Archive for the The South Category
Posted on December 7, 2009 by angela
Last week we were lucky enough to spend a couple days in The Big Easy. While there are abundant tour companies happy to take your money for a ‘Katrina Tour’ or ‘Swamp Tour,’ we were happy just to walk around town and see the sights. And we did a lot of walking… and eating.
The food in this city is pretty amazing. Menu items often include frog legs, alligator, and ingredients like ‘debris.’ We ate well, but no fried gator.
The Big Easy is one of the only towns we know of where it’s perfectly normal to see someone walking down the street carrying a tuba.
Day Two began with a trolley ride around town and a visit to the aquarium. It’s expensive but it was one of the better fish houses I’ve seen. We got to pet a nurse shark and a sting ray. Unfortunately, the rays weren’t coming to the surface much (where Bode’s little arms could reach.) Then a school group came to the tank and the workers were a little quick to rush us along.
Lunch was a po’boy at the recommended Mother’s Restaurant. They claim to have the world’s best baked ham. I’m not a ham lover, but it was great.
Despite Bode’s food allergies, he got to sample the beignets from Cafe du Monde. I just couldn’t say no. They are covered in powdered sugar and after they put your order into a bag, they dump another cup of sugar on them in the bag. You can’t eat them without being completely covered.
Of course, there are street performers on every corner. Bode helped earn tips for one particular puppeteer. He had quite a crowd gathered.
I can’t decide if New Orleans is more beautiful in the daylight or at night.
Both Jason and I have been to New Orleans a few times. We both went as children, and walking down Bourbon Street at night with a child brought back Jason’s memory of doing the same with his parents. He was 8 and really excited because he saw boobs. He didn’t see any this night.
A few months after we started dating, we drove with a van full of friends to Mardi Gras. We stayed with someone’s brother and slept on the floor of an efficiency apartment with 12 others. That was a good time, but nothing like this trip. Traveling with a kid puts a whole new perspective on everything, and I love it.
With the early sunset, evening walks were pretty exciting with Bode. The old buildings and voodoo shops gave a fun and eerie feel. Live music blared from the bars and street corners. Bode loved New Orleans; and this was my favorite trip there yet.
Posted on December 4, 2009 by jason
We drove over to Pensacola and wandered around aimlessly for a bit and then unsuccessful tried to go to an oyster festival. It was still going on, but the bad weather meant that there were only about 40 people there and all the rides were gone. Bode was promised rides, and a smattering of people sitting at picnic tables shucking oysters under a shelter does not make a festival. We drove some more and saw a sign for a greyhound track and figured that it might possibly entertain a 4 year old (don’t judge), but it was an even sadder sight. A bit dejected, we headed over to the beach to camp, but then we got a call from Wild Bill.
The unofficial Pensacola welcome-wagon featuring Wild Bill, the non-consecutive nine-time president of the local VW club – Rare AIR VW – came out to meet us at the Big Lagoon campground. Bill’s a really nice guy and we chatted for a while about our trip, the local VW scene, and all sorts of other random stuff. And, he came bearing gifts! We all went away with some awesome new VW T-shirts and Bode got a new flashlight! Thanks Bill!
Wild Bill has a Champagne Edition ’78 bus that was given to him, and he’s since transformed it into a weekender with drop-down DVD player and surround sound (solar powered, of course.) We tested it out and it was impressive. Far more entertainment than we can muster from our bus. He’s got 220,000 original miles on the engine and the only problem with the thing, Rusty, is that it lives up to it’s name. Gulf Coast rust is not pretty. I’m quite sure the windshield isn’t touching any metal at all and is just floating in a bed of caulk. He’s got all the replacement panels needed to weld it back up one day, so I’m sure it will be a show car before long.
Bill recommended we take a trip over to the National Naval Aviation Museum the following day. A great suggestion and maybe the only time we’ll drive on a military base in the near future.
Pretty much everything in U.S. military aviation history that you would want to see is here and they even had a pretty cool indoor playground as well. The place is huge and there are planes everywhere. We got to play in helicopter and Blue Angels cockpits. Bode had a blast.
Another day, another Shorty. This one in front of a pawn shop.
Posted on December 3, 2009 by angela
Backing up a bit and picking up where we left off in Florida….
After swimming with the manatees, we drove up the coast and stayed on Saint George Island. A forgettable town, but they have a state park. Then, we drove west along the coast through Apalachicola. Great name and a nice little town on the ocean. While driving through, we picked up some country radio and coincidentally the chorus of the song at that moment was constructed around Apalachicola. Tough to rhyme. It had to be some serious work to write that song, so it must be a great town.
You really can’t get better than driving to white sand beaches on a sunny day in November, can you? Jason found a beach bar/restaurant on Google Maps in Mexico Beach, Florida that looked interesting, so we found it along our way and decided to give it a try .
It had a playground on the beach, service in the sand, college football on 10 TV’s and fried pickles. All of us were happy. It was a nice day and we were feeling pretty lazy, so we stayed here most of the afternoon. Long enough to hear from one of the employees who just got fired – but was still expected to work the rest of the day. Not smart.
This guy went around and spewed venom about the owners all afternoon, telling other employees where to set a match to the thatched roof if they wanted to burn the place down (seemed pretty accurate) and telling us about how the owners are laundering drug money. Apparently, all the bills being deposited into the local bank are over 10 years old – something that just doesn’t happen since U.S. money is taken out of circulation fairly regularly. Anyway, his dad heard all this from the local banker, who was alerted by the FBI. All of this from a jilted employee making the rounds on his final afternoon. Check, please.
We stayed a little further down the road at Saint Andrews State Park. There was a playground at the campsite and lots of kids, so we were pretty much set for entertainment. This was also a bit of a local surf spot. The problem was (as I saw it) that the break was right on the beach. You had to hop off your board before you were stuck in sand. If you wipe out, you’re in 1 foot of water. Not much effort to paddle out, I suppose, so you take the good with the bad.
Posted on November 27, 2009 by jason
For a few years now, both Angela and I have thought it would be really cool to swim with manatees. There’s exactly one place to do it, and we were really close. Next stop – Crystal River, Florida.
In the winter months, these lumbering giants float up river to the mouth of the natural springs. They pretty much just float around, eat (they’re vegetarians) and sleep. They sleep twenty minutes at a time, wake up for a few minutes to wander around and snack, then dive-bomb for the bottom and immediately fall back asleep.
They are truly bizarre creatures. They are mammals and have hair, but a big fin for a tail instead of hind legs. They have tiny flippers in front, but they are really just fat nubs for bouncing off the bottom. They are enormous – like a ton – but are gentle and don’t’ really seem to care about anything.
Remember this next guy? Daniel. We met him in California a few months ago. He checked-in and asked “are you guys in Florida yet?” Yep – Crystal River. “Me too!”
He sent us out to some marsh land to meet him at a local joint for BBQ with his boss. Since we last met, Daniel drove his bus down to the Bay Area and parked it at a storage lot near Richmond, CA. He was one of those people that grabbed the Jet Blue ‘anywhere we fly for a whole month’ deals. He spent 30 days flying everywhere they went – Colombia, Bahamas, Costa Rica, etc. You get the idea.
His plan was to go back to S.F. and pick up the bus, but he ran a little short of cash. Now, he’s working for a few months to save some money and take off again. But, he’s debating whether to go pick up the bus or bike across New Zealand. We vote for the bike trip.
His boss was a nice guy who had the memorable quote “every now and then we lose Daniel for a while.” That’s a good boss.
Posted on November 26, 2009 by jason
We got a nice email from Kevin from Jacksonville,FL who wanted to invite us over, but it said… “It would be cool to have you stop by, but I am currently living in Afghanistan. It would be so uncool to have your family drive here.” Yeah – we agree. Kabul or the Florida beaches? Further south we go…
What’s the oldest city in America?
St. Augustine?
Yep, that’s what they say. First thing we found was a park with a carousel. Bode rode 3 times. Next we went to the historic downtown. We parked next to a small median park with a few cannons. Bode now has to go around and climb on all of them. He pretends to load them, add gunpowder, light them. Then he runs off ducks and yells ‘fire in the hole!’. Usually I’ll cover my head and wait for his explosion sound. It’s pretty funny when others in the park duck and cover their heads, too.
We went through the market area and enjoyed it. It’s kind of Spanish colonial with cobblestone streets, has a tropical feel and lot’s of tourist milling about.
Castillo de San Marcos was a big hit… it had lots of cannons, a drawbridge, and stories about pirates. The kid loves pirates.
Posted on November 25, 2009 by angela
Savannah is now on my list of potential places to live. Beautiful architecture, southern hospitality, nice people and all around good vibe. And don’t forget Moon Pies!
Jason had gotten some recommendations for Mrs. Wilkes restaurant and we decided real southern food sounded pretty good. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when we got there, there was a sign outside saying the 3rd seating would start at 12:30. It was about 12:15, so we sat down behind a few others in line. By 12:30 the line was down the block. We entered, sat down family-style at a table with 22 dishes of food. No joke, 22. And sweet tea. The most amazing BBQ pork, fried chicken and meatloaf I’ve ever had….and 19 other tasty sides. Okra, Collard greens, squash, sweet potato, etc. Someone at the table asked where we’d found the best food on the trip. Uh, this is it. Bode even tried some new dishes, AND liked them.
After a meal like that you have to walk it off so we walked around town. It’s a very walkable city – another requirement for living anywhere – but we’re not sure we would want to stroll around in the July heat and humidity. While Jason’s favorite part of Savannah was the meal, my favorite was the park-like squares. Bode was really interested in the Colonial Park cemetery (they stopped burying people here in 1853,) but that was short-lived. There was a playground next to it. The cemetery was creepily beautiful, with moss hanging from the old trees. Most of the dead seemed to be Savannah VIPs of the 1700s, but also a few with interesting headstone stories, like those who died in a duel. Back in the old days when people defended their honor by shooting at each other from 20 paces. Good times.
So we go inside and we gravely read the stones,
All those people, all those lives, where are they now?
With loves and hates and passions just like mine,
They were born and then they lived and then they died.
-Morissey
I’d love to spend some more time here someday, but we’re expected at 3 more Thanksgiving dinners. We drove down to Jacksonville, FL and camped right on the white sand beach. Since we pulled in at night, we didn’t notice the Navy base across the river until after we set up camp. Helicopters and planes took off all evening, but it was pretty impressive to Bode. Giant boats floated by so quiet you couldn’t hear them. You’d look up, and there was the biggest boat you’ve ever seen right in front of you. Crazy.
It was pretty dark, so we couldn’t really see what these ships were up to, but they were not the usual container ship fare we were used to seeing in the Bay Area. Jason’s insists that all container ships are full of toilet brushes. When we lived in Bay Area, we would constantly see huge container ships from China float under the Golden Gate Bridge – nonstop. What do you think is on that one? Toilet brushes.
Posted on November 23, 2009 by angela
Since we never planned to be this far east, we were left without a plan in Charleston, SC. Turns out, we were just as happy without one. The town is gorgeous and has a rich history. We spent some time in Battery Park where Bode could climb on cannons. From this point onward, Bode now refers to these places as ‘Cannon Parks.’ He has a whole routine that includes saying “fire in the hole!” and taking cover.
We had a pretty specific ‘No weapons allowed’ rule back in California, but honestly, that never worked out very well. I’d go to three stores to find water ‘squirters’ not shaped like guns and Bode and his friends would still pretend they were weapons. Light sabers, swords, pistols – all things that can be fashioned from a stick by any imaginative kid. And guess what? The kids who have these toys are totally normal. While I’m still not a fan of my son mimicking violence, I’m realizing it’s part of being a boy, and yet another California parent disconnect.
We drove Red Beard through the historical areas, the French Quarter, etc. It’s a very nice place, but we just didn’t find anything specific that we wanted to do. There was also the persistent smell of chemical refinery wafting around town – maybe the wind was blowing in the wrong direction – so we just decided to bag it. Refineries are pretty common sights and smells in The South, especially on the coasts, and something we had conveniently forgotten. The city was beautiful, but after a few hours we decided to get in a little more daylight drive time.
Savannah was our destination, but we were losing light and we were getting tired. We made it to Beaufort. Beaufort is a pretty little town with a little old downtown shopping area and a scenic harbor. Nice place.
That night we got an email from JT, saying “Hey, did you guys just drive into Beaufort? I think I saw you!” The second official Red Beard sighting that we know of. Pretty cool, but also kinda strange. Anyway, we wanted to meet up, but he was in the middle of some intense firefighter training and we were headed out the next day, so no dice this time.
We’ve been able to make connections up and down the East Cost and could probably just hop between hosts for this part of the trip, but we haven’t been capable of planning anything or giving anyone advance notice, so we’re just winging it as usual.
Between crossing the Mason-Dixon Line and the long driving days, we’ve given in to fast food occasionally, but my stomach was clamoring for something not fried and possibly even healthy. Sushi in Beaufort, SC? Right on! I’m not sure how many other kids say this when asked about dinner, but I can guarantee that I didn’t until around 35: “Sushi! Sushi…I LOVE sushi!”
Bode ate 6 rolls, edamame, and then asked if we could order another roll. We did—and he ate 3 more.
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