A visit to Laurel, Miss., where the show ‘Home Town’ is filmed

I meant to share some photos of my trip to Laurel, Miss., before now but it has been a busy year – I have seven books coming out in 2023! Of course, some are gift books and reprints of columns for It’s a Southern Thing, but there is still lots of work involved. Click here to see which books are out now. Coming soon: 12 Days of Southern Christmas, Just Like Mama Used to Say and It’s a Southern Thing: Life’s Different Here Y’all.

Any-hoo, about Laurel. I stopped a few months ago on my way to a book signing in Metairie, Louisiana, to check out the stores featured on the hit HGTV show, “Home Town.” The hosts, Erin and Ben Napier, have several downtown shops. I left a few books, including Y is for Y’all: A Book of Southern ABCs, in hopes they might carry them in their shops.

I already had a connection with Laurel before I began watching the show (which I love and watched avidly while building our current house). In 2005, I went to help the staff of the local newspaper, the Laurel Leader-Call, after the small town was struck by a series of tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Katrina. The city was devastated and much of the town was without power for an extended period. The homes of many of the newspaper’s staff had been struck and, because it is owned by the same company as the newspaper where I worked as editor for at the time, I went with a photographer to help them for three days.

The office of the Leader-Call, where I helped the staff briefly in 2005 following devastation in the small town caused by a series of tornadoes spawned from Hurricane Katrina.

Laurel looked much different on my recent visit. It was thriving and, thanks to the hit show, it has become a tourist destination. We had lunch at a wonderful New Orleans inspired restaurant and shopped at the Napier’s stores Laurel Mercantile, The Scotsman General Store and Laurel Mercantile Scent Library. It was a fun stop.

Here are a few photos.