Atlanta to New Orleans

After two days and endless amount of graduation ceremonies later, we're back on our way to New Orleans. If all goes well, we should make it to New Orleans tonight.

We spent our night in a small bed and breakfast called Shellmont Inn and watched 15 Minutes which was much more violent than I imagined it would be. We drank, ate and chatted with Jake's family but didn't go around Atlanta at all so I have no pictures to show for the last two days. We did however get gas at 1.21 much to Jake's delight. Atlanta was quite hilly, very green and sunny but breezy. All in all, it seemed quite pleasent.

We've finished reading Catch Me If You Can and have moved on to You Shall Know Our Velocity by Eggers. I'm also reading Look At Me by Egan during times when my jaw is tired from reading out loud. Maybe we'll buy some books on tape for the next trip (though they'd have to be on CD since we don't have a tape deck in the car).

We're now on 85 south going through Alabama. The roads are very green and somewhat empty. Even though the highways mean faster travel speed, they don't provide the solitude and entertainment of the smaller roads. On the way up from Florida, we took a small route and saw many cows and wide open roads which were beautiful. We saw ten cows huddled around a sign "Beef, it's what's for dinner." Thankfully, the cows can't read!

Now that we don't have any set deadlines till the 25th, I'll try to take more pictures in the side roads and stop to talk to cows. The pictures I've taken so far can be found here. I tested it a bit but not heavily. If you find a bug please leave me a comment (the comments get forwarded to my email) or drop me an email. Thank you!

GA-LA

We made it to New Orleans on Monday night around 9pm Lousiana time. Since we've been driving and not flying, we totally didn't remember the time change. In Alabama, we stopped to look for a AAA store so we could get a guide for New Orleans and when we finally found the place our car said 5:15 and the door said they closed at 5. We ran in and felt thankful they were somehow still open. Only after we got all the books and maps did we realize that it was actually 4:15 in Alabama and they were supposed to be open all along.

On Saturday night when we stayed in Adel, Georgia we asked the Days Inn checkin how much the rooms were downstairs (the ad we saw said rooms were $35 upstairs) and she quoted $45. When we asked what the difference between the upstairs and downstairs rooms were she said 'Stairs.' I kid you not. She said people are willing to pay ten bucks more not to walk up 8 steps.

We arrived in New Orleans late night and went to town right after setting up tent. The mosquitoes at the camp site were vicious so we did everything extra fast. We drove right to Bourbon Street and Toulouse and parked our car at the Ramada. We walked up and down Bourbon as I tried to get used to the overwhelming stench of liquor and vomit. My first night in the French Quarter didn't leave me very impressed. I thought the houses were pretty but the odor was too strong and there wasn't much to do for a non-drinking female. We used the side entrance of Ramada as a sneaky way to get access to a clean bathroom after a delicious Gyro meal. We then drove to the camp ground at 1:30 after having been awake for over 19 hours because we'd gotten up at 6am for Jake's brother's graduation.

Gas: $6.47@1.21 in Georgia, $4.64@1.42 and $12.18@1.29 in Alabama
Miles on the car: 3500
Lodging: one night at Days Inn in Adel, Georgia @$35, one night at the Shellmont Inn in Atlanta, one night at the New Orleans East KOA camp site @$24
States: GA, AL, MI, LA
Sites: Atlanta, Montgomery, New Orleans

New Orleans to Baton Rouge

The next morning, we slept till 11 and the drove back into New Orleans. We parked the car and walked around the French Quarter. We ate at a New Orleans style restaurant where Jake tried alligator meat. It started pouring as we walked towards the St. Louis Cathedral and the guy approached us and tried to get us to buy hats for Meals on Wheels. We gave him a small donation instead and he gave Jake a book about George Harrison. The rain ended about and hour later and we decided to spend the night in town. We booked a hotel, left the car and took a streetcar to the beautiful Garden District. The contrast from neightborhood to neightborhood is vert stark in this city. The French Quarter seems noisy but pretty safe but right outside the area got sketchy, then we get to the garden distirct and the million dollar houses are breathtaking. We saw an all-girls private school where a science teacher was raising three ducks and I kept thinking how unusual it must feel to live in this town.! The streets are lined with men giving tourists beads and then asking for money. The cemeteries are above ground to prevent the graves from flooding. They look quite haunting this way.

We spent the night on Bourbon street again. This time we drank (the hurricane was quite tasty and the hand grenade was too strong) and by then the city was growing on me. We got to our hotel quite late, aching everywhere from all the walking and collapsed in bed.

We're now back on the road to Baton Rouge, taking the scenic route 18 right along the Mississippi River. The Eggers book was too uninteresting for Jake so we've moved on to Neuromancer and plan to watch the Matrix somewhere in Loiusiana tonight. When you're a geek, you're a geek all the way.

Gas: $10.09@1.33 in Lousiana
Miles on the car: 3538
Lodging: Hotel Provencial in the French Quarter @$93 including parking
States: LA
Sites: the French Quarter and the Garden District in New Orleans, Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge

After a short detour we made it to Baton Rouge in the early afternoon. We went straight to the theater and bought tickets for the Matrix and then shopped for a hotel; there appear to be no camp sites around Baton Rouge. We settled in and ran out to play mini-golf which happened to be right outside our hotel.

The movie had strong visual effects but wasn't as interesting as the original. My theory is that in the first movie we find out about everything along with Neo so it's as if we're with him and experiencing his journey along his side. In this movie we're observers on the outside. There are some amazing fight scenes and the duplication trick is neat. It gives the viewer a lot of thought-provoking theories and it ends with a huge cliffhanger. If you go to the movie, make sure to stay all the way to the end because the preview of the third movie is right after the everlasting credits.

In the morning, we went to downtown Baton Rouge to check out the magnificent Capitol Building which is the tallest in the country and has an observation deck on the 27th floor. We really liked Baton Rouge; it's very green, quiet and pretty.

We then drove to Avery Island to see the Jungle Gardens. The gardens are private property owned by the Tobasco sauce company. There is a bird sanctuary and a ton of alligators, turtles, frogs, and fish. There are beautiful sunken gardens and a buddha. The place is truly magnificent.

We've decided to go back up through Arkansas and Tennessee and pick up the Appalachian Trail from there so we're now on the way to Arkansas and will probably camp around Shreveport tonight.

The bookreading has become a challenge. Neuromancer proved too hard and the second Bridget Jones too stupid. We've switched to Nickel and Dimed.

Gas: $10.51@1.35 and $11.33@1.41
Toll: 50cents in Avery Island
Entrance: $12.00
Miles on the car: 4050
Lodging: Microtel Hotel around Baton Rouge @ $51
States: LA
Sites: Baton Rouge, Jungle Gardens