Tennessee and Back Again!

TRAVELOGUE# 3.14159etc...

6/10/2008 5:12PM_EST

Nashville: a nice place to see, a great place to return to. Melissa and I spent the following three nights with her friend Kyle, and her close friends, seeing sights and exploring the space. Nashville (or Cashville, as the “hip-gangster-wannabes” refer it as) is the kind of city that has music on every corner block, culture in every shop, and sunburns on every other neck. Green trees everywhere, great microbrews (Blackstone Porter? Can I get an Amen?), and a Parthenon replica that I apparently can't take enough pictures of to pass the afternoon. That last bit was written with sarcasm. Wow, tough, disillusioned crowd. Cheer up.

The foot is healing, slowly, thanks to some wintergreen flavored alcohol (it's green!) and gauze. The next day we waited in a walk-in clinic for 2 mother-loving hours (props to Garth Ennis for the “mother-loving” quote) for a dermatitis diagnosis and nothing to keep us occupied save a “Never Trust A Stranger” daytime movie (documentary? One never knows about these things...) that won the award for Worst Movie Seen on the Road so far. We traipsed across the city like we owned it and finished the night with soup and electronic music making. The next morning we hit a pub and played billiards for a bit, then went to Capital Hill and drank over at the 12^th Avenue Taproom until we passed out (at 1:30 AM, drunkards that we are). Morning #2: Banana French Toast and Kayaking down the Harpeth River, thine name is SALVATION! Yes, we took the kayak out after plastic bagging my wounded foot (it still got wet) and lolled down the river, letting it carry us for a few hours. We got booted out by Forest Rangers an hour and a half before the time allotted for our friends canoe rentals, for whatever reasons. Try talking your way out of coming onto the river bank and going home early to a nice, apologetic Tennessee Forest Ranger whose gun is prominently displayed on his hip, and I'll buy you a beer, for, if you succeed, you surely are a smoother talker than I and my associates. World famous Spaghetti and Italian Sausage, garlic bread, and two episodes of the X-Files and the Simpsons Halloween Special XVII, and it's our last night in Nashville with some cool people. Did I mention the drums/ five string electric bass guitar jam session? I didn't? Oh...you should have been there.

More Savannah

Savannah, GA

TRAVELOGUE#2

6/06/2008 10:57PM_EST

Hey-hey (!) and a well, well, well, also...the 6th day on the road, sitting around in Nashville, Tennessee, and what the heck has happened that's made me relish the lounging and reprieve from the outside? Let's begin.

We left Saint Augustine around noon on Tuesday the 3rd, with all guns blazing, after a great couple of days sight seeing the oldest city in this continent (although the Chamber of Commerce and city signs want me to believe otherwise, however, this area wasn't a nation until the late 1700s!). Bread should be had at the Spanish Bakery for $1.50 (unlike the promised $1.00 per loaf some tour guides will guarantee you to be the correct price) at 10:45AM every morning (also unlike the promised 8:00AM “sharp!” baking of previously mentioned goods). These loaves lasted until Thursday, and tasted mother-loving fantastic with guava butter sold at the sweets store located in one of those many, many historic buildings. The town drips with History's wet presence, crushing the inevitably crashing tide of a Starbucks/ McDonalds weight with a firm “Preservation Ethic and Practice” (Kudos to the National Historic Preservation Act(s) of the 20th Century! Now rich folks get killer views with ancient plumbing!). Seriously, the city's oldest house is beautiful (coquina walls and square architecture) and the Ponce de Leon Hotel (Flagler College now) is vast and filled with spires and brick. The Old Spanish Fort is a prime location to catch swimming dolphin playing around (I started making high-pitched squeaking noises towards them, and they then started jumping higher, offering glimpses of their faces. They love the attention.) and, during the witching hours, a good spot for ghost watching (so saith the Ghost Store proprietor). Other highlight: the vortex of “Ripley's...Believe it or don't believe things you don't want too, because they probably aren't true?!®” was a lit phantasmagoria, however, had we traveled into the tragedy filled parallel dimension out of complete ignorance?

CHAPTER 2: Tragedy Strikes! Signs of a future yet to come? Ripley's® Revenge?!

So we're on the road to Savannah, we sleep in a church parking lot outside of Skidaway Island State Park at 11:30 PM due to exorbitant camping fees, and head out the next morning. Sounds fairly innocuous, right? We head off to the intracoastal waterway, kayak over to CRAB ISLAND, where I promptly and decisively slice my right foot, from ball/ instep up to the space between my large toe and first toe, as I am steering the kayak into the shallow waters to eventually board. My progress was, indeed, halted. First aid occurred, water was purified (thanks to the water purification apparatus from Melissa's Dad, Mike!) and Melissa then succumbed to the tortures of heat exhaustion. She tried to stomach a double quarter pounder, but could only make it through half (Hey, we all have standards, right? There's only so much a person can take in one day. Everyone has their breaking point.) of the terrible “sandwich”. Well, as soon as both parties felt up to the task of continuing onwards, the front right caliper seizes, resulting in another night in the lovely city of Savannah, where a Master Cylinder, rotors (right and left! Hooray!) and brake pads apparently do not come without a steep price tag.

Savannah is a lovely city, with a sweet historic district (check out Tomo Chi-Chi's burial site! Nice park, nice statue.) and it's interesting to watch Chinese freight come in by the mega-ton. It was great to get back on the road, that's all I'm saying. Crossing that Tennessee border into Chattanooga yesterday evening was comforting, cutting through the mountain roads was stunning, and meeting new friends that very night in Nashville has felt destined from the start. More to come in the following nights, weeks, whatever, I'm sure...

St. Augustine

James and I enjoyed biking around the historic St. Augustine. It is a beautiful city enriched by the past. Here are some pictures from Ripley's Museum and the Fort.

6/01/2008_8:25PM EST

TRAVELOGUE

After a tearful bout of farewells from the family and loved ones, Melissa and I have navigated successfully though the concrete overpasses and various burnt orange groves. We are now coasting peacefully along Interstate A1A, 30 feet from the coast of the Atlantic crushing the powdered sand into finer particles of powder, sea crashing into itself and sky. Cool breezes drift into the open windows of our mighty Starcraft, and the road before us trembles under the awesome might of our ideals and ambitions!
Possible reflections on a life of relative ease and luxury thus far have not yet surfaced, however, the outlook for such indulgences of the self are sure to loom all dark and gray like. Ideas such as, “Have I been here before?” or “Surely this calm is ephemeral!” are making both their rounds and presences known. The smell of wood smoke is heavy, the smiles are surfacing, and the sun is sliding down the horizon line with a burnt lava trail of orange and neon amber.
Saint Augustine is our destination for sleep tonight, inside of the warm beds and showers of a good friends house. This is of course due to Mistress Fortuna's hand, however, the dollar loaf of bread earlier foretold of might have swayed the opinions of these travelers. Now we just need to find out where this blasted house is. Where this bread can be found will be a nice bit of trivia to learn as well...yes, I'm thinking it will.
Let's see...inventory time, yes? We have: A 1993 GMC VanDura (Starcraft Model!), a bed frame made by the ever humble and giving Joshua Williams, a full-size mattress, shelves with books (lots of books), several types of plastic totes (with books, more books, clothing, and essential linens), canned and non-perishable food-like-stuff, a MicroKorg Synthesizer (Ambient Distractions!) with 10 Watt Roland Cube Amplifier (thanks to Djorn!), two laptop computers (!), a bevy of cameras, and a gigantic safe to keep it all in! Also, a portable DVD player (miniature), a 400 Watt Power Inverter (plugged in as I write this), two deep cycle batteries thanks to Steve the Mechanic down at Complete Auto Service down in Deerfield Beach (954-942-2400), more clothes, a fridge/ cooler for the essential doughnuts, juice, and whatevers, a Coleman 2-range propane burner and a separate burner for camping. Thanks to Josh, again, we also have a two person Kayak to gratefully lug around, which is is tied down to a storage carrier given to us by Josh and his girlfriend Anja! Fear not, a spare tire is tied down to the roof as well. A three person tent, a GPS, sleeping bags, winter clothes, canopy, the list goes on. A new skateboard deck from my cousins Clem and Loretta in Athens, Georgia (FERAL Skateboards, nice deck, good pop, smooth graphics!) have finally replaced my 5 year old deck! A razor sharp machete and 4.5 pound hammer rounds the list off fairly well, agreed?
Wait....we just passed over a bridge, spanning the gap of land and coast and inlet, sidling back onto the mainland with nary a glance backwards. This is the first day...

Leaving Town!

James and I are heading off in about an hour, but before we go we thought we would post a picture of what we are leaving behind. So here is a picture of Deerfield Beach Pier.

Hitting the road in less than 24 hours!!

Hitting the Road Soon!!

13 DAYS LEFT!! James and I are getting really excited about taking off on our trek across the US. Here is where we will be posting our pictures along the way for anyone interested in what we are getting into.

Canoeing in the Everglades!

Random Park Photos