Road Trip East Day 7: Schenectady, NY to Shelburne, VT

This morning I had breakfast with my brother at a diner called the Blue Ribbon. I had eggs benedict and he had a cinnamon roll. Their coffee was excellent. We chatted about school, classes and friends and it was nice to see him so animated and happy.

I drove him back to campus and then headed out of town to take I-87 north out of Albany. I took this road so many times to and from college that it was quite odd to be heading this way again. I even remembered where to exit (Ft. Anne, NY 149), then US 4, then VT 22A. The weather was sunny and clear and the drive through the Adirondacks and then with a clear view of the Green Mountains was beautiful.

The Aspen seeds are in the air in VT so the air seems to snow with fluffy white puffs. It was warm earlier this week, in the low 90's. I drove straight to my relatives' house and ended up talking with them and their friend named Ah Ha. Ah Ha is short and round, like a cannonball, and speaks very loudly. She is quite funny, so her name is very appropriate. She doesn't speak English so we conversed in Mandarin. My aunties insisted that I eat lunch, so I left quite stuffed.

I made it to the house and unloaded my car. I also drove to Champ's Car Care Center to wash off 14 states worth of bugs and road grime. Having the roof racks on the car makes it a pain to go to a regular touchless car wash so I did it myself. Champ's has this super high pressure water hose that amazingly blew all the bugs away! I think the car iscleaner than it's ever been!

I'm so glad to not have to get on the road tomorrow!

Road Trip by the Numbers

1 girl
1 VW Jetta
7 days
3136.5 miles
14 states
10 interstate highways
87 gallons of diesel gas

Road Trip East Day 6: Charlottesville, VA to Schenectady, NY

Smitha and I got up relatively early (8am) and headed out to the Tavern, which is a classic country diner. The roof advertises that the Tavern is where "Townspeople, Students and Travelers come to Mingle" and that is definitely true. There were some huge preppies, true hicks and old people in there. Smitha had chipped beef, which is kind of like small pieces of corned beef in a gravy with biscuits, and then a side of grits. I had a pecan waffle, which is a crispy waffle with chopped pecans. They even had real maple syrup, so it was pretty good.

I then got on the road to Maryland. Google Maps directed me to take local roads, not the highway, so I got a real tour of some of the prettiest country I've seen so far. I was on US routes almost the whole way, except for a short portion of county road. The drive north mirrored the Skyline Parkway of Shenandoah National Park, which I have made once before in college. The mountains were spectacular when viewed from my perspective, and it was a nice change to be actually driving instead of mindless interstate. The drive from Charlottesville to Middletown, MD, where Grant's family farm is took about three hours. I got delayed because I was stuck behind a line painting truck for about 30 minutes, that was frustrating.

When I arrived at the farm, Grant was busy packing because he was leaving for Luanda, Angola tonight, which was a surprise to him as well as me as he just got the call to leave a few hours before I arrived. I saw his brother Luke who is at Harvard now, and his mom, who looks exactly the same as the last time I saw her seven years ago! He showed me the boat he has been building, it is a Chesapeake Bay boat that will have two sliding seats for rowing and he's putting in bulkheads for storage. He has built boats before, so it's nothing totally out of the ordinary for him, but he wants to go row around Alaska! Apparently he is thinking about leaving his job so that might actually become a possibility. I told him that he wasn't Grant unless he had a crazy scheme.

We had a nice time catching up, and then I had to get back on the road and he had to drive to DC to fly out for London, then Johannesburg, then Luanda. We were laughing at the crazy lives we led!

I then got back on interstate highways to drive up to Schenectady, NY, to visit my brother at Union. The drive from Maryland to Binghamton, NY, on I-81 was stressful. There was a lot of traffic and congestion and only 2 lanes going each way. Once I got on I-88 towards Albany for the last 120 miles it cleared up and I had a nice drive with almost no one on the road.

It was nice to see my brother at college, I met his roommate and some friends. We ate dinner (or at least, I did) at Five Guys burgers, their fries are so ridiculously good! We then shot some hoops outside because the weather is quite nice and cool here. Tomorrow we will have breakfast, and then my odyssey will finally be over as I will arrive in Vermont!

Road Trip East Day 5: Knoxville, TN to Charlottesville, VA

As I continued northeast out of Tennessee into Virginia, the landscape became even more mountainous and similar to Vermont. The highway passes entrances to Shenandoah State Park and also follows the Great Smoky Mountains. There is a byway of the same name that follows 81 north, but of course it is much slower.

Virginia looks a lot like Vermont with rolling green hills and little farms. I reached Charlottesville, the home of the University of Virginia, around 3pm. I had visited once when I was looking at colleges but that was a long time ago and I only remember the main campus plus a trip to Monticello. The interstate that takes you to Charlottesville, I-64, heads over a large mountain that has several scenic views of the Great Smoky Mountains and is very pretty. The weather was perfect, about 75, partly sunny and very comfortable.

I hadn't seen Smitha in person in about eight years so it was nice to catch up and hang out. We went to get an oil change for my car, since I didn't get one before I left, and then we ate crepes and sat outside enjoying the weather at a pedestrian mall that reminded me of Church Street. We met up with some of her friends from law school and chatted for a while and then she and I had dinner at a French place called Bizou. I have been craving vegetables and fresh food as I have had a lot of protein and heavy sauces the past few days! Bizou did not disappoint with a beet salad, blue cheese and walnut salad, tuna ceviche and shrimp and grits. To finish it off we had apple fritters.

I received a late message from my friend Grant who is staying with his family in Frederick, MD right now, so I will drive up there and have lunch with him. It's not out of the way so I might as well see him since he and I won't be able to meet up while he is in Africa this summer.

Road Trip East Day 4: New Orleans, LA to Knoxville, TN

I woke up at around 9am this morning and went for a final walk around the French Quarter. My friend Jeff has been to NoLa a few times and he introduced me to beignets, which are a deep fried square doughnut topped with an avalanche of powdered sugar. I texted him and asked for the best place to get beignets and he told me to head to Cafe du Monde. It's just across from Jackson Square, so I headed over there and found a table in their immense outdoor seating patio. The place is crowded and I can see why--their beignets are fantastic! You get 3 per plate and they arrive piping hot, steaming, and drowned in powdered sugar. Everything is sticky because the sugar gets everywhere. I also had a New Orleans style cafe au lait with chicory coffee, which was strong but delicious.

After I snarfed my beignets, I walked around a bit more but it was already very hot and sweaty so I went back to the hotel and checked out. I was so sad to leave the W, but I had to press on. My drive out of New Orleans took me further east on I-10 over the other side of Lake Pontchartrain. I can see why the two main routes out of New Orleans were clogged with traffic during Katrina, as they are only two lanes each way and there's no other way to escape the area. There are signs on the causeway that say "Hurricane Evacuation Route" but that's not going to do any good if everyone else in the city is trying to go the same way as well.

I left I-10 behind after 4 days of only heading east and turned northeast on I-59. About 40 miles outside of New Orleans, you cross the border into Mississippi. The further away from the coast I got, the more the landscape changed. The land became rolling instead of pancake flat and there were pine trees lining the road. The dirt was an orange yellow color that was very bright and unique. 59 goes through Hattiesburg, which is the site of Southern Mississippi University.

I then passed into Alabama, and the landscape became even greener with big trees lining the highway and the road even more hilly. I went through Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. Both had higher traffic than outside the cities, but no traffic jams. A lot of construction, however, which was sort of annoying.

After Birmingham, the road goes through Georgia for about 20 miles and then crosses into Tennessee. Overall I covered 5 states today! The scenery in Tennessee is very pretty, with tree covered hills and green valleys. It reminded me of Vermont or upstate NY. At one point I saw some hills that look like Mohonk.

The only reason I have heard of Chattanooga, TN is because of the Glenn Miller jazz song, "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", but apparently it is a real historical train. It was just around sunset when I arrived in Chattanooga and I saw a billboard advertising Sugar's Ribs, Voted #1 in 2008! I knew I had to try this place. Sugar's is located on a high cliff overlooking the valley and the highway so it had a great view of the sunset. I had a half rack of pork ribs, cornbread and corn on the cob. It was so good! They had all different kinds of sauces to try, including super hot, vinegary, sour and sweet. My favorite was the Tennessee sweet style sauce. I also got to watch some of the USA/Czech exhibition soccer game on ESPN weirdly enough.

After the ribs I got back on the road and ended up in Knoxville, TN for the night. Just as the sun was setting I kept seeing these little flashing lights by the side of the road and I couldn't think of what they were, until I realized they were fireflies! It's been so long since I saw them!

Tomorrow I will spend the night with my friend who just graduated from UVA Law. She lives in Charlottesville, VA.

Road Trip East Interlude: New Orleans, LA

I started my time in the Big Easy by wandering around the French Quarter. Since my hotel is on Chartres Street, I was well located to do so. I went to Jackson Park, where there is a huge statue of General Andrew Jackson (we are in the Deep South after all) in front of St. Louis cathedral. I also saw the gold statue of Joan of Arc but she's pretty shiny and sparkly. Wandering around the French Quarter is fun, the buildings are picturesque and pretty with their wrought iron balconies and decorations. Chartres Street is not as ticky tacky as Bourbon Street; there are a lot of cute shops and galleries. I did the requisite walk down Bourbon just to see it, there are a lot of bars with funny names, shops selling Mardi Gras beads and strip clubs.

I ate lunch at Cafe Maspero's, which is a New Orleans staple and is housed in the old slave auction building down by the Mississippi river. I had a muffaletta sandwich, which is a heart attack disguised as a sandwich with salami, ham, melted provolone, olives, garlic, anchovies and spicy sauce all on an italian roll. It is enormous, filling and delicious.

After my lunch I decided to take the street car to the Garden District, which has beautiful, tree-lined streets, a cemetery and is close to Magazine Street, which is a cool un-touristy shopping district. The street car stop is at the end of Bourbon Street at where it meets Canal, and then the street car continues west from that point. It costs $1.25 to ride one way and you have to get off at the termination point, no riding back. The street car is a real antique--it rattles and bags furiously as you clatter along and it squeaks hideously around turns. The inside is almost all lined with wood and the seats switch backs for when the car heads back the other way. The drivers are all funny and friendly and some of them even spout off random sayings. One of mine pointed out to everyone, "Life's not that bad, hunh? You're in New Orleans and it's a wonderful day!"

I got off at the 6th street and St. Charles intersection in the garden district and walked to Lafayette Cemetery. The houses in this area are all beautiful plantation and southern style homes with verandas, porches and little yards. They are all really cute and have a lot of character. I saw lots of really nice houses and I wished I could call one of them my own!

Lafayette Cemetery was founded in 1833 and is one of the oldest cemeteries in the city. Some of the graves looked familiar to me as scenes for the movie Interview With the Vampire were filmed here. Various interesting characters from area history are buried here and the cemetery is also said to be haunted. The atmosphere is certainly mysterious and a little sad, with the tombs above ground for all to see. It was very hot and humid, so I was sweating profusely as I wandered around the tombs just poking around. It was definitely a picturesque, although creepy, place.

After my time with the dead I walked to Magazine Street and got an iced sweet tea since I was so hot and thirsty. Magazine Street has some cool little shops and restaurants and is just a neat little funky neighborhood. I found a cool tshirt shop called Storyville (which is a nickname for New Orleans) so I bought two shirts. I could have bought half the items in the shop but restrained myself!

I then walked back to the streetcar and went back to the W to swim in their little pool and rest a bit before dinner. The afternoon thunderstorm did not happen, although a large thunderhead did build up and I heard thunder at one point. As I was sitting by the pool the sun came back out so that was nice. The pool was empty except for a pack of Frenchmen who sat in one of the bungalows and chatted animatedly in French whilst smoking. You can smoke in public (and in bars) in New Orleans, which is not so great, but at least I couldn't smell their smoke and it wasn't blowing onto me.

After my time at the pool I showered (this is a horribly humid place) and then made plans for dinner. I got several recommendations from friends, including several traditional New Orleans fancy places in the Quarter, such as Antoines or Galatoire's, but I wanted something less fancy and more jovial. Let's face it, when you are traveling alone eating by yourself at a fancy place is kind of boring and awkward!

My friend Matt, who went to Tulane, recommended a place called Jacque-imo's which has traditional New Orleans style food but in a very convivial atmosphere. It is in the Uptown district which is on the same street car line I took before but past the Garden District. Uptown is where Tulane is so it is another fun, non-touristy area. I got back on the street car and rode it almost to the end to Oak Street. Jacque-imo's is a couple of blocks west on Oak.

The place was very crowded and I was offered the chance to sit at the bar without a wait. I took it, of course. I ended up chatting a lot with the bartender, Chris, who was blown away by my solo cross country trip (he said it was "ballsy") and then even more blown away by my plans to go to South Africa for World Cup. I told him to look for me waving a big American flag on ESPN.

For an appetizer I had the famous Alligator and Crab "Cheesecake" which is really a crab cake made with alligator as well served in the shape of a cheesecake. It comes with spicy stewed beets and a delicious creamy tomato sauce. As you can imagine it was rich yet amazing! Chris kept laughing at my faces as I pretty much inhaled the whole thing. Then, I had a spinach salad that came with a fried oyster, which I did not eat, but the fresh, crisp spinach was a welcome change from my road food and lack of veggies. The salad came with two fabulous cornbreads that seemed to be mostly butter, but totally tasty. They had a spicy jalapeno salsa on top as well! For my main course I had the paneed duck with sweet potato and shrimp sauce with mashed sweet potatoes and more of the stewed beets. It turns out paneed is apparently a fancy creole word for "breaded and fried" but it was of course also very, very good. I totally stuffed my face and was extremely full, but very satisfied. I washed down my meal with a classy can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. I'm so glad I decided to take up my friend on his recommendation as the place was exactly what I wanted!

I then took the trolley car back to the French Quarter and walked from one end to the other to get to Frenchman Street, which is a relatively unknown to tourists section known for its bars and music venues frequented by real locals. I'm glad I went there as once you pass the road that marks the edge of the French Quarter the atmosphere changes and you see crowds of clearly non tourists hanging out in the street and outside of bars. There were even several people grilling hot dogs or selling bbq from their cars! I ended up at Cafe Negril where a band was performing bluesy rock, just what I wanted. After two songs, the drums player got up and the guy sitting next to me stepped in! It turns out that this band allowed people to sign up to come and play with them--how cool is that? It was like a giant jam session! I drank a tasty Abita Raspberry Wheat beer and enjoyed the show. At one point a guy showed up in a pith helmet and started playing blues harmonica along with the band! He brought his own amp and a special microphone that includes a handle so you can play the harmonica and hold on at the same time. He also had a box full of multiple harmonicas! How mysterious!

After about an hour of local music I was tired, so I intended to take a cab back to the hotel (as per local recommendations) but there was a large crowd of people heading back in the direction I was going so I followed them on foot. In the French Quarter, Decatur Street where we were is pretty safe, but I figured safety in numbers was a good idea.

I'm now about to go to bed after a wonderful day in New Orleans. I wish I had more time to explore this city further--I'll have to come back!

Road Trip East Day 3: Lafayette, LA to New Orleans, LA

I left the Holiday Inn in Lafayette around 10am since I knew it wouldn't take me that long to get to New Orleans. I have to say the drive between Lafayette and NoLa is one of the most interesting that I have had so far on this trip. The countryside is true Louisana Bayou, with flat land, tall trees lining the road and multiple little bayous that you can see from the road. I wished for a small boat so I could explore. Just before reaching Baton Rouge, there is a stretch of causeway that runs through a swamp for about 5 miles. The water was perfectly still, reflecting the sky and clouds. The swamp was full of tree stumps and live trees, which made me wonder how they could survive submerged. It looked so mysterious! In addition, the causeway was perfectly straight, so you could see for miles. At one point I even saw a huge bird fly above me that was bright pink. At first I was confused, but I looked closer and realized it was a flamingo!

When you reach Baton Rouge you cross the mighty Mississippi, which is indeed large and fast-flowing. You get a quick glimpse of some barges for shipping, but not much else of Baton Rouge as the 10 splits off and heads southeast towards NoLa. As you get closer to the coast, the road passes Lake Pontchartrain, which is huge. The road passes along the southern coast of the lake and I couldn't see the other shore. There are also more swamps and bayous.

I am staying at the W in the French Quarter which is just too nice. I know it is more than I have been spending for other hotels, but their service is utterly top notch and they really make me feel welcome. Anytime I call for something they always call me Miss Mitchell and the staff are going overboard to keep me happy. I would just like to point out that the last time I stayed at the W in Scottsdale, I was not impressed with the service, but here they have so far been excellent.

I am off to lunch at Cafe Masperos and to walk around the French Quarter so as to enjoy this gorgeous day! I will update more later!

Road Trip East Day 2: Ft. Stockton, TX to Lafayette, LA

I had very grand plans of waking up at 7am and getting on the road early but that didn't really go so well--I forgot about the 2 hour time difference and was still on Phoenix time. 5am was not happening, so I went back to bed and woke up at 9. I grabbed my free breakfast (bacon, a biscuit and grits--totally unhealthy but filling!) and hit the road by 9:30. The mountains I had seen the day before were gone, replaced by flat mesas that were only 100 feet high or so. As I continued east, the landscape became less arid with scrubby brush and more green. It even rained at one point, which I had forgotten actually happens in other states besides Arizona!

I stopped for gas in the morning and continued towards San Antonio. The countryside was not as boring as I thought it would be and I was keep entertained by a steady stream of cheesy rock hits from my iPod.

I arrived in San Antonio at 2pm and drove straight to the Alamo. The downtown area is quite small and the square around the Alamo is very touristy, with cheesy tourist trap museums around. The Alamo itself is smaller than I expected. Photography is not allowed inside, as it is a shrine to those who died defending it against the Mexican Army, led by General Santa Ana. The two most famous dead on the US side were Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie (inventor of the Bowie knife). The inside is run by the Daughters of the American Revolution and there are docents aplenty should you have any questions. Behind the Alamo is a nice garden with plenty of pretty flowers in bloom. It was warm and humid, but not too unpleasant in the shade.

After walking around and having lunch at Subway (second day in a row, argh), I got back on the road towards Houston. The drive from San Antonio to Houston was actually quite nerve wracking as there are only two lanes but a lot of traffic. The passing lane was crowded and prone to sudden slowdowns. I wasn't able to cruise like I had been for the past day and a half. Once I got to Houston around 5:30 the road widened out and became huge--10 lanes! The space was nice! But then, once you pass the downtown, the road is back to 2 lanes and is very small and crappy. Weird.

The landscape past Houston flattens out completely and is filled with pine trees. As I-10 approaches the Louisiana border you see tidal rivers and bayou country. By my calculation I-10 is 880 miles long in Texas! Wow!

I ate dinner in Sulpher, LA, which is about 20 miles across the border from Texas. I was drawn in by a bill board off the highway promising crawfish. Some Louisianan classmates of mine had a crawfish boil a few months ago and it was so delicious I figured I'd better have some now while I could. Well, I found the restaurant, called the Boiling Point, but it was closed. I decided that if I couldn't have Cajun seafood, I'd have BBQ instead, another Louisiana specialty. I found two BBQ places on Google Maps that sounded promising, but both were closed also! I guess 8pm on a Sunday night in bumf*ck, Louisiana is not the time to be eating.

I finally found a non-chain restaurant that was open, called Cajun Charlie's. I got 3lbs of crawfish for $12. SO WORTH IT. I stuffed my face with every single one. They were spicy and salty and just delicious! I'm so glad I kept with my restaurant search!

I'm now in Lafayette, LA, which is about 150 miles from New Orleans. I should get there around noon tomorrow and I'll have lunch, then check in to the hotel. So psyched to be staying in the French Quarter!

Road Trip East Day 1: Phoenix, AZ to Ft. Stockton, TX

Day one of my road trip odyssey did not start all that fortuitously--I received an email on my Blackberry while I was gassing up in Phoenix about the death of one of my good college friends, Tristan Campbell. Tristan and I met in Prof. William Chester Jordan's European History class freshman year and we took another class of his together. He also attended Episcopal services with me and I always looked forward to his passage readings. Tristan was from NYC by way of Jamaica, but he was an Anglophile through and through. I will always remember his kindness, his intelligence and sharp wit and his beautiful soul. Once he told me that my nose was "mathematically perfect" and sometimes he would just send me Facebook messages that said, "Ginger, you are awesome. I love you." They were meant in the most non-creepy way and I always smiled when I saw them. We'll miss you terribly, Tristan, and I hope you are somewhere finding all the answers to the questions you had in Prof. Jordan's history class. The email mentioned there may be a memorial service during reunions, so if I can make it I will try to get to NJ for it.

My route today was very easy: I-17 South to I-10 West towards Tucson. Driving through Tucson was surprisingly fast. After two years in the Phoenix metro area I forget what normal towns are like. I saw a sign for the Saguaro National Monuments and I wished I had time to stop. I wanted to get to Ft. Stockton, TX, however, as it's the best stopping point between El Paso and San Antonio. After Tucson, all the signs on I-10 point to El Paso, which is pretty exciting.

The interstate past Tucson takes you through some pretty rugged country. This part of the state was used as Cochise's hideout when he was fighting the US Army, guerrilla style. Once I hit the New Mexico border, however, the road got very straight and very flat. There's not much in New Mexico until Las Cruces, which is only 50 miles from El Paso. Surprisingly the scenery in west Texas was much more interesting than New Mexico.

El Paso is the US city equivalent to the famous Ciudad Juarez, which is currently in the news due to the drug violence plaguing the city. If I had time I would have tried to go to Mexico, but New Orleans calls.

I stopped at the Lucchese outlet in El Paso to get some cowboy boots, I got a fabulous chocolate patent leather pair for $139, bargained down from $269, original retail price $600. I love shopping!

After El Paso the scenery continued to be pretty, but boy, is it empty! All I hit was a US Border Patrol checkpoint outside of Sierra Blanca. They were stopping all trucks and cars. I got asked if I were a US citizen which got me thinking if that was legal or not (since they don't have a suspicion that I am an illegal alien). I guess in Texas driving while half-Asian is not a problem.

I ate dinner in Van Horn at a restaurant called Chuy's, which advertised good Mexican food and free wi-fi. My enchiladas were very tasty and they did in fact have wi-fi! I got back on the road and kept going, but I forgot that most of Texas is on central time so suddenly it was 9pm instead of what I thought was 8pm. I did make Fort Stockton eventually, rolling in around 10:30pm. The last part of the drive there was a gorgeous lightning display next to me. It never rained on the road but there were huge streaks across the sky and from clouds to ground. I'm in a suite at the Holiday Inn, since all the other rooms were full. The guy gave me a good deal on it, though, and there's free wi-fi here and free breakfast, which is all I care about. Oh yeah, and a king size bed. Party in room 219!

Tomorrow: I plan to remember the Alamo in San Antonio and will hopefully make it to Lake Charles, Louisiana.