Texas Hill Country

Wednesday October 28

Headed out late morning and went straight to Jacob's Well, a swimming hole between San Antonio and Austin. On the way passed the adorable town of Luling TX, which has decorated old oil jacks and lined them up along the railroad tracks:

They still move!

And this is their water tower:

Love it!

Jacob's Well was great: the spring water was cool and refreshing, which is just what I needed after driving in midday Texas sun.

I pretty much had the place to myself

Too chicken to jump off like the dude in this picture

I had a whole list of things to do in Texas Hill country, but the only other thing that fit into the late afternoon was a sunset visit to Guadalupe River State Park.

Then, before leaving the San Antonio area I grabbed dinner at El Bucanero, which may have been the best ceviche I've ever had. Who knew I'd have the best food of my trip in Texas?

Houston

Tuesday October 27

Two words: CRAWFISH PHO!

Spicy, buttery, lemongrassy, basil-y: DELICIOUS

So good! Possibly the best thing I've ever eaten. Also, I got it as takeout, and all the animals (dog, cat and macaw) at the place I was crashing at were seriously interested. I've never been so popular!

rainy NOLA

Monday October 26

The rest of Patricia dissipated overnight leaving just an on and off drizzle, not enough to deter me from walking around. It was a quiet day. I mailed some stuff out, toured the Garden District and French Quarter, ate at the French Market and even caught an early show at the Spotted Cat.

The city was beautiful, even in rain, and maybe a little quieter as a result. The Garden District reminded me of the Jardins, only Frencher: green and wealthy, with wrought iron saying, “look but don’t touch”. Didn’t feel like taking any pictures because it never really stopped misting and I don’t know where the lens cleaning stuff is…

Had a great dinner of red beans and rice with Lauren’s family, and finished planning the rest of the drive, or at least I think I did.

Google FAIL!

Sunday October 25

After the best night’s sleep on the road yet, had breakfast and had a most enjoyable chat with Jane the inn keeper, who was super nice. Once I got on the road (late), Google started fritzing: first it sent me down backroads for 25 miles (along which I saw two accidents and emergency crews – very slippery roads). Then, after finally letting me get on I-59 S it told me to get off again, and I realized we had different objectives.

I got back on I-59 but now it couldn’t see me at all. First I thought I might be in a dead zone, but as the exits kept going by the dead zone was getting the size of Mississippi. When it started raining in earnest it finally clicked that the storm was blocking the GPS signal so I just drove like it was 1999, following road signs. By the time I was driving over the causeway with nothing around me but bad weather I started wondering if this was one of those times when my self-preservation instincts had failed me.

But it didn’t get worse, and once I was in the city and moving slower it was easier to see, and although Google couldn’t see me it still had the city maps, so I found Lauren’s without too much trouble.

Baby Finn 

She and Alex were in the studio with baby Finn, getting started on some printmaking. Alex’s cousin Larissa was babysitting Nino (6) and Juliette (3), and Rosa and Piggie were moving about the double shotgun. A full house indeed (and that doesn’t even count the two now outdoor cats.)

The whole gang

tiny bit of Mammoth

Saturday October 24

The ceiling is natural too

One of the few stalactite features 

I guess I’ve seen/been in a lot of really impressive caves, but even with no comparisons Mammoth cave is pretty drab looking. The narrow metal stairs steeply snaking down into its bowels were the most impressive physical feature of my tour (Drips and Domes). Built on spec from marine grade stainless they passed effortlessly through narrow passages sometimes within an inch of the cave walls. Very cool.

Ranger John, a retired highschool teacher, was very entertaining and informative, and his enthusiasm and commitment definitely made the whole thing worthwhile. The place is enormous and full of history, but since this was a last minute detour I didn’t want to sink another day into exploring the historic cave entrance and instead got on the road for a 7+ hour drive through Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.

recovery day

Friday October 23

Woke up dog tired and still feeling my legs. After some waffling decided to stay put and rest, and catch up on errands. Found a nice GF place for breakfast and then two coffee spots with wifi where I booked Mammoth Cave cabin and tour.

In the evening walked down to lower Broad and poked my head in at a few honky tonks. The first, Robert’s Western World, the most recommended, was full of Coen brothers characters. Or at least the band was. There were two John Goodmans: one bald with a red beard and a straw hat; and the other in a Roy Orbison hairdo and a western shirt was shredding on the guitar. On stand up bass was a young Robert Downey/George Clooney/other high energy handsome guy making faces and laughing; and on drums was an impassive Nick Offerman who sang Ring of Fire to great aplomb.

Assorted Coen bros. characters

For a bar full of tourists it was a lot of fun, and certainly beat the energy at the other, more crowded bars I saw that night. It was also the only place playing standards, which had familiarity going for it.

Live Dancing Girls

At my first wifi coffee shop the barista suggested a cabaret event at Exit/In featuring champion pole dancers and other athletic/dancing acts, so I ubered it out there for a bit. It was interesting enough, but not quite Cirque du Soleil polished, and I had a couple hours of driving still left to do so I left early.

On the way up to KY I stopped to refuel and got called out on my plates by a Connecticut dude who moved down here. I guess I’m definitely a rarity now.

my day in the Smokies

Thursday October 22

Having learned my Biltmore lesson, I took the ranger's advice at the campground office who suggested Clingman’s Dome and Andrew’s Bald as an alternative to the highly congested Cade’s Cove. Clingman’s parking lot was crowded despite the surprisingly steep climb up to the observation tower, and I admit to being impressed with the range of the visitors' physical condition making their way up to the observation tower.

 

Ground control to Clingman's Dome: 6,644 feet up (that's 2,025 meters)

The observation tower has very 70s spaceship styling and some pretty good views, but the highlight for me was the walk back down along 0.05% of the Appalachian Trail, which was winding and charming, and had a Sierra Club group on it, including an older couple from Cambridge, with whom I walked and talked a while.

(Stupidly) ambitious, I chose to undertake the additional 1.7 mi hike onward to Andrew’s Bald, which had a worthwhile view at its end, but wasn’t a loop. So back up I came, wishing for the parking lot trail the whole way. I met the nice Cambridge couple again, and rested with them while they waited for the rest of their party to make their return from the Bald. Then, with a 5 hour drive ahead of me I wrapped up my visit to the Smokies.

It's impossible to take bad pictures in GSNM

Already on the road, I booked an expensive ($180) Airbnb apartment near downtown Nashville, then managed to snag a seat at the bar at Silo, a GF-friendly resto 5 minutes away in Germantown. The food was great and I gave into a glass of wine, which was a mistake: my legs were now deaf to any appeal to go out for live music.

Biltmore (a literal tourist trap) and driving the Blue Ridge Parkway

Wednesday October 21

You drive effortlessly through the property guardhouse with not so much as an attendant waving you on until you've gone like a mile to the ticketing building, with its own parking lot. Right there I should have turned around but I thought, “it’s the South, they have a car culture”. Then another red flag: there was an attendant to manage the line to the ticketing counters. Red flag #3: the pricing: $60/adult! Here I fully accept the blame for overthinking it: “don’t be a cheapskate, this is the one thing everyone does when in Asheville.” Sucker!

Because $60/person isn't enough!

Why did I think I could walk through the place quickly? In an anti-Haj to ostentatious materialism it was wall-to-wall audio tour retirees stopping for minutes at a time in doorways, mid-room, you name it. If there is such a thing as personalized hell this is going to be mine: no turning around, passing, or upper limit to how many people are let in at a time. A fully monetized Disney-ride-style fire hazard with no ride at the end. There was even an official photo stop where they take your picture like they do at your most terrified moment on a rollercoaster, then try to sell it to you on the way out.

It looks nice from up here, but it was hell I tell ya!

No visitor photography is allowed in the house. I just did a quick google search and couldn't find a single picture of a crowd. The shuttle driver confirmed that my experience was not a fluke so I guess they keep tight control over their image.

I managed a few cut throughs between doorways here and there but it still took me over an hour to get out of there. The house isn’t even beautiful. It’s full of expensive details, but has no charm. There wasn’t a ballroom or indoor tennis court and hardly anything fun for guests to do. Just an (empty) swimming pool and a bowling alley. The servants' areas were somewhat more interesting in that they each each had a room of their own and the service facilities were logically, even ergonomically laid out. For its time it was quite generous, and truth be told, way more spacious than most modern metropolitan apartments.

Everything: the house, gardens, greenhouse, were all luxurious without being lovely or charming. A sort of achievement, I suppose. And Biltmore Village, a sort of gift shop town, was a theme park version of a village green, surrounded by service buildings (creamery, restaurant, winery, etc.) 

The most charming part of Biltmore: two dwarf donkeys at the "farmstand"

But perhaps the worst part is how much time it cost me, because I had a long drive before me still. The drive was beautiful, and I did a couple of lovely hikes (to Mt. Pisgah and Devil’s Courthouse), which were great lookouts over the Smokies, but by the time I made it to the park it was pitch black and well past visitor center and campground office hours. 

View from Mt. Pisgah

Hazel the Husky on Devil's Courthouse

View from the Courthouse (I think)

Wood sprite

Wood samurai 

Me, not caring enough about running out of daylight

I was also down to ¼ tank of gas, which made me increasingly uneasy as I began to understand how large the park actually is. In a series of miscalculations and poor decisions I ended up driving across the park twice (up and down over the ridge!) for gas and then to campgrounds that turned out to be full. Finally, after 2 hours and nearing 11pm I settled for the campground closest to where I’d entered the park (on the NC side of the ridge) and did my best to set my car up for sleeping without disturbing the neighbors. It wasn’t the best night of sleep ever but I was tired enough that it didn’t matter.

the road to Asheville

Tuesday October 20

The whole way from Charlottesville to Asheville I kept seeing these signs:

For realz???

I couldn't decide if it's an extravagant use of tax dollars or a brilliant and thrifty hoax. Turns out it's neither and both: a couple I met at dinner at The Admiral in Asheville informed me that there had been a program in Virginia in which piloted ultralight craft teamed up with a ground unit, but that program had been discontinued due to budget constraints. So now there's just the signs with their creepy promise of death from above.

How long before the program restarts with drones?

day of Staples

Monday October 19

Zu and Ian went to work and I took the opportunity to tie up some of the loose ends left dangling when I flew out of Boston in a flurry of packing and cramming.

I got this blog up and running and booked a room in Asheville for tomorrow night. I met Zu for lunch (shrimp and grits!) on the mall and then spent half the afternoon at Staples getting my tax returns and healthcare forms ready to send.

I had to buy a USB stick just so I could get something scanned in a timely manner, and a two-page "long distance" fax to Boston cost $5!

Tomorrow is post office and drive to Asheville day. Fun!

TJ's crib

Sunday, October 18

The new realtor must think I'm made of money

We parked at the bottom of the hill and walked up a path to the snazzy new visitor center. Zu's firm apparently did (part of?) the design, and both Zu and Ian teach seasonal classes on the Jefferson estate grounds on mushroom foraging and booze making, respectively.

Past the visitor center we continued up the path and passed the family cemetery which was shut, possibly because there are still Randolph descendants extant. Ian squeezed between the bars and got stuck for a moment but he managed to exhale and wriggle out so we didn't have to cut his arm off.

The vegetable garden grows historically accurate crops in neat little rows along the South-facing hillside terraced especially to extend the growing season. One cool flower was the hyacinth bean, which is waxy like an orchid, and has petals that grow asymmetrically so that one edge curls around the other. It also smelled really nice.

The hyacinth bean flower smells like a cross between jasmin and gardenia

The house itself is both modest and elaborate, clearly the product of a busy, tinkering mind. The push and pull between whimsical invention and pragmatic thrift has NERD written all over it.

One famous hack is the grandfather clock that counts down a whole week with its weights. Sunday through Friday are all labeled on the wall, but the front parlor wasn't tall enough for the full length of the chain so Jefferson cut a hole in the floor, and sure enough, down on the basement wall is the Saturday label.

No photography is allowed inside the house, but I'll just say that the man was no colorist: the yellow dining room is not good. He had meant for it to warm up the room during the cold months, but the hue is just too acidic. Dude should have used butter as a color guide, not marigolds. Ick.

dark maize run

Saturday, October 17

Some friends of Ian's friend were going to the local corn maze for a night time event by headlamp and flashlight, which sounded pretty awesome. The cold snap had just started and the half hour drive out of Charlottesville got us far enough from the city to be able to see the Milky Way in the crisp fall night.

It wasn't really as Blair Witch as the iPhone makes it look

It was a great first night in Virginia, with a surreal Southern college town feeling (quirky, laid back, rural) that reminded me of visiting my brother at Duke almost 20 years ago. We ran the trivia maze, comprising 15 questions around the Mad Hatter and Alice set of pathways, which wasn't even a quarter of the whole maze!

So much harder at night!

to Charlottesville

Saturday, October 17

After a good night's sleep the 3 hour drive from Takoma Park to Charlottesville should have been a cinch, but there I was, staring blankly into the distance no matter how hard I squinted or how loud I sang... until I broke out the "hot" lollipop Aunt V had given me.

Like a shot of espresso, it woke me right up! Not sure what was in it, since all I could taste was cinnamon, but it was sweet, brown, and definitely a little spicy. I'm going to guess cayenne (because of the earthiness) and brown sugar, but it could just as easily been maple syrup under all that cinnamon. Wonder where I can get more of those things? They'd be my constant companions for the rest of the trip.

Made it to Zu and Ian's with no problems, except for a run in with a curb due to the solar panels sliding across the dashboard on a left turn. I limped on gingerly and pulled up to the house around 5pm.

before today

There was a lot of packing, then a lot of driving, and very little sleep. Then there was re-packing, delegating of luggage transport (thanks, Sarah!) and more driving.

Now that I'm caught up on sleep and reasonably confident of my car's configuration I'll be able to fill in the "progress so far" bits. Not that you missed a terrible lot of excitement, but...

Cookie is the luckiest dog in the world

In Takoma Park MD I got to meet Auntie V and Wendy's new dog, Cookie. She's a total cuddle bear, gentle and sweet. I got to go to a two step and West Coast swing dance night with V and Wendy. And I got to have some truly excellent Salvadorean pupusas. Yum!

Before that, in NYC I got to see cousin Steph's pad on the Lower East Side, finally, after 10 years; and to hang with her and Sarah (and to foist a godawfully heavy piece of luggage on Sarah, who I promise to repay with interest for the most important 3 cubic feet of space ever recovered). I just didn't manage to get a picture of them in all my exhaustion.

Aaand before that I got to drop in on Mary and Juan in Portsmouth RI, which was super nice and a great way to catch my breath after my belated bat outta hell escape from Magnolia Ave. And I got to have a beautiful twilight drive out of RI, along country roads under an indigo sky dipped in rust, with just a fingernail clipping of a moon high in the sky.

So not a bad start all told.