I feel like it'll be at the top of that list as well. But I just love music. But I also love listening to music at Browns Zero Blues Club on the coast or at Red's or in Clarksdale. I mean, like, you know, in Belhaven at the town center. I mean, you know, there's just music just makes you happy and, you know, it's a great way to celebrate life.

Mikey Flood:

So

Rochelle Hicks:

it's just fun. So I mean, yeah, I it's again, I like to eat. I love to listen to good music.

Mikey Flood:

Well, you clearly know how to live.

Paul Katool:

You're in you're in good company. And I just gotta while we're talking music, I gotta shout at my friends at Dueling Hall, Arden Land. They just had Phoebe Bridgers who

Rochelle Hicks:

Right.

Paul Katool:

Like, on a random I think it was Tuesday or something like that, Wednesday, absolutely insane. Like, she opened for Taylor Swift and played to 400 people. It was one of the coolest nights ever. So shout out to Orton over there.

Rochelle Hicks:

Orton's doing great

Mikey Flood:

amazing job.

Rochelle Hicks:

And we're looking

Mikey Flood:

forward to Cathead Jam as well.

Rochelle Hicks:

Yes. Mean, all the all the live music that's going on in Meridian, in Philadelphia, like, we just we really are yeah. We we're doing great things in the music world as well, and we're we're proud of that too. So we encourage everybody to get out and go listen to all these incredible acts that are coming to our state so that they keep coming back. Because, know, obviously for them it's about ticket sales, we want to make sure that whenever people like Arden are out there, you know, recruiting people to come play in Mississippi, they they know that they're gonna have a packed crowd of music enthusiasts that are gonna that are gonna show them some love.

Mikey Flood:

We gotta support. We gotta show up and support so we can keep these acts coming back, like you said.

Paul Katool:

For sure. Me and Mike say never miss a show. So Listen, Rochelle, thank you so much for, joining us today. So much great information. So everyone, download the m.traffic app and navigate your way around the state.

Paul Katool:

Go on a summer road trip. Use our interstates and highways and go see some really cool things. Thank you so much for joining us.

Rochelle Hicks:

Thank you so much. And I just again, I wanna say how much I appreciate, the partnership with, MDOT and Visit Mississippi and and MDA because we, our beautiful welcome centers would not, function without you guys and and the roadways that y'all keep safe for our visitors and for our residents. Thank you.

Paul Katool:

Appreciate it. We appreciate you.

Rochelle Hicks:

Thank you.

Paul Katool:

Without further ado, we'll wrap things up there. Thank you to our listeners, our viewers for tuning into the Extra Mile Podcast. You can watch and listen to episodes by visiting gom..com/theextramile. Follow us on social media at Mississippi DOT is the handle. We wanna thank our editor, our producer Drew Hall, for holding things down behind the scenes, and remember to drive smart out there on Mississippi highways.