2014 Day Five/Six

Thursday, July 3rd

Just about two and a half hours into the state, we arrived in Montgomery Alabama.  From our past travels and lessons in history we were aware of many important Civil Rights triumphs which occurred here.  It really is amazing how these areas have changed since the 1960s.  Again, the city appeared so depressed.  At this point we were used to seeing places like this.  Our primary stop here was at the Dexter Parsonage museum.  The site was the Baptist church where Martin Luther King pastored between 1954-1960.  The house next door was also his home during this time.  We were able to tour the home.

There were no pictures allowed from inside the home.  Most of it was left the way it was when the King family moved out from here and back to their home in Atlanta.  Some of the furniture in the rooms was donated by late church members.  Our tour guide was a woman whom had worked with Dr. King during this time period, and whom spent many days at this home.  She pointed out one remaining hole in the porch from when this building was bombed.  Her story was quite interesting.  I have never felt closer to history than at this time.  At the corner from this home was where the bus picked up Dr. King for the first time after they ordered the integration of the bus system.  Did you know that the clauses of the order to integrate buses were not only that African Americans could ride and sit anywhere, but also that the drivers had to be curteous to them and they would have to offer them jobs driving buses as well.

After this tour we were ready to grab a bite and head out.  As I mentioned before most of the town wasn't very welcoming in appearance.  We happened to stumble upon one additional landmark though.

This was the site of the first Confederate White House.

Off we were.. to Georgia.

As soon as you enter Georgia from the west, the time zone changes, so we lost an hour.  It was only another two and a half hours before we were in Atlanta, but it was already getting late.  Unfortunately our adventures in Atlanta were quite brief.  I saw some of the widest highways in my life here though.  Apparently the traffic can be nightmarish, but we were lucky not to hit any.  I guess the holiday sent many people out of town early.

Dinner at Tin Lizzy's midtown.  Pretty awesome.  Outdoor space with excellent live music.  

I feel a little sad that we had only such a short time in Atlanta this night.  After dinner it was already getting a little late.  We did a little walking, hit a few bars, but then it was just time for bed.  From what I understand there are several "downtowns" to Atlanta, so I feel like it deserves another visit.  We did enjoy that of the city which we did get to see however.

Friday, July 4th

Back on the road...  This was our final day, our "return trip" although our return was only back to North Carolina for the weekend.

Crossing the river into South Carolina

Again, pressed for time, we really didn't stop in South Carolina.  Our route didn't have us passing through any real major areas anyway.  I did happen to notice that it was quite cooler through this state than most others.  So refreshing!  The 90-100 degree weather was getting to us!

Our only and last stop on this road trip was in Greensboro, North Carolina.  It's a pretty nice small city.  There happened to be a street event going on for the 4th of July.

This was the real reason for our stop:

F.W. Woolworth's.  This was the site of the first restaurant sit-in in 1960, now a (another) civil rights museum.  This ended up being the theme to our trip, since most of the historic sites in the South surround the struggle for equality in this nation.

There were no pictures allowed inside again, however the original lunch counter is still there and is part of the museum.  It was roped off in most parts so you were only able to stand in the middle of the room, but it was still a great experience.  That was a huge lunch counter!

So ends our road trip for this year.  I kind of got used to being in the south for so long, I almost started to pick up the accent.  We saw a few great little cities on this one.  I do wish we had a little more time to spend in some places.  But you learn as you go, these road trips are unpredictable.  I think Memphis, New Orleans, and Atlanta really deserve another visit.  Nashville was fun enough to merit going back at some point, maybe with someone who can appreciate the capital of Country music.  I think quite interesting was the gulf coast in Mississippi.  I could see retirement there some day...

I reiterate from last year how much there is to learn and see right in this country alone.  Still, every place is so different than New Jersey or New York (city) that I don't think anyone knows what to expect if they went somewhere else.  If you've ever wondered if you should live somewhere else, this is certainly one way to find out.  For me, I guess I'm still pondering.  Perhaps the USA still holds more surprises I've yet to see.  Maybe 2015 will reveal.  Thank you to everyone for sharing this experience with me.

2014 Day Four/Five

Wednesday, July 2nd

First swamp sighting! As we got further into Louisiana, the humidity and the heat really took over.  It really is just swampy everywhere.

We were in New Orleans around 330PM.  Once you get closer to the city, you realize all the lasting devastation from Katrina still years later.  It's a pretty poor area.  Right after checking into our hotel we went for a short drive.  It might have been a longer tour, but when we realized just how depressed the area was, we thought it best to just stay by our hotel for safety concerns.  I did get to pass by Villalobos Rescue Center, for all my Pitbulls and Parolees fans.

We came back to the hotel and decided tonight was an early dinner night.

Grilled alligator bites! Actually pretty good.  Tastes like chicken, really, but maybe a little more rich.  The rest of our dinner wasn't quite as experimental but very good.  I give my recommendation to Oceana's in the French Quarter for their food and really great service.

I should mention this is by far our sloppiest night out on this trip.  New Orleans really really wants you to be drunk.  I really did not know much about the city but it's somewhat reminiscent of Vegas, just without the Casinos on the strip.  People are out everywhere, drinks are allowed outside, and of course we were walking around with our souvenir cups full of cheer.

Toulouse street, where we stayed at Hotel St. Marie.

Just a few pictures near the waterfront area.  This was clearly the nicer part of downtown.

As the night approached, the streets became much more lively.  Bourbon street is open to cars during the day, but closed for pedestrians only at night.  It needs to be, there just wouldn't be enough room for all the people.  As the hours went by, the louder it became.

And then this happened..

We finished our tour of Bourbon street at the southern end, by Canal street, where the streetcar tracks are.  It was a bit of a different world from this view... Fishbowl drink strapped to our shoulder.

The 6 AM alarm clock in mind, it was time to say goodnight to Bourbon street.  What a fun night though.  I can only imagine Mardi Gras.  But one must really keep aware of their surroundings, there is a lot of pickpocketing and hustling about.

Thursday, July 3rd

 

Leaving New Orleans is to cross many bridges and bodies of water.  It was pretty scenic, which was refreshing since most of our drive has just been the same highway view for days.  Tonight will be our last night out on the road, even though tomorrow still holds a bit more adventure.

This southern route along I-10 east will quickly cover several states.  So here we are, in Mississippi just 45 minutes later.  We could have just continued along 10 right into Alabama, however we detoured onto a state route to see the Gulf coast.

This route goes for many miles just along the coast.  Beach on the right, some really beautiful estates or plots of land across from it, and a four lane highway in the middle.  We drove through several beach towns, before I finally had to pull over in Biloxi to see this beach.

It's really quite beautiful.  The sand is smooth, clean, and white.  The water seemed a bit murky, but it was really nice.  There aren't waves here, the water was just still.  No riptide really.  We wanted to stay here insted of continuing on, but we had to go.  Our schedule is still a full one.

Quick stop for some Biloxi coffee, and then..

We were soon after in Alabama.

The Florida panhandle is only about an hour from here, and we had contemplated heading into Pensacola for a bit, but we opted not to.  At the moment we are heading up I-65 north towards Montgomery, Alabama.  Until then!

2014 Days Three into Four

Tuesday, July 1

This is what happens to your eyes bright and early in the morning on your first day in Dallas, Texas when you forget your sunglasses.  Our friend took us on a small driving tour of the Dallas area.  We saw downtown and several neighborhoods.  Like many cities, as we've learned, the downtown really isn't the main attraction. Our friend lives about 10-15 minutes outside of this business district.  Above is outside of a museum whose name escapes me.  These signs are in several places around town.  Everything is bigger in Texas after all I suppose.  We stopped in at a place called Stupid Good coffee.  Liars.  The place was buried inside of an office building too.

Just a view of one of the downtown blocks.  Tall buildings as usual.  Most of it is just business though, and it wasn't very lively on the streets on this Tuesday morning.  We didn't stay here long and moved on to breakfast back in our friend's neighborhood, Oak Lawn.

Anyways, today was the USA World Cup game, so we were looking for somewhere fun to watch it.  Our first stop took us into the Greenville section, to a place called the Truck Yard.  Pretty awesome spot.

Smart bar concept.  They did have a cheesesteak station inside, however they were really mostly just a bar.  The food outside came from one of two food trucks:  a typical bar/fried food grill, and a Korean BBQ truck.  They had a large projector screen outside to watch the game.  We did not end up staying though.  Apparently police had set up multiple DUI checks in the surrounding area.  Being that we were about a 15-20 minute drive away we decided to enjoy one drink and head back.

Just a quick public service announcement to make sure you stay safe...

We watched the game between two gay bars back in Oak Lawn.  After our disappointing loss in extra time, we were back at his complex and spent most of the rest of the day back at the pool.  This day turned out to be more of a relaxing day in the hot (95-98 degree) sun as opposed to a day of tourism. This came appreciated since we tend to push ourselves to the limits of exhaustion on these road trips, particularly this slightly shorter spanning one.

After passing out three or four times by the pool, it was time to get dinner and finish the night.  We were to be up early in the morning after all.  But first, let me take a selfie.

(Sorry, I had to do that at some point..)

We watched the sun set from the roof of one last bar for the night.  We reminded ourselves that it was Tuesday, and trashy or not we had to get back to bed.  If nothing else, to let our friend get rest for work early tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 2nd

I stood on the balcony of our friend's apartment to say my last goodbyes to the city of Dallas, and really to Texas.  A big thank you to our friend Adam for letting us stay two nights at his place making this trip really more possible.

We were back on the road by 730AM.

75MPH speed limits really make doing 80-85 feel legal, and helps us make up for some time lost getting gas and etc.  Shortly after the Louisiana border we were in the small city of Shreveport.  It's a pretty nice town, seems to be a few unique small places to enjoy.  We stopped for coffee and were hoping for lunch, but were reminded it is only 10 AM and most places don't have Lunch until at least 11.  We did find a place that had just opened and grabbed a bite.  Catfish Po Boys!  It's official, we were really in Louisiana.

So f*ng delicious.

Remember our itinerary change mentioned last post? We've extended our trip by a day, and we are currently heading to New Orleans!  Our original plan was putting us into Birmingham Alabama tonight, but we're instead heading south on I-49 and heading to the Gulf of Mexico.  Booked a last minute hotel in the French Quarter, extended the car rental by a day, and made arrangements for my buddy Half Pint (whom it is killing me to be away from, by the way).  Off we are.  We'll still see Alabama tomorrow, but the exact destinations will really depend on the trip.  

Looking forward to getting a little messy later, but first we'll be driving past the Villalobos pitbull rescue center.  According to our time calculations they'll unfortunately be closed when we arrive (past 3PM CST) but how could we not at least take a look.

For now enjoy our beautiful view of interstate 49 south.

Talk later!