I like the Ozarks. It is a nice part of Missouri, much nicer than the interstate. I'm really glad that we decided to venture off the blue roads a little and onto the
back roads. I'm also glad that Emily lives in such a remote area and was kind enough to over us a place to stay on our trip.
It was a beautiful morning as we drove out of the Ozarks and onto the Mississippi delta. Soon, I told Kelsi, we would officially be in the South. We merged back on to 55 and crossed into Arkansas, and then crossed the mighty Mississippi River into Memphis, Tennessee. We weren't
there for long though because we soon crossed into the state of Mississippi. We were looking for a BBQ place to eat in Memphis but somehow, on the exit I picked we couldn't find one that was open. Technically we were in Horn Lake, MS so that could have had a little to do with it. We settled on
Zaxby's, a restaurant I was most looking forward to on this trip.
Zaxby's is a chicken restaurant and they do chicken right. At the counter an attractive looking
blonde girl took my order. She had that sexy southern accent that wasn't too thick and I just about melted when she asked me what I would like today. I was tempted to just have her read the menu to me so I could listen a little longer.
Kelsi got her
order taken by the black lady working, who not to sound raciest, but if you are a little Montana girl who has had very little exposure to Southern culture, can be a bit difficult to understand sometimes. We got our food though, and it was just as amazingly delicious as I remember it being in Georgia.
I let Kelsi drive through most of Mississippi. Mississippi gets a bad name sometimes but the state is quietly beautiful. I love the pine forest lined roads and the simple
subtle beauty of the state. I wanted Kelsi to get some kind of big city driving experience and I decided that the capital city of Jackson would be a good warm up. She tried to revolt against me and gave me many death glares but eventually settled in and accepted what she had to do. I lied to her and said it will be easy you just have to stay on this road. Actually you have to exit onto Eastbound I-20 and then exit again onto Southbound Highway 49 towards
Hattiesburg but what she didn't know didn't hurt her. Traffic wasn't bad at all and all of the roads were handled quite smoothly. "Was that so bad?" I asked. "No, no I guess it wasn't."
It had started to rain again and I took over driving for the home stretch. Once through
Hattiesburg it really isn't that far to Mobile, Alabama. I remembered this road from when James, Mike and I met my friend Chris in Panama City, Florida right after we graduated high school. That was a fun trip.
We crossed into Alabama and quickly came upon Mobile. Last time I was in Mobile I managed to get us a little lost but this time I sailed right through problem free. Government Street in downtown Mobile is probably one of the most beautiful city streets in America. Big Live Oak trees with
hanging Spanish Moss line both sides of the street and behind those majestic trees sit many classic plantation style mansions.
Sean lives in the little boot of Alabama that sits between the Florida panhandle and Mobile Bay. I had been there once a long time ago to Gulf Shores, but didn't really remember the rest of the area. It is a nice part with a little more money than the rest of the state, which makes sense because of the location and proximity to the coast. After some
shaky directions from Sean we turned into his subdivision lot where he stood outside his house waiting. We got our stuff inside and soon enough we were back driving, this time in Sean's truck, to the nearest Sonic for a
cream slush. After that we went out to the Mobile Bay pier and walked out to the end. When we got back to the house we decided to put in Tropic Thunder. I tried to stay awake but about half way through I stole the bed that Kelsi was going to sleep on and fell asleep.
Chapter four: Sea Side Sunsets
Sean's parents got us up early for breakfast. Kelsi had her first true experience with grits.
Mmm, grits. If prepared correctly, they are quite good. We decided to go to the beach that day as Kelsi had never seen the ocean before either. It is only about 20 miles to Gulf Shores from where Sean lives. By the time we got up and out of the house it was close to lunch time. The first restaurant we stopped at was busy. We sat out on the deck in the sunshine and for some reason they forgot about us and never served us. After about 20 minutes of sitting there I looked at Sean and said "Let's go somewhere else." So we drove down the street a ways and found an even better sea food restaurant.
Later, we finally did make it to the beach. The air was warm enough and if I had brought my bathing suite with me, which I stupidly had not, I would have gotten in the water. Instead we waded in up to our knees and let the waves push past our legs, scoured the shore for interesting looking shells, examined washed up jellyfish and I eventually made a fantastic sand castle as the afternoon faded away. The sunset was fantastic the first night there and I took a whole bunch of pictures and then watched as the very top of the sun sunk below the ocean.
On the way back to Sean's house we stopped to pick up his mom from work at
Walgreens. It was the first time that I really met his mom. She was there briefly the night before but went to shortly after getting home. She was very nice and has a really thick accent that Kelsi could not help giggling a little about.
Sean's parents decided to take us out to a fancy seafood restaurant that night called the Oyster House. It was a two story building and inside there were pictures covering all the walls. Along the entry there were pictures of the building during and after hurricanes had come through. Along the walls were pictures of famous people, athletes and others who had come to the Oyster House, and along the walls were we sat were pictures of people and giant fish they had caught.
To start off, Sean's dad insisted that we all have a cup of Gumbo, which I had never had before. I was suspicious at first, but it was one of the more delicious things I have eaten. Another appetizer of fried crayfish tails was also on the table. I had never eaten that either and was equally suspicious but they were also very tasty, much better than I was expecting. As an entree' I ordered fried
shrimp in a sweet
chipotle sauce. The sauce was fantastic. I even tried an oyster from Kelsi's plate. It tasted more or less
how I imagine the sea floor would taste if you put a spoonful into your mouth. As everyone finished up their meals, the waitress came by and asked if anyone would like a dessert, maybe a slice of key lime pie? Well, that sounded great to me. I looked around and said "I think I will have a slice of key lime pie." That got everyone started and she returned shortly with several slices of key lime pie. After that we all had a cup of coffee and sat for a while digesting our delicious meal. It was the best seafood I have ever had and Sean's dad must have dropped between $150 and $200 on dinner for all of us.
The next day we decided to drive out to Fort Morgan. Fort Morgan is an old civil war post that has been preserved like many others in the region and turned into a national historic site. On our way out we stopped at Krystal for lunch. If you are not familiar with Krystal it is kind of like White Castle. They make tiny little burgers that are really moist and delicious. We ordered the 12 pack that came with two large fries and two large drinks. Kelsi wasn't feeling well so Sean and I devoured the burgers on our way out to the fort. These old civil war forts are really cool because there are so many little rooms within them. They are fun to explore and wander through.
We returned to the beach that evening. This time we had brought our bathing suites with us but it was just a little too chilly to get in the water. Instead, we more or less repeated what we had done the previous night at the beach. The sunset this night was even more spectacular and I got some really great pictures.
Chapter five: Football in Florida
The true purpose of this trip was to venture to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl and watch Nebraska beat Clemson in person. It all started from a facebook message I sent to Sean that simply said "let's go to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville on New Years Day." He responded a couple days later with "That sounds very fun, and possible at the same time." After that, I just made it happen.
The next morning we left Alabama and headed East on I-10. It was New Year's Eve Day and we planned on spending that evening on Amelia Island with my friend Kristen who was driving down with her dad to Miami to watch Virginia Tech play Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl. We were racing, more or less. They were driving down from Roanoke, Virginia and had about 120 more miles to cover.
We stopped for lunch at Sonny's Real Pit BBQ in Tallahassee and from there made good time through the green, pine lined interstate all the way to our Days Inn a block from the Atlantic. I had booked the room online and was somewhat skeptical that it would all actually work out but when I walked up and told them my name they found my reservation and everything was set.
We won the race because Kristen was stuck in traffic about an hour behind us. In the mean time we decided to walk down and check out the beach. I like the Atlantic ocean a lot more than the gulf. The beaches are so much bigger and the waves are better. It was also a lot colder here than in Alabama. We had just missed the sunset, but on the East coast the sunrise is the better one to catch anyway. We walked back to the motel and changed into our swim suites so we could sit in the hot tub for a while. After about 15 minutes in the hot water I walked out over to the pool, determined to jump in. I convinced the other two to come with me. I didn't test the waters and instead jumped right in. When I did, a shock came over my body. The water was ice cold! I came up and tried to restrain the shock so that Kelsi would jump in. I was impressed because she came jumping right in too and as she was in mid-air I looked up and Sean and said "Dude, it's like an ice bath!" But Sean had to jump in too and after he did we rushed back to the safety of the hot tub.
Kristen's dad made reservations in the same motel as us so when they finally arrived I walked up the stairs to their room to say hello. I had suggested that the group of us go out and eat dinner at the grille on the beach but her dad was intent on ordering Chinese and watching football in the room.
The restaurant we went out to was a little more classy on the inside than it looked from the outside. The menu was a little higher priced than I was expecting. Kristen ordered an appetizer of calamari which it turns out is just a fancy word for squid! They were little breaded and fried squid and they actually tasted alright. Our server's name was Bo and he was an interesting character. Kind of hard to describe without being there but at one point he took away a couple of used plates and then took out a napkin and wiped away the crumbs from Sean's side of the table...very slowly and deliberately. It was a mixture of awkwardness and hushed hilarity as it happened.
We returned to the motel after acquiring some beverages for the evening from the local Food Lion. There we talked and watched the end of some college football games. When it got close to time we flipped the channel to watch the ball drop in real time as the new year came in. It wasn't the most exciting New Years Eve because not a whole lot happened but it was probably one of my favorites. I'm glad 2008 is over and gone.
Game day. We were not the only Gator Bowl fans to stay at the Days Inn. The night before I talked with a couple of fellow Nebraska fans about the game and noticed several vehicles adorned with Clemson gear. During the night and early morning hours I remember hearing several chants of "Goooo Biiiiig Reeeed!" and a Clemson chant where they apparently just spell out Clemson.
At 9:30 my alarm went off and by 10:30 we were out the door and driving toward Jacksonville. I had brought extra Nebraska clothing for my two friends to make them Husker fans for a day! We parked a good half mile or so away from the stadium in a $10 lot. Mine was the only Nebraska vehicle in there and when I got out I said hello to the group of Clemson fans I had parked next to. They took a look at my car and then my liscense plate and asked "Did you really drive all the way from Montana?" I laughed and said "Yep. Took us a good four days." They laughed and said something about how this must feel like summer to us. We were dressed in tshirts and flip flops and they were wearing sweaters and wrapped up in a blanket. "I just knew that even if it was a little cold down here it would be a lot warmer than what we have been having up there. Might as well make the most of it!"
We walked toward the stadium and wandered through the parking lots full of tailgaters. After an inept search for food from a nearby restaurant, we just decided to walk into the stadium and get something there. I am sure that we could have easily walked up to any Nebraska tailgating party and told them how far we had driven and they would have happily fed us. Instead, I payed $4 for a mediocre hotdog. It didn't matter though. It was nearly game time!
I think we got lucky because we were in a great section of Nebraska fans. I ordered through the Nebraska ticket office to make sure that we didn't end up in a mixed section. Instead, this section was vocal and vibrant! We stood when standing was neccessary and sometimes even when it wasn't. We yelled until it hurt and then we yelled some more. We laughed, we cried out in disappointment for our team to better preform. We chanted, we clapped and we celebrated. We carried our defense just like they controlled the game and encouraged our offense to the best of our abilities. We slapped fives in celebration and finally... Finally we shared our collective happiness in sweet jubulent victory!
It was a fantastic game. We definitely got our moneys worth. Nebraska won 26-21 in a thriller that came down to the last possession and finally culminated in Nebraska lining up in the victory formation for a kneel down. Not only that, but I made life long Husker fans out of both Kelsi and Sean.
Walking out of the stadium we chanted, no, proudly yelled "HUSKER!" "POWER!" through the ramps all the way out of the stadium and down the street. We high fived strangers and yelled with what little voice we had left. It is pretty cool to think that just having a Nebraska red shirt on instantly makes you friends with 30,000 other people in the area who would gladly help you out if you needed it or be more than happy to answer a Gooo Biiiig Redddd chant.
Once back at the car the same group of Clemson fans were standing back by their vehicle. I said hello again and "It's a long drive back to Montana." They laughed a little and one said "At least ya'll got the W..." "That does make the drive a little better" I wished them well and they to us the same and we drove off. Into the sunset, I would like to believe...
On our way back to the island we ate at Chilis before returning to the hotel. There were fans from both sides dotting the seats. In celebration I decided to order a strawberry Daquiri. A few moments later the waitress came out with two tall glasses in her hand. "Oh I just wanted to order one," I said. Turns out it was two for one night! I handed my keys over to Sean and sipped away on the taste of victory.
Chapter six: Back to Bama
When we left in the morning, I drove not South on I-95, but North. We were so close, I thought it would be silly not to drive in to Georgia so Kelsi could mark off an 8th state from her list. We just crossed the border to Kingston and then took some back highways over to Folkston and then down through the little bootleg of Georgia. I had never been to this part of the state before either. We skirted the edges of the Okefenokee Swamp but we saw very little swamp and no alligators, though we kept a close lookout. Most of what we saw was planted pine pulp wood that grew in nice little rows. It seems that that is all that is down there in that region. I partially wanted to visit this region because of a book I had read for one of my classes called Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. Janisse Ray grew up just north of where we were and talked about the longleaf pine forest that used to cover this region but has been largely cleared to make room for the pulp trees we saw. That area was pretty in its own way. I like driving on a narrow highway with pine trees lining either side of the road.
When we got back to the interstate at Lake City, FL we stopped to gas up and inside bought a cup full of hot boiled peanuts. We had seen signs up and down the roads since Mississippi and Kelsi had never tried or even heard of them before. We should have bought from someone along the side of the road but the gas station ones were just as good.
Once back in Alabama at Sean's house, we decided to drive to the beach around 10:00 in order to go crabbing. There was heavy fog all the way down to the waves and it was eerily cool to watch the moisture and fog roll off the waves and up onto land. Our crabbing hunt was unsucessful, we didn't even see one. We drove out to the pavillion where there were less lights and still did not see any crabs scutteling across the sand.
Instead, it was quite picturesque sitting on the beach at night. Watching the stars through the light rolling fog, listening to the waves wash up on shore. It was beautiful. It was romantic. By this point though I was a little tired of watching Sean and Kelsi flirt all day and night. Being on the beach was a little hard for me because of all the memories from the last time I was there. I didn't want to say anything to them because I know how much they missed each other and if it would have been me I would have been doing the exact same thing. I just felt a little left out some of the time. This was partly why I had suggested to Emily the idea that she come with us about a week before we were to leave. She told me she would really consider it but in the end, she decided to stay in Missouri. Still, that night I wanted to sit alone for a little while in the sand and reflect, but even that didn't last long.
Before going back to the house, it was imperative that we stop at Waffle House. It was about 1 am - in other words, the perfect time for Waffle House. I ordered the Pecan Waffle and a cup of chocolate milk. I have discovered, in my varied experiences with Waffle House, that through the first quarter of the waffle I think "Yes, this is delicious! Keep eating!" By the time I am half way done I slow down and think "I'm in a pretty good place right now." When the waffle is three quarters consumed I start to realize "Now would be a good time to stop..." And finally, when the entire waffle is devoured I feel like death is a real possibility if I eat anything else.
The next day we spent lounging around the house most of the day. Somehow I slept in until noon on the living room couch. Sean and I kicked a soccer ball for a while and then tossed a football back and forth outside. For dinner we decided to go to a local Mexican place. There were several in the area and I suggested we go to the one that looked the worst from the outside. Usually they have the best food inside. The burrito I ordered was about the size of my forearm, maybe a little thicker. Quantity was backed up with quality, it was very tasty.
Some good thunder storms were rolling through and we decided not to do much else with the day. We went back to the house and watched the Alabama vs Utah game on tv. After that, I pretty much called it a night.
Chapter seven: The Long Road Home
We left at a decent time that morning. As I loaded up the car I was starting to sweat a little. It was 9:30 am and it was already over 75 degrees and humid. It is easy to forget that winter is actually a season down there some times. We exchanged goodbyes, no tears this time. I will admit that I could not help but let a tear or two fall this past summer the night Sean moved away. This time though, we all parted ways in good spirits.
The goal was to get to Emily's house by a decent time that night. The sky clouded over in Mississippi and rained most of the way from Jackson to Memphis. This particular stretch of road seemed to take forever to cover going back where as before it went by fast. I stopped about 10 miles outside of Memphis at a Waffle House around 4. I was tired and had a strange craving for a waffle and a cup of coffee. Inside I got just that. I told Kelsi to pick a city; Memphis, St. Louis, or Kansas City because she was going to drive through one of them. She threw her usual fit about this being unfair and dangerous and a terrible idea but eventually she succumbed to the notion and chose Memphis. I think she picked Memphis just to get it out of the way early. She got lucky again because the traffic was hardly even noticeable.
She only drove about 30 miles before she wanted to switch across the border in Arkansas. It was dark but I wanted to take some back highways that looked shorter on the map than the interstate up to Popular Bluff, MO. We exited toward Jonesboro, AR and when we pulled through town I was shocked to see a Zaxby's. I wasn't really that hungry but I decided it was necessary to have that delicious chicken one last time. We got our food to go and ate on the road. I had pretty much exhausted my choice selection of ipod music so we decided to surf the radio. One of the station there was 96 "oink" 1: The Pig. We coudn't stop laughing about it.
Eventually we cruised into Missouri. I had called Emily's house from Memphis but she wasn't home so I left a message with her sister to let her know we would be there in about 4 hours. I called again from Popular Bluff but the line was busy. I tried a third time in a smaller town right before we turned onto the real back highways to her house. Still, the line was busy. Well, I thought, now I will have to put my directional and memorizational skills to the test to see if I can find her house. I got us back to the road she had pointed us out on, but could not remember if the dirt road we followed her down had a name. Kelsi and I guessed three different times and each time decided that this was not the one and turned back around to the highway. I had no cell phone service. Eventually, we decided to just drive back into town and try to find a high spot to see if we could get service. If not, I was planning on stopping at a house with a light on and asking for directions. Both her parents taught at the school, so I was sure someone would know them. But as luck would have it, I got one bar back at the school parking lot. My call went through and she even answered the phone. She gave me brief directions and off we went again.
Since we got in a little earlier, we decided to watch Semi-Pro in the basement down where our beds were. Kelsi fell asleep half way through and then somehow woke up for her favorite part of the movie when the bear escapes and Will Ferrell shouts out "If you have a small child use it as a shield!"
In the morning Emily cooked us breakfast and we left by 10:30. We didn't have as far to drive this day so we decided to tour the St. Louis Arch. Once I got into the city I exited downtown and found a parking garage to park in. We walked down a couple blocks to the Arch and took some pictures from the outside. When I walked down into the museum that sits below the arch, I was surprised to see all the 9/11 style airport security that we had to pass through before we could enter. If we had had more time and were willing to pay the $14 a piece ticket we would have taken the little space shuttle ride up to the top where there are windows to look out over the city.
It was around 3 by the time we left the Arch and we had somehow skipped lunch. I knew of a restaurant in St. Charles that I had wanted to eat at on the way down but wasn't able to fit in because of our mixed up schedule. I stopped at a gas station and asked the lady behind the counter if she knew where the restaurant was. She did not but was more than happy to look through the phone book and find out for me. Kelsi was skeptical again about my insistence upon eating at a certain place. It just so turns out though that I may have saved the best for last. We found Locos and upon having our fill of an appetizer, delicious sandwich and fries decided that Locos may have collectively been our favorite food stop of the entire trip.
It seemed like the stretch of road from Kansas City to the Iowa border was in some sort of time warp where it kept looping over and over and we would never get out of Missouri. When we finally did cross the line, I calculated that we should arrive at my aunts house at 10:00. 9:55 if we were lucky. We pulled into their drive way at 9:54. If nothing else, I was impressed. We also were just in time for the thrilling 4th quarter conclusion of the Texas vs Ohio State game.
In the morning we got away early and made good time across the state. We were in North Platte by lunch and decided to stop at a Runza. There were about eight cop cars in the parking lot and they were all eating together in a little back conference room. As Kelsi and I were about half way through our meals a group of construction workers came and sat across from us. I looked at Kelsi and said "If an Indian Chief walks in here next I am going to start singing the YMCA." She thought that was pretty funny but was too worried to start laughing because she thought they migh have overheard us.
I let her drive from there all the way to the interstate in Wyoming. There is pretty much just one road that goes from Scottsbluff to Wyoming. Somewhere at the very end of Nebraska I was looking at the map. I pointed out the last Nebraska town as we were driving through it and then said that next is Torrington so the Wyoming border must be about a mile or two away. I never did see the sign welcoming us to the state so when the signs for Torrington appeared I kept a straight face and said "We are already in Torrington? That's funny I never saw the Wyoming sign...we must have made a wrong turn somewhere." Kelsi immediatly pulls into a gas station parking lot and I just start laughing because I can't believe she really believed me. "Where could we have possibly turned?" I said. She wasn't very happy, but forgave me shortly after.
In Casper we ate a nice dinner and prepared ourselves for the home stretch. Four hours home, we thought. The roads were a little icy the rest of the way home and in the small mountain pass between the Montana and Wyoming border snow started to fall and cover the roads. This slowed us down and forced me to drive extra cautiously, which of course cut into our original anticipated arrival time.
Thankfully we made the whole trip problem free. Soon enough we were pulling into my driveway and already wishing that we hadn't even left yet and were just about ready to start all over again.
day to day
