We left Nashville early on Sunday morning for our 10 hour drive to New Orleans..
Alabama:
I was obviously psyched so I made this face:
Because of the scenery:
Strange highway-side houses in Alabama:
But evidently Tall Paul will rent anything. I just wonder if he was Bunyan-tall, and also if he shared comparable lumberjacking skills:
Alabama has water:
And pretty things:
We decided to stop for lunch in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which looks like this:
And if you eat lunch on a Sunday in Tuscaloosa, you eat at Mugshots:
Where they seemingly have a penchant for large quantities of iced tea (which also came with the promise of free refills, but, seriously?):
Samantha wanted to look like Aunt Jemima:
And, Mississippi:
Has an interesting landscape:
Until the monsoon comes along:
And I spend an hour white-knuckled, convinced that I'm going to die:
But then there was a bright spot off in the distance:
We lived. When you enter New Orleans from the east, you go across a bridge that's about 7 miles long and has nothing but a vast expanse of water on either side. This picture does no justice:
We got to the Creole Inn in the Marigny district of town. I put on linen pants. Samantha took a picture:
For breakfast, we ate here:
I had the Eggs Creole, which featured a creole sauce that was delicious:
The architecture in this town blew my mind. It is unlike anything I've seen in America. The intricacy of the craftsmanship combined with the intimacy of the streets was fall-in-love-with-immediacy inducing:
Lots of balconies with foliage:
This can't be America:
Random Aqua Teen Hunger Force graffiti sighting on a trash can:
This box requested a donation, which, when you deposited a quarter, it promptly fell to the ground:
More balcony activity:
This bar was called Marie Laveau's, who was a famed voodoo practitioner of yore:
This bar had all sorts of police patches. Find Philly:
Dusk shots of town (and unintended Lexus promo):
Next day we walked to the cemetary, this guy was looking at me:
I don't believe that this is his real last name:
And, here are all the cemetary shots:
This is Marie Laveau's tomb, where people will write XXX on her tomb in the hopes that she'll grant them one wish.
More cemetary shots:
And some more cemetary shots...
Sorry, a couple of more. I thought they were cool at the time:
"More cemetary photos, asshole?" asks Samantha:
Yo Mama's was an awesome bar/grill with these ridiculously huge sandwiches that came with baked potatoes instead of fries. The first day we both ate one and I had to be rolled down the street. The second day we (smartly) split one and were much more comfortable:
The decor:
More random street shots:
Last bar, last few hours:
The bust donning the santa hat is actually an Elvis head that sings every so often. Ya gotta love New Orleans gay bars:
And then we went to the hotel, fell asleep, woke up, and got ready for our 9 hour drive to Austin, which we were clearly both very excited about, both for the drive, and for the fact that we had to leave New Orleans...
Oh, the aggressive Texan star
Welcome to the worst place on earth. There couldn't be a greater misnomer than Friendly Driving being the Texas way. The drivers are angry and the police intimidating.
We were going to camp here
When we got to Austin, it was nightmarishly hot. So we sat outside and smoked cigarettes, obviously.
Samantha said that I never look happy in pictures. So I tried my best
Inside a bar called the Library in downtown Austin
Sunset was gorgeous
Margaritas were delicious
Our gracious host, wondering how a camera operates
Shannon and AJ, who let us stay with them an extra two nights after Samantha got scurvy
A picture of me and Samantha, pre-scurvy-affliction
I didn't understand how to procure these 'gifts,' I could only assume you must draw a doorknob on the cinderblocks with chalk and a door would appear.
We were going to camp here
C?
Acrobats
We left Fort Hood after Samantha spent two days recovering from scurvy. I took no photos while we were there but I'll say that for two civilians to be on a military base, one of whom is long-haired and bearded, is intimidating and uncomfortable. In response, Samantha went arabic on the drive out of the base..
And on and on we go..
