Here we are in Pensacola sitting across from each other in the dining room. We are both trying to recapture and rethink about our last three days on the road. We open an email from Terence Winch, with a link to his blog “The Best American Poetry” about our road trip and with a transcript of the reading we did in his impressive basement/studio before we left his house—
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We read Terence’s post and laughed at his description of our car full of things. Then I tell Maureen a story about Iris Adler, an artist I met in the early 90s at Byrdcliff Art Colony. She had an old van full of what looked like junk, but was in fact valuable items for making her sculptures. She was in her 70s then (I think) and traveled from one colony to another. Once she told me a story about how she managed to be an artist and a mother at the same time. She said something like this (as I remember), “When my children were young, I wasn’t much of a cook. For their school lunches I would make enough peanut butter sandwiches for a week and freeze them.” Iris and I laughed and now Maureen and I are laughing. We understand because we too raised children. (Barb)
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We left Anderson SC on January 23rdheading South to Atlanta GA on I 85 South. Peaceful driving along and over the North Fork Broad River and on. Cloudy sky with rain pending, but the landscape became more and more beautiful. In Montgomery we found our hotel in a cluster of others on the outskirts. We cooked in as we had splurged in Anderson and gone to P J Chang’s. The Best Western we stayed at had the most obliging cooking situation of any of the hotels so far. Outside there was a cloudburst of rain that Barbara got caught in as she run out to the local organic store for a couple of things needed for our dinner. We had buckwheat noodles and veggies and went overboard with some Havarti cheese. After our repast we caught up on the daily news. Go Nancy Pelosi! (MO)
Photo by Barbara
We stopped in LaGrange, Georgia looking for a lunch spot, came upon Gus’s but first we walked around the plaza with a statue of Lafayette and a fountain. Then we were too late. Gus’s closed. Back on the road. (BH)
Photo by Maureen
As we drove further south, little by little we took off layers of coats and under-coats. Still cold and somewhat damp, but curvy and the landscape more beautiful even when overcast. As we were ending our drive in Georgia, the last 30 miles, we traveled on a back road so we could see the world behind the manicured freeway. Maureen took the wheel, still a little leery because she had not driven a stick in many years, but very quickly she remembered. (Barb)
Photos by Barbara
All the hotel rooms were ok, but the air was stuffy. Upon arrival, we would turn on MSNBC and catch up with the antics of our destructive president. We clapped when Pelosi said, “No, sorry you can’t give a speech in the house until the shut down is over.” Then we rolled with laughter when the bully tweeted something like: “I decidednot to give the speech until after the shutdown.”
Every morning we religiously did our yoga practices. I am teaching Maureen and every day she is becoming more and more limber. Sometime in the future we will grace our blog with photos. (Barb)
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Early morning on the 24thwe left Montgomery on a highway flat grey as the sky above, but no rain today. It’s cooler tho because of the downpour last night. Suddenly green grass! Gas is $1.89. Large birds soared overhead. Turkey Vulture or hawk? The ditches along the road were mowed here and formed lovely clean, green mounds. Lots of pasture land and cattle. We chatted about southern writers and how the South is so literary. They love poetry and stories and seem more romantic. We wondered if the warmer, easier weather promotes a more easy going lifestyle. And then the sun came out! (MO)
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On the 24th, our gps directed us off the main highway (84 to 65) and on to a few smaller highways. As we drove along, the air started feeling different, more like the ocean, the houses, similar to the houses I remember in New Orleans, spread out with big porches. The accents of the people in the gas stations became thicker with that Southern slant. Jamey Jones and Rachael Pongetti were still teaching so we went straight to a funky warm vegan restaurant I liked when I was here a few years ago, “End of the Line.” Maureen and I sat at a table by the window looking out at the train tracks across the way. (Barb)
Photo by Maureen
It was too early to go to our hosts, Jamey and Rachel, house and we wanted to see the water as we were so close. We didn’t know exactly how to get to it, so I picked a restaurant, Cactus Cantina, that was on 12 north and looked to be right on the gulf. We set our GPS for the Cantina, but it drove us around in circles, finally we got to the Cantina, but the airport was between us and the water! We couldn’t see it at all! We gave up and drove to Jamey and Rachel’s. Already the signs of warmer climes. Huge oaks and Magnolia trees. Camilia bushes. Their place is right on the Bayou. (MO)
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As we sat in front of Jamey and Rachael’s house waiting for them, we watched some workman packing up their things (their house is being renovated). Ten minutes later Jamey and Rachael arrived and welcomed us into their abode, where they live with Luna, an energetic little spotted dog and Jeff the fish.
