The Big Drive

Knoxville's Sunsphere and World's Fair Park

When I left Baton Rouge, I tried my best to get to parking in Jackson, MS; I didn't make it there, nor did I make it far at all. The moment I recognized I was too tired to drive coincided with a sign for the "Welcome to Mississippi" rest area along the highway. I initially just wanted to nap for an hour, but at 0200, we all knew it wouldn't be "just a nap". With a security guard on patrol at this rest area, I felt comfortable sleeping here. This was the first time I slept in my car but not in a hospital parking garage/lot.

After a short night's sleep, I continued to Jackson, the city from which I would beeline to Knoxville, TN, by way of Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Chattanooga. A seven hour drive on straight shot.

I did all of the following in one day, so I could get to my Tufts fencing friend Shelby's for dinner. If I was ever in a hurry on this trip, now is it.

Jackson

Downtown Jackson

There is quite literally nothing here. Most boring capital ever. I hopped between the real capitol, then the old capitol, and then downtown.

Current capitol

The current capitol building is decent. It combined Baton Rouge's gothic feel with the usual domed top, but didn't come together as anything special to my eyes. It was rigged for repairs, so that definitely detracted from its appearance, as much as I tried to look past the rigging. The main monument out front of the capitol commemorates the Confederacy. Downtown, all I saw was a historical society signpost noting the location of the famous Jackson Woolworth's Sit-In (the store no longer exists).

Old capitol

Most of the city looks destitute. The only major park costs money to drive into, so I didn't bother. I got to wondering if the south's economy was so crippled by the abolition of slavery as to doom them into poverty, even a century later. When the slavery crutch was taken out from under them, was there any other possible course history could have taken so as to not end up with run-down capital cities? I didn't yet know when I was ruminating on this in Jackson, but my next major stop, Birmingham (Tuscaloosa doesn't count), would grant credence to the hypothesis that it was impossible to not end up here. Birmingham was and still is an industrial (as opposed to agrarian) city since the Civil War - never significantly dependent on slave labor within the city - and is doing well today. Abolition necessarily ruined a southern half of America whose economy was dependent on slavery (not to mention almost all Civil War battles taking place in the south, laying waste to their land). We can blast any of today's confederate flag wavers, but we must be careful not to judge history's ethics by today's standards.

Tuscaloosa

Roll Tide! Huge campus. 95,000 total city denizens, of which 45,000 are students, faculty, and staff at the university.

Relatively new engineering building on the left

Outside the student center

Birmingham

View of downtown from Vulcan

Downtown from a bridge artery

The Vulcan Statue

The main cool section of the town, also called Five Points as in Columbia, didn't have much. The city is just so spread out. More than any city I've seen so far I think. I hope the public transit is good, because it is not at all a walk-able city.

There's some neat architecture, including a castle. It's a very industrial city, as I mentioned above. Got some good ribs here. And then there is the imposing Vulcan statue flaunting the city's industrialism. I had never heard of this statue until Chad told me to go see it. It is the world's largest cast-iron statue. For $6, you can ascend it.

The Moon Over Homewood

Chattanooga

The Tennessee River, John Ross Bridge, and Lookout Mountain from Coolidge Park

A much better shot of Lookout Mountain.
Also the Walnut Street walking bridge and the top of the historic Coolidge Park Carousel.

This city is nestled at the foot of mountains, which I had to drive over coming from the southwest. I observed the city from Lookout Mountain, shown in the background of two of my pictures. The city looked fun and livable, but old. It was very crowded around the popular areas. I had trouble finding parking in the vicinity of Terminal Brewhouse, where I would get my next root beer. There is an aquarium which supposedly rivals Atlanta's that I obviously didn't have time to see.

Popular section of Chattanooga, near the park

Knoxville

View of downtown from atop the Sunsphere

Miss these guys

I was actually here once before, almost exactly three years ago, to coach Tufts' men's fencing team at the 2014 Collegiate Fencing Club Championship (I mentioned in a previous post a couple weeks ago they were out fencing in Michigan this year). A day-long event, I only got to see the convention center and, surprisingly, the hospital when one of my fencers got injured. I would get a more complete tour of the city this time through, arriving in time for two big Saturday events. Shelby hosted me for the whole weekend.

Llama racing back in 2014

Start with the March for Science. Ended up being a walking tour of the city for me, while losing my voice. Then to the Rossini Performing Arts Festival for lunch. Food, artisanal crafts, and reportedly over 800 performers/troupes. A whole stage devoted to opera, on which someone sang Stars from Les Miserables. Might be time for me to boot up that soundtrack in the car. Next I walked through the Old City part of town quickly, then over to the landmark Sunsphere and World's Fair Park. Before sundown, I hiked part of the Ijams Nature Center.

We marched through heavy rain.

A lot of us marched.

Even the dawgs marched.

Then we split off to the festival.

A view of the Tennessee River from the nature center

Wrap Up

I got lucky arriving in Knoxville on an eventful weekend, otherwise I don't think I would have liked it. Birmingham is alright, but I really worry about how decentralized the whole city is. Chattanooga was the interesting city of these five. I don't think I would at all mind being in the middle of those mountains. I wish I had more time there to explore.

I was going to leave Knox Sunday morning to start camping, but weather had other plans. With heavy rain all day in the city and flood warnings in the mountains, I burned my Sunday. Tomorrow morning I'll take off again. Thank you to Shelby for her flexibility and generosity.

Up next: A few backcountry camping trips planned. For the last of three spots as I work towards NJ, I need to decide between Shenandoah National Park or the George Washington National Forest. Ideas? I think I'd rather do Shenandoah, but it's a little further up the line, so I need to judge my daylight.

Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
Caught a trucker out of Philly had a nice long toke
But he's a heading west to the Cumberland Gap
From Johnson City, Tennessee

On deck: Annapolis, Dover, home base

Might not hear from me for a while if I get lost in the mountains. Shooting to be back in Jersey by late Thursday.

Root Beers

Terminal Brewhouse

Hillbilly Bob's

Terminal Brewhouse (Chattanooga, TN) - Use a different manual technique, made on the spot in front of you by combining their homemade syrup and soda water, swirled with a spoon. It's really good. I guess it tastes a little syrupy, and could use more bite. But overall it's really good taste. 7 stars.

Hillbilly Bob's (Charlotte, NC) - Found this one at the festival. Getting it at jacked-up festival prices left a sour taste in my mouth. Nothing special about this one at all. A Mug imposter. I wouldn't be surprised if they were just serving Mug out of their fancy barrels. Maybe slightly sweeter than Mug. 4 stars.

On Repeat
Album: MIKA - Life in Cartoon Motion
Song: Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
Clearly, I was dancing a LOT on this drive from Jackson to Knoxville. Dancing to falsetto. For 7+ hours.

Barq's got big in Jackson.

Beignet, Done That

Not just a party city - there are businesses too.

At last, on this portion of the trip I reach New Orleans and the Mississippi River, which I was viewing as the goal of all my driving. A party city on the southern coastline of the country. And I decided there was no need to explore west of the Mississippi on this trip. Opening that can of worms means I would drive through a whole lot of nothing to get anywhere interesting (Texas, Colorado, Mount Rushmore).

Montgomery

Downtown Montgomery

Montgomery's river area

Thank you for letting me sleep.
That's the real courtesy.

Getting to Montgomery, Alabama, took me into the central time zone. Sleeping overnight was finally made difficult by officials, twice! A hospital security guard woke me the first time and ushered me out. He was friendly about it and just wanted me gone. I went to a second hospital, and now a full-blown policeman woke me up. He was also friendly, but a little more serious about it, asking for ID and running my license plates. He followed me until I pulled into a hotel parking lot. Once he left, so did I for a third hospital. Really wanted to push my luck. I slept there soundly. However I woke up to find a "courtesy note" left under my wipers, written by a guard, to remind me I shouldn't leave my car windows down. I don't think he saw me lying in the backseat under my blanket, but I don't know for sure, I didn't wake up.

Montgomery is limited. I found the First White House of the Confederacy, which was Jefferson Davis' home in Montgomery for only a few months early after secession, before the capital moved to Richmond. The home was later literally picked up years later and moved from its original location to across from the Alabama State Capitol. I befriended the museum docent, Bob, as he was outgoing and exceptionally knowledgeable. He told me some of the First White House's secrets and also talked about how there are concrete plans in the works across the south to remove at least some confederate monuments, which I was happy to hear.

Quite a White House!

Inside the White House

The Relic Room

I went one block over to Montgomery's Civil Rights Memorial Center. It pales in comparison to what I just did in Atlanta, but for only two bucks, it's not bad. Montgomery played a significant role in MLK's efforts, as in the march from Selma to Montgomery. The museum addresses the lynching of Emmett Till and allows you to add your name to the waterfall on their Wall of Tolerance.

Outside the civil rights museum

I'm tolerant, see!?

I crossed the street and hurried through the capitol so I could get back to my car before the meter expires (the parking is very cheap but there's a max of two hours and "re-feeding the meter is illegal"). I didn't need much time for this capitol though. The exterior was my favorite at that point (already surpassed by Louisiana's which I'll get to below) but the interior is boring.

Didn't stay in 1st Place for long.

Mobile

Downtown Mobile

My stay here was quick at this surprisingly interesting city on the southernmost edge of Alabama, as I wanted to get to Dauphin Island before sunset and then New Orleans for dinner. There aren't that many attractions anyway, mostly touristy shops and restaurants. Still, it is livable and left an impression.

ATL

Water or Coke?

Athens

On recommendation of a friend at the DC brunch, I drove about an hour out of the way on the path from Savannah to Atlanta to end up in the college town of Athens, Georgia. Getting there was almost entirely backcountry highways, grasses and forests. Sections of it had a decent chunk of people seemingly located twenty miles from the nearest grocery store. For whatever reason, I had the idea in my head that Georgia was relatively densely populated; that is not the case. Looking up the numbers, it's actually only rank 16 in population density of US states, just behind Indiana. I find it amazing how much empty, unbroken and arable land the country has.

Downtown Athens

The University of Georgia dominates the city. There are only a few blocks total of downtown area, which is directly connected to campus. I only allotted myself a smidgen of time to go through the colossal campus, which was unremarkable from the approximate quarter of it that I saw. I felt a high density of homeless population, and drove by many construction sites - maybe Athens is up and coming. And I finally got a hold of the pork ribs I've had a hankerin' for.

The university's Sanford Stadium

The Tree, in all its glory

Sarcastically, the best part was the "Tree That Owns Itself", Athens' most prominent landmark. According to lore, the tree actually owns the deed for itself and land immediately around it. It is just a tree. Visitors have taken to giving it humorous reviews.

⭐✰✰✰✰  This tree could be much better. It offers little to no shade, there is no seating, and acorns were all over the ground. For a tree that owns itself, it could do a better job with the maintaining of its property. I've seen better trees in my lifetime, and I was genuinely let down. I wont be "barking" up this tree ever again, and I don't think you should be either. Was not worth the 7 hour drive.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  It was definitely well worth the five hour flight

⭐⭐⭐⭐✰  Customer service was a bit rude i would not suggest to bring your children here

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  This is the last surviving remnant of Athens' formerly glorious punk rock scene. This tree is a testement to the punk spirit, and still stands today in defiance of societal norms. It seems to say, "You don't own me!" And nobody does. Rock on, rebel tree. Rock on.  

Atlanta

Fox Theater

The ATL contrasted heavily my recent stays in Charleston and Savannah, in that it is not a city for tourists at all. It's a city for living in. It is a city-city, average in most aspects - and I don't mean average in a less-than-good way, if that makes any sense. It feels like somebody said "I want to build a city here" and then did in a very methodical manner. Indianapolis felt the same way.

Lake Clara Meer and Aquatic Center at Piedmont Park

The Meadow at Piedmont Park

I never experienced the traffic everybody complains about in Atlanta, but I mostly strategically chose when and where to drive. What I did experience is the high cost of parking. For the abundance of parking spaces Atlanta gave itself, it costs a ton to park anywhere midtown or downtown, whether in a garage or on the street. Contrast to Montgomery, which is where I write this from, where two quarters get you an hour of street parking.

I wandered midtown on my arrival to Atlanta and ate at Taqueria Del Sol on recommendation from my high school friend, Maggie. Mouth-watering and inexpensive tacos. I stayed with Maggie's college friends, Angela and Dawson overnight. It was awesome to finally meet Angela, about a decade after helping her with calculus and sporadic chatting on Facebook. She and Dawson helped set me up for my next day in Atlanta.

Ponce City Market

The BeltLine trail, some paved and some dirt, took me from Angela's to Ponce City Market, an historic building with a purposely-dilapidated feel holding retail shops, offices, and residences. From there, I walked to Atlanta's #1 TripAdvisor restaurant, Aviva by Kameel in Peachtree Center Mall's foodcourt, definitely not where you expect such a highly praised restaurant. Expensive for foodcourt food, the mediterranean outlet is completely deserving of its praise. Kameel is a very excited and friendly chef, concerned with the experience of all his patrons.

Large capitol occupies an entire block

After lunch, I walked toward Olympic Park and got rained on for the first time while on this trip. Olympic Park was unfortunately completely cordoned off for construction. At the neighboring Pemberton Place, to take refuge from the rain, I had the touristy choices of Atlanta's famous aquarium or World of Coca-Cola... and chose the Center for Civil and Human Rights. That museum felt most in line with my trip. I'm happy with my choice, but I hope to return to Atlanta for the other two big attractions. About two thirds of the this museum is devoted to the blacks' civil rights movement of the 50's and 60's (MLK Jr. grew up in ATL), and one third for the other aspects of civil rights.

Rolls Down Like Water: The American Civil Rights Movement gallery

Wrap Up

Atlanta is a complete city with many skyscrapers and adjacent welcoming suburbs. The public transit seemed sufficient for most travels around and through the city. In my mind, it sets a standard for how a city should look by default.

Root Beer

Atlanta's notable root beer brewery is Red Hare Brewing. But it is closed every week on the days I happened to be in Atlanta (only open Wednesday to Saturday)! Given my recent bad luck in acquiring local root beers, I'm parched.

On Repeat

Album: Chicago ST, back to musicals for a bit

Song: White Lies - Death, first found this song in college and I'll still put it on repeat now and then, I think it's a phenomenal driving tune, up there with Radar Love by Golden Earring

Up next: Montgomery, Mobile, New Orleans

Foreseeable: Jackson, Birmingham

A very happy birthday today to my Momma! I love you!

Still cartwheeling at 60!

A Tourist Hunts for Jesus

Rainbow Row, Charleston

Columbia

Through North Carolina, two people recommended to me that I visit Greenville. I'm sorry to say that I felt it too far out of the way and did not make it there, heading straight for Columbia instead after Charlotte.

Columbia was a worthwhile visit only by virtue of being the capital of South Carolina. I first walked through the Five Points neighborhood for lunch. I saw a sign touting it as the most pedestrian-trafficked and pedestrian-friendly area of Columbia. Literally not a good sign. Foreboding for the rest of Columbia. Even at peak lunch time, there was nothing happening.

Five Points

If I lived in Columbia, I would be at a loss for what to do there. It was dead downtown, dominated by the University of South Carolina. There are nice bits of college campus sprinkled through the city but it's mostly deserted. There are a friend standalone parks, but the whole of downtown felt a little like a park itself - birds chirping, children laughing... peaceful. That was a pretty unique feeling.

Beautiful building and grounds

I arrived in Columbia at just the right time because I finally crossed a full-blown political protest at the capitol building. I helped hold a couple extra signs, asking what Trump is hiding by not releasing his taxes. Got some honks and cheers from passersby. Felt warm, but even the cities of South Carolina are strongholds of ᴙ. 

Protesters to my left, out of frame

Columbia has the prettiest capitol I've ever seen (so far). I actively looked for confederate monuments and I could only find one. That was very unexpected for me out of the South Carolina capitol. Recall the flag controversy following the Charleston church shooting a two years ago.

Inside the Columbia capitol

Charleston

For a city that multiple people raved about, I definitely botched my timing to Charleston (same applies for Savannah): Easter Day.

City streets at night

Charleston is 100% a city of tourism, and I did not know that going in. There's a small residential area, but you go to this city to shop, eat, and learn history, and that's it. I had a lot of fun here and want to go back, not on Easter weekend. But it's not a place to live. Through Saturday night, I kept seeing swaths of folk dressed very dapper. I think it was prom night or something similar. That's what type of city Charleston is. I was reminded of LA's Rodeo Drive.

So many art exhibitions and stores

I had a really good BBQ pork sandwich Saturday night with the best cole slaw ever (in conjunction with the slaw from Lexington BBQ, I understand the claim that the south makes it best). I entered a store with a world of hot sauces, sampling a bunch then feeling lousy for not buying anything. And I found a fun free concert. I didn't like the psychedelic headliner band but the atmosphere of the warehouse-turned-bar appealed to me.

Charleston's open-air market with mostly arts and crafts

Stomach churned for an hour after trying the Flash Bang hot sauce.
The Source, top right, is supposedly the hottest ever on market.

Unexpected words from Lincoln

White Point Garden and cannonballs

Easter morning I strolled through White Point Garden, went into Kudu Coffee & Craft Beer on recommendation and got a... muffin, then tried to 1. take a ferry out to Fort Sumter and 2. take the Charleston jail tour but timing due in part to Easter schedules didn't allow me. So I was very let down that I couldn't see these parts of history. I instead walked around the Fort Sumter visitor center and monument in low spirits. I will need to return to Charleston one day.

Fort Sumter monument, ferry to Fort Sumter, and Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

Fort Sumter way in the distance, above the right of the ship

On my way out I paid respects at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Circular Congregational Church graveyard, no signs of Jesus rising here this Easter

Hilton Head

The southern heat really started to hit me at this vacation spot. A sense of Florida overwhelmed me, both for the heat and the palm trees. This is an island of family tourism, winter homes, and golfing. So many golf courses! A quick Googling says there are 24 courses on the island. The beach is like an amusement park and just barely qualifies as a real beach to me.

Savannah

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Hitting Savannah I began to see a profusion of cowboys and churches. This city is mostly for tourists, though not nearly to the extent of Charleston. And where the city isn't purely for tourism, the rest is historic and livable. Most of Savannah's history is for the Revolutionary War. I am definitely finding Virginia to have the most nostalgia for the confederacy, over even South Carolina and Georgia, which is very surprising to me. Maybe Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi will have something to say about that when I get there, but Richmond being the capital of the confederacy makes it a stronghold even today.

View in twilight toward downtown Savannah from my parking garage

Monument commemorating Haitian Revolutionary War fighters

For Gramma

City Market a block or two off the river

Savannah has an extensive river walk (tourist area) and then twenty-five miniature parks meticulously arranged in a 5x5 grid connected by short streets (historical area). Each park has slightly different character, many with monuments from various periods.

The walk along the river 

The Waving Girl, bidding safe passage to sailors

One of the miniature parks

My favorite statue in the parks, and the only one whose plaque eluded me.
I guess it's just some random gyroscope.

Middle of Forsyth Park, Savannah's "Central Park"

I had the second best meal of my trip here at The Grey, converted from an old Greyhound bus station, and this is despite choosing from a very limited Easter menu. I followed that up with the famous Leopold's Ice Cream, which was actually a disappointment. Sure, it's ice cream, always good, but I thought the consistency to be on the watery side instead of creamy. Still they do have some creative flavors with whole chunks of goodies mixed it.

Here comes the sun. Very pretty blues that my camera probably can't relay to you.

I watched a serene sunrise at Tybee Beach. The ocean was like bath water and made for a very easy swim. I left in time for the opening of Bonaventure Cemetery and I'm very glad I did because it is a challenge not to get lost in there. I do not advise going toward the end of the day in case you get lost, to avoid getting locked in overnight. Bonaventure takes the cake as best cemetery of all time. If I have any cemetery lovers reading my blog, this one's for you. Mausoleums galore. Separate war and holocaust burial sections. You can sense the undead skeleton hands ready to break ground to grab your ankle. I found a gravestone as recent as 2015 and ones as old as the 1850s, though I think some were older and just illegible.

Mausoleum city

Excuse me, have you seen Jesus?

Surely he would rise here.

I would certainly resurrect here.

Wrap Up

All touristy things going on for this part of my trip. I would love to visit again, away from any holidays. Really wishing I could have ferried to Fort Sumter.

Root Beer

Service Brewing Company

Holy City Brewing

I stopped at Holy City Brewing for their root beer as I left Charleston, but they had run out! Then in Savannah, I wanted a drink at Service Brewing Company, but they were closed both days! Grrr. Definitely need to return for my root beers, as well as Fort Sumter.

From Savannah to Atlanta, I needed to restock my car cooler, and found Boylan root beer at the supermarket.

Boylan Bottling Co (Manhattan, NY): Exceptionally fizzy, tiny bit of bite. Blackberry tinge to taste, though I have been wrong before about what fruits I'm tasting. Good flavor but not spectacular. 5 stars

Boylan Bottling Co

On Repeat
"Album": Waking Up with Sam Harris podcast - Harris is a favorite living philosopher of mine. Also a respected neuroscientist, he wrote one of the books I have on the trip with me. I'm not normally a podcast guy, but Google Music is making it very easy for me to become one now, so I put it on for my long stretches of driving. Waking Up occasionally does an episode on politics, but mostly Harris likes to focus on philosophical topics of truth, knowing, and perception.
Song: Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

Up next: Athens, Atlanta
Forseeable: Montgomery, Mobile, New Orleans

Callipygian.