It's been a few weeks since last we met. I've been spending some time with friends and family both at home in Washington D.C. and on the road with my dad in West Virginia and my brother and his kids in New Hampshire. It was nice to be with my people for a while and to take a break from the challenges of being on the road. I needed a little time to think and reflect and not have to worry about where I'm going to sleep tonight. It's been eight months since this project began, and it needed a little reflection and redirection. I have now entered Ohio, my fifth state, which when I leave will mark 10% of the journey complete. While I had hoped to spend a month in each state and be further along than I am, the whole point of the trip is not to be rushed and to see what I want to see. Before I move forward, I thought I would share some thoughts with you on the journey so far, and where I see this going in the months and years to come…
Hello everyone! It's been another quiet week at home here in Washington D.C., trying to get caught up on my work and spending time with my friends and family. The cicadas are out here and the lightning bugs are in full force giving our backyard its own summer sound and light show. Despite being in the city, we have a wonderful array of birds, rabbits, squirrels and other wonderful critters running around the backyard. The weather has been significantly cooler than it was down south, and overall it has been very good to be home.
Last Thursday I got together with a lot of my old friends from around town and around the country over at my friend James' house. It was wonderful to catch up with so many good people in one place at one time, but was a little overwhelming after being basically by myself for much of the last 6 months. It was definitely a good evening though…
Hello everyone! It's been a restful week at home in Washington D.C. I've been trying to catch up with friends and family and catch up on sleep. I'm doing pretty good on both fronts. I've been working hard on my next podcast which should be out by the weekend. I spent most of the end of last week at home in the cool, cool air-conditioning finishing up the research and starting to write my second Tennessee podcast. I took lots of naps. I also got to catch up with some of my old pals around town and see what everyone's been up to since I've been gone these last six months. Everyone seems to be doing well which is great to see…
Last week I went to my first Bonnaroo, a fact I repeated probably close to a hundred times over the course of the week I was there. It was, in fact, my first full weekend, camped out music festival period. I've been to Jazz Fest in New Orleans and the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale and plenty of smaller music festivals around the country, but they were all day-trips. This was different. I'll admit I was a little nervous about it as I knew I would be twice as old as most of the people in attendance, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. Better late than never, right? And actually it's those nerves that made it that much more exciting to be there. It turned out to be a really amazing experience and I'm really glad I went. As the weekend wore on though, the question changed from how many times I'd been to Bonnaroo to if I'm coming back next year. When my answer was "probably not", I got a lot of hurt and quizzical looks. Hadn't I had fun? I really did, I answered, but there are so many other things to do and places to explore. This may very well not be my last Bonnaroo. I'd love to go back to The Farm and do it again, but only if it fits into my schedule. You see, while Bonnaroo was a great experience, I've had lots of comparable experiences in my life and through them all, going back again was probably never as good as the first time. While I understand that for a lot of people it's hard to put yourself out there in front of a new bus over and over again, I'm here to argue that it's worth it. Even if you get run over now and again, it'll still be worth it You can only ever do anything for the first time once, and I plan to live out as many firsts as this world allows.
It was certainly an interesting week out at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. Since I was there all week, I don't have much else to write about today. It was both wonderful and strange to park my van for a week and just leave it there, but it didn't move an inch from when I arrived last Tuesday until I left "The Farm" the following Monday. When I did leave, it was hot and I was pretty tired and had already seen what I had come to see in Tennessee, so I pretty much made a beeline towards home. And that is where I am writing this from today - home sweet home, Washington D.C. Two things happened out in the world while I was tucked away in Manchester though, both of which brought out some pretty strong emotions. First, my Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup for the first time, which was long overdue and very well deserved, so congratulations to them. Sadly that same night we lost one of our own as Anthony Bourdain took his own life in France. I had met Tony once, and he seemed to be the same in person as he was on TV. His books and his shows had a deep impact, not just on me but on many. He changed the whole travel show genre by focusing on real people and real places - places I've been and places I'd like to go. Before Tony travel shows all seemed to be about 5 star resorts and palm trees and umbrella drinks - places I couldn't afford and didn't really want to go anyway. His shows were raw and gritty and real and game changing. They showed the world as it really is: challenging, sometimes ugly but full of good people, delicious and always beautiful. Thank you Tony for all your inspiration through the years, and I hope you're resting easy somewhere tonight. Those being said, this is how I spent this week on (or more accurately off) the road…
I'm going to write this a little early this week as I am headed down to Bonnaroo in the morning. I'll be there for almost the whole week, so I thought I would write this and then put away my computer and go enjoy the festival. I've spent this past week heading up the west side of Tennessee, through a lot of cute small towns and state parks, and finally making my way across the north and into Clarksville. It's been a pretty quiet week, but a good one for sure. It's really starting to heat up down here and while I am really looking forward to Bonnaroo, I'll be making a beeline north when it's over. While it hasn't been the most exciting week I've had, I've still been enjoying myself. Here are some of the things I got into this week on the road.
I left Bartlett when I finished writing last week and headed back north to Mason. I wanted to visit the original Gus's Fried Chicken there…
I have driven Highway 40 from Memphis to Nashville many times. In fact, when discussing the trip I'm currently on, I often reference this drive. I tell people that when I was working as a tour guide I always rushed between the two cities because there is SO much to do in each, but I always wondered what was happening in between. Now I have an answer to that question, and the answer is A LOT. If you have the time to spare, making a day of this journey is well worth it. Here are just some of the things you should definitely check out on the way, with stops in Jackson and Brownsville…
It's been another great week on the road, this one spent in wonderful West Tennessee. It's been a hot week, as summer is moving in fast here in the south, but with it come the festivals and fun of the season. My week has been full of barbecue and music and really good people. West Tennessee is very distinct from the eastern part of the state, more resembling the Mississippi Delta which it is intimately connected to, than the rest of Tennessee. This region is flatter and poorer than the east of the state, but it is still full of wonderful stops and cool things to see.
When I finally left Nashville, I headed down the Natchez Trace Parkway. The parkway roughly follows the old Natchez Trace, an ancient trail which leads from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville. In the days before the great paddle wheelers plied the Mississippi River, boats carrying cotton, hides and other goods made a one-way trip down to the major port of Natchez. The boatmen would then sell their boats, whole or for scrap and walk back up the Natchez Trace 400 miles or so back to Nashville and start all over again. It was interesting to duck off the Parkway and walk some of the historic trail and imagine myself back in those days doing the same.
I haven't gotten very far this week! When I wrote last week, I was in Nashville, and this week I am still in Nashville. I did spend three days in nearby Franklin, which was really great, but otherwise I've been in Music City. It's been a good week though, full of great music, good food and good times, so I guess I can't complain. Plus I finished a podcast and got some other work done as well. I have signed up to work at the Bonnaroo Music Festival the second weekend in June, so I won't be l leaving Tennessee until after that. That has left me with a little extra time in Tennessee, so I've been getting to know one of my favorite cities a little better. I've been able to explore some areas of the city I have been wanting to check out but haven't had the time, and been catching up with some friends too. In all, it's been a fun and productive week, even if I have been in one place.
After I finished writing last week, I headed back to Bobby's Idle Hour to check out Sam's Jams, a local singer/songwriter show which is held every Wednesday from noon until 8 p.m. It really is a great thing to see, and very Nashville. The musicians were great, and I got to hang out for a little while with Sam Cooper, the host…
I started the week as promised in Falls Creek Falls State Park. This really is a beautiful and well done state park. I enjoyed it so much I ended up staying two nights. There are some great trails to hike, some fun suspension bridges to cross, and of course some beautiful waterfalls. When I arrived, I got my campsite organized and then hiked from there over to the namesake Fall Creek Falls. It was, I believe, the third waterfall I've seen this month which claimed to be the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi. Well, the waterfall didn't claim that but the signage did. I've always been fascinated at how difficult it apparently is to measure a waterfall. Either way, it really doesn't matter. They've all been awesome in my book. Along the path, I saw more of one of my favorite flowers: Mountain Laurel. A lot of them are just starting to bud, and the buds look like little vanilla soft-serve cones with strawberry syrup. They make me happy every time…
It has been another busy but wonderful week out here on the road. I curled my way up into the far northeast of Tennessee to visit the Tri-Cities of Johnson City, Bristol and Kingsport. From there I traveled across the north of the state to Big South Fork National Recreation Area and then headed south to the cute little town of Dayton. I've gotten to see some really cool and interesting sites, heard some great music and have done a lot of writing and research for my next podcast. The weather continues to get warmer and the flowers are really starting to come out in force. Unfortunately, with them have come my allergies, but I'm not letting them get me down. There is just too much to see and do in Tennessee to worry about a little pollen.
Hello my friends! It has been a great first week in Tennessee out here on the road. When I wrote last week, I was on my way out to the Deep Creek area of Great Smoky Mountain National Park in far western North Carolina. Today, I'm writing from Knoxville in north eastern Tennessee. It's been an exciting week of festivals and hiking in the park, and the weather has been just beautiful. Strawberries are coming into season and I love good, local strawberries which I'm thankful I've been able to find. I've also been trying to wrap up a few things from South Carolina and begin writing my next podcast. Thankfully the days are getting long down south and it seems like long ago and a million miles away that I was sitting in sub-freezing temperatures in the dark at 4:30 p.m. in West Virginia. Daylight and sunshine really do make a difference - I hope you are all getting outside and enjoying both. Anyways, this is what I've been up to this past week. I didn't quite get it done in time for my Thursday newsletter, but it has been busy out here…
