Drive to Chapel Hill, NC — Thurs June 3rd

After our free danishes at the HoJo, we packed up and went to the Parthenon in Nashville before getting on I40. Some guy decided to build a full size replica of the Parthenon in Nashville. Random. It was really cool as we were walking toward it, but then we found out it was some sort of museum and had to pay $6 a person to get in. That ruined it for me. If you’re going to replicate something, replicate it. Don’t just kind of copy it, and don’t charge me.

We are now driving east again, going to NC!

We stopped at Wendys in Asheville after driving through some mountains.

Stopped at a Tire Kingdom in Hickory to check our tire pressure. Added some more nitrogen to the back ones that hopped over to Petsmart & Babies R Us to pick up some gifts for Matt’s friend Amanda. We settled on a pig rope animal for their dog & a Teddy Bear for their baby boy (due in less than 2 months)

Ride to Nashville

After the museum we went to Ihop for some breakfast before getting on the road. About 30 minutes into the trip Erin realized she left her credit card back at the Ihop. MISTAKE! That put an hour dent into our travel time, led to some frustration, but i eventually got over it, and we got to Nashville. We checked in at the HoJo, and head out to find some cool shops, we didn’t really find any unfortunately, so we went to Broadway to get some dinner. We parked in a garage we thought was close, but was about 2 blocks away, which wouldn’t have been bad, if it wasn’t about to open up on us! We made it to broadway and under an overhang just before it started to pour. We waited it out, and decided to go to the Broadway Brewhouse. 64 beers on tap! Erin got a Texas Melt, which was, “effing good” and consisted of smoked brisket, melted jack, and jalepeno mayo on texas toast. I got a BBQ pulled pork sandwich with melted jack and panama sauce. We shared cheese fries. The best part was the beer. We had 6 beers between the two of us, all southern micro brews. We spanned the range: hef, amber, wheat (blueberry!), stout, and 2 ciders. It was awesome, and the bill was only $50!

After dinner we went out to do some boot shopping. We tried on about 20 pairs of boots between the two of us. We found a store that was selling buy one get two free, found some boots we liked, but couldn’t pull the trigger until we looked at other stores, so we went to one on 2nd street that was having a flood sale. We made a mistake though, we tried on Luchese’s, the cadillac of boots. They were AMAZING, it was as though they were made for our feet, but even at 50% off we couldn’t afford them, i even haggled it down, but not far enough. We decided that the next trip we take we’ll have to put some money aside just for boots!

After leaving Broadway empty handed, we called it a night. Chapel Hill tomorrow to see my very pregnant friend!

Civil Rights Museum — Wed June 2nd

We got up early to get to the National Civil Rights Museum before we got on the road to Nashville. The museum was extensive, 2 buildings, one dedicated to civil rights until MLK Jr.’s assassination, and the other about the investigation of said assassination. They had great exhibits, some original letters, papers, signs, and a lot of the evidence gathered from the investigation, including the rifle used in the shooting. The museum is in the Lorraine Motel, and you walk through the room that MLK Jr. was in the day he was shot, and are on the balcony he was on. It is intense.

It is erie to see all the things people had to go through to get rights, and know that if you just replaced black or colored with gay or lesbian, not much has changed. History is repeating itself, and it is very very scary.

Memphis, TN

We got to Memphis at about 730pm checked into the ghetto Motel 6 and headed out to Beale St. Erin decided it would be a good idea to play “Walkin’ in Memphis” on repeat the entire time we were in Memphis, and even when we went to Arkansas. We parked downtown and walked up and down Beale a few times trying to figure out the best place to go. We wanted live music and dinner, we settled on Blue’s City Cafe, i had ribs and Erin had fried shrimp. I had some sort of local beer, and we were entertained by a Johnny Cash cover band. They guy was good, but did more talking than he did singing.

After dinner we walked around a little more, went into a few souvenir shops, and then decided to drive around the downtown area a little bit, while driving we decided to go to Arkansas because it was so close. We needed new tapes for the video camera so we went to Wal-Mart! This Wal-Mart was ridiculous. It had a full supermarket, and a huge regular Wal-Mart all rolled into one. So we stocked up on more snacks, refreshed some toiletries, and got our video tapes.

Beale St wasn’t what i expected. Very neon heavy, and catered toward the tourist, and only a few blocks long. I want there to be a way to find out where the people who live in all these towns go to hear music, drink and eat!

Cafe Reconcile and the ride to Memphis — Tues June 1st

Happy June! We woke up today and packed the car, checked out, and Erin followed me to the scooter place. We didn’t have to have the scooter back till noon so we decided to park the car and ride around NOLA a bit more. We wanted to get some Po Boys at Domilise’s, which is the shop Tony Bourdain goes to in his No Reservations New Orleans episode. We rode over, through the garden district, only to find it was closed. So we then decided to go to Cafe Reconcile, another spot Bourdain hit on the show. This place is awesome. It takes kids not necessarily on the right path in life, and puts them to work and teaches them how to work in the food service industry. They rotate in all aspects of the industry, the Kitchen, the front of house, and the back of house. We were the first ones in the dining room, which is fully open to the kitchen, i had a catfish Po Boy with collard greens, Erin had fried catfish with garlic mashed and sweet corm.

It just so happened that we were there on the day the newest class of kids started their orientation, about 18 of them came in to applause from the current students, and sat at a huge center table. It was inspiring and a true testament to the power of New Orleans.

The place filled up fast, so we finished up, paid our bill, overstayed our welcome a bit (they needed to turn the table), got a picture with our server and headed out to drop off the scooter.

We left New Orleans with full stomachs and full, yet heavy, hearts. NOLA is an amazing city that is still struggling, and trying to reinvent what “normal” means. It will renew, rebuild, and reconcile. I can’t wait to come back.

We got back on I10 and are now headed up I55 north through Mississippi to Memphis. Next stop, Beale St.

Roots Run Deep

I was excited to return to the gulf coast on this trip. The last time I had been here was August 2006, almost exactly 1 year after Katrina. Now, I was returning nearly 4 years after that and 5 since Katrina hit and levees broke. On my hurricane relief trip, I was touched by stories of survival and determination to rebuild. For the entire ride into New Orleans from the airport then along the coast to Biloxi, I was silenced by the sights. A boat in the median of the freeway miles from the closest water. An entire neighborhood with tarp covered roofs marked with x on their doors. There were people’s belongings (clothes, toys, books, you name it we saw it) scattered all over the ground. I thought things must be different now. It, after all, had been 4 years since I walked these streets. Progress must have been made.

On this trip, when we began to drive into New Orleans, I was happy to see that the signs of destruction weren’t so prevalent. I didn’t see boats in medians or many tarped roofs. There were a few “x”es on buildings and boarded windows. But, all in all, it seemed to the naked eye that New Orleans had patched it wounds and began to rebuild. We got to our hotel in the French quarter and everything looked normal. But, then again, the French Quarter wasn’t hit that hard by the disaster. It all still seemed a little bit too good to be true. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to see the rebirth of the city. I was happy to see cut grasses and new homes, but I could tell that the cuts were still deep and all had not been healed.

The next day, Matt & I rented a scooter and headed over to the lower Ninth Ward to see if all was well again. On the ride over, with the wind in my face, I hoped that we were taking the ride for nothing, that it was going to look just like any other neighborhood in any other town. I was hoping there were no stories to be told, except those of hope and rebirth. As we scooted our way into the neighborhood, I was again silenced by the sights. For every 1 new house, there were 20 other ones. Some of the others had been gutted and left with just the bones. Some hadn’t been touched since the rescue workers marked the x on it the day the water receded. For the most of the homes, that date was 9-22 which meant that those houses sat under water for nearly a month. Other homes didn’t even exist anymore, they were foundations and empty lots over grown by weeds. It broke my heart. Then we passed a house, one that hadn’t been touched in years. It had boarded up windows, an overgrown yard, a torn apart roof, and an x on the front door. Next to the x, I saw a graffiti mark - a tree trunk and roots with the words “our roots run deep here.” And, at that moment, I believed more than ever that this statement was the truth. Because, despite the majority of houses that lay in shambles, there were rebuilt homes. There were houses that we saw people working on, we saw people rebuilding. In the houses that had been rebuilt, there were often men sitting on the porches. Each one waved and smiled at us. These were the people who had been through so much and came back. They didn’t give up. They rebuilt. Riding around the street, was to me, one of the most beautiful things I did on this trip to New Orleans. Sure, it was heart breaking. But, more than anything, it was inspiring and uplifting. The spirit of NOLA filled the humid air on that afternoon drive. The hope for a new start was ever present. These people had roots here, and despite the fact that their homes and lives had been uprooted, they returned. They overcame. They replanted and they would not surrender.

I can’t wait to return to this city. There’s something so special about it to me. Something too beautiful to describe with words. I hope the future allows another opportunity for me to help those who wish to rebuild. There is nothing more beautiful than people helping people build a new future.

Their roots run deep. And I have been blessed to see sprouts of hope scatter this beautiful city.

Scooters, Storms, Food, Drinks, & Jazz — Mon, May 31st

Today we woke up to VIP breakfast in bed, two plates of eggs benedict, chocolate covered strawberries, a bagel with cream cheese lox, tomato, onion, and capers, OJ, water, and coffee. It was a great way to start off an eventful day.

We decided to rent a scooter for the day to travel around NOLA, even though the forecast called for scattered thunderstorms. It’s about the adventure, not playing it safe! The rental place was about 4 miles away so we decided to walk a little along the riverwalk toward the rental place then get a cab. It was a HOT day already and it was only 11am. We went past a steam powered paddle boat that started playing music using the steam in what can be described as a steam organ on the top of the boat. It was really cool.

Once we got too hot to walk anymore we hailed a cab and went to the scooter store. We wanted to check out the ninth ward to see the rebuilding and how much is still in shambles. On the way we got stuck at a railroad crossing, and a drawbridge, both really cool when your on two wheels, and not in a car!

Much to our disappointment, there is still a lot of ruin in the ninth ward, 5 years after the devastation. We rode around for an hour or so, videotaping the area, and commenting on what we saw. Everyone on their porches smiled and waved to us, and one gentleman was very helpful getting us to a gas station (which only cost us $2.21 to fill up, yes please!)

Seeing the rescue workers hieroglyphs still on houses was a sobering experience, if you haven’t seen them, i’ll try to describe it. It’s an X spray painted on or near the door of the house. the top space of the X has a date, which corresponds to when the rescuers reached the house, the left side is what group went into the house, the right side changes depending on who tagged it, sometimes its how they went into the house, other times its what contaminates were found, and sometimes it a number that we don’t know what it means, and the bottom of the X is a number denoting how many bodies were found. 5 years later there are still these markings, and serves as a daily reminder of the disaster to those who see them.

All the while we were riding around the sky was getting darker, so once we felt the first few drops we decided to head back to the hotel. We weren’t that far away, but storms develop quickly. we got caught in a huge rainstorm. Once the rain started to hurt we pulled over under a Family Dollar overhang and waited it out. We were watching the sky and once it cleared up enough we headed back out. We got about 5 or so blocks from the hotel and i hear from the girl holding onto me say, “Where are my glasses?” Turns out she left them on the ledge back at the Family Dollar, so we turn around and head back, grab the glasses, and then get caught in some more rain, so this time we pull over under a random overhang and wait it out again. We aren’t to terribly wet at this point, just a little past damp. We waited about 20 minutes for it to ease up, and when we got back to the hotel, it was really coming down, we found a place to park, got all of our stuff out from under the seat, and walked into our hotel soaked clear to the underpants. I literally poured water out of my shoes. It was an amazing experience, and i wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

We took a hot shower to warm up and put some dry clothes and by that time the weather cleared up, so we met up with a friend from high school, Josh, and went to Yo Mama’s Pub for some food. We both got a burger and had some Dixie Beer. The burger’s were amazing. I don’t know what they did to them, but the were so delicious, Erin said it was the best burger she’s ever had.

We bid farewell to Josh, and walked around the French Quarter some more. We went into a bunch of great shops on Royal St, and found a lot of great local art and NOLA kitsch. We decided that one of the local art galleries had 2 things we loved and we’d go back later to decide which we wanted. We walked down to Cafe Du Monde to get my first beignet. We sat right down and got a few orders. All i can say is Cafe Du Monde must had stock in powdered sugar! The beignets were good, but not necessarily my thing, i’m glad i went though!

We went back to the art gallery and decided to get a one of a kind piece of wall art made by a local artist that is made with found objects from NOLA, that says “Vieux Carre” which means French Quarter. We made our way back to the hotel to rest till dinner. We had reservations at Broussard’s, which is one of the top old restaurants in NOLA. We were the only one’s in the dining room for the first 20 minutes of our meal, granted it was a Monday night. We had a bottle of Cotes du Rhone, Oysters 3 ways, i had grouper, and Erin had Redfish with lump crab meat. It was a fine meal, with incredible service, we had 4 people waiting on us, and never went without something we wanted or needed.

After dinner i asked our server where we could go to hear some good NOLA Jazz. He told us to go to Frenchman St. We got in a cab for the mile journey, and went into this one club that had a show going on, but it was $15 per person, which would have put us over our budget, and was a crap shoot on whether it would have been good, so we put that on the back burner and walked across the street to the Spotted Cat Music Club where there was a 4 piece local jazz band wailing away. We ducked in and knew instantly this place was legit. We found a couple empty tall chairs got a few drinks and spent the next couple hours listening to killer jazz keyboard, sax, bass and drums interspersed with vocals, and sick solos. It was heaven, we both had good food in us, a great buzz going, and didn’t need anything else. I didn’t want to be anywhere else, with anyone else, i was in love with NOLA, and even more in love with Erin.

We left when the band was done, and decided to walk back to the hotel down the length of Bourbon St. The whole time were were in the French Quarter we saw people walking around with a drink called the hand grenade, so we obviously had to get one. It tasted like a mix between a Pina Colada and ecto cooler. But it came in a fun cup, and helped keep the buzz going. Then we got persuaded into doing a few test tube shots, and then finally made it back to the hot tub.

It was a full day. i loved every second of it. I can’t wait to go back.

Maison Dupuy and the French Quarter

We pulled into the hotel at about 6pm. Checked into our room, where we had champagne chilled waiting for us, and two free vouchers for cocktails at the French Quarter Bistro. After changing into something other than our traveling clothes we went down to get our free cocktails. I got a Sazerac and Erin got a Hurricane. The bartender asked me if i wanted it for here or to go, normally “to go” means up to your room, so i said “for here,” Erin forgot the camera up in the room, so when she came back down she asked me why i didn’t take it to go, and i totally forgot we could drink on the street, so we had the bartender put our drinks in travelers and hit the French Quarter. Our hotel was only a few blocks from Bourbon St. so we took full advantage of it. We walked up and down, taking in the music, the scenery, the people, and the culture. I instantly fell in love. We were starving so we went in search of a restaurant that had balcony seating.

During our search we happened upon a wedding parade. IT WAS AWESOME. The bride and groom led the parade each holding a parasol, while an amazing NOLA Brass Band played great music behind them, then the entire wedding, guests and all followed them down the street. It was beautiful, and looked like a lot of fun.

We finally settled on the Royal House Oyster Bar. We got a balcony seat right on the corner over looking two streets and beautiful magnolia trees. Erin got a shrimp Po Boy, and i got the Taste of New Orleans, Chicken Sausage Jambalaya, Chicken Sausage Gumbo, and Catfish Etouffee. We also sampled some local beer, mine a red ale, and Erin’s a raspberry Wheat. It was a great introduction to NOLA food.

After dinner we walked around the quarter some more, past jackson sq, and finally made it back to the hotel, spent a little time in the hot tub, and called it a night.

Tomorrow is breakfast in bed, and sightseeing, and eating around NOLA. CAN’T WAIT!

Driving to Nola — Sun May 30th

We got up at 7:45 to get the car packed and ready to go to NOLA. We left by 8:30, drove and drove and drove. I started out the trip, and Erin drove after we got our first taste of Texas BBQ. We went to Willy Ray's BBQ, Erin got a Willie Plate of Brisket with beans, and mac & cheese. “Those are the best beans i’ve ever had,” says Erin after one bite. I had the buffet, which consisted of Brisket, Pork Ribs, Deer Sausage, greens, banana pudding, potato salad. the meat was unbelievable. The smoke ring was at least a quarter inch deep into both the brisket and the ribs, and the sauce, which we got on the side, was tangy and delicious. Erin even liked BBQ for the first time in her life. Willie Ray’s was a wild success.

We got back on I10 and made our way to NOLA. Once we passed in to LA we hit our first instance of weather. It just happened to be HUGE thunderstorm. I was asleep, but erin said it was flash after flash and a torrential downpour for about 20 minutes. I woke up after it cleared up a bit, and then we hit another ridiculous storm. This one was just rain, but it was INTENSE. It cleared up eventually and we made our way over bridges and causeways through the swamps and bayous of Louisiana, very green, and a lot of water. Next stop NOLA!