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We're chronicling our travels around the states on this blog. Check it out, if you're bored and sitting on an apple box (you can also check it out from home or the office).

Filtering by Category: Exploring

Charleston: Making it Count

April 14, 2014Whitney Lea

Katzensprung, der ... Bedeutung: (umgangssprachlich) geringe Entfernung

We had less than 24 hours in Charleston, which seemed to fit the profile for our travels this week. So how could we get the most out of every moment we had there? On our way I had no idea how to accomplish that, I was solely focused on one thing: Get to the Angel Oak in time. The gates to see the tree up-close close at 5 so we had to make a beeline down there from Columbia when we left at 2:30.

Whitney can't see the tree for the forest

The Angel Oak is an enormous tree that is estimated to be 400-500 years old. I had seen a similar tree (the Friendship Oak) in Gulfport, Mississippi and decided that we should see the Angel Oak just in case we don't make it to Gulfport. It is enormous and being around such a big and ancient tree is akin to a spiritual experience for me.

I think Sam may have felt the same way and spent most of our 30 short minutes there taking photos.

Views: Johns Island, South Carolina by Samuel Herbig

I'm getting just a wee bit ahead of myself here. The first picture Sam took when we got out of the car was not of the gargantuan oak tree, but of a red-headed woodpecker and this started Sam's hot, hot, hot streak in photographing the animals of Charleston.

The woodpecker was standing just ten feet from us, hopping around until he heard the shutter. Obviously there are more animal photos to come.

Because it was five, we got stuck in "rush hour traffic" on the way into Charleston from John's Island where the tree is. The quotes are only fair to use for drivers in NYC, LA, and DC as far as I can tell (this list may grow longer as we travel).

We arrived at our room for the night and immediately started to work on finishing our blog posts for Nashville and Memphis. This blog stuff really eats time, I'm tellin' you. We were in a private room at the Not So Hostel and it was a very cute place divided over three buildings with porches and pretty flower motifs painted on the fence.

Views: Charleston, SC by Samuel Herbig

We didn't finish the blog work until it was near dusk but I still really wanted to head downtown for dinner and to walk around. I wanted our one dinner in Charleston to be seafood since it's possible to get something really fresh (you know, being next to the ocean and all). And boy, we sure did. After a bit of searching, I found Pearlz down on Bay Street where Sam and I split a very fresh scallop ceviche and 3 tacos (he took the tuna and mahi mahi, I took the shrimp). When Sam asked the waitress what ceviche was (Sam says: "Look it up!"), but he didn't hear her say the scallops were raw (probably the most important thing to know about ceviche and I was pretty surprised to hear Sam agree to order raw shellfish!), so it was his turn to be surprised when the dish came out. Luckily, both he and I thought it was excellent.

After that we followed some signs to a rooftop bar that wasn't anything to write home about (so ignore this). I was feeling really sad that we would have such a short amount of time in Charleston and that we weren't going to have enough time to really learn about the city's rich history. So you know what Sam did? The moment we got home he started reading up on it so that he could play tour guide for me the next day, a role that fit him well. What an amazing guy.

We got up around 7 so we could get as much out of our time as possible. As we walked, we chatted and took pictures. There are so many gorgeous houses in Charleston so Sam took tons of pictures of the gardens, architectural details, and very cared-for homes.

Oh yeah, Sam also got this awesome picture of a squirrel. He did this before having even one sip of coffee! Can you believe it?

We walked through city market, though it was hardly open, and then found a spot for a quick breakfast. While we ate we assembled a list of sights we wanted to see before we needed to leave town.

1. The oldest house in Charleston. Check.

2. Rainbow Row. (We don't have pictures of it because it seemed like everyone else does.) Check.

3. What is left of the wall that once fortified Charleston. (Still no pictures) Check.

4. A few old churches in "the holy city". Check.

Circular Congregational Church

St. Michael's

Cathedral of St John the Baptist

5. Wade in the fountains at Waterfront Park.

That is a lot to accomplish in 4 hours or so. After that we went to have a spectacular lunch at the Five Loaves Cafe. On the way there, Sam added to his wildlife photo collection.

And then we took turns trying to nap on our short drive down to Savannah.

Random statistics and facts from Charleston:
• Number of cop cars we saw in one place: 6. When we walked to dinner on Wednesday night, Sam and I both remarked on how safe Charleston seemed to be. We had walked a mile and a half without seeing a cop car and normally paranoid debutantes were walking their tiny poodles after dark. On the way home however, we were nearly run over by two police speeding to an emergency that was clearly very important. A block later we saw at least six cruisers parked at a gas station with the glass door to the store shattered. We were afraid there might be a confrontation. No way I wanted to get shot as a bystander (Sam didn't care for it either). But it became clear that we missed the crime by just a few minutes and watched unmarked cars drive past us, searching, the rest of the way home.

• Amount of money wanted for ownership of the oldest house in Charleston: $799,000 (we looked it up on the spot, but the house was taken off the market in the time it took us to put up this post).

• Coolest headstone we read:
"In loving memory of my dear Grandmother Mrs Martha Milner Phillips Relict of Eleazer Phillips, a Soldier of the Revolution. In those trying scenes she was herself a witness and heroic Sufferer... bearing to her grave the scar of a wound received in a bayonet thrust when only 14 years old while defending her child brother from the violence of a tory in the company of Capt. Lundy a British officer. Born 10th May 1765, Died 17th Dec 1856. At peace . . . [illegible] . . . and in charity with the world."

categories Exploring
tags Charleston, South Carolina, Angel Oak, Church, Stained Glass, Architecture, Animals

The land of the Delta Blues in the middle of the pouring rain

April 09, 2014Whitney Lea

My dad had big dreams for our short stint in Memphis so we left Nashville on Saturday night so we could spring into action in the morning. We woke up on April 6 in a Super 8 outside of the city. Sam had his first experience with Waffle House ("the Starbucks of the South" as I like to call it) and soon we were on our way to Graceland.

Now, my mom and dad never played Elvis when I was growing up but I still knew who he was and could list a few songs of his by the time I was in kindergarten. As I grew older I started to appreciate him a little more but I don't own an Elvis album or anything. So I was looking at a Graceland tour as more of an "American experience" rather than visiting a key musical milestone (this is the way Sam views visiting Disney World).

So we drove to Graceland and it sure came up quick! We saw a disappointingly bland looking Heartbreak Hotel (I am a total sucker for kitch and had hoped heartbreak hotel would be doing it up) and were suddenly staring at the nose of a jet. We made it to Graceland 8 minutes after if opened but the lot already had at least 50 cars in it. We got our super fancy all-access tickets and headed to a shuttle bus. There was a photo op on the way and we decided to make very disappointed faces and if it hadn't cost $25 for a copy you can bet we'd be posting one right here.

So we load into the bus and strap on our audio guides so we could learn how to press play and pause and what not. We also learned that Elvis bought Graceland when he was 22 (I suddenly had nesting-envy) as we drive across the street and up the driveway.

We arrived, were given a "no flash photos, no turning back on the tour so take your time going through the house" speech. At this moment my experience began to differ wildly from that of my family.

Elvis had amazing taste in interior decorating. I would love to have a house that has such punchy colors and strong textures. I loved it all. My family used terms like "wild" and "WEIRD" while shaking their heads and giggling. Sam expressed that he would have reconsidered asking me to marry him if he thought I would decorate our house like Graceland. That's his loss! We can paint everything taupe for the sake if the marriage.

Anyway, I left Graceland an Elvis fan and we drove deeper into Memphis to catch lunch and check out Sun Studio.

Rather than McDonald's, we opted for local fast food, Tops BBQ.

Such BBQ! So wow! Much stuff in the way of camera!

We headed on to Sun Studio, the birthplace of rock and roll. En route, a gentleman in traffic handed us a "Memphis Music" bumper sticker across the lane. Thanks kind stranger for the shwag. It currently resides on the dash in front Leilani (our hula girl). For a few minutes or so it seemed like we wouldn't get a tour before we needed to bring my dad and Cheryl to the airport, but then a big group didn't come in so we made it by the skin of our teeth. Sam was outside taking these photos so he missed out on the scarcity complex that was going on.

The studio tour was the most entertaining and informative tour I think I had ever had and it was the icing on the musical appreciation cake that my dad had been cooking up for us throughout the weekend. I would say it is a don't-miss for anyone going to Memphis.

We were short for time before my dad and Cheryl's flight, so on the way to the airport we drove past the Lorraine motel and new civil rights museum (someplace I would love to tour if we had the chance) and then took a bridge over the Mississippi into Arkansas just to say we saw the river, though we'll see it at least twice more on this trip.

After we said goodbye at the airport we headed to the Pilgrim House hostel. It was the only hostel in Memphis and their rates were great, but I was nervous that they were located in a church. It turned out to be a really cozy place with tons of room and it felt pretty organized. They ask that guests perform a small chore while they are there and ours was to sweep their stairs. Sam totally rocked it and at the end it was clear he had done the most thorough sweeping those stairs had ever seen.

I finally got to try ribs at Central BBQ before we headed to a cold, wet, and rainy Beale St. We heard a blues cover band and a 17 piece big brass band before calling it a night. Whew! Memphis sure was great.

Random Statistics from our time in Tennessee:

Whitney's preferred rib style: dry rub with the sauce on the side.
Number of TN businesses that mentioned the Fire Marshall: 5, apparently, they're very strict with enforcing fire code.
Rough number of hours Sam has listened to country music prior to the road trip: 20
Rough number of hours Sam has listened to country music since the start of the road trip: 36
Rough number of TN traffic fatalities (this year): about 200, makes you wonder why you see so many people crossing five lane roadways against the light or why there are no sidewalks.

categories Exploring
tags Tennessee, Live Music, Memphis, BBQ, Sun Studio, Elvis, Graceland

NASHVILLE

April 08, 2014Samuel Herbig

Day One

Before we get on with this Nashville post, I'd like to say two things:

I had no idea what to expect in Nashville
Most pictures are cellphone pictures*

After the debacle of the morning, we did what we could to make up. By the time we got to Nashville, everyone was hungry so we headed to Arnold's Meat & 3 (FB link!). It's working class food with a James Beard award! It's basically all in the title: you get in line (with politicians and secret service detail, if available... which it was!) pick out your meat and three sides. Then you shut up and eat that deliciousness. Amongst the four we ended up with chicken, meat loaf, roast beef and chicken & dumplings. Those were the meats, I forget all the sides. Man it was good!

Not the name of the newest Nashville sensation

Right after we headed for the center of Nashville (a tour at the Ryman Auditorium was the goal). So we park the car and start to walk...

Turning the corner onto Broadway, I would have to lie to say that I wasn't disappointed. It was clean, polished and the sidewalks were packed with tourists. In retrospect, I am not sure exactly what I expected but it just seemed like an overhyped dog and pony show.

Ryman Auditorium was closing early that day, so we couldn't get in for a tour. Luckily for us, Cheryl had a destination of her on in her back pocket, so off to Cheekwood Gardens we went.

Note from Whit: On the way there we had a debate about how a fancy estate could possibly be named Cheekwood. Sam went with the literal approach, that a person with the last name Cheek and a person with the last name Wood got married and built an estate. When we got to the gates we asked the guard and, as if it were a punchline from a German TV show (one where you say to yourself, "Really? This is it? Well okay, I'll laugh."), Sam was right. Simple pictures are best, as the saying goes.

Going to Cheekwood turned out to compliment our visit nicely. The weather was getting better as the afternoon wore on and though not all the flowers were out yet we spent two very nice hours inside (Art Museum) and out. There are two particularly noteworthy events that took place while we were wandering the gardens. One, Bob was unequivocally proven correct on his assertion that the magenta flowering bushes were called "redbud's" (wiki link).

You were right, we were wrong!

Two, the wonderful TRAINS! model train set. We only got to see Percy, but I'm pretty sure that aside from the tulips, this is where we cumulatively took the most pictures.

Ready for a rest after the hours spent on our feet, we returned to the hotel to catch some zzz's and freshen up, before heading over to Fido's for dinner. To be honest, that whole stretch of 21st Avenue looked to be pretty hopping and I really wouldn't have minded checking it out some more, but man time was tight! There I was, thinking that three months was just this endless amount of time to spend on the road, but here I am on day #6 and I can barely keep up!

After dinner came what I now recognize as the highlight of the trip. Bob as the musician amongst us had really wanted to take us out to Nashville and Memphis for it's live music. To get a taste of that, he took us to Bluebird Cafe. We went there with four people and one ticket, hoping that we would be able to snag three more tickets from no-shows.

Over an hour and a half before the show started we were only the 2nd, 3rd and 4th persons entering the "hope" line. As the start of the show time drew nearer the ticket line grew longer and longer letting our hearts sink. Finally the door opened, however, and in the end all of us got in!

Inside four singer/songwriters sat in a circle, each with a guitar. The audience was seated around tables around them. Throughout the show each of musicians would play one of their songs, while the others listened or joined in.

That's the technical description of what happened. On a more personal, perhaps emotional level I can't say that I can remember feeling more involved in a show. I can't remember who the musicians were or what songs they played. I can barely remember songs melodies, let alone song names, lyrics or artists names (Whitney can attest to this: we watched about ten Disney movies in preparation for the Disney Land because I had no idea what "Never Never Land" was). Yet, I felt so deeply touched hearing these songs in such a direct and unfiltered way. I was amazed by their ability to tell relatable stories I'd never heard. It was exhausting, but in the best of ways.

We slept well.

Day Two

First thing on our second day in Nashville was the Country Music Hall of Fame (and the attached Museum). Part of the tour was a visit to the legendary RCA Victor Studio B, the studio where Elvis ended up recording most of his albums.

At the end of our visit we stopped by Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest poster print shops in America. They had a whole wall full of wood blocks and cases after cases of lead type. We couldn't actually go into the room where the printing was being done, but just seeing all the awesome printing presses and posters and flyers they were putting out made Whitney and I all nostalgic for print-making (see our Wedding Invites!). It was really inspiring.

Back out on the street we walked across the Shelby Pedestrian bridge to get some fresh air, before we poked our noses into the Ryman Auditorium for a self guided tour. The original home of the Grand Ole Opry is a gorgeous space that is perfectly suited for a good view and great sound. As we walked through, roadies were setting the stage for Weezer to perform that night and a women's college a cappella group stood on risers in front of the stage for a picture. After the photo the broke into a lovely rendition of the national anthem and I managed to record a few bars for my Nashville sound mash-up.

After the end of the day we ventured out on Broadway again. I was still weary from my first exposure to Nashville's main drag, but I brought my camera this time, for protection! We ended up at Robert's, a fabulously run down joint with some awesome country music.

Then everyone climbed into the Omimobile, hugged their knees to their chests and we set off for Memphis!

*In an effort to retain your interest we went through and enhanced every single last cellphone picture in this post. You read that right: We tilt shifted, sepiad, cross processed and bleach bypassed the hell out of these bad boys!

categories Exploring
tags Nashville, Tennessee, Music

Interlude: The Road to Nashville

April 07, 2014Samuel Herbig

Day VI (4/4/2014): This morning we did really well. It was still dark out when we woke up. Like a pair of clumsy Indians we broke camp. Indians, because we did it quietly, almost stealthily; and clumsy if we were held to their standards.

We got on the road to Nashville where we were to rendezvous with Whitney's dad, Bob and his girlfriend, Cheryl, at the airport (but more to that later) and on our way down from the mountain we actually got to see a beautiful sunrise.

Back in the car Whitney said, "Well now we can at least say that we saw one sun rise". I said, " I'm sure we're going to see at least eight or ten more." We're currently reconciling our expectations.

We stopped for breakfast at a Flapjack Cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Breakfast was nice. You know, nothing special: eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. (Whit interjecting here... Sam forgot the flapjacks in this food list). Special was the drive down Gatlinburg's main road, Parkway.

Imagine the buildings and businesses to the left and right of Parkway as a sort of an amusement park. There's a "Space Needle", theme restaurants and log cabins that house souvenir shops. Advertising these attractions are almost two story tall (!) neon lights and wood carved signs. All of this along the narrow Parkway, nestled into a somewhat claustrophobic seeming little valley at the doorstep of Smoky Mountain National Park. Now remember, we just had breakfast, so it's about 7:30am so we're driving through this bizarre amusement glimmering and glitzy ghost town.
On our trip to Nashville we left the Eastern Standard Timezone for the first time, which brings us back to the Bob & Cheryl rendezvous part of the story. You see, when Whitney texted her dad that we were on the way to pick him up he pointed out that we both were gaining an hour. He followed up with:

Find some unchartered miracle on the way :)

Without examining the facts too closely, we pulled off I-40 and made our way up a small, windy road following a whim to get to a vantage point and signs pointing to Cumberland Trail State Park. We didn't find a vantage point, which was a bit disappointing, but we did find the remains of a settlement and these gorgeous rock formations. I took a whole lot of pictures (and a 360° panorama which didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped), so I'll just leave these here for you to peruse.

Views: Cumberland County, TN by Samuel Herbig

Unfortunately for Bob and Cheryl, our combined time calculations failed completely. We were now a half hour plus the one hour exploration of our "unchartered miracle" late to our rendezvous point. NASA take note: if anyone's trying to pass on our resumes, don't bite. We're most likely going to send your interstellar probes to Lake George.

See you in Nashville!

categories Exploring
tags Drive, Hike, Cumberland Trail State Park, Tennessee

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