New Orleans, you so crazy!

A long drive through swamps and coastline brought us to New Orleans!

We both have wanted to go to New Orleans for a long time and there are so many sights to see, so we ended up being major tourists half the time.   However, thanks to our generous host family: Jim and Emily (and their dog, Moe), we explored many a local venue off beat path.

What to do a in a city with a limited budget? A budget, mind you, that we had gone over slightly and expected to go over some more in NOLA (and we definitely did go over).  The answer: walk:  walk around neighborhood after neighborhood, explore it and take pictures, and maybe stop for a po boy or beer every so often.

shotgun houses!

We arrived on a beautiful, sunny afternoon, had some beers with Em and Jim and then headed off to Frenchmen Street to meet our friend Meredith who is down in NOLA for the winter.  We wandered Frenchmen waiting for Meredith (Em and Jim had told us it was a great street for live music) and that was where we happened up the Spotted Cat - it was so much fun we had to return for the amazing live music on Tuesday.

This was at a little restaurant on Frenchmen that serve Tater Tot Nachos.  I would highly recommend them!

Em had emailed me a list of things to see and do - so for the next three days we were men about town - soaking in all that NOLA has to offer.  They live off of Magazine Street - a really cool street full of restaurants, shops and bars (I got myself a couple of birthday tie clips at an Antique Mall),  we also explored the River Bend and Uptown areas.

We ate beignets at Cafe Dumonde, explored the French Quarter, ate muffaletta at Napolean House,  and bought some records at Peaches record store and the Louisiana Music Factory (FYI: Louisiana Music Factory is way less expensive).

The Spotted Cat was definitely one of our highlights and as I mentioned, we saw some really awesome, local live music.  Our two favorites were The Loose Marbles and Mechiya Lake and the Little Big Horns.  Here's a youtube clip!

Let's see... what else happened while we were there.... oh yeah, I TURNED 30!  I had a wonderful day. After yummy breakfast at Slim Goodies Diner we headed off to the Jean Laffite National Park  to walk the trails through swamps and along the Bayous and canals.  We then headed back to New Orleans for some amazing Po Boys at Domilise's, met Em, Jim and another old friend, Bette for some birthday beers and then and had an AMAZING dinner at Jacques-Imo's.  All in all, an amazing 30th!

We were bad about taking photos with people  - so our trip in NOLA was semi documented [sad emoticon] and we don't have photos of things like Em and Jim and their beautiful home, birthday drinks, etc.

We were hoping to make it up to Oxford but schedules didn't work out [another sad emoticon] so we made our way to Galveston Island!

They treat you right on the Gulf Coast!

After Savannah we made our way to I-10 and headed west, hoping to find even warmer weather.  (Alas,  still in the 50s here...).   We stopped in Gulfport, MS, the legendary home of Boo Killebrew, to see the sights and eat some seafood.  Sallye (Boo's Mother) had offered us lodging and hot showers, unfortunately she was not in town for our visit, FORTUNATELY she is an amazingly generous woman and let us stay in her home anyway.  After a week of winter camping/sleeping in the car we felt like we checked into a suite at the Ritz -- this resulted in some much needed "veg-ing" the night of our arrival.

Sallye and Boo had given us both lists of things to see and do and places to eat at -- it was like a scavenger hunt!   We explored Gulfport and neighboring places (Ocean Springs) - took a long walk on the beach, hiked around the Gulf Island National Seashore and even had a failed attempt at hiking the Desoto National Forest (we couldn't find a central Visitor Center or any signs for trails, sigh).

Did we mention we planned to eat some seafood? Well, we sure did.

To avoid being repetitive, let me first say that everything we ate was delicious and across the board everywhere we went the people were super friendly.

Our first lunch was at the Blow Fly Inn.
Fried Pickles with Bayou Sauce and Shrimp Po' Boys!   That Bayou sauce was da bomb. We also had a great local beer - Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan (I really sound like a northerner when I try to say pecan (i.e. pEE - CAN) - I have been practicing to make it more relaxed and "drawled" (i.e. p-cahn))

The next day, before our hike, we had lunch at Lil' Rays - Gumbo and more Po' Boys - this time soft shell crab and catfish.  (we also HAD to sample the homemade Praline cheese cake, I mean, can you really pass that up?) I ask you, Northeast, where have Po' Boys been all my life?

That night we headed to Long Beach to have dinner at Darwell's Cafe.  We were a little confused by the menu when we walked in (we couldn't pronounce étouffée, let alone figure out what it was) so we told them we were northerners and they had to help us out - and they did.   We both opted for the Taste of Darwell's: Crawfish Étouffée, Shrimp Creole, french bread and a side.  Oh my, oh my.  THAT was a meal.  They also have live music, so we got to enjoy that as we ate.

Then it was off to the Beau Rivage Casino to try our luck at the slot machines.  We both won a little money - more than what we put in the slots!   Casinos are a sensory overload - I had never been to one before, and it was fun and bizarre place.

Driving around the coast you see the loss and destruction Katrina caused - vacant lots, downtown's still being rebuilt.  It's very sobering - gives you pause and makes you realize how temporary and fleeting things that seem so permanent really are.   That is what we chose to focus on for our installation.

Click here to read more about it!

The old south lives in SAVANNAH

Welcome to eternal summer. Our friends and fam in the northeast are getting pummeled by snow while we are in shorts and teeshirts in the south. Savannah was a beautiful, polite city from the start. On Monday we drove in from Athens on back roads (searching for salvation army's). We arrived in the late afternoon and did a quick drive around the city. We were overwhelmed by the cuteness! Savannah's buildings, streets, and parks are so well kept that it felt down right exotic.

We then set up camp at Skidaway Island State Park which is just 10 minutes from the city. Our new site was like a palace compared to the last one. Showers, laundry, running water and electricity on site! We were really excited for showers.

The next day we went out exploring the city. We started on River Street where you can see cool big tankers on the river and cute stores and restaurants on the land. We had to stop in River Street Sweets where we binged on homemade pralines and bear claws. While walking off those calories, we found Mrs Wilkes Dining Room. Here they serve a family style lunch of every southern dish you can imagine. Fried chicken, back eyed peas, creamed corn, and greens to name a few. I think there were bowls on that table that we never even saw!

We didn't eat for a day after that meal, honestly.

Next, we explored Colonial Park Cemetary and wandered around admiring the architecture. 

Back at Skidaway, we hiked the park trails. The sub tropical plants were really cool and the moss inspired our next installation.

Read about our installation and see more pics here!

GULF COAST HERE WE COME!

Automatic for the People

Once we had had our fill of Asheville (and snow) it was time to make our way south to Georgia.   We hadn't made too many plans for GA, other than wanting to go to Savannah, so up until our last night in Asheville plans were still very much in the air.  As REM was my all-time-most-favorite-bands-ever-ever-ever in high school and college I felt it was my duty to go through Athens.

We decided to go Athens en route to Savannah and camp one night in the Oconee National Forest at the Oconee River Campground, slightly southeast of Athens.  We arrived in Athens and to our sheer delight the thermometer read 60º!!!!  We were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves - so we calmed our nerves by sipping sangria at a restaurant's sidewalk patio.  

 As far as quintessential college towns go Athens is pretty darn cute, not to mention fun.  (Did I mention it was 60º?)  It has a funky little artist edge to it, and some beautiful architecture.  We were enjoying ourselves so we decided to stay two nights in Athens.

We made our way to the Campground to discover that we were the only ones camping there and it was a barebones - no running water, just an outhouse (what do you expect for $5?).  I am not sure of the rules of National Forests but there seemed to be a lot of people using the river to hunt water fowl.  Is that allowed?  During our first night of camping I learned I have seen way too many horror movies: our evening by the campfire was fun, but I was vaguely convinced that there was a maniac in the woods (most likely wearing a mask of sorts).   The campground is right next to a big farm and we learned that cows make some dramatic nocturnal moos.

We awoke the next morning to 32º weather (luckily we have cold weather sleeping bags) so we decided a leisurely camp site breakfast was out and it was back to Athens to warm up at a restaurant.    We had breakfast at the Five Star Day Cafe .  Coffee was a little pricey but the food was good! I had their version of southern, vegetarian eggs benedict: poached eggs over friend green tomatoes and biscuits with white gravy.  Damn, it was good.   Sean wanted to go to the local Methodist church's Sunday service so that was our first stop after breakfast.  The service was nice, the church was pretty and the people were welcoming.    We then split up for the day: I continued exploring the city while Sean went out to photograph the country.  After that we headed back to the Oconee River where I took Nashy on a hike up the river.  Nash enjoyed the hike.

A man down at the landing told us the river had flooded a couple of weeks ago do to heavy rain and the trail along the river was muddy and somewhat washed out.  It was a very surreal looking landscape - lots of debris and every thing was covered in mud, also you could make out the flood line about five feet up on all the trees and bushes.   There is a ghost town on the river too!  There was a small paper mill town that was abandoned around 1857 -  lots of decayed brick buildings, an old covered bridge and the remains of the mill - it was really beautiful.

They forecasted lots of rain that night (and low temperatures) so after dinner we packed up the tent and slept in the car -  it was pretty roomy and warm.  When the thunder and lightning downpour started around 3 am we were very happy not to be in the tent.   The rain had stopped by morning and after some coffee we said good bye to Oconee and Athens. Savannah here we come!

One more thing about Richmond...

One of our hosts/new friends in Richmond, Chelsea creates amazing jewelry and crafts (She is also the Plant Lady) and she has a site on Etsy.

CHECK IT OUT!

buy her stuff!

back to our regularly scheduled blogging....

Asheville!

After a beautiful drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains, we arrived in Asheville. First we met Ben Levine (Rebecca's broother) and his girlfriend Lauren. The four of us had a great time and a great meal at Lauren's house. Ben let us stay at his sparse bachelors pad. It was nice having the place to ourselves and we dubbed it "the hotel".

Lauren, Ben, Geo, Sean, and Nash licking his chops!

The next day we explored downtown and were told by many people that we came at the wrong time of year. It certainly was cold. The city is filled with cool art deco buildings that hold many galleries and cute stores. Asheville's ceramics trade is very prevelant.

my favorite building

Lunch at Early Girl Eatery  

Geo's favorite landmark

In the afternoon we explored the North Carolina Arboretum. It was a very young and classic modern design. We enjoyed the bonsai'd and hedged American Beach trees and also the huge variety of Azalias.

Next we took a quick drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway and then tried to drive by the Biltmore Estate without paying to enter. We were told it was "private property" and we could not even enter the grounds. We did enjoy the "historical district" surrounding the area filled with strip malls and fast food places that were designed to look old. Weird. 

Good Times in Richmond!

Our time in Richmond was grand, we wanted to stay longer but were able to leave with the promise to ourselves that we would be back (maybe when it's a little warmer).

we were shown a good time by Chelsea and Matt, maybe too good a time... getting up and on the road on our last morning was a little tough.

Our full day in Richmond was chock full of all the local flavor and hiking we could cram in to it.   We had a slow star to our morning sipping americanos at Lamplighter Roasting Co.  I am always excited to find a great americano, so I had two (remember, we were sipping slowly...)  We walked around two neighborhoods: The Fan and Cary Town, window shopping, and totally fell for Richmond - it's a great city!

We took Nash hiking on the North bank in the James River Park.  It was a muddy hike -a few falls and such as we slid down muddy banks but it was lots of fun nonetheless.   The huge slabs of stone are quite breathtaking - we found a wonderful little inlet and decided that it was the perfect spot for our Richmond Installation!  We were drawn to all the river rocks and decided to create an Andy Goldsworthy inspired rock pattern on the giant boulder in the water.  Follow this link to see more photos and read about the installation.

Everyone suggested we check out Maymont Park - a 100 acre park on the river  - botanic gardens and mansions and all sorts of fun stuff.  Dogs aren't allowed so a sad Nash had to wait in the car but we got to explore a little (only a little because we got there 30 minutes before closing).

For dinner we went with Matt, Chelsea and their friend Amber to the Avalon Restaurant and Bar.   If anyone reading this blog happens to find themselves in Richmond and needs a place for dinner we would highly recommend this place.  They have an amazing menu and all plates can be ordered tapas style.  Between the five of us we ordered a dozen or so dishes and got to sample a lot of the menu - it was delicious.  The post dinner Jagër bombs might not have been necessary but they twisted our arms....
We forgot our camera so, sadly, we don't have any photos of all of us (and Amber's friend Devin who met us all there post dinner.... he was also the jagër bomb arm twister...not that I'm naming names...)

The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast at 821 Café and we were on our way to Asheville.  Very grateful for the good time and the friends we made.

We also were served coffee in this mug! very fitting as I am about to turn 30 in two weeks!

x

geo

Richmond / Belle Isle

After VA Beach we journeyed down to Richmond to stay with some new friends, Matt & Chelsea.  If everyone on our trip is as welcoming and kind as our first two stops we are in for the trip of our lives!

Everyone suggested we explore Belle Isle (which is in the James River) and that was the first thing we did upon arrival.  It was great fun -  good to get a little hiking after sitting in the car (only for 2 hours, but sill).  we didn't see the foot bridge at first and thought you had to climb the rocks across the small rapids to get to the Isle - we were wrong - but only realized half way across the rocks.  Nash didn't really dig jumping rock to rock - but he was great at it, and it was funny to watch him splay his toes and jump.

Belle Isle was awesome.

After our day hike we met up with Matt, saw some of the city and then Chelsea made us hurricanes (in honor of Fat Tuesday) and we cooked a hearty meal of chicken eggplant parm and pasta with a yummy salad.  Then we went out and saw some awesome live music (and had a few more hurricanes...)

we're off to explore more of the city today!
g

Virgina Beach was amazing!

We had such a wonderful time in Virginia Beach and that is due in large part to the Walsh Family!  It was a wonderful way to start our trip - they were so generous and hospitable and have such an amazing house on such beautiful land.  (a lot of superlatives, i know - but it's the truth!)  Nash wanted to stay because of all the out-door, off-leash fun.  Janice almost stowed away for the rest of the trip and we almost got Molly to come to Richmond with us - but alas, we left them all behind. Check out our art installation that we built on their property too.

Hopefully we'll be back there soon or they will come up to Brooklyn and we can show them some hospitality! You have to bring Wooshie though!