The French Quarter is just three miles away from where I stand and yet, I feel like I’m in a different world. There is a sobering photograph in front of me: a picture after Hurricane Katrina and a little arrow pointing out, “You are here”. Back in August of 2005 if I had been standing under the arrow’s point, I would have been completely submerged in water and debris. A man mows an empty patch of property nearby, one where you can see the foundations of a house, the place a family used to call home. I am in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward, an area of the city that was hit the hardest by Continue Reading
Memphis, Tennessee Wishes You Were Here
“You can always order more,” he says slowly, surely and calmly. Worried about having just the right amount of Memphis barbecue, I was quickly assured to settle down. There is also more to be had. The streets of Memphis seem deserted, until you round the corner to go to Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous. Turn down into the unsuspecting alley and a whole crowd is waiting to sink their teeth into Rendezvous’ famous charcoal-broiled pork ribs. I am no different as I grab a seat at the bar upstairs to wait with the masses for a table. It all began in 1948 when Charlie Vergos decided to convert his Continue Reading
An Oddball in Search of Oddities on the Road to New Orleans
Stevie Nicks belts out “Dreams” countless times on the radio during my long drive down to New Orleans. It is a song, like most I gather, about wronged love, dreams foiled and hope at the end of the storm. One line sticks with me most, “Like a heartbeat drives you mad in the stillness of remembering what you had and what you lost.” I don’t feel my heartstrings tugging over a wronged relationship, but rather my heart beats for the road. It drives me almost mad as I search for reasons to be on the road, the zaniest of roadside attractions. These roads come into my travels, I have them for a time Continue Reading
Scottsdale, Arizona Wishes You Were Here
The saunters of the world convene in Scottsdale for the weekend. These saunters adorn mostly baseball gear, looking to kill time in between spring training games with perhaps a little turquoise jewelry or a pony ride. The atmosphere is decidedly carnival on this stretch, but little hints of kitsch are acceptable in small doses, including this character. Old Town Scottsdale welcomes you, lasso and all. Amidst all of the jewelry shops and art galleries is a suburb of Phoenix in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. With Phoenix to the west and the McDowell Mountains to the east, this town in the Continue Reading
Traveling For Love of the Game: Reasons To Attend Baseball’s Spring Training
The sound of a baseball meeting a catcher’s glove signifies everything about spring for me. I get chills to hear it for the first time, especially after a long winter. Shadows are cast over a bullpen plate as a game takes place just steps away. Hordes of fans like myself watch the pitcher-catcher duo practice their duet, almost like animals at a zoo. Their exchange barely seems human in the way in which the pitcher moves and the catcher receives. If you find yourself traveling throughout the United States from April to October, most likely you will find a baseball game taking place. It is Continue Reading
Vicksburg, Mississippi Wishes You Were Here
In the late afternoon light of Mississippi, an eerie silence takes hold of a tragic and yet beautiful piece of land. Set up in the northeastern portion of Vicksburg is the Vicksburg National Military Park, where in large part the north won the south during the Civil War. The 16-mile driving tour of the park follows Union and Confederate siege lines. The Siege of Vicksburg ended on July 4, 1863, after well over 40 days of battle. Those battles would later lend the Union forces control of the Mississippi River south to New Orleans, cutting the Confederacy in two. No wonder President Abraham Continue Reading
Goodland, Kansas Wishes You Were Here
I saw the sun rise over the plains of Colorado on my way to completing a secret goal. This past June, I drove from Denver to the California Coast. In September, I drove from Fayetteville, Arkansas out to the Carolina Coast. The only missing piece to this great American road trip, truly going from coast to coast in a year, was the lonely, often forgotten stretch from Denver down to Arkansas. And so when the opportunity presents itself, I joined an impromptu ride from Denver to Fayetteville and saw the sunrise, something I hadn’t seen in years. While I could say this completion of driving Continue Reading