All the Way From Beaumont

Hello readers/fellow adventurers-in-spirit,

I'm writing from the Apple store at the Barton Creek Mall in Austin, TX. My laptop has decided to completely stop working, and thus I am waiting for my appointment for the technician to look at it.

We spent Wednesday in New Orleans, exploring the Garden District and then walking along the riverfront watching the Mississippi River boats and exploring the French Quarter. The poverty and squalor we saw throughout New Orleans is astounding. NOLA is an incredibly vibrant, beautiful city, but so much of it has fallen into decay, both before and since Katrina. Definitely an experience we are glad to have had.

On the way into New Orleans, and whilst there, Lizzie wrote a mind-blowingly incredible song that is as yet unnamed, but is just devastating. The song essentially deals with the poverty we saw throughout the south, and I can't wait to get my laptop working again so we can record it and post it on this site.

Thursday we left NOLA for Beaumont, TX and spent a great night/morning with Donnie, a long-time family friend. Donnie took us to Courville's, his brother's restaurant/concert venue, and was an incredibly gracious host. We stayed up till the wee hours playing songs, and had an overall great time. Huge thanks to Donnie.

We rolled into Austin last night, only to discover that I had left my wallet 3 hours east at a gas station in Houston. Miraculously, I called the gas station and they still had my wallet! Joe, my friend in Austin that we are staying with, was gracious enough to drive me back to Houston to retrieve the wallet. Even more miraculous? All of my cash and credit cards were still in the wallet! Such a huge relief.

Today's a lazy day - we're going to explore the town a bit tonight and tomorrow, and then off to San Antonio. :)

Later,

Tom

P.S. If you're ever in Austin, hit the Ironworks Barbeque. It's the best I've had.

"YOU WENT WHERE!?!" - Our First Night in New Orleans

The Little Big Horns at the Spotted Cat in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Hello all,

Lizzie and I arrived in New Orleans last night around 7pm, and quickly and easily found the house where we'd be staying. Lizzie found Ben and Jim via CouchSurfer, a great website service where people offer their spare rooms/couches/floors/etc to travelers. Ben and Jim were both in their mid-20s and both decently cool people.

Lizzie and I decided that we'd do some exploring of the French Quarter and try to see some live music. Ben gave us very explicit instructions on how to get to and from the French Quarter. We went down to the Quarter and walked past an enormous amount of music clubs, all of whom had free shows. We settled on The Spotted Cat, a bar where The Little Big Horns were playing. They played old-time jitterbug jazz, and the dancing that was taking place was incredible. I felt like we had stepped into the 1930s.

Despite the fun we were having, it was getting late and we decided to call it a night. That's where things started getting sketchy. We made the poor decision to walk back to Ben/Jim's house a different way than they had instructed....and ended up walking through the poorest neighborhoods in the city, in the middle of the night....alone.

We weren't terribly uneasy, but mostly because we just didn't know where we were. Had we known some of the neighborhoods we were walking through, we may have been terrified. At several points, packs of dogs began to approach us, snarling.

About half of the houses in the neighborhood were empty, boarded up, condemned. Grass was overgrown everywhere. Shiny new cars sat in front of dilapidated houses that I can only assume to be drug dens. There were some nicer houses, but many of them were in disrepair.

Eventually we realized we were terribly lost in the middle of the ghetto, and called a cab. Whilst we did this, a young woman approached us in her car and asked if we needed help. We told her the situation, and she immediately told us to get in the car and she would drive us home. Turns out, we were miles away from where we needed to be, and so Lizzie and I are both forever grateful to April for getting us out of that jam. April, if somehow you ever see this: THANK YOU AGAIN.

When we finally got back to Ben/Jim's (along with their third roommate, Troy, who we had not met earlier in the day) at about 3 AM, and told them the names of the streets we had been taking, they told us "YOU WENT WHERE!?!?!" and stressed to us that we had been walking through some of the roughest areas of the city.

Hey, a little adventure never hurt anybody, right?

Later,

Tom

Broken Computers and Empty Malls

Hello all,

We are currently in Jackson, Mississippi using the complimentary computers available at the Apple store. The reason? The battery in my laptop decided to stop working, so we are waiting for a technician to look at it now. Worst case, I have to buy a new battery, which isn't an end-of-the-world sort of problem. So, no worries.

In other news, we camped last night at Tishomingo State Park in (you guessed it!) Tishomingo, Mississippi. We arrived after dark, and the park was absolutely terrifying. Our terror was greatly increased by the fact that there was only one other set of campers there. Ax-murder horror movie, anyone?....Yeah, we were pretty terrified.

But this morning we awoke to discover the campground was quite beautiful in the daylight. Only problem? The car didn't start! We had left the light on inside the car, and the battery was drained. However, our one set of neighbors came over to jump us and all was well. Turns out our neighbor-campers were from Claremont, NH :). Good ol' NH people, taking care of one another. Also: LIZZIE PICKED UP A SNAPPING TURTLE AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE!

The large mall in Jackson, called the Metrocenter Mall, is nearly empty. Empty of stores, empty of people, empty of happiness. Lizzie commented, "Nowhere have I felt the impact of the recession quite like I do right now." We chatted with a woman in the cookie store who told us that many of the stores had been closed since the mid-1980s. Scary.

Ok, technician should be just about ready. Until next time.

Tom

So, we're here

Post-Bonnaroo Blues

The countdown on the main-stage Saturday night, waiting for Jay-Z's festival-defining performance.

Bonnaroo 2010 was a resounding success! Highlights include: Mumford and Sons, Daryl Hall w/ Chromeo, Aziz Ansari, Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers, and of course JAY-Z. A full review will be coming soon when I have more time to fart around on the Internet (Probably Thursday, but maybe not until Friday).

Right now Lizzie and I are in the Chattanooga Airport, dropping Mike off to fly home. We've enjoyed having him on the first leg of the trip, but alas, he has to return to the real world. Tomorrow we'll be in New Orleans. Thursday we'll leave NOLA for Beaumont, TX, and then we'll be in Austin for the weekend. More to come when I have more time, but we've got to get going so we can get at least partway into Mississippi before dark.

In the meantime think about this: Lizzie and I want to make our trip a nationwide scavenger hunt. In the comment section, let us know what sort of people, places, and/or things you want us to find along the way. If it's reasonable and legal, we'll do it. If it's at all possible to get a picture with that person, place, or thing, we will also do it.

If you don't know how to make a comment, it's this easy - click directly below this post where it says "0 Comments" (of course, once people make comments, it will no longer say 0 comments.) Then say whatever you want to say, sign your name, click "publish post" and that's it!

Catch ya later,

Tom and Lizzie