Day Six

We got a bit of a late start today because we were tired from last night. We headed over to Zilker Park just a few miles away and took a walk along the river. We saw some turtles and birds and other wildlife-y things.

Nearby was the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum, which was preparing for a party or something tonight, so admission was only $1. Inside the gallery were a bunch of butterflies made by local schoolchildren to honor the children killed in the Holocaust.

There were a bunch of statues, most of which were carved out of bronze, like this one of St. Michael battling Lucifer.

For lunch we took a short drive outside of Austin to a place called the Salt Lick, which was featured on Man v. Food as one of the best BBQ places in the country. I got a sampler platter of their four meats: sausage, turkey, brisket & ribs. The food was really good, but it's a toss-up whether this or Sweet P's in Knoxville was my favorite BBQ place so far.

I mean, just look at that smoker!

On the way back into town, we saw signs for "Wizard Academy," so we followed them and found this. Apparently, it teachers ordinary people how to be extraordinary, or something cult-ish like that.

Lauren had a really good find on her phone for this place called the Cathedral of Junk. I'm gonna put up a whole album of pictures about this place (because I took a lot and the place was so unique and cool), but here are a few to get a sense of what it was all about.

We ended the night by wandering around Congress Street and 6th Street. Still full from lunch, we didn't really eat anything around there, but there were some cool food trucks that were parked end-to-end.

Tomorrow's blog will be relatively short and boring because it's a travel day, from here to San Antonio to Carlsbad Caverns. The Caverns close before we get there, so we're going to do them first thing Saturday morning before heading west to Tucson.

Day Five

If yesterday was the calm before the storm in terms of driving, today was the storm. All in all, it was about 760 miles, a number I don't think we're coming anywhere near for the rest of the trip. New Orleans to Shreveport to Arlington to Austin. It really wasn't that bad, though, for some reason. (That's not to say it's not nice to know we're spending all day in Austin today.)

Our last stop in New Orleans was the Blue Dot donut shop. I haven't had donuts in years, but now Voodoo in Portland has some big shoes to fill cause these donuts were pretty good.

En route to Shreveport, we passed the Lords of Loyalty motorcycle gang. We tried to play "How many real or fake motorcycle gangs can you name?" but got stuck at four (including LoL): Hell's Angels, Sons of Anarchy and The Damned (from GTA IV).

We stopped in Shreveport for lunch at this place called Newk's Cafe. It's sort of like a Southern Panera, or something. No picture cause it's a chain and also I forgot. But it was pretty good! Good salads all around and also my half of a grilled chicken sandwich was good.

When we finally got to Arlington, one of the first things you see is how massive the Cowboys' new stadium is. It's HUGE.

I didn't get a good shot of The Ballpark at Arlington cause we sort of took a weird route to the stadium from our car.

This is the view from our seats. High up but clear:

Jeter gets a hit. He started 2/2 but then sort faded:

Josh Hamilton.

Then dinner! BOOMSTICK. Two pounds of hot dog and toppings. $26. The three of us managed to take it down. It was surprisingly tastier than I thought it'd be.

After the game, we drove to Austin, which is where we are now.

Day Four

A day of minimal driving. The calm before the storm.

Staying in New Orleans with someone I know has made this city an incredible experience. Having someone who knows the lay of the land anywhere you go makes every experience infinitely cooler because there's so much they can show you and bring you to that you'd have no idea about otherwise: food, music, etc.

Today we woke up and headed over to Magazine Street, where we checked out some clothing shops and an antique shop. Also, there was this street art dog, of which I've seen (I think) another one somewhere else in the city.

We headed over to (another) BBQ placed called The Joint, where I had (another) beef brisket sandwich and (more) mac and cheese. Also pictured: Abita Restoration, a local beer and probably the best of any Louisiana beer I've had. (Also good: Nola Blonde).

We went back to the French quarter to the French market, where they had things like alligator heads. (Real, apparently.)

But, on a bigger scale, on the way back to the French quarter, we took a detour through the Ninth Ward and saw where Katrina hit and where the levees broke and where there's still damage and where lots are overgrown with grass and weeds because the homeowners gave up and moved on. We also saw the (jarringly out-of-place but still cool-looking) houses that Brad Pitt has built with his "Make it Right" campaign.

Here are some shots from the bridge over the Industrial Canal.

We walked over to the Mississippi River and saw some boats and birds, like this pigeon.

And there's this thing in a shop for sale.

We had dinner from a tiny shop called Verti Marte, and sat on the sidewalk eating our sandwiches and drinking beer. We ended the night at a place called Bacchus (I think?) where they had beer & wine and really good cheese (from goats and cows and sheep and they were all delicious). There were Christmas lights and a live band.

And then this.

Day Three

Yesterday was the first day that we did a lot of stuff, and almost all of it was completely awesome. (We did about 385 miles of driving, according to Google.)

We woke up at the Heartbreak Hotel, packed up and headed down to breakfast, where I had grits for the first time. (Even though they're instant grits, and no self-respecting Southerner eats instant grits.) Also, they had greasy, buttery biscuits which were great.

Then we headed over to Graceland itself, and some nice ladies wearing "Elvis is my Homeboy" t-shirts took our picture in front of the Graceland sign.

Graceland is awesome. It's unbelievable that this was/is a house. The coolest part (and most famous part, I think) is Elvis' jungle room:

Also, his billiards room had really insanely cool wall/ceiling decoration:

We also went to his Racquetball Building, which is the last place he performed music (in front of his friends and family) before he died. The place was overhauled to be one of the three or so places that are literally filled with awards and honors that he received.

I'm glad it was a nice day (day two was really crappy weather) because it let me get some good pictures of Elvis' and his family's graves, where flowers are delivered almost daily from fans around the world.

That wrapped up the Graceland mansion tour. They shuttle you back across the street where you can check out his garage and plane hangar. There were (I think) 33 cars on display and 2 planes. THE car is the Pink Cadillac, obviously.

The Lisa Marie plane is really cool, too. (The seatbelts are all gold-plated, and Elvis' bed on his plane is bigger than most of the beds I've ever slept in.)

That pretty much wrapped up Graceland. We drove down the street to a place called A&R Bar-b-Que, which isn't pictured cause it wasn't great. The sauce on the ribs was good, but that's about all it had going for it.

We hopped in the car and drove about five and a half hours south to New Orleans. About four and a half of those hours were in Mississippi, where there is pretty literally nothing to look at. I mean, a lot of highway driving everywhere is sorta boring, but there was NOTHING to look at in Mississippi.

But then we were in New Orleans!

This is a cathedral that was the basis for one or more Disney castles:

But enough about architecture! Let's talk about tater totchos from a place called 13 -- nachos with tater tots! Mmmmm...

Or how about beignets from Cafe du Monde -- fresh-made doughnuts covered in powdered sugar.

There's also so much music coming from everywhere in this city. We were on Frenchmen street, where there are tons of bars and basically every bar has pretty good live music coming out of it. But then there are street performers, too, like these guys who were outside for a few hours as we walked away then walked back past them.

But, by far, the coolest thing in New Orleans was the band Glen David Andrews performing at a bar d.b.a. They were AWESOME. Apparently Jazz fest kicks off today, so all these crazy good blues, folk and jazz bands are in town, along with writers and other celebrities and stuff. Good time to show up.

Day Two

Whew, through one of the longest days of driving on the trip. From Lynchburg to Knoxville to Memphis, it was 716 miles, according to Google.

We ate at two BBQ places today, and both were really good. First up was Sweet P's in Knoxville, Tenn., (featured on Man v. Food), which had the ABSOLUTE BEST BANANA PUDDIN' I'VE EVER HAD. Also, the beef brisket and mac & cheese were really good, too.

We had dinner at Central BBQ in Memphis, Tenn., which had really good pulled pork sandwiches, but even better thick cut, house-made potato chips.

And some sorta cat out front.

We drove through about 20 minutes of Memphis to get to the BBQ place, and there are some really nice, cool areas around.

We're right now at the Heartbreak Hotel, which has Elvis moves on loop on Channel 992 and has Elvis pictures above the beds and up and down hallways and in every common room.

Oh, and there's a heart-shaped pool.

Day One

Traveled from NJ to VA, 410 miles. Traveled through five states! NJ, PA, MD, WV, VA.

Starting odometer: (a very blurry!) 73967.

The best thing we saw all day? This license plate:

Live for Gaga? Love for Gaga? Who knows? (Also, fried chicken at a gas station... classy!)

EDIT: UPDATE: WATCHING ROCKY IV.

Tomorrow

Well, I leave tomorrow. I feel like it's the night before I go back to school. I don't know what to do with my time or my nervous excitement, and I don't know what to pack or how to pack it. Thankfully, most of my packing is done, otherwise I'd be going really crazy right now.

Tomorrow, I'm driving from NJ to VA; the next day is from mid-VA all the way to Memphis, TN, with a stop at Sweet Ps BBQ in Knoxville along the way. Mmm... BBQ.

Then, it's to New Orleans!

I'm starting the trip with my friend Lauren, who is joining me until we hit San Antonio. I'll blog and tweet and whatever along the way. And post pictures, of course.

As of right now, it's going to be about 11,700 miles of driving over 38 days. Away we gooooooo!