2-2-2011

Our first library booksale was taking place in San Antonio on the 4th, so we left New Orleans with enough time to make some thrift pit stops and to stay the night in Beaumont, TX. One of the first thrift stops we made was outside of Baton Rouge, but our GPS kept pointing us to a peculiar part of the street that housed a few trees and a drainage ditch. We called the store for directions: “Hello, we can't seem to find your store. We're on Branford, but we're not sure where you are.” “Y'all know where Gautier is?” “No, we're not from here. How far are you from Louisiana State University?” “I don't know about that.” Well, it turns out that the store is within 2 miles of LSU, on the same road in fact. This is a problem we have encountered any time we ask for directions; the person we're asking has very little comprehension of where they are in relation to anything around them. Even if said landmark is the one of the most notable locations in their city. The best most have been able to do is give us fast food restaurants and bearing points. Sonic has been used 3 or 4 times, each time in a different city. We've come to realize that if our final destination isn't within 400 feet of a Taco Bell, Sonic, or Jack in the Box, we're on our own.

Speaking of getting lost near great restaurants, we are reminded that we forgot to mention one of the best things about Mobile, AL, a city that was adept in hiding the rest of it's better things from us. After visiting a Salvation Army thrift store on the west side of the city, we were told of a great downtown thrift store that was behind the Department of Health. The directions turned out to be somewhat accurate, but we ended up circling the Health Department twice. The first time, Stephanie noticed a pretty gnarly food cart on the sidewalk behind the state building. We took a closer look on the second pass, and caught more details: a package of Wonder Bread, dirty and peeling menu, a lit cigarette within reach of the owner, and a line of 4 people who were dressed like they worked at the Health Department. All in the backyard of an agency entrusted with protecting the health of the city. We found the thrift store after two more turns, and enjoyed a great lunch in our RV about 60 miles west of Mobile.

1-29-2011 through 2-1-2011, New Orleans

Our week in New Orleans was full of the normal things: Po' Boys, morning drinks on Bourbon Street, a ferry ride to Algiers, biking along the Mississippi, leaving bars at 4 am because they won't close, etc. The highlight of our stay there was biking to Tipitina's to see Yo La Tengo play with our friend Elise's brother William Tyler. The show was great, and the bike ride to and from was almost as good. That was Saturday night, and was also the end of the good weather. It rained all Sunday, and the temperature dropped as low as the upper 20s at night.

On Sunday, we used the rainy day as an excuse to see The King's Speech, and then to start working on our plumbing system. When we bought the RV, the previous owner told us that he hadn't winterized the year before (clearing all the water out of the tanks and pipes), and had to replace a bunch of burst pipes. We're assuming the repair shop overlooked the drain pipe running from the kitchen sink as it was completely split. We found this out on our first camping trip to VA Beach, and weren't too worried as the pipe seemed to just leak out of the wheel well. However, in Gainesville we noticed that the leak was coming from just under the shower unit, and was soaking the floorboards and the wood around the wheel well. Assessing the situation, we weighed our options: pay Camping World $120/hour, or just remove the shower, the shower pan, repair the pipe, and then put them all back together. It couldn't be that hard, right?

Well, it actually wasn't so hard, and we finished the job within 4 hours. The only thing, those 4 hours spanned two days; we didn't take into account that Lowe's closed at 7 on Sundays, and the most essential piece for the whole project was needed at 7:15. So we stayed at the neighboring Walmart on the Westbank of New Orleans. That night, with our shower taking up most of the living space and the smell of plumbing cement giving us a headache/high, we had our first WRIR Road Trip Update on Can't Stop the Music with P. Swann, the first of what should be a regular appearance.

The next day, we finished up the plumbing and put the shower back together. We're pretty proud of ourselves, and we left NOLA with more plumbing skills than we ever hoped for.

Before leaving New Orleans we trekked back to Mosca's for what by now seemed like it would be the best thing we would eat all trip, if not our entire life. Most people hadn't heard of it, and nobody we talked to had actually been. The one person who knew about it told us that it was the old hangout for the Marcello Family, New Orleans' famed mafia organization that may or may not have had a hand in JFK's assassination. We were sure we were heading toward one of the most authentic of all Italian restaurants in this country. Perhaps it was this build up, or the 5 day wait, or just our timing, but, while the food was very good, we couldn't help but be a little homesick for the Italian restaurants we left behind in Richmond. You know which ones we are talking about, and if you don't, it's not Pizza Hut Bistro or Olive Garden.

1-27-2011, Our Role in a hit HBO Series

We left Pensacola to drive to New Orleans, or more accurately to drive 40 minutes west of New Orleans. Stephanie had read a New Yorker article about Mosca's, a great Italian restaurant that stood alone on a small road heading out to the bayou. Small menu, cash only, and a 50 minute wait on food due to the fact that everything was made to order. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays, so we decided that even though it meant overshooting our final destination of New Orleans, Thursday night was probably our best bet. Ward's iPhone GPS routed us through Jefferson Parrish and then over the Huey P. Long Bridge, perhaps the scariest piece of road know to man. Later we would find out that most locals refuse to cross this bridge, but that night, with a warm Italian meal only minutes away, we braved the tall, skinny bridge with white knuckles and thoughts of immediate demise. The wind kept pushing us toward the outer-wall, a small concrete barrier reinforced by wobbly scaffolding. Still, we made it across, and, finally, to Mosca's front door.

We initially thought that the trailers parked in the lot were a good thing, that we would be welcomed in our unwieldy home. But those trailers turned out to be for a film crew, and the restaurant was closed that night for the filming of the hit HBO series Treme. At 8:30, after a full day of driving and visions of Italian food I our head, this wasn't the best news for us, but we persevered and headed for a Pho spot that one of the grips recommended. Signs were in our favor as the directions brought us to New Orleans by not using the Huey P. Long Bridge. Only, they brought us there too late; Pho Tau Bay closed at 9 pm, right when we pulled in. Tired and hungry, we somehow kept a great attitude. There are worse things then having to give up and drive into New Orleans for dinner.

We ended up meeting our friend Becka and going to Juan's Flying Burrito for dinner. As we walked in Becka asked us if Erin, who is two weeks ahead of us on our cross country trip, had told us of all the Richmond people she had run into in NOLA. As she listed them off, Ward spotted Steve Earle at a table and, thinking he was someone he knew, loudly said “There's Steve Earle!” Loud enough for him to hear. Ward sunk into his seat with embarrassment. Still, it was funny to be turned away from one restaurant because of Treme, and then to end up having dinner next to an actor from the same show.

That night we slept at the new Walmart set between the Mississippi River and the Garden District. It was only blocks away from Becka's house and Magazine Street, had a police station right next door, and was close enough to the river that we could hear barge horns and train whistles all night. We found out later that this Walmart was under construction when Katrina hit, and the city used it as a morgue since their refrigeration had already been installed. It is a common accusation that Walmart masks an oppressive work environment, poverty wages, and aggressive capitalist take-overs with a bright, clean store, seemingly cheap products, and a really happy smiley face, but it was a real mind bender for us to attempt to visualize the death and destruction that was intertwined with this particular store.

1-26-2011, We Live Here

The ride to Pensacola the next day was dotted with great thrift store stops, so the 3 hour drive ended up taking all day. Especially once we hit Panama City Beach, now the Spring Break Capital of the East Coast. Too early for bikinis and keggers, we tried to make it through as quick as possible.

It was dark when we finally got into Pensacola proper, so navigating our way in this 33 foot vehicle was made a little harder. That plus the fact that even though our turn signals definitely work, nobody can ever see them. Ward signaled to get into the left lane that was about to start, but a small sports car tried to whip around him to get there first. Girth can sometimes conquer speed, and we ended up in the lane first with an irate driver on our tale. At the next light, the car sped up on our right and stopped next to us. The young girl looked up at us, smirked, and, pointing to her dashboard, said “I live here.” Our immediate question was “So that means you can drive like an asshole?”, but after thinking about it for a second, we came up with a better response: “No, we live here. You might live across town, but this is our house, and that means you're in our front yard now. Locals ONLY!” Since then, we have used the same logic for all aggressive drivers; you're in our yard now, you play by our rules.

Dinner at the new Sluggo's location in Pensacola was perfect. They serve a completely vegetarian menu, and everything we've ever had there has been delicious. Ward had the Culture Club sandwich, and Stephanie had a Tempeh Rueben. When Ryan got off from behind the bar, we took him home to walk the dog, then he took us to The Elbow Room, a throwback bar from the 60s. All of the décor has been there for decades, and it has a real speak easy feel. The lighting is so dim that they give you a reading light with the bill. They also have a list of rules and regulations including, but not limited to the following: Always use coasters, even on the tablecloths; You have to drink your beer from a glass, not from the bottle (the waitress will periodically come by to re-fill your glass); Same day service guaranteed; Overuse of the F word will not be tolerated. If you ever find yourself in Pensacola and are on good behavior, we seriously suggest that you visit The Elbow Room.

1-25-2011, Rainy Day on the Forgotten Coast

Rainy day at the Ho-Hum. The amazing beauty we had been welcomed by the night before had given way to dark skies and wind blown rain. The sunset the night before was so beautiful that we set our alarm for 5:30 am so that we could check out the sunrise, but there was nothing to see. For the entire day. So we did laundry, played puzzle, and had some early afternoon beers while listening to the intense waves off the gulf.

The two great things about Carrabelle, Ho Hum's neighboring town: the county jail was located on Morality Lake Road, and they had a one good seafood restaurant open despite “the season.” This was Two Al's On the Beach, or, as Ward heard it, Two Al's. The food hit the spot, and Al junior stopped by our table to chat. Turns out he isn't even an Al, but an Angelo. “But Two Angelos On the Beach doesn't have the same ring,” he told us, “so we just used our initials. A L.” Ward told him that he had originally thought it was Two Owls, which, it turns out, wasn't so far off. About 2 years ago, two Horned Owls had nested in a tree right above the restaurant and had stayed long enough to raise two baby owls. News of the spread as far as a Georgia newspaper, and there was even a caricature of the birds next to the one of the two Als. Oh, and they had an really cool camper outside that they used for their office.

Two Al's is also where we overheard some people talking about local doctors and one of them said, without meaning to make a joke, ““Well, the chiropractor seems like a straight player.”

1-24-2011, Heading West

Since we had only been to this town for Gainesville Fest, and since that is held in the cool part of town, we didn't know that Gainesville had an “uncool” part. But just past the University, the strip of great, small, locally owned businesses gives way to Sprawl Boulevard, USA. We only discovered this on our way out of town when we took an hour running in circles looking for the oil change garage. Gainesville might come up with some unique names for businesses, but when it came to naming their streets they failed. They're all numbers! 47th Street crosses 47th Avenue, but if you're looking for 47th Boulevard that's between 46th Place and 48th Terrace. It's mind numbing. We drove out of our way to an Avenue before realizing we wanted a Boulevard. Luckily, our appointment at the garage was held, and we got lubed up and on the road.

We were spoiled by Keith's RV Haven, and figured we needed to stay somewhere for the next couple of nights that had electric and water hook ups. This made staying in Apalachicola State Park kind of hard, as Tate's Hell was the most convenient park area, and they only allowed for “primitive” camping. We weren't feeling primitive. Ward looked online for an RV park in the area while Steph caught them both up on US Weekly (OMG, I still can't believe Sandra had to find out about Jesse's engagement to Kat in the newspaper!), and we settled on Ho Hum RV Park, right outside of Carrabelle, FLA. Here's the conversation that solidified our plans:

“Hello, do you have room for us for a couple of nights?”
“Sure do.”
“Great! It looks like your right by Apalachicola State Park. What kind of things can we do there?”
“Um, we're called Ho Hum for a reason. Not much to do here.”
“No?”
“Nope. I mean, you can walk on the beach, or go to the park, or go into town. But there's nothing to do.”
“Put us down for 2 nights, please.”

That was just the “nothing” we were hoping to get into!

When we arrived, it was paradise, we parked for the night facing the water, and made it just in time for an amazing sunset. Inspired by the warmer temperature, Stephanie cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and baked beans and coleslaw, and we watched as the last light sunk into the western horizon. Amazing.

1-20-2011 through 1-23-2011, Gainesville

Gainesville is a great place, made even better by great hosts like Keith and Senta. Our stay there consisted of us riding bikes around, picking up some great books and cloths, and eating amazing food both at local restaurants and in the RV. We were lucky to catch up with Tony Foresta when No Friends played Tony W. and Ryan Geis' birthday party. The temperature dropped pretty low, and on our second night there it hit 32 degrees.

We did get to finally ride our bikes around, and spent most of our time wheeling around Gainesville. We found some great thrift stores, a cool bike shop/cafe (if you spent more than $10 on bike parts, you got a free coffee!), and saw some really beautiful Arts & Crafts style houses. Oh, we also started our list of cool business names:

Doggy Styles (mobile pet care and grooming)
Fades and Fros (barbershop)
Captain SeaNiles Pub
Tan Fannies (strip club)
Bambi's Dollhouse (um, duh)

There will definitely be more of those over then next 6 months!

Our favorite store in Gainesville actually had the best name. Ward's Supermarket is one of those rare places that somehow still exists among the chain stores. It has been a family store for over 50 years, and we actually got to meet one of the owners, the great granddaughter of the man who started the grocery. They have a smaller space, but somehow fit in the best variety of groceries we have seen. They are a health food store without being a "Health Food Store," a local market without being a "Local Market," and all around a great place. We told the owner how much we liked the store, and she responded with sincere humbleness, as if they had opened 5 months ago and it mattered what every person thought of their store. She told us that they had just shut down their second location, not because it wasn't doing well, but because it didn't feel like a family business anymore. She told us all of this while bagging our groceries. So rad!

Gainesville was also the site of our first booksale, though it was more of a CD sale with some books thrown in. Ward picked up some good titles for the store, but over the four days we were there we ended up finding some really awesome clothes. Maynee from Bygones asked us to look for nice vintage men's wear, and we scored in Gainesville. We're shipping back a good amount of Western Wear shirts, some Guayaberas, and some vintage vests and suits. We hope to find a larger amount of books soon, but for now, vintage clothes are kicking ass!