New Orleans and Mississippi

The road trip continued this week with visits to Atlanta (Georgia), Montgomery (Alabama), New Orleans (Lousiana) and Jackson (Mississippi).

The road has been mainly highways, 2 to 5 lanes wide. There are lots of trucks and RVs on the road and food stops about every 2 miles. We tried a great country food chain restaurant called Cracker Barrell (that we pronounce like you ol’ grandma would say it in a high pitch voice). We enjoyed a lovely roast chicken, mac and cheese, stuffing and sides meal followed by peach cobbler and apple pie. Pretty cheap feed too given it was the special of the day.

The southern accent strengthened as we drove south and naturally they struggled with our Aussie lingo.

Atlanta is the capital of Georgia and while I updated my blog from Atlanta last week, the next day we toured the global CNN headquarters. It was quite interesting as we saw the control room in action, live morning shows and the huge room where the journalists work 24/7. It was the day after the 2^nd election debate so it was full of debate news and naturally focused on Trump being a dickhead with his ‘locker room’ banter (caught on video) of him wanting to grab a woman. REVOLTING !! 

After the tour we visited the Center for Civil Rights. The southern states are full of history on civil rights. We read lots of information about prominent activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), Rosa Parks the bus seat lady, the walk on Washington Mall to the Lincoln Memorial protesting about working rights, the freedom bus riders and lots of dreadful events where people were discriminated, beaten and killed.  I will never understand how this treatment was ever considered appropriate yet it still continues today around the world for people of different colour, creed and religion.  Atlanta is also the birth place and resting place of MLK. At the end of the museum is a huge section dedicated to human rights and how the world still has a long way to go to provide this basic right to many people in countries.

 

Next stop was Montgomery in Alabama. This was an overnight stop but we walked around the riverfront and city restaurant area. It was a Monday night and a public holiday so not much action about. We saw the spot where Rosa Parks was arrested on a bus for not giving up her seat to a white person. They have named a library after her. I remember seeing the actual bus in Detroit in the Henry Ford Museum so it was great to go back to the actual spot. Rosa’s actions sparked a boycott for 381 days of the bus system by black residents. Dozens of public buses stood idle for months, severely damaging the bus transit company's finances, until the city repealed its law requiring segregation on public buses following the US Supreme Court ruling that it was unconstitutional.

And then we headed to New Orleans, where it is to be pronounced Nawlins. To be honest, it was a shock when we arrived. Our apartment was the street behind the infamous Bourbon Street and our first walk around was up this street. It was dirty, seedy and full of dive bars. It was daytime and it was just awful. We wandered around the French Quarter streets and it was much more pleasant with art shops and eating places. Top of the food list was the famous beignets (pronounced ben-yays). These are hot donut-like treats coated in icing sugar. I think they would be nicer if filled with jam but they were yummy just the same.

We took an exciting airboat swamp ride and saw alligators and lots of birdlife. Being in the swamp itself was an experience in itself.  I’ve never been amongst that part of nature and thank god they were alligators and not crocodiles as I would have been shitting myself out there. The alligators were about 5-6 feet but were very cute to watch swim up to the boat and get a pat from the driver.

 

We took an afternoon bike tour around the city and it was really great to see more of Nawlins. The tour guide lady was a hoot. She was Nawlins raised girl and knew everybody we passed. There is a lot of history in Nawlins and it’s French and Spanish heritage makes it a melting pot of cultures which is clear to see even today. The people are friendly, say hello to you everywhere you go and are definitely protective of their relaxed and fun lifestyle.

Our trip would not be complete without a paddle steamer ride up the Mississippi River. This was another great tour with a good history overview of Nawlins and Louisiana and the important Battle of New Orleans back in 1815. While the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the British gave the US it’s independence, the British lingered in the US for the next 30 years. So the war of 1812 was the final fight from the US to kick the British out. The Battle of New Orleans was the final battle. The Mississippi River was a strategic port and the British wanted it for control of the shipping lanes to and from Europe. But, in an very courageous effort by the people of New Orleans and surrounding states, the locals, militia and free coloured people joined arms to defeat the professional British soldiers. New Orleans found it’s strength and the people felt American for the first time, regardless of the heritage. The battle was under the leadership of General Andrew Jackson who went on to become President.

 

 A side story…as we boarded the paddle steamer, a guy in costume of the day was greeting people on board. He was yelling to have your bags ready for inspection and that no weapons were allowed. Our friend was smiling. In what seemed his costume voice, he said what are you laughing at? Our friend said that we were not used to being told to not have weapons. He then proceeded to rant about how proud Americans were of there 2^nd Amendment and guns etc. and then fired back at us how many terrorist attacks have we had in Australia? (As if that was some reason to bear arms?) The guy behind us asked him if he was Captain Trump – he didn’t like that at all. Shit, I thought we were not going to survive this cruise. We had a stack of responses to give back but thought it better to stay quiet. I wanted to ask him why we couldn’t bring weapons aboard if guns were such a great thing to have??  Or possibly a bit more inappropriate would have been…so 9-11 and Sandy Hook, how’s those great life saving guns working out for you? But, we just boarded the boat and thanked our stars that we lived in a great country, Australia.  Later on, the guy came up to us and apologized for his words. he said he was rattled by a lady on the bus that morning who challenged him about guns etc. Anyway, I accepted his apology and I think he was a decent guy underneath his redneck coat.

While everyone talks about Bourbon Street, it is really for party drinking people and not our scene. We found Frenchmen Street to be more civilised and full of music and jazz bands. We wandered down one night and cruised the street, finally settling on a bar to listen to the jazz band. It was really good. I like most music and live music is usually great in any form.

The trip to Jackson was quick but I ran over a piece of freeway junk and it ripped a massive hole in the rear tyre. Thankfully we were only 15 minutes out of Jackson. We were stuck in a section of freeway roadworks so there was no sideline to stop. I limped the car a few minutes and finally a break came where I could cross the ditch off the road. We changed the tyre and got to Jackson safely. So this is third flat tyre we’ve had in this car since being in the US. Hopefully this is the last given they say things happen in three’s.

Jackson is the capital of Mississippi and arriving on a Friday afternoon is a bit of an anticlimax. We visited the State Capitol building and wandering around the house of reps and senate rooms. It was so quiet. The most exciting thing in town is the State Fair which everyone seems to point us to when asking for things to see/do.

Next stop is Memphis. The final pics below are from the Mississippi State Capitol building and grounds.

Charlotte and Atlanta

We have begun the road trip to New Orleans, albeit only two days at this stage. The first day was a long drive to Charlotte, North Carolina. It rained most of the way and was a little windy due to the hurricane (Matthew) nearby on the coast. No tourist action that day but nice to see a change of scenery and number plates.

 

The pics above are us old chooks having a cuppa tea along the way and a very unique structure called Metalmorphisis in Charlotte. The head rotates in sections but is quite striking. It is is a mirrored water fountain by Czech sculptor David Cerny that was constructed at the Whitehall Technology Park in Charlotte. The 14-ton sculpture is made from massive stainless steel layers that rotate 360 degrees and occasionally align to create a massive head.

The second day we continued our journey south to Atlanta which is the capital of Georgia. It is known as the peach state but we couldn't find any roadside market places open on a Sunday. Atlanta also hosted the 1996 Olympics. Atlanta is also home to the World of Coca Cola - this was where coke was founded by an American pharmacist John Pemberton. We toured the museum and it was chock full of everything coke - momentos, artefacts, marketing and development history and a tasting room with over 100 different flavours produced by coke. We received a bottle of coke on entry and as many Aussies know, US coke is not as sweet as Australian coke due to the different sugar used. I still love a good coke, especially a free one. It's an incredible success story that we tend to take for granted but coke was created in 1886 and through successful marketing, this great drink has endured generations and is still the leading soft drink around the world today.

I found it interesting that coke changed its formula back in 1985, but was met with strong opposition. When an athlete is great, he or she is called the Michael Jordan of his or her sport. When a new product launch is a disaster, it is called the "New Coke" of its industry.

That negative association emerged 30 years ago Thursday, on April 23, 1985, when Coca Cola announced a changed to its nearly century-old secret formula. The new Coke would have a smoother, sweeter taste -- similar to Diet Coke, but sweetened with corn syrup. Market researchers and pollsters were sure it'd be a hit.

A poll showed that only 13 percent of soda drinkers liked the new Coke. The pop was a bust of epic proportions. Pepsi took full advantage by launching a commercial featuring a girl who asked: "Somebody out there tell me why Coke did it? Why did Coke change?"

Fans weren't upset -- they were angry. So passionate were Coke drinkers that they launched grassroots campaigns across the country to force Coca-Cola to bring back the original Coke.

"It was the people against the corporation -- only in America," reported CBS News' Bob Simon in 1985. "Coke said it was committed, so were the people. In California they collected signatures, in Seattle they set up a hotline."

Eventually the pressure from the fans and the press became too much. Coca-Cola showed signs of cracking when it launched a commercial featuring Donald Keough, the longtime president of the Coca-Cola Company in 1985.

"We're bringing it back, the original taste of Coca-Cola returns as Coca-Cola Classic and soon America will have a real choice: the new taste of Coke or the original taste of Coca-Cola Classic," said Donald Keough, Pres. Coca-Cola Company.

 

The headquarters of CNN News is here in Atlanta and we're taking a tour tomorrow morning. It is a long weekend here and the city was pleasant given it was a Sunday. We had an early dinner at this BBQ place and the food was really tasty and delicious. We shared ribs, brisket, chicken and a range of side dishes. If this is the standard of southern bbq food, we are in for a fabulous road trip ahead. We hope to see the civil rights museum tomorrow and maybe Martin Luther King's birth house and memorial. Tomorrow we head to Montgomery in Alabama and will reach New Orleans on Tuesday.

New York

I've been in New York for the past week with a friend (Ms V) visiting from Australia. I missed my weekly post on Sunday as we were flat strap the whole time. While I visited New York last year with Deb, this was an opportunity to see the sights again and do a little unexpected clothes shopping. As I sit exhausted on the train back to DC, I’m humming……I have walked 500 miles, and then 500 more to (see the sights of this big city)….or so that annoying song goes. We stayed in an AirBnB apartment, same as last year and love staying amongst the locals rather than tourist crazy hotels.

We started the trip with a Yankees baseball game late on Saturday afternoon. It’s always a great time on the subway going to the game with lots of fans all jiggly before the game. This was the 2^nd last game of the season and Yankees were not going to make the playoffs (finals). I note that the Nats are in the playoffs though !!  It was an absolute cracker of a game. I’ve not seen a game this great at Nats stadium except the game that went into extra innings. Yankees were down in the first few innings and the Balitmore Orioles were in fine form at 3-0 early on. Both teams were smashing at everything so it was just full of action. The Yankees turned the game around to win 7-3. We had the mandatory hot dog and wore our NY hats. Now for those of you who think I’m a dirty traitor, Yankees are my second team – I had planned to follow them when we came over to the US. But baseball teams are grouped into two big leagues as there are so many teams. Yankees are in the other league so I would never get to see them play. So while I still have a very soft spot for them, I had to support Nats as I could always get to their games. So I have a NY hat in the cupboard for those visits to NY. But Nats are my main team and I will continue to be a strong supporter.

 

On Sunday night we saw the Lion King and it was brilliant as expected. I have always wanted to see the Lion King and it was every bit as good as expected. I was overwhelmed with the costumes and puppetry of the animals. It was really cleverly done. I think this show is constantly booked out and it will be a legendry favorite up there with The Phantom of the Opera and Cats.

We also visited the other key NY sites such as Empire State Building, Rockerfeller (Top of the Rock), 9-11 memorial and museum and took a walking tour of Brooklyn including crossing the Brooklyn bridge. The Brooklyn bridge is a real piece of history – I love the story of it’s building and how it stands today as a gorgeous landmark. Look closely between the gap in the bottom tower and you will see the Empire State Building. We also took a harbour lights cruise which was absolutely gorgeous. I’ve done the day time cruise but the night lights are spectacular. We took a bike tour around Central Park with the same bike shop I used last year. Unfortunately it was not great. We didn’t enjoy it and I was not happy given last year it was a good tour.

We spent time shopping various shops and picked up some bargains along the way. No trip to NY is complete without a walk/push through Times Square and a visit to the M&M shop – I wanted to put my mouth under the chocolate machines and pull that handle !!! I also checked out a café called Little Collins that is owned by a Kiwi and Aussie. The coffee was great – really great. I was recommended to go there and glad I did. I will be passing this address to other caffeine deprived Aussies. The café was packed and still in the afternoon when we passed. And of course we went to Tiffany’s. A girl can’t visit NY without browsing amongst the beautiful cabinets of sparkling diamonds and jewellry at Tiffany’s on 5^th Avenue.

 

I finally saw the Naked Cowboy in the Uber ride to the train station on the last day. One day I will get a pic with that dude. It’s been a very long busy week but many boxes were ticked. There’s a bunch of pics to look at and I have to say the photo in Times Square with a guys in his baby outfit was just such a ridiculous thing to do – I just had to do it. He was a scream with his rattle and squeaky toys. I braved a photo with him and he was quite funny. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but it was all safe in the end.