About
no seatbelts no fearsUpdate: Remember how I skinned my knee in Central Park at the very beginning of our trip? It still hasn’t healed. Which is maybe bad. But I sorta like it that way… as if once it heals, the road trip will officially be just a memory.
-Maggie
# February 10, 2012 / 11:19am
Kentucky!
And then, finally, we drove to Miles’s house in Berea, Kentucky. I got to meet Miles’s dad, brother, dog, and a few more high school friends, which as always was really special. We went for a couple hikes, got BBQ (which got me all hot ‘n’ bothered), and slept A LOT. I also got to watch Miles fix up the gorgeous electric guitar he made during Freshman year Winter Term, and named it Sabrina.
Kentucky was really beautiful, but it was a little too run down and sad for me to live there. I’ve grown to appreciate the south - how friendly and inexpensive it is, how beautiful and biodiverse it is - and while I could definitely do grad school there, I don’t think I want to live there for long. It’s too hot for me, anyway.
And there you have it! That was our Winter Term road trip, in a nutshell. I’m going to keep thinking and make a post later about how I’ve grown and what I’ve learned, but now is not the time. I hope that at the very least I’ve been able to give you all a picture of how magnificent this experience was for Miles and Me.
-Maggie
# February 10, 2012 / 12:36am
Tennessee
We got up extra early on Friday to drive to Tennessee. On the ten hour drive to Knoxville I spotted FOURTEEN red-tailed hawks! (My total for the trip was over 20.) We also almost had our ONLY (can you believe it?!) car disaster. As Miles was pulling off the highway when it was my turn to drive we noticed the gas gauge was very much in the red. When we filled her up it turned out we were literally running on fumes! So exciting. Anyway, we got to Knoxville safe and sound. We stayed with our Oberlin friends there and had a fun night of Ouija Boards, skinny splashing, and tree climbing.
The next day we got a yummy meal (I had scrambled eggs on fried corn tortillas with mole sauce) and drove to Nashville. Along the way we stopped at the largest tree house in the country, which is INSANE. We stayed with another Oberlin friend and his friend there. We got sushi (it was the first time I actually liked it!) and then walked around Broadway St. Miles is a baby so we couldn’t go into any of the music clubs, but we tried on cowboy boots and had fun anyway. I really wish we could have stayed their longer, but we were itching to get home.
-Maggie
# February 10, 2012 / 12:22am // 1 Notes
Other things we did in New Orleans:
The first day we explored the French Quarter’s shops and walked down Bourbon St. Don’t worry about what happened while we were there. Then we took the free ferry across the Mississippi just to get to the other side.
That night we went for a walk around the neighborhood with a crappy “local” cigar and went skinny splashing in Lake Pontchartrain. Gross and totally worth it on both counts.
On our last full day after we went to the Lower Ninth Ward we took a walk around the bayou. We saw 3 alligators and some cool birds, heard a frog, and witnessed the most amazing sunset ever. I kept trying to identify everything and was really sad I wasn’t with great naturalists like I usually seem to be on my other trips. When we were walking back to the car at dusk we saw a crazy white animal on the path. We followed it for a while and couldn’t tell what it was… it had a fluffy tail and moved like a cat, but it walked through water and we weren’t near houses that would have nice, clean cats like that. Miles says it was an albino fox. I don’t know. But it might have been a spirit animal.
That night we went to a bar with my high school friend who goes to Tulane, and then did a final swing through Bourbon St to see it at night. We never wanted to leave.
-Maggie
# February 10, 2012 / 12:16am
corny but true
(Source: leithescientist, via theoutbackkidd)
# February 8, 2012 / 12:43am // 3292 Notes
On our second full day in New Orleans, we decided to visit the Lower Ninth Ward. I was expecting the place to be in bad shape, but I was totally unprepared for what we saw. There were plenty of completely wrecked and unusable houses, but even more empty spaces where only the bare traces of buildings remained. We drove around for a while, saw the Make It Right houses, and eventually ended up walking up on top of a small structure next to a destroyed wetland.
After we talked to a crew of three contractors who were surveying the area in the hope of getting a contract to build a road around the edge of the lake, we were approached by a somewhat elderly black man and his wife. The man introduced himself, and we found out he had grown up in the Lower Ninth Ward and spend most of his life there. He talked about the friends he had lost to the hurricane, and said that almost everyone who failed to evacuate was killed. We talked a little about the politics behind the rebuilding process, and he complained about the poor black culture of the area. He wished that the younger generations would make more of an effort to rise above their circumstances and fight their problems. He asked about our lives, and recommended that I do well in college and that Maggie marry well. He also asked whether we were together (something we got a lot on the trip), and when we said no he told me that I should hurry up and get with such a pretty girl.
Talking to him, although an amazing experience, made me feel guilty for exploring the area. We were two wealthy tourists who came to see the destruction as a sightseeing opportunity. Sure, we were appropriately appreciative of the people and the area, but I still felt invasive.
# February 7, 2012 / 4:17pm
God I’m awful at blogging. Oh well. Story time! Maggie just did a post about eating, so I guess I’ll do one about drinking.
Setting: A chilly winter’s night. Windy enough that your coat can’t keep out January’s icy fingers. Snow is in the air, and when it lands on your shoulders it melts just enough to soak you to the bone. The only thing that helps is the spiteful burn of vodka in your throat and stomach. This is Athens.
…
In Athens we were hosted by one of my childhood friends, who goes to UGA. We stayed there two nights, and on the last night one of his friends invited us to hang out with her at the bar where she was training to be a bartender. Sensing free drinks, we gladly accepted.
Once in the bar, we sat down and started talking to the head bartender. He was as outgoing and entertaining as you might expect, and we quickly started asking him for drink recommendations. We first asked him whether he would let us have any drinks that were on fire. Sadly, it turned out that the state of Georgia had banned the practice a few years ago. When asked for his favorite drink, he laughed and said it was PBR. Finally, we ordered Irish Car Bombs. His eyes lit up and he decided to do one with us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_car_bomb
It turned out to be surprisingly delicious and a total blast (get it?). We spent a few hours experimenting with different drinks we had heard of, and ended up having way too much fun. There was a makeshift open-mic night going on, and Maggie and I almost worked up the courage to perform something, but in the end we couldn’t think of any song that we both knew. Also, in the end it turned out that the drinks weren’t free, but they also weren’t too expensive and so the night definitely counted as a success.
I guess I’m supposed to prove that this was a valuable learning experience. I would say that we learned… valuable beverage knowledge and social skills that will be important when we’re meeting prospective employers or colleagues at bars when we leave college. That happens, right?
# February 7, 2012 / 3:25pm
Yes, Mike Moore: We Ate Well
We ate our first classic dish as soon as we reach Andrew’s house, when his mom Gail served us chicken and sausage gumbo. Gumbo is a thick, tomato-based stew full of seafood or meat, okra and other veggies, and served over rice. It’s spicy, sweet, and savory - the ultimate exotic comfort food as far as I’m concerned.
Gail also provided us with an entire king cake, which we steadily demolished during our stay. It was the stuff of breakfast, snack, dessert, and 4 am snack. It reminded me of a giant hot cross bun, except that I love king cake and I don’t like hot cross buns. Go figure. King cakes typically have a creepy plastic baby inside, and whoever finds it in their slice is deemed King or Queen of the day. Some traditions also say that the recipient will soon have a baby. I’ll let y’all know if that happens.
When we went to the French quarter I followed Gail’s instructions and got a muffuletta at its historic place of origin, Central Grocery. Muffelettas are giant sandwiches on giant, round loaves of sesame bread. According to Wikipedia, the sandwich is filled with marinated olive salad, then layers of capicola, salami, pepperoni, emmentaler, ham, and provolone. All I know is that it was tangy, oily, and delicious. And huge! I got half a sandwich and it was my lunch on two consecutive days.
After that we got coffee and beignets across the street at Cafe du Monde. Beignets are tender little fried dough biscuits topped with a mountain of powdered sugar. They were complimented perfectly by Cafe du Monde’s classic Cafe Au Lait, which is their rich coffee and chicory blend served half and half with hot milk. After we finished everything and were too full to move, Miles and I had powdered sugar wars. I won.
For dinner that night Gail took us out to eat at Coop’s Place, which was 21+ because of its video poker machines and managed to be simultaneously cozy and grungy. Miles and I both got the Taste Plate, which had Seafood Gumbo, Shrimp Creole, Cajun Fried Chicken, Red Beans & Rice with Sausage, and Rabbit & Sausage Jambalaya. My favorites were the red beans & rice and the jambalaya, but everything was delicious. I had the leftovers for a midnight snack (along with a healthy serving of king cake).
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-Maggie
# February 7, 2012 / 12:42am
NOLA
We got up extra early on Tuesday morning to drive the ten hours to New Orleans(!), and only left 90 minutes after we’d planned, which was a big accomplishment for us. Miles and I kept ourselves entertained during the drive by looking at the scenery, listening to Winnie the Pooh on tape, sharing music, and coming up with alternately silly and deeply personal topics of conversation. We’ve grown really close on this trip, and I’m pleasantly surprised by how well we’ve gotten along. How have we done it? We tease each other constantly, but we can both handle it, and we’ve wrestled a few times to release tension (yes, I always lose). Having similar taste in music helps a lot, and he’s put up with my love of Rihanna while I’ve put up with his confounding obsession with Ke$ha and Katy Perry. We play silly car games like pediddle and truth-or-slap, and I’m counting Red-tailed Hawks. We also tried to keep track of funny messages on church signs, but were sorely disappointed by their lack of originality. Try harder next time, Bible Belt.
New Orleans was fucking amazing. There’s so much to talk about… we’ll add specific anecdotes later. We stayed with our friend Andrew’s awesome parents in their beautiful house just outside of the city. We spent our days enjoying the weather (70’s and sunny), eating everything in sight, and bopping around the French Quarter, Bourbon St, and the bayou. At night, of course, we hit the bars. We were so sad to leave!
-Maggie
# February 4, 2012 / 2:30am
~ Miles
# February 1, 2012 / 12:23am // 2 Notes
