States: 20, Days: 116, Miles: 27,426
The next few states were a blur of activity. And very different activities – most of my sections of travel have been along a theme – the rocks and deserts of Utah and Arizona, the foodie goodness of Texas and Louisiana, the history and memory of Alabama and Mississippi. But this part of the trip felt like I was mopping up all the bits of the states that I missed the first time around and pinging wildly from camping in northern Mississippi to exploring funky cities like Atlanta. I will try to document the highs and lows without getting too procedural.
I began by driving the very long road from Key west up to Savannah, where my prevailing impressions were of ancient live oak trees, cascading over long manor house pathways. Walking around Savannah and Charleston was undoubtedly beautiful, however, there wasn’t actually that much to do, at least as a single traveller, so after a few days of sightseeing I made my way across to Atlanta, which was a very different story. My first day was spent hiking the ‘Doll’s Head Trail’, which is exactly as creepy as it sounds. After parking my car (the only car in the car park) and heading off on the trail, I soon walked past a makeshift arch made by entwining two young and supple trees, that was hung with small bones. I hoped they were animal bones and perhaps fake but given the content of the rest of the trail, I cannot be sure. My mind flicked back to episodes of ‘True Detective’ and began to think that if I were going to murder someone and place them on a sacrificial altar, this was the perfect place to do it. Remembering that I had the only car in the car park and the woods were strikingly eerie after only five minutes on the trail, I quickly WhatsApped a message to Eley detailing exactly where I was, what I was doing, and the make and model of the car. You know… just in case. The rest of the trail was actually an art installation that was very interesting, if not creepy in places – the doll’s head inserted into the crook of the tree root so that the tree would grow around it, looking like something from a horror film; the one-armed, naked-except-for-(inexplicably)-a-cappello-romano, nailed to a signpost, reminiscent of a child of Meereen. But all in all, a very creative way to make a forest walk a lot more interesting.
Next came the Coca-Cola museum; not so much a museum, but (perhaps inescapably) a giant advertisement for everything Coca-Cola. I did, however, get to taste Coca-Cola products from around the world, including one from Madagascar called ‘Bonbon Anglais’. I expected it to taste like Rhubarb and Custard but it actually tasted exactly like Pear Drops – so much so that I was catapulted back in my memory to trips to the corner shop with the 50p that my grandparents had just given me, to buy up all the ha’penny sweets. The rest of Atlanta was taken up with MLK memorials, including his very moving gravesite, and a beautiful display of solidarity with people affected by the Orlando nightclub shooting; a cross-walk painted in rainbow colours.
On from Georgia, I was due to stop in Birmingham, Alabama, however; as I had previously re-arranged parts of my travel to meet Paul there earlier in the trip, I breezed on past Birmingham to Montgomery. Which I think I liked even more. Montgomery is the sleepiest and quietest capital I’ve ever been to. I could count on one hand the number of cars on the streets and people on the pavements. It was a lovely change from some cities where you can barely walk down the street without having a panic attack at all the people (or is that just me?). The city itself was a living monument to the Civil Rights movement, from the Greyhound Bus terminal-come Civil Rights museum, to the Edmund Pettus Bridge (OK, technically in Selma, but still), to Rosa Parks’ bus stop, to the most moving, well-conceived, and beautiful memorial I have seen so far: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Having changed up the plans and therefore having some time to spend, I stopped off at Tupelo for some more Elvis worship before hitting the beautiful (and also slightly creepy) State Park of Tishomingo in northern Mississippi. Quickly discovering that my idea of camping (tent on flat piece of ground) was very different to the American version of camping (RV attached to power-box on a driveway), I struggled a bit to find some flat and stable ground to pitch my tent. I did momentarily think about pitching it on the actual RV driveway, but finally convinced myself that the water of the lake wouldn’t rise that much, even if it rained as forecast, so I took the gamble and pitched up next to the lake. On setting up for sleep that night, the sounds of the lake came to life.
I cannot even imagine what creatures belonged to those sounds, but I am hoping that they were (small) amphibian and bird-life only. I found myself trying to Google whether alligators or crocodiles were found in Tishomingo lake, but a lack of signal meant that I simply had to rationalise and believe that even an alligator wouldn’t/couldn’t get into my tent. I hoped. Despite the deluge of rain for the next two days, the park itself was very beautiful and almost totally empty – my kind of park! The lack of signal became troublesome on the final night, however, as even behind my closed eyes, I could see the lightning flashes of the approaching thunderstorm. Desperately trying to remember everything I could about lightning and electricity, I pondered the relative benefits and disbenefits of being by a lake/amongst the trees/in a tent. Did an air mattress make a difference? Is standing up or lying down better? What was it they said about cars and the rubber tyres? Eventually I convinced myself that lying down in a tent in a thunderstorm was the worst possible thing, especially next to a lake with sodden ground. So I retreated to the car, in which I believed (as long as it was off and the radio was off and I wasn’t touching any metal) I would be the safest. I slept terribly, but at least I was safe from alligators and lightning.
Heading back up through Tennessee and Georgia again, I had a stunning few days in Chattanooga (yes, I saw the Choo Choo), visiting the tallest and deepest underground waterfall (*in the US that is open to the public), made only slightly worse by the timed light show, and the world’s steepest passenger incline railway (73% incline). I had a wonderful argument with the ticket lady at Rock City (decorative gardens on a cliff), as I had pre-booked my ticket, but due to it being near St Patrick’s day, they had put on actors in costume, food and drink stalls, and turned the waterfall green (!?) for the impending event. Because of this, it cost another $5 to enter. The conversation went something like this:
Me: I’m not interested in any of that, do I still have to pay?
Her: Yes, it’s part of the ticket price, it’s not really an option.
Me: So what time does the food and drink begin?
Her: 12.30pm.
Me: It’s 9.30am.
Her: Yes.
Me: So by the time the extras are open, I will have left.
Her: Yes, I’m really sorry.
Me: Fine, here’s $5.
Her: OK, but with taxes, that’s actually $5.05.
Me:
Don’t get me wrong, the place was beautiful, and I (apparently) got to see seven states at once (yes, I know it doesn’t count), and under any other circumstance, I would have gladly paid an extra $5 if that was the asking price. However, to have to pay $5 (and 5c!) for green photography-ruining water and actors in costumes was a little annoying. The bagpipe players were good, though.
Next on my pick ‘n’ mix trip was a stunningly beautiful (if freezing cold) journey south and then north on the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Appalachians, where I discovered Needle Ice, a strange and beautiful phenomena, saw wild turkeys crossing the road (not just for chickens), and walked a bridge a mile above sea level on Grandfather Mountain (following yet again in Forrest Gump’s footsteps).
To finish off, I stayed with some lovely family friends in Virginia Beach, who introduced me to the game of Bunco (one more for the games night repertoire), and finally got to see what Colonial Williamsburg is all about. Although to be fair, I’m still a little confused. Now begins the City-themed part of my trip, which I shall try to look forward to, although my experience so far has not been favourable to city life. Hopefully Washington D.C. will prove special at least.