Well, it’s been
a while. Hope you weren’t holding your breath, reader, but so much has happened!
Starting this
blog in a cramped (but cheap) little campground in New Orleans. Don’t know when
it’ll be posted yet – hopefully at the weekend when we have had more
adventures. Almost breathless from the hectic pace we have lived over the last
three weeks. This could be a long one, so gird your loins…
To continue
from where we left off, we spent a couple more days cruising down the magical
Blue Ridge Parkway, taking zillions more pix, before coming off and
experiencing our first-ever refusal at a Walmart – in Appomattox (I could say
something smart about Confederacy of Dunces and all that, but…). Undeterred, we
found another one about 30 miles further on and had a very pleasant night. Sort
of. If you check our route on the map, you’ll see that we are now heading south-east,
having dog-legged from a south-westerly direction. If not, well I’ve just told
you.
So, we end up
at Virginia Beach, where we managed to miss the rain and had yummy beef burgers
for lunch in a sports bar, which was showing about 10 different ball games at
the same time. Nightmare! Cycled three miles back though, so felt worthy.
The reason we
went east was that Gillie had noticed what looked like a pencil mark on our map
of Virginia, which turned out to be this delightful strip of land called The
Outer Banks. Check it out – it’s a hidden gem of long thin islands connected
either by bridge or ferry (free and toll). Absolutely wonderful. There had been
huge storms so some of the roads were closed, but we spent three days driving,
camping and waiting for ferries all the way through Hatteras and Ocracoke
Islands down to Morehead City.
While we were
in Ocracoke, we met a lady who was looking for a bar (aren’t we all?) where she
was meeting her son and his girlfriend. We went our separate ways and found a
paradise bar on the waterfront, where we could watch literally, Red Sails in
the Sunset. Then the bar closed. At six (?) So we thought we’d go in search of
the bar mentioned by the lady we had met earlier. Ocracoke isn’t a big place,
so we found it quickly and proceeded to have a hugely enjoyable couple of hours
with Janice, Wren and Heather, who are now FaceFriends! Great!
Myrtle Beach –
a kind of shabby Pompano Beach (private joke, sorry) – just detained us long
enough to have a couple of great fires and an afternoon in the sun, then on to
Charleston – The Jewel of the South. We found a great campsite just outside the
city in a county park and spent a day just cycling around, watching them put up
loads of lights for their ‘Holiday Festival of Light’, which we sadly missed.
Then we toured Charleston. Only a small city but with lots of ‘history’ and
some very picturesque areas, as well as a dark slave-past. In fact, much of our
tour around the southern states has been informed by the causes and consequences
of the Civil War, or The War Between The States – as the recidivists would have
it.
We also treated
ourselves to some real southern cooking – shrimp n grits, sort of a shrimp stew
on a bed of semolina-type stuff, but very tasty and filling.
Leaving Charleston,
we headed northwest again, to the Swamp Rabbit Brewery and Taphouse in
Travelers (sic) Rest, North Carolina, which had been recommended to us by Susan
and Jamie – our hosts in Cohasset. Anyway, they had a quiz on and – well, bit
of a confession – we didn’t win, even though I told FaceFriends that we had.
Mea culpa. It was a stupid quiz anyway, with loads of questions about American
tv shows and sports stars. I mean, who knows that stuff anyway? And, more to
the point, who cares?!!!
Continuing in
our habit of foisting ourselves on people across the globe, we had the very
good fortune to discover that former neighbours of ours from Dorset had
returned to their house in North Carolina for the winter, just a couple of
weeks previously. So, in our well-oiled freeloading way, we invited ourselves
to their lovely house in the mountains for the weekend. It was quite exciting
getting Molly Too up the winding hill, missing all the low-hanging power
cables, into the sloping narrow
driveway, and then executing a 26-point turn to make sure she was pointing the
right way for the task of getting her OUT again!!!
Needless to
say, all went off more or less hitchless, thanks to the expert signalling and
beady eyes of our hosts Brendan and Laurel. We had a lovely weekend with them
seeing more of the Blue Ridge Parkway, local arts, crafts, apples, wine, ribs
and other stuff as well as some delicious food. Thanks again for making us so
welcome after such a long time.
Proceeding in a
stately manner from lovely Lake Lure (home of B & L), we started our music
pilgrimage. A quick Walmart in Knoxville, then we reached Nashville. As the Crowded House song goes – ‘Always take the weather with You’. Well, we left the sunshine in
Lake Lure. If you read our post about Washington, you’ll know that USA doesn’t
take any prisoners when it comes to rain. And boy, did it rain.
Undaunted, we
made our way into the centre of Nashville and visited the Country Music Hall of
Fame and Museum. Now, we’re neither of us great fans of country music, but you
can’t help but be carried along by the sheer importance and significance of
this place.
We spent an
intriguing couple/three hours in the CMHFM, before hitting the Strip –
Nashville Main Street. After gawping at $400 cowboy boots (and secretly/stupidly
lusting after a pair – they ship as well!), we went variously to Tootsies – the
most famous bar on the strip, Honky Tonk Central, Legends Corner and Rippers.
In each of which beer/wine had to be drunk and Johnny Cash had to be played –
to raucous applause each time. ‘I Walk The Line’ is now embedded in my psyche,
almost as much as ‘Jackson’ and ‘Nashville Cats’. WTF?!
It’s live music
Jim, but not as we know it!!
Next, it was
the Home of Blues (or one of them) via Jackson – Lee and Nancy (or Johnny and June)
have got a lot to answer for! We actually camped at the Graceland RV Park,
which was right behind Heartbreak Hotel and a five-minute walk to the Graceland
‘Estate’ (read loads of gift shops and restaurant/money-making opportunities,
interrupted by bits of the real thing).
But I’ll come
onto that anon. Last Friday 30th Oct, we took the shuttle bus (great
institution, lots of campgrounds offer this) to Sun Studio. What can I say?
It’s a tiny, grotty little building where history was made. And we were walking
in the footsteps of genuine Legends. Not just any old Tom, Dick or Harry who
picked up a guitar, but we actually stood on the spot where Elvis, Carl
Perkins, Howlin Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, to name but a few, recorded. Mofo! I
mean, words literally fail. Ike Turner and his band recorded the first ever
rock n roll single – Rocket 88 – in the room where we stood.
Now, it may be
that thousands, if not millions of people have seen these things, done this
tour, walked these paths and touched the actual mike that Presley used, but
that don’t make it any less – genuinely - awesome!
To move on. We
then went in to the city centre and walked a couple of blocks to the National
Museum of Civil Rights. We expected to spend a couple of hours tops there, but
were completely engrossed and humbled for more than four hours. Apart from
telling the story of the struggle for justice and rights from the early days of
slavery to the present day, what we didn’t realise was that the museum and its
annex have been built around the Lorraine Motel and the boarding house opposite
where Dr Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated by James Earl Ray. You actually
walk almost into the room and onto the balcony where King stood when he was
shot and then into the room from where Ray fired the shot. Made us think.
We needed
sustenance after that, so we headed back to Downtown Memphis. And Blues. We saw
some awesome bands (and some shit), but had a great time overall.
It rained the
next day (surprise), but we had decided we were ready for Elvis, so we walked
across the carpark from our campground and booked into to the Graceland
Experience. Please excuse me if you detect a hint of cynicism occasionally, but
there’s no doubt that the whole Elvis thing is geared up to taking as much
money as possible from the humble tourist/fan. And as Americans put shopping as
a hobby (!), that’s not always very
difficult. But we showed ‘em. Spent about $5 max!
Never been a
great fan of the man, his music or his ‘legend’. But. This is Elvis FFS. We
walked around Graceland and its outlying territories (exhibits) with mouths
slightly agog and inane grins on our faces for the most part. The choked bum,
the weight gain, the letter to Nixon, the divorce from Priscilla and the hold
Col Tom Parker had on him are glossed over or ignored (Parker only mentioned in
passing a couple of times on inconsequential displays), but you can’t ignore
the importance of Elvis in the history of the world. The Holy Trinity – Elvis,
Dylan, The Beatles. Nuff said.
Still tingling
the next morning from the whole experience, we went for another big deal.
Lonely Planet had mentioned this and we thought, what a crack. So, leaving in
good time, we set off and arrived on the stroke of 11.30 at the Full Gospel
Tabernacle Church. Pastor Bishop AL Green. Amen!
Well, we sat
through an hour of evangelical bible study with about a dozen fervent and
devout souls, thinking ‘how can we slope off without being rude?’ Then about
12.30 – a bit late we thought – in comes the congregation, with Bishop AL and
various Deacons. That’s when it all kicked off. The choir was in excellent
voice, the bish gave it large with some sermonizing about fracking among other
things, sang a beauty and everyone had a blast – few testifyins and some
rapture – what a way to start Sunday!!
Walmart that
night and a quick chat with Holly, then, when we pulled up the next night, it
dawned on us why the mobile phone had kept getting the time wrong. We hadn’t
realized that the clocks went back on the 1st November (Sunday
morning), so we had been living for two days an hour out of sync with the rest
of the world. Time literally doesn’t fly…wotthehell, archy, wotthehell
More back roads
– we avoid the interstates as much as possible – brought us to N’Orlinz,
Louisiana. We arrived the day before Gillie’s birthday and after receiving a
much-coveted Elvis pencil (gold) as her birthday present (complete with eraser)
as well as many lovely digital good wishes and a lovely Facebook post from
Holly (and Emily), we set off into The Big Easy.
Now, there’s
been a lot said about New Orleans. Bush’s fly-past visit after Katrina was a
low point in the city’s history, but it’s definitely alive! It was a bit
alarming how many people had given us warnings about being in the wrong
neighbourhood at the wrong time. And it seemed like any time when the police
weren’t around was the wrong time and any place where there wasn’t a big police
presence was the wrong place. Hmmm.
We caught the
bus into the centre, which you have to change onto a streetcar (sadly, not
named Desire, but St Charles) to reach and while on the bus we asked a very nice
gentleman about walking from the streetcar stop rather than catching it (the streetcar).
This was in the middle of the day, mind. His response was ‘I wouldn’t walk if I
was you. It’s a bad neighbourhood – it ain’t worth getting a knock on the head
for 50 cents (cost of transfer). Eeek! We waited for the streetcar.
Small world
moment. You may or may not recall, dear reader, that we met a lovely young lady
named Lymaris and her son Isaac in Bar Harbor, Maine, some months back and
became FB Friends. Well, whilst surfing, or trawling or some other such
nautical thing on the net in NO, we discovered that she was also in New
Orleans, so messaged her to arrange to meet up. Walking around our cosy, but
inexpensive, campground five minutes later, we discovered their camper no more
than 30 feet away from where we were! Small world indeed.
Anyway. Having
survived public transport into Downtown NO, we proceeded to have a great day,
starting with beignets (doughnuts to you) and jazz in a courtyard café-bar on
Bourbon, followed by gin and tonics on a balcony bar, then lunch on the only
paddle steamer – The Natchez – which took us to all the best industrial areas
of the Mississippi (it is a working river after all and either the third or
sixth longest river In The World – depending on which tour guide you listen
to). We spent the rest of the day finding bars and drinking and listening to
jazz. Mmmm, nice.
Part two of
Gillie’s birthday was mostly spent on a hop-on, hop-off bus tour, plus walking
tours of a cemetery in the Garden District and the French Quarter. All very
interesting and worthy. Kept us out of bars, too. Dinner was going to be on a
balcony listening to a jazz band in the French Market, but as we waited for our
food, Gillie spotted A RAT! On the balcony !!!@!@£$%^&*. ‘welcome to
N’Orlinz’ said the unfazed waiter. We ate inside and quickly made our way to
Frenchmen Street for more jazz and wine.
So now we’re in
Biloxi MS. It’s very hot and humid. Why had I heard of Biloxi before we left
UK? No idea. Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, you’re up to date. Well done,
prizes will be awarded on our return. Stay well, promise it won’t be so long
before the next post, nor will it be as long…
Lots of love
(stay safe, as they say in NO) Andy xxxx
PS. Wow, now a pause for breath before I
start!! I’ve just been doing some
housework (or camperwork), it’s not all fun and games you know, there’s the
shagpile carpet to brush etc. etc… A
word about Biloxi, I’d never heard of it, but it’s gorgeous!! There’s 26 miles of the whitest sand you’ve
ever seen and the road runs alongside it, with views of the gulf of Mexico all
the way along. We’re only here for two
nights so will be off on our bikes soon to explore further.
Now about
petrol (or gas) stations. They must be
one of the friendliest places around.
It’s probably because of our California plates, but everyone wants to
chat and find out about the trip. If
there’s no-one about when filling up (we do this often, when doing 8 miles to
the gallon!) we can watch tv, as there is a screen at every pump in many
garages! How weird is that? Lastly, the price of fuel!! The cheapest we have seen is $1.68 a US
gallon (3.78 litres). Which in real
money is about 35p a litre!!. Every one
is telling us it’s a good time to be travelling.
As Andy has
said, we loved Memphis, it’s such a cool city with a great atmosphere. The Civil Rights Museum knocked me out, it
was so thought provoking and moving.
However the icing on the cake was the visit to Graceland. We couldn’t believe we were staying a five
minute walk from the mansion. When Elvis
bought it in the ‘50’s for $100,000, it was in the middle of the countryside,
now of course it’s surrounded by ‘stuff.’
We went there
because you can’t visit Memphis and not go, but we couldn’t believe how excited
we were: I was a big fan in Elvis’s early days, I remember going to see ‘Loving
You’ at the Aberdeen cinema in Scarborough and sitting through it twice (do you
remember Christine and Smuth??)
We are still
laughing about our experience at Al Green’s church, when we were complaining to
each other about everything being an hour late… but nobody told us!!
Finally a quick
note about the change in our itinerary.
We’re staying in Florida until 9th February in order to have
a decent time to sell Molly. We will
then spend just five weeks in South America, as we were concerned about security
and financial aspects of buying and selling vehicles over there. So we’re basing ourselves in Lima, Santiago
and Buenos Aires and then doing organized trips from those cities.
Time to go, the
bikes are calling. Thanks again for all
the lovely, lovely birthday messages. I had such a fabulous time in New Orleans
and loved nearly every minute! Thanks
Andy for making it so special.
Love to you all
Gillie xxx
PPS. The girls are really well. Holly is loving her new job at the Flight
Centre, only 3% of applicants get through to the training and only 5 out of 9
were successful at the end of a gruelling 3 weeks!! Emily is burning the candle
at both ends (as usual) with her fitness and yoga classes, as well as her full
time café management role! Well done to
both of them. xx
 |
| Some lovely buildings on Ocracoke Island |
 |
| Life, The Universe and Everything, plus lovely beer |
 |
| Red Sails in the Sunset! Lovely Jubbly |
 |
| Part of lovely Rainbow Row in Charleston |
 |
| Lovely Lake Lure |
 |
| At the Lovely Laurel and Brendan's house in the mountains |
 |
| Lovely album |
 |
| Posing with THE microphone - honest |
 |
| Spot the rocker! |
 |
| Contemplation on the spot where Dr Martin Luther King was shot |
 |
| Spot the Rocker pt II |
 |
| Welcome to my world - inside Graceland |
 |
| With a lovely picture of The King |
 |
Mmmm. Lovely. Nice |
 |
| Vanity, thy name is... |
 |
| Old N'Orlinz |
 |
| !!! |
 |
| On the lovely ferry between Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands |
 |
| Lovely lights in the county park, Charleston |
 |
| Kickin' back in the park |
 |
| More lovely autumn colours on the Parkway |
 |
| Not all country in Nashville! |
 |
| Saw off a mad woman to get this picture... |
 |
| Houses on lovely stilts on the Mississippi bayou |
 |
| Lovely white beach - our first view of the Gulf of Mexico |
