As most travelers know, often it is the chance encounters and discoveries that leave the longest-lasting of impressions. Margaret’s Grocery and Market, a.k.a. The Home of the Double-Headed Eagle, near Vicksburg, Mississippi, was one of those.

I had driven down from Clarksdale, where I was following the trail of famed blues guitarist Robert Johnson. That trip took me down to small towns such as Itta Bena, Quito (where Johnson is buried), Morgan City (where it is also claimed he is buried), Belzoni (“Catfish Capital of the World”) and Port Gibson, where a huge golden hand with a pointed index finger is stuck to the top of a church spire.

I was driving only on back roads, but due to the layout of the road network, I was forced to do a little main-road driving. I was determined to get off at the first exit. In hindsight, I was very happy that I did, for a mile along the road I halted suddenly by the side of a yellow, white, pink and red marvel. Stretching at least 400 feet alongside Old U.S. 61, this was the Home of the Double-Headed Eagle, a shrine to God built by a preacher now in his 90s called Reverend H.D. Dennis. (The H stands for Hermon, but he refused to tell me what the D stands for.) It is a feast for the eyes, with colorful paint, wooden creations, towers, scriptures and paintings.

The story of how it got there is just as interesting. Dennis married Margaret Rogers in 1979 and told her that he would transform her simple grocery into a shrine. The materials for the conversion came from anywhere he could find them and comprised of anything he could find—steel sheeting, cinder blocks, donated paint, abandoned pieces of wood. Dennis, who being born in 1916 was nearing retirement age, did all the work himself, having learned carpentry from German prisoners of war incarcerated in Georgia during World War II.

This sounded incredulous to me, but my research has shown that there were POW camps in Georgia during the 1940s, most notably Camp Stewart in Hinesville and Camp Wheeler in Macon. Dennis also is a freemason, and the double-headed eagle perched atop the grocery is a reference to his attainment of the 32nd grade in his order. There are also dotted around other Masonic symbols, such as the architect’s compass. Boards on which are written scripture, usually in a shaky hand, are everywhere, and to one side is a battered school bus. This was donated to Dennis with the intent that he take his message on the road, but it has never been roadworthy.

His voice also is shaky, and it was hard for me to fully understand him. He welcomed me indoors (the grocery benefits from this). Inside is equally colorful. Long strands of bright beads hang from everywhere, photos of family abound and rich fabrics dot the walls. He hastened me towards his “treasures.” The first was an ornate chest of about three feet in width and four in depth. This, he told me, is the “original” Ark of the Covenant. You know the one, the one in which supposedly the Israelites carried the Ten Commandments. Then he opened the ark and showed me the “original” Ten Commandments themselves. At this stage, I was going to ask him why the commandments were written in English and not Hebrew, but I suddenly realized that this question would be a stupid one. Why not just listen to him and enjoy this wonderful find? What did it matter if they were genuine or not?

Outside are other cultural finds—the “original” helmet David wore when he slew Goliath and one of the “original” columns that Samson pushed over to avenge the murder of his wife and father at the hands of the Philistines. Or at least that is what I think he told me, in between, I seem to remember, being reprimanded for any misdeed or wickedness that I might have committed in the past or might commit in the future. This was easy to take, as throughout my tour Dennis laughed, smiled and patted me on the back. Margaret shrugged her shoulders, enjoying her husband’s eccentricities.

Entrance to the Home of the Double-Headed Eagle is free, although a purchase or two at the store (if you can find it buried somewhere in the building) is a polite gesture.

You can see and read more about this find at DetourArt or see a video of Reverend Dennis here.