Days 12 & 13- Behold the Atlantic

We made it. We crossed through the Carolina's. Craziness. These two states embody more of what I thought the South would be like, confederate flags and plantation homes and when walking through the supermarket-also called Piggly Wiggly- some older man looked at me and said 'nice hair, fuckin retard'. Oh the South! Other then that it's all been good, peeps have been quite nice.

Average home looks like this one.....



We also passed this truck stop..anyone want to take a shower here? :)



We awoke this morning after I spent the night among fire flies and went to the Blackbeard exhibit at the North Carolina nautical museum, yes I had a moment. They have various items on display from where his ship 'Queen Anne's Revenge' hit a barge off the Orokoke Islands in the 1720's. The actual bell and cannons (still loaded with cannon balls) were all displayed with minimal security. Amy warned me before we walked in. So I just stood there and starred. Ah homesick. If you notice me in the reflection of the plexi glass in this picture you can probably see me crying. I am the nerdiest pirate ever! But I steal better than most of em!



We drove onward in freakish heavy heavy thunder and lightening weather, amy had to drive since I made myself ill. It was so bad and I couldnt see the road that my hands starting shaking. Amy is the ne jesus christ. I write this to you now on the boarder of N Carolina and Tennessee. I am heading West toward home.

Onward adventure awaits!

PS check out palmetto bugs on wicki- they are all over our campground. Oh yeah I also found out I may have some bug issues, its just that wont you dont know can convince you it can hurt you. They are huge black flying cockroaches. Yup, I am typing this from inside the cabin...Where is my hammer and flashlight, I need to go smoke now.

Day 10 & 11- Driving through the South!

Mississippi, not much here, just drove through!! It's not what I pictured, very lush and green; not at all like the 'if you want to live in a trailer park and marry your sister' that I had in mind. :(



Further down the road we stumbled upon Alabama. Two thumbs up. We found a backwoods-literally-campground and settled in for the night- adios humidity! The weather was so nice, swarms of fireflies and it felt a lot like Northern CA, without the redwoods. I slept like a log in the tent, over ten hours, and awoke to the sounds of owls at 5am then more birds at 6:30 am, nice! I made us dinner on our make shift stove- dad you would have been proud- and even percolated coffee in the am with propane, nicely.






I loved these frogs, they were everywhere and no larger than your pinky nail, this was told me his name was Gunther.


Freedom walk from Selma to Montgomery.
We woke up and first stopped in Birmingham, Al to see the civil rights park and the monuments that stand for the children killed in the bomb blast by the KKK. So sad.



Once in Georgia we stopped to see the birth and death place of Martin Luther King Jr. So powerful. The museum stands across the street from the Ebinezer Church he preached in. The museum had some very powerful and sad reminders of who makes up this country. I felt so awkward, the museum mostly filled with Blacks and it being located in very small and poor Black town, it was just a reminder again of how much I hate my race. Good thing I tell people I'm Mexican!



From here it gets crazy- amy will type her story....



I'm happy to finally make a guest appearance on this blog. From the somber remembering at the MLK monument to the tacky attractions that is road side america. I would like to say this one fulfilled a life long dream of mine, but really I only learned of it a few months ago. Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, GA. A 75 mile detour north to the birthplace of cabbage patch kids. This is really where Xavier Roberts was from, and is now a creepy and odd type of museum. I was taken back immediately to Hobby City days of my youth, when I would take all 8 of my cabbage patch kids in for their annual check ups. I sorely wished I had one with me today. You walk in and find babies ("doll is a four letter word") in incubators, in cribs, peering out at you as if from behind bars. Scores of babies look up, arms outstretched, and the numerous signs let you know they are all available for adoption. Surely my social work roots started with adopting cabbies. As we walked around, an announcement came on the loud speaker that a baby was about to be born if we wanted to witness. The 6 other visitors and we gathered around where the nurse in full scrubs and with the utmost sincerity told us the mother cabbage was 9 leaves dilated. The bunny bees sprinkle their magic dust, and the crystals light up to let you know a baby is about to be born. The nurse does a sonogram to reveal the sex (I kid you not) and pulls it out of the cabbage with a smack on the backside. Thank god it wasn't a breach, she says. We got it all on tape, and I smiled, giddy as a kid. Becca laughed and made fun of me the whole time, just like when we were kids. The gift shop had more stuff than you ever wanted, including spoons! A definite great add to my collection.



So now we're in Augusta, GA, a random truck stop motel for the night. We are at the Scottish Inn, where if its not scottish, its CRAP!! Guess this motel is not scottish.

Amy adds....

dont walk so hard..

'Walking through New Orleans'-Day 8 & 9

Night one here was crazy a few pics. Enjoyed watching amy make an ass out of herself and was so happy she too fell in love with this city.





Mint Julip for Chulip!

Day 3 in new orleans-We are here and I will be sad to leave tomorrow but also look forward to seeing new things again. It has been nice being out of the car for 3 days and sleeping in!! Awoke this morning to pigees on the balcony and headed down to get beignetes for breakfast then out to the swamps to take a boat tour!!! Spooky!!





It was hot as hell, humid as fuck, and the gators were out in full force. Before boarding the tour boat I got my arm and leg bitten off, turns out gators like sweating women with a lot of fat, not too much muscle here!!





Our tour guide was funny and very smart, steps above Ger when he worked the jungle cruise. We saw spiders, turtles, gators, egrets, snapping turtles, garp, and for the grandest of al held a baby alligator!!! They are so soft and smooth, not at all like I imagined, also very cold.







I also added a photo of an alligator who had swallowed an entire human, the picture is so awesome, and they show it to you before you buy tickets and tell you to keep all body parts in the boat; too bad no flashing of me fanny!



After the tour we visited cemeterys



and also drove through the 9th ward where the levy "busted". It was so sad, like a ghost town. Only 1 out of every 10 homes was occupied, they are all still boarded up, run down, and those who remain live in shanties. Graffiti could be seen on homes indicating which were to be destroyed and also slogans of 'thanks for not helping us' and 'you forgot about us again' decorated walls. I felt bad taking pics, though we did get some video of where the levy actually broke open, I cannot believe more people didnt die..

Last night, we are going to do it right!!! Got lots of cool things for all you guys so far..

I am going to get some booze,
Bec

Day 7- Get your New Orleans here!

I sit beside Amy's deathbed to recap our arrival into new orleans. I feel it important to point out I am listening to her vomit and serving her mineral water and pepto because she is hung over while I enjoyed a breakfast and walk about through the quarter; and you guys thought I would drink too much!! haha.



We crossed the Texas boarder and straight into Baton Rouge, swamp lands galore.



I noticed a sign for whiskey bay and automatically remembered why I love new orleans so,



After fighting to stay in the car we arrived in the French Quarter, with pigeons to greet me on the balcony. Too cute.



We checked in and headed to the pool to wash off the layers of insect repellant and sunblock, I wouldn't want to swim with us but figured people were drunk so who would know I was using the pool as my giant bathtub. Get your sponge bath here!



We sat up on the balcony and drank for about two hours, watching the sunset over the mary poppins and peter pan rooftops then headed down to the streets where I got my first mint julip, delicious. Chopped up mint leaves with Tennessee bourbon and orange peels, nice buzz!





We pretty much hit bars and chatted with people, man do people like to drink here. We ended the night at Jean Lafyettes, the oldest bar in New Orleans, from 1734.



How I kept my cool is beyond me, besides scraping off wood from the tables and walls to add to my collection of nostalgia I was pretty good. No tits, no ass, no drugs, and woke up this morning with a pure recollection of the nights activities, odd huh? Amy said she will take care of me tonight and I may take her up on this as I want to go to the absinthe bar later!

On a side note, yet probably most important is the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. The French Quarter is how I remember it, not too much damage. The woman who checked me in to the hotel was named Jerry and she lost everything during the hurricane, an older black woman. She gave me directions to the 9th ward, where much of the damage occurred. I asked her if it would be disrespectful to drive out and take pictures, she told me they offer tours. Sad huh? She also firmly believes the levy was purposely destroyed by the government in order to prevent flooding downstream, the nicer part of the city. She said it happened before in 1927, destroying many native american homes. I felt so bad for her, losing everything then coming to work in a section of the city that was saved because it had 'more value'. There is an awful lot of folks in poverty here, lots of anger, and in todays paper there was an article about none of the 15 parks in the poor neighborhoods used to house trailers during the event have yet to re-opened, they all lay chained up and vacant; none of the kids have a public pool to swim in. There is a disappointment with FEMA and the officials. Anyhow, I do what I can and feel that the more I know so many of the places I once loved bring sadness, like disneyland and winchester house.

It's like they say, ignorance is bliss.

Going out to walk the streets now with my camera. Amy is still in bed! Yes, I am going to drink another mint julip, hopefully we will make the steam boat cruise in two hours.

-Bec