We're blue...

We had a quick continental breakfast with the ghost of Clarksdale, or as we know him, our innkeeper. We stayed in the Clark House b&b and only ever saw other guests. The house itself was quite striking. It was built by Mr. Clark, after whom the town was named, in the mid-late 1800s. It included very large rooms with ceilings at about 12-14 feet. The house was sparsely decorated with great, somewhat eclectic, art on the walls. Our room was in the separate cabin behind the main house. Very nice.

It's always Christmas in Clarksdale, we found. 

We have grave concerns about our host after finding this envelope waiting for us. Looks sort of like it was written by a deranged individual or a second grader.

This is the only contact we had with our innkeeper.

The Delta Blues Museum, our first stop, was a disappointment. No sense sugarcoating it. The museum was really not much more than a large collection of photographs with a very small amount of memorabilia in the exhibits. The highlight of the museum right now is a special exhibit about Muddy Waters and the most impressive item in that collection is the actual house in which Muddy Waters was born, the child of sharecroppers. The home is still owned by the family that owned the plantation on which the house was found. 

Pictures were not allowed in the museum (ironic considering the museum is almost entirely pictures) so I'm trusting you all to not rat us out.

Next stop was the Rock and Blues Museum, two blocks away. Apparently this museum was started by a man from the Netherlands who owned the same museum in his home country and decided to set it up in Clarksdale instead. It was closed.

Time to leave town and stop at the town's only donut shop for a fresh one. They had 6 donuts, all with a nasty thick glaze. We don't mean 6 types of donuts, we mean 6 donuts - a half dozen. They also had yesterday's donuts available for sale. Time to get the hell away from Clarksdale.

Today was a planned driving day after what was sure to be an exhilarating stay at the museum. After our 45 minute stop at the museum (which included a 10 minute movie) we got on our way to hit a few roadside points of interest. The giant cedar bucket we hoped to get to first was a no show. The most interesting thing about this bucket is that it was built in the 1980s and its crown was stolen by a larger bucket in Murfreesboro, Tennessee which wound up the victim of arson. I report, you decide. I bet they were pretty proud of that title, though.

Next stop, Tupelo Mississippi, birthplace of Elvis Presley, and we can prove it. The house had an outhouse. 

Welcome to Tupelo, Honey.

They take their Elvis very seriously in Tupelo. A statue of Elvis at age 13.

Birmingham, Alabama is the home of Vulcan the Ironman. A 56 ft. tall statue that was created to represent Birmingham and its industrial past at the 1904 World's Fair.  He stands atop a pedestal that is at least 4 stories tall, high on a hill on the edge of town, overlooking the city. It provides a lovely view of the city, one that was quite unexpected. I'd like to get back, the city is loaded with important history and it looks appealing. Here's a few shots. 

Apparently there's a significant collection of very large chairs in the US. Google it if you don't believe me. Somehow we have avoided this genre of weird things to photograph thus far in our jaunt across this great country. Today is the day we right that wrong, with the Guinness Book of World Records recognized world's largest office chair. The write up we saw about the chair claims there's the accompanying largest wad of gum stuck to the underside of the chair. We didn't see it. Another reason to come back to Alabama. The chair is in Anniston, AL.

Tonight's stopping point is Macon, GA and with that we arrive back in our home time zone. A sure sign that we are approaching the end of our journey. Off to Savannah tomorrow.

We closed the day out at 8100 miles. We need an oil change again.

A&L

Tuesday, July 29th

I went down to the crossroads...

We started the day in New Orleans and we are ending the day in Clarksdale, MS.  It was long, but interesting. Since last night's dinner was so lousy we woke up hungry.  I explained our game plan for the day with the hotel's desk clerk and a plan for breakfast miraculously emerged.  Near the Garden District, which was one of our destinations for the day, is a spot known as the Camellia Grill.  The restaurant was underwater during Katrina and in its aftermath.  When the water ebbed, the owners decided to close rather than rebuild. Neighbors and regulars came by and saw the closed sign and decided to do something about it.  They covered the building in post it notes declaring their love and need for this small diner. The owners relented and reopened.  Hearing that story we had to stop in and see what everyone was so excited about.  We had expected that everything in the place would be new and there would be pictures of the place underwater and then covered in post it notes.  Instead it appears the owners let the joint dry out, cleaned it up (a bit) and started cooking again.  Breakfast was a big hit, however. Delicious.

We left the Camellia Grill and headed straight for the garden district. As a new generation of wealth arrived in New Orleans in the early 1800s the nouveau riche were not welcomed in the "city" by the old guard.  This group of outsiders started their own "suburb", which is known today as the garden district.  In addition to the beautiful architecture, this area is famous as the setting for Anne Rice's vampire novels. Our next stop (located in the garden district) was the Lafayette Cemetery; quite an interesting sight.  All of the graves are in above ground crypts. The exterior of the crypts have the names of the family members associated with the crypts, sometimes as many as 20 names - way more than could possibly fit into small spaces.  We have no idea how they deal with this issue.  What is the ultimate disposition of these 20 individuals?  Are there urns inside? Odd people pieces?  Some crypts are so old and untended that there is no way to know who is actually buried within.  A few have a personality all their own.  We were under the impression that crypts are used in New Orleans because the town sits at sea level and a heavy rain could bring on "floaters". While touring, we heard someone from Tulane, who was taking around a group of students, indicate that the above ground burial was a cultural matter.  The whys don't matter so much as the interesting cemeteries that result.

After wandering around the cemetery, we took a gander at some of the impressive houses in the Garden District. We were told that one of the houses is Sandra Bullock's New Orleans home but that there are few actual Sandra sightings. The Benjamin Button movie was also filmed in one of the houses in the area. There are, however, many fine houses at which to gawk and this is really a very small sample of the neighborhood's amazing homes.

We wanted to check out the ninth ward, the area most impacted by Hurricane Katrina. I had also shared this plan with the desk clerk.  She let us know where the ninth ward was located and then shared that she lived in the ninth ward. Her home has been rehabbed.  As we drove around the ninth ward, we were struck by the contrasts in the city - not just the haves and the have nots, or the Garden District and the ninth ward, but the contrast within the ninth ward as well.  Many homes have clearly been rehabbed and repaired.  Entire blocks have clean, new brick facades and pristine roofs.  You turn the corner and you get to neighborhoods that are still showing the effects of Katrina. It is amazing to us that 9 years after this disaster, there still is so much rebuilding to be done.

We departed New Orleans via the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. At 28 miles long, it is the longest continuous causeway in the world.  It is literally a straight line across the middle of the lake.  Looking out at the lake and having seen the way the Mississippi River winds its way around the city, it is clear that for all of its wonders, New Orleans is a recipe for disaster and it is, sadly, just a matter of time before a similar disaster befalls the area.

Once we crossed the causeway we planned to follow back roads through the northeast corner of Louisiana into Mississippi. 

We had a stop to make in a little town in northeast Louisiana, Kentwood. This is the hometown of Britney Spears and they have a museum in town that is supposed to honor the local culture but is largely devoted to Britney.  You can only imagine our disappointment when we got there and it was closed.  Heartbreaking.  We took a picture but we're too depressed to download it.

We took  I-55 to the far northwestern corner of Mississippi to the tiny town of Clarksdale.  I-55 is known as the Blues Highway because it connects New Orleans to Memphis.  Back in the day, jazz and blues musicians were regularly riding up and down this road to get to and from gigs. 

We don't have many fun pictures today but we do have this one.  Just how old is the person driving this car?

We rolled into Clarksdale past "the Crossroads"  where legend has it Robert Johnson, a very early blues guitarist, sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his musical talents. He wrote the song Cross Road Blues that was ultimately made popular by the band Cream under the name Crossroads. 

We found a B&B for the night.  But it seems we have a ghost host.  There was a lock box with an envelope inside detailing instructions on how to find our room, a list of local music venues and how to find our self-serve breakfast tomorrow. This B&B ranks right up there in the weird category.  Clearly we aren't in Kansas anymore. The town of Clarksdale is very depressed.  The downtown "business district" is probably 50% vacant. It's kind of sad to see the level of local poverty and the lack of opportunity.

Tomorrow we will tour the Delta Blues Museum.  Apparently the only reason to visit Clarksdale, MS.  

And, finally, an announcement.  We have a firm date on which we will arrive home, Monday, August 4.  This will give us time to deal with 5 weeks worth of mail and household responsibilities before setting out on August 16 to return the girl child to Charleston and the beginning of her junior year in college.

A&L

Monday, July 28

At long last, we've made it to the big easy.

That is not to say this has been a long trip (although it has been) but rather that New Orleans has been on our bucket list for way too many years. So many years that we insisted our darling daughter apply to Tulane so we could attend orientation and parents' weekend in NOLA! And that is, in fact, a true story.

In our opinion the only way to start your first day in New Orleans is at Cafe Du Monde with beignets and coffee. 

They were everything we hoped they would be. We found that a single order of three beignets was perfect for two people. We were amazed at the number of tables that ordered a plate of three for everyone at the table. Given the temperature at 8:30 a.m. we both went with a version of iced coffee. It was perfect.

Next on the check list, wander the French Quarter. We toured churches and former convents, strolled streets, wandered the French Market, shopped galleries and voodoo shops and lunched on gumbo. This actually took up most of the day. We are staying here another night and have more sights to see tomorrow. But plenty of fun photos from today.

FUN FACT: One of the churches has been designated a minor basilica, second minor basilica of our trip. The first was in Santa Fe.

Blue leopard duct tape covered bike.

Gas lanterns add character

Voodoo dolls

Yard art

I needed a bathroom and walked into the not yet open Good Friend's bar and asked if they could help.  This is the key chain to their womens's room!

We dined (and I use that word in its loosest possible sense) at the Gumbo Shop.  It easily won the award for worst dinner on the entire barnstorming trip.  No contest.  If you are in NOLA, just say NO to the Gumbo Shop.  The meal was a flavorless glop-fest.

After dinner we wandered over to Frenchman Street which is just outside of the French Quarter.  It has a reputation as being a quieter area, with bars where you can actually enjoy the music instead of the just the booze.  This will be a repeat stop should we make it back to NOLA one day.  The band in the no cover charge bar we wandered into was so good, Lester bought their CD.  We didn't stay too long because we wanted to make the 10:00 show at Preservation Hall.

Now let me start by saying that I saw the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on New Year's Eve many, many years ago at the Eastman Theatre which is part of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.  It is a beautiful theater.  (FUN FACT: My HS graduation ceremony took place in the Eastman Theatre.) So, now please picture what you think Preservation Hall must look like.  They're a world famous band with their own performance space, right? Do you have a vision in mind?  Now get ready for the real thing.

We estimate the entire concert hall is about 16 feet wide by 32 feet long.  The first two rows are occupied by anyone young enough to sit cross legged on the floor.  The next four rows are essentially picnic benches.  After that, it is standing room only.  No air conditioning, just a couple of fans. Oh, and they were great.  We didn't actually see the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. That is the touring band.  We saw the Preservation Hall Jazz Masters.  Tonight Leroy Jones was

the band leader, he is widely considered the "keeper of the flame" for traditional New Orleans jazz and one of the best musicians ever produced by the city.  It was a fun and lively show.  One of the songs on their play list was What a Wonderful Life, made famous by native son Louis Armstrong. We continue to be amazed by what we see on this trip and appreciate the good fortune that has given us this opportunity.

More NOLA tomorrow, then we drive north on "the Blues Highway" to Clarksdale, MS for yet another bucket list stop, the Delta Blues Museum.  I smell a new t-shirt...

A&L

Sunday, July 27

We're on the road again

Today was a seven hour plus trek from Austin to New Orleans. The transition seems to be complete from the agricultural economies we have been traveling through since leaving Madison, WI to the industrial economy that started raising its head in Texas.  The oil fields of west Texas transitioned into the urban areas of central and east Texas and full blown industrial and chemical complexes of Louisiana. 

The last exit in Texas and we drove on almost every one of those miles. That was a very long state.

This truck has a child in the back, it flew past me while I was doing 75ish.  One of the scarier sights we saw.

Another scary sight, drive through mixed drinks. Welcome to Louisiana!

The bright yellow piles are sulfur at a fertilizer factory.  

En route to New Orleans we stopped at Oak Alley Plantation. It was pretty amazing. The oaks that make up the alley are Virginia Live Oaks that are over 300 years old (the trees generally have a life expectancy of 600 years) and are thick with resurrection ferns.  These ferns turn brown and dry until the next rain when they green right up.  We arrived on a green day.  They are  spectacular. And HUGE!!

All the green on the trunk is the resurrection fern.

Close up of resurrection fern.  Note that the ferns are starting to brown again, until the next rain.

28 Virginia Live Oaks, 14 on each side flank the quarter mile entrance to the main house

The full length of the alley as viewed from the balcony of the main house.

This plantation is currently owned by a traditional historical non-profit foundation but it also is a functioning sugar cane plantation.  So, for those of you who don't know what sugar cane looks like this one is for you. It's actually quite pretty, especially when the wind blows.

FUN FACT: There have been many movies, TV shows, and music videos filmed on location at this plantation. Two of the notable films are Interview with the Vampire and Primary Colors.

We are comfortably settled in our hotel in New Orleans, we've enjoyed a delicious cajun dinner complete with live zydeco music.  We're showered and are getting ready to figure out the next couple of days.  In the meantime we bring you the following book review.

The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson

This book tells the story of the discovery of Pluto and its naming. The predominant matter discussed is Pluto's ultimate demotion from its status as a planet to something less than that, a celestial object, but not a planet. The book also discusses the planet's cultural significance, including its link to Disney's Pluto (not much).

The author recounts the story of the demotion in the context of the reopening of the planetarium at the Museum of Natural History in NYC where he runs the educational programs. The museum recently rolled out a complete renewal of the planetarium at the cost of about a quarter billion dollars. It was a very high profile project in scientific circles. He tells the story of the museum's decision to demote Pluto from the status of a planet long before that opinion was widely accepted as it is today. This is a gross simplification of the situation but it will suffice.

You are probably aware of the author as he is the media's go to scientist on all things planetary. He is quite smitten with himself and at length discusses the hardship the museum's decision brought upon him. He also loves to recite very long lists of things, like the variations of the mnemonics people use to remember the order of the planets. He must have offered up 15 different variations. He also read throughout the course of the book literally dozens of emails he received over the years the book follows. Yeah, we get it. Did I mention he read the book as well? The book was not very long but it was too long. It would have made a great story, in highly redacted form, in the Sunday New York Times magazine.

A&L