Stacey’s 30th Birthday Extravaganza

After Atlanta, I had only one more sightseeing destination on my agenda before I bombed my way across the country towards San Diego and that destination was New Orleans, Louisiana. I have long regretted that I never made it to NO before Katrina but as it turns out, the French Quarter and Garden District were on higher ground than the rest of the city and have escaped much of the devastation. Instead of taking the

uninspired interstate route, I decided to take the old US-90 route that runs right along the Gulf Coast past all of the towns that you would’ve had to have been living under a rock the past couple of years not to have heard of. Pascagoula. Biloxi. Pass Christian. I got all the way through Pascagoula and hadn’t seen anything…I was starting to wonder what spin the media had put on this…so many reports of ongoing devastation two years later…but everything looked fine to me.And then I tried to go over the US-90 bridge at the Bay of Biloxi…still out two years later. So, I went back to I-10 for a bit and back down to US-90…and then I saw what they were talking about. I had originally planned to take pictures of what was left…the only problem…there is nothing left. Either the bulk of the debris has been removed…or the storm just wiped away the structures that close to the water because all I saw was driveway after driveway that led to nothing. Parking lots that had no structures next to them. A few houses where the first floors were washed away and the second floors were still perched precariously on the studs. It was truly horrible.

Naturally, the first things to come back were the hotels and the casinos…many of which looked to be in fine shape. But the beautiful white sand gulf beaches were virtually empty during the hottest week of the summer. Umbrellas sat on the beach with no people under them…jet skis were tied up to the docks (or what remained of the dock). No one was around…it was very creepy. At some point it became clear to me that the taking pictures of other people’s misery was somehow distasteful so I took only the one shot above…the only thing remaining of this house is the brick staircase and the tree swing.

Since I only had one afternoon to spend in New Orleans I focused only on the French Quarter…again…the heat was almost unbearable so I gave up on the sightseeing a little early and thus pictures are limited mostly to architecture examples. The famed Bourbon Street was not quite as I had imagined…for some I reason I pictured a more broad, main boulevard which smaller side streets connected up with. Instead, all of the streets were equally narrow (all single-lane one-ways) and in an organized grid pattern. The FC is a pretty compact area and is a great place to just wander around in…people are friendly and happy (could be the legal drinking in the streets) and what they say is true…New Orleans needs no reason to party. They just do it every day, all day. Many of the bars were open and serving substantial crowds by 10 am.

I wandered briefly through Jackson Square down by the river…the building in the background on the left is the Cabildo and is where the Louisiana Purchase was signed in 1803.

Jackson Square

I also wandered through 1850 House…a 19th century building in the French Quarter that has been refurbished to the style of the home in 1850. Naturally my focus while in NO was food…I had myself some great seafood gumbo and Louisiana crabcakes for dinner. And on Kim’s recommendation for breakfast…beignets at the Cafe Beignet on Royal Street. While I had heard of beignets previously, I wasn’t actually sure what they were. It turns out that they are kind of like square dough nuts covered in powdered sugar and are typically served with cafe au Lait. Not at all good for me…but very, very yummy.

Beignets and Cafe au Lait

After breakfast I headed to St. Louis Cemetery #1 to have a look at the above ground tombs required in New Orleans because of its existence below sea level. The cemetery, opened in 1789, is operated by the New Orleans archdiocese and is marked all over with signs to enter at your own risk. It was clear to me once I entered why that is. Many of the tombs are very old and crumbling and the debris is everywhere. I also nearly had a heart attack when I almost stepped on a homeless man trying to escape the heat by lying in the shadow of one of the tombs…and the haphazard way the plots are laid out would make for a very competitive game of hide-and-seek…or easy means of hiding for a dangerous sort of person. Since it was 9:30 in the morning I wasn’t worried…but the cemetery is certainly not somewhere I would like to be at night which is no problem…the cemetery is open only very limited hours during the day.

St. Louis Cemetery was my last stop in New Orleans so mid-morning I headed out on I-10 with the intent of making it to San Antonio the first night…El Paso the second…and then a very long final push towards San Diego.

This plan was exceedingly successful as today I’m typing to you from San Diego where I’ve been since Monday evening. In a couple of hours I’m off to the airport to pick up my kids before we spend a few days heading up the coast towards San Francisco, Portland and ultimately back to Montana. Kids? What kids? Does Stacey have kids? Indeed…I have the best kind of kids…borrowed….and returnable! You will be meeting them presently…

I didn’t stop much on my way to SD except for a brief scenic drive and historical park stop in Texas. Here’s a picture from Fort Lancaster near Sheffield, Texas. Type to you soon!

Fort Lancaster, Texas

View near Sheffield, Texas

Stone Mountain

The great thing about stopping and visiting people you know while traveling is that the locals always know the cool stuff to do. After departing the inferno that is Charleston, I made my way towards the inferno that is Atlanta, Georgia to meet up with an old work friend Kim and her family. Kim and her husband Chuck and their two kids Zak and Erika made for quite excellent hosts as they had planned an outing to a local park area named Stone Mountain.

Stone Mountain is a hybrid government-run recreational park and for-profit amusement park. Kim explained that a few years ago it was determined that the park could not be sustained on park fees alone, so an amusement park company was brought in to increase revenues. In addition to the rides and games they added for a fee, they also added a nightly laser light show set to music that is projected on the side of the mountain. People bring their blankets and kids and set-up on the lawn beneath the massive piece of granite and watch the show as darkness falls. Fortunately, this has remained free…or almost free…it is included in the $8 per carload to get into the park. The laser light show would prove later to be a very fun, southern and patriotic way to end the evening.

Kim, Zak, Erika and Chuck

Kim and her crew and I opted to bypass the amusement park and headed straight for the walking trail that leads to the top of the mountain. Now, some might argue that we were not in our right minds to embark on a 1.3 mile trek up a mountain in 100 degree heat. I might agree with them…but we made it and it wasn’t actually as hard as I thought it might be. Or, it could just be that by that point the endless heat had addled my brain to a such a degree that I just couldn’t feel it anymore. On the way down we encountered a bizarre phenomenon…the gum rock. It is just as you imagine…a repository for chewing gum from the past several decades. It’s as gross as it sounds and is definitely blogworthy so here’s what it looks like:

Stone Mountain is the largest exposed piece of granite in the world and it also contains the largest high relief sculpture in the world on its north face. The sculpture, pictured below, is of three major Confederate heroes from the Civil War. In the interest of making the Extravaganza Blog a bit more interactive I would like to implement the following pop quiz:

Extravaganza Pop Quiz #1 – Can you name the three Confederate war heroes pictured on the north face of Stone Mountain?

I’ll put the answer at the bottom…type me a comment and let me know how you did. No peeking!!

Since Kim is actually originally from Massachusetts she is well aware of how strange some things in the South are to we Northerners. Like the food for example. The next morning we loaded up into the car and headed for breakfast where I got to sample some true Southern favorites…Brunswick Stew…grits…biscuits and gravy. Then, back at home, Kim fried up some fresh okra out of the garden for me…yum…definitely my favorite. In order of descending preference, here is my assessment of the “southern food.”

1. Fried okra – contrary to my prior belief, okra is not leafy like spinach but is more like an overgrown pod that is sliced, dipped in flour and fried (sort of like squash). Kim also tells me it has a natural thickening agent so is often added to stews for that property.
2. Brunswick stew – I had never heard of this but it is a yummy thick tomato-based stew that includes multiple types of beans and vegetables plus some sort of meat. Apparently chicken is more favored in Virginia and beef or pork is preferred in Georgia.
3. Biscuits and gravy – Not a huge lover of gravy to start with but this was better than expected with a nice peppery taste. And, of course, the fresh biscuits were awesome.
4. Grits – I don’t know if I’m ever going to understand grits. Kim suggested a bit of butter and salt but I still think they’re too bland. Someone…anyone…please send me a recipe for grits with some flavor.

And now…the answer…to the Extravaganza Pop Quiz #1…..

• Jefferson Davis – President of the Confederacy
• General Robert E. Lee
• General Stonewall Jackson

Hampton Plantation Mansion

On my way to Charleston, South Carolina I passed a sign on the highway for the Hampton Plantation State Park and decided to make a brief stop. ... [Continue reading this entry]