Resurfacing in Memphis

I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since my last posting. It has gone by fast.

It's become difficult to maintain the blog while travelling. It's not that I don't have the opportunity, but that I rarely feel in the mood to write in an introspective manner while I'm in motion. So I've settled for just providing a summary of my peregrinations while giving the kind of quick short movie reviews I did last month.

So here's where I've been: after leaving my friend Howard's place in suburban Maryland, I crossed the Potomac and ventured through horse/polo country of northern Virginia until I got to Front Royal. At that point, I spent the next four days driving the almost 600 miles of Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway back-to-back, camping along the way, until I got to the Cherokee reservation in western North Carolina.

It was an awesome experience---including the side trip to Charlottesville to see Monticello (fantastic!) and the campus of the University of Virginia. As a Coloradoan used to the rockies and their majesty, was stunned at how beautiful the mountains of North Carolina are. The highlights included driving to the top of Mount Mitchell, and taking the Thomas Wolfe tour in Asheville.

At the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, I headed south into the "beak" of South Carolina, giving me my 48th state (only two more to go!) and then into northeastern Georgia, where, following a friend's suggestion, I visited the Georgia Guidestones. I was quitely delighted to find that this anti-liberty, pro-world government and pro-eugenics monument was defaced with copious anti-NWO graffiti (although I don't approve of destruction of private property).

I then visited lovely Athens, and took a walking tour of the University of Georgia campus. The next day I drove to Atlanta, stopping in Stone Mountain to gaze upon the monument to Confederate heroes. In downtown Atlanta, I toured the Georgia capitol and rode MARTA out to the Olympics plaza. I took a picture of myself giving the finger to the windows of the CNN building. What fun! All during my visit to Atlanta, I couldn't get the theme to Matlock out of my head.

I then drove northwest to Calhoun, Georgia, crossed into Alabama, and followed the ridge of the subsiding mountains all the way to Birmingham, arriving at sunset just in time to ascend the statue of Vulcan and watch the lights of the city come on. I had wanted to go there, to experience the very southern end of the Appalachians, after having been in Maine the previous month. It gave me a sense of completeness about the experience.

In Birmingham, I broke down and stayed in a motel for the first time since Binghamton, New York. I also ate at a Waffle House for the first time in almost a year, since they don't seem to have them in New England.

The next day I visited the Natural Bridge of Alabama, a glorious aging tourist attraction off the Interstate, and then crossed into Mississippi, a state I just love. I paid twelve bucks in Tupelo to vissit the birthplace of Elvis Presely, because it seemed absurd not to.

By late afternoon, I was in Memphis, at the home of my friend Greg from high school. He lives on Mud Island, in a wonderful New Urbanist housing development with a coffee shop right near by where I am now typing this.

Greg has been an incredible host, taking me out to eat Bar-B-Que, see the worldest largest hog, walk Beale Street, and many other fun things. I've gotten to meet some of his awesome friends. and his two wonderful sons, who attend the Montessori school that is just across the street from here.

I managed a fantastic side trip through western Tennessee to visit the Shiloh Battlefield, a place that I found very stirring, especially since it turns out to be the glory of my native state. I also visited the home (now a museum) of Buford Pusser (awesome 1970's decor), and on a separate day, that place where the King lived (worth every penny of admission).

Almost two weeks later I can say that I absolutely love Memphis, and especially Mud Island. I could easily live there. It has catapulted into the top rung of my favorite U.S. cities. I'm going to miss it when I leave here, but I have a feeling I'll be back fairly soon.