Ticking New Jersey off the list

It hadn’t been the best night (getting a couple of hours of light kip), but woke full of beans to experience another day of adventures.

We criss-crossed a few states today, waking up in Delaware, and within 20 minutes we had crossed the Pennsylvania state line, followed swiftly by New Jersey which we accessed by crossing a giant iron bridge. Three options were presented for the journey, all avoiding Toll roads as well as the interstates. Google maps indicated we would have country roads. Neither were true and TomTom was insistent and redirected us. In any event, Matt navigated the complex road works and concrete barriers with erratic traffic with ease. Over here most drivers hang onto their phones whist driving, splitting their attention.

In New Jersey, we spotted Norristown (for Maxy) and Cherry Hills. Our end point was Allentown in Pennsylvania. The Allentown Art Museum was good, and we were greeted by a lovely man who shared that his mum went to school with Billy Joel and she wasnt a fan of him, or later when he became famous. She even banned her children from seeing a film.

By mid-afternoon, were rested in a great cafe with exceptional coffee and had a freshly made avocado & egg on toast.

We discovered where the Liberty Bell had been hidden and protected, it was later moved.

The evening is settling in as we are in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. After a check, we are 38 states in, with 10 more to tick off before we return home.

Delaware

Our first stop today was a museum in Maryland, we had the joy of parking right outside, where we paid for a couple of hours of parking with coins. Most parking offers payment via an App which requires a phone which we don’t have.

On entry to the Walter Art Museum, a school tour was in progress, and reception advised visiting other floors first where it would be a little quieter. We had an informative conversation to a conservator who was showing us repair work with stained glass. The museum was impressive, it really is a place you could have easily spent an entire day in, and we only saw a fraction of the building full of treasures from across the globe. There was mention of the Peabody library so we wanted to fit this in too. In the store, I enquired if the library was close and one of the guides walked us through back-corridors to an exit where the library was just over the road. Winner.

This street we stepped into had a huge monument to President Washington, where you had the option of seeing views from the top via an internal spiral staircase, much like the Monument in London. Nearby was a beautiful church and of course the Peabody Library which was closed but we were able to take a peek as guest of the lovely person on the door (Mr Platt) who sneaked us in to take photos. He is a retired fire fighter, and now works part time at the library. That same day we were hearing on the news that hundreds of firefighters were turning out to a funeral of a firefighter and the roads around us would be a procession, whilst other fire houses out of state were covering so everyone could attend. The same day there was also a shooting at school in our area. All this at the same time where a man-hunt is also underway for a mass-shooting of 18 victims in Maine. It feels like the whole world is off-balance at the moment, and this is quite sobering.

Our travels today took us over a hydro-bridge into our next state, Delaware which I have got to say is a beautiful state and full of opulence. Giant houses, with gated driveways leading all the way into Wilmington which then give way to a city scape. We stopped at another library, and then had a late pizza lunch before booking into the hotel nearby.

Just a little note on the item below. This is a Sperm Whale Tooth and Ink - Japan early 19th Century. It is of Daruma, the First Zen Buddhist Patriarch. So the story goes, that Daruma is the monk credited with founding Zen Buddhism in Japan. This netsuke (toggle) may be referencing a story whereby Daruma, frustrated with himself because he kept falling asleep while meditating, cut off his own eyelids and threw them on ground. The eyelids eventually grew into tea trees. It is the size of a large marble.

Maryland!

After three days of bliss it was difficult to peel ourselves away from the condo. Anything tonight would be a let down and it didnt disappoint, I inadvertently booking us into a grotty hotel. The pictures were ok… the reality not. The hotel is long past its burn by date. Our room has no tv, thin walls, no fridge or microwave. I am predicting we will be heading off really early.

In other news today’s journey was a good ‘un. Through the forest hills. We saw plenty of wildlife including what we thought was a giant groundhog standing absolutely still at the edge of the road. We slowed down, then stopped and waited and watched as it headed back into the woods.

At some point, we were stuck behind a big thing (some farm machine) for a few miles… and our journey today included a couple of attempts to top up our emergency wifi (moxee).

We also discovered a number of large muffler men to add to our collection.. one was as tall a tree.

I got to explore an art gallery, some delightful artwork, a mix of tapestry/cross stitching and paint when visiting the resting place of a saint.

This evening, we treated ourselves to a burger from across the road, and helped out a lovely lady who was clearly struggling. At least we had a room to go back to.

Another state ticked off.. Maryland toast is needed later.

More Rest

I picked up the kindle and read 60% of a book today. Well worth reading: And Finally by Henry Marsh.

We went for a walk to the beginning of the golf course, and finished off the wine. Sorting suitcases, then emptying and sorting the car before planning for tomorrow where we are resuming the adventure after three days of welcome respite.

The air is full of ladybirds… just reminding myself later when I re-read in a year or two. They gathered around our balcony door, and I kept rescuing them.

Chilling out

The first evening in the house was fabulous. I didnt sleep though until dawn but at 3am we were awake and stepped out onto the balcony and the sky was full of stars. It was a sky bursting with star light.

At 9am I walked up to the office to enquire about an extension and stay a third night. They were kind and whilst chatting to the lovely ladies, they offered a significant discount. It is cheaper to stay here than a motel room.

We opened wine, read books, sat on the balcony to watch golfers and cooked all of our meals. It has been bliss.

Observatory

We awoke in a the freezing cold in the quietest place yet. There isn’t even a microwave in our room, only one on site and later we learned that this was to minimise any local disturbance so that the observatory telescopes could work. We were sleeping in the Quiet Zone.

The National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) is a large area of land in the United States designated as a radio quiet zone, in which radio transmissions are restricted by law to facilitate scientific research and the gathering of military intelligence. The NRQZ includes portions of West Virginia, Virginia, and a small part of Maryland. It is an approximate rectangle of land, 107.0 miles on the north edge comprising approximately 13,000 square miles (34,000 km 2; or 8,300,000 acres).

Most broadcast transmitters in the central area of the Quiet Zone are required to operate at reduced power and use directional antennas. This makes cable and satellite all but essential for acceptable television in much of the region1. Restrictions of transmissions are strictest within ten miles (16 km) of the Green Bank and Sugar Grove facilities1, where most omnidirectional and high-power transmissions are prohibited. Not all radio transmissions are prohibited in the Quiet Zone. For example, emergency service (police, fire, and ambulance) radios and CB radios are permitted. Large transmitter owners, including television stations must coordinate their operations with the Green Bank Observatory.

When the NRQZ was set up, they used eminent domain to purchase land from 13 farmers. Some of the farmer’s now abandoned buildings are still on the land. The actual Green Bank Observatory area hosts many transmitters, some are historic, some are used for school research and anyone in the world can submit a request to use the Transmitter and their data is only available to them for 12 months before being made public. Submissions are reviewed every 6 months, and some countries will need a local operator on site to gather their data so that they dont have access to steer the transmitter/telescoope directly. It takes two weeks to learn how to manipulate the tra

The journey to the Green Bank Observatory was difficult. Tom Tom wanted us to go off road in the mountainous forest. We missed the first turning and other options didnt seem at all advisable. After a little frustration, we turned around and retraced our steps. We stopped at a couple of libraries, however they were closed or not opening until later that day, and it was an icy fog, with temperatures dropping to 30f (minus 1.1 celsius). Proper jumper weather.

We had heard a news article the day or so before about FRBs received from space. Mysterious radio signal reaches Earth after 8 billion years: "Mind-blowing" (yahoo.com)

A national 10 year project is underway to allow everyone be involved in searching for life outside our planet and 100 million dollars has been sunk into the project.

The tour lasted an hour, the first half onsite, then we hopped onto a bus (just three of us) to see and walk near the different types of FRB transmitters and telescopes.

We then headed to Seneca Rocks, which were quite pretty, our emergency wifi box (affectionally called moxy) had no service given the Quiet Zone.

We then headed to the holiday chalet which I had booked for two nights. This necessitated picking up a couple of days supplies as we had a real kitchen. We are deep in the forest with a golf course in the back garden. After a really challenging drive in the mountains and forests, I have no idea how Matt got us here, but here we are for a little rest. We unlocked the house, filled the fridge, and shook off the journey. Our car rental is taking a well earned rest too.

A gentle day

It is Sunday and most coffee shops are closed. We planned on a shorter journey with the aim of getting close to visiting an observatory in Green Bank tomorrow and so much more. Even though it is a gentle day the steering wheel received a workout in the winding hills and switchback roads. Yes it possible to be pulled tight into the car seat whist going in multiple directions at once. There are significantly more trees than people in West Virginia but we haven’t yet seen a bear.

The day started with Eggs in Omelette Shoppe. It was packed to the rafters and it took a while for our order to arrive, timed by three coffee refills. We plugged in the hotel and winged it. We stopped for a Nature Reserve and a coffee at Wild Bean.

We popped into Walmart and then Walgreen (imagine a giant Tesco then a giant Boots).

Now keeping warm as the temperature has dropped significantly, and there is ice on the car.

West Virginia

We are now in our 33rd state. Our breakfast had frozen in the fridge so that needed to thaw so set off early. We took a little detour to Hungry Mother State Park. We kept a close eye out for bears.

We visited a small village called Odd, and then Whitby before settling into our hotel for the evening,

Multi-State Day

We were periodically disturbed through the night by industrial washing machines trying to knock down the wall. It was not much fun being in room 118. After finally falling into a deep sleep at four am, was woken with merry carts and chatty staff right outside the door. Matt did his thing and it all went quiet for a while.

The car had been washed overnight and ominous clouds threatened the day and didn’t disappoint. Today we had Weather and lots of it. Our first stop was up a mountain and half way up we were surrounded by swirling fog which was soup spoon thick. Tight bendy roads with little visibility up a mountain. At the top should be a scenic overview and hiking trials. An optimistic couple were setting up for a BBQ at the picnic table and on the return to our car later, they had the fire going. I recorded a little of our journey and a link is below (thank you hun for processing). The fun bit was spotting cars on the opposite side of the road.

The day took in four states, waking up in South Carolina, having lunch and finding some excellent moonshine in North Carolina, clipping Tennessee (again) and then ending our journey in Bristol, Virginia.

We had classic eggs and home fries (fried potato) to break up the journey.

Weather-wise, we had Fog, Proper Rain (the instant soak kind), Hailstones, Thunder, Lightning, Blue Skies and a giant Rainbow. We pulled into a viewing point so the worst of the hail would settle before getting back on the interstate.

We are toasting two new states. The fridge is getting full.

Unexpected bonus state

We were minutes from leaving Summerville and spotted an older building, which has been taken over by wildlife.

We had a few things on the list today but spent most of the day in Gibbs Gardens, with then a gentle drive north. We also planned to see the town of Matt, it is a tiny with a busy crossroad which you don’t want to get stuck in. We found a couple of Matt signs, and a giant spider the size of Matt’s head.

I thought I had booked the hotel in Georgia so surprised to pass another state line and we are now in South Carolina.

The journey was very green, full of trees turning colour in the fall, wild moss and ivy climbing high amongst the trees creating spooky views. We got stuck behind or passed oversized Loads mixed with roadworks (always a joy). Today TomTom behaved himself but it was a long journey in sometimes slow traffic.

Georgia

As we enter Georgia, we lose an hour as the clocks acknowledge another time zone, which is our fifth or sixth over the past couple of months.

After a good night’s sleep, we padded down to breakfast of cheese bagels, we were ready to make a move by 9:30am or so. The car was where we had left it last night and petrol wasn’t required. The sky was blue so it was going to be another promising day. The road headed north knitting little villages together.

Matt spotted historical markers in Ashville so we stopped for a short break. We also left a donation of food (packets and tins) in a pantry/blessing box. In this same town we spotted this magnificent set. I feel that I have completed the spooky here:

We then looked up a coffee shop on route which had a corker of a name called Moody Brews, after refreshments, we drove across a huge lake, and skipped alongside it towards Scotsboro then east to Georgia.

We had a few interesting interactions with locals today, where things were lost in translation. After giving Matt’s email address, the young assistant wanted to know how to spell “full stop”, after waiting a beat, I asked her to delete the word “full” and replace with a period. Equally “bathroom” gets a funny look so quickly replaced with restroom.

Some other pics of today’s adventures:

TomTom doing its own thing

Our first point of call was a town with a name I failed to pronounce correctly all day. Its claim to fame (apart from the name) Wetumpka was that it has a crater. Some roads were steep and TomTom tried to take us in a different direction until Google Maps took over. The sign itself was a little underwhelming, but at least it was a box ticked.

Matt had also looked up another town nearby with another interesting name Eclectic so we took a look around. An elderly lady stopped her fancy car and asked if she could “help us”. We were on the hunt of a coffee shop and our cameras gave the game away and we were obvious tourists. She was helpful however the coffee shop we were directed to was closed. She was just opening the local museum, and suggested we pop back, but we had a packed day ahead and TomTom wasn’t finished with its shenanigans.

It is clear that TomTom does not like Birmingham in Alabama, and directed us to an Ironworks outside of the city and we ended up in a town ruins instead. We had the excitement of trains chug chugging along the line across which we were crossing without barriers or warning lights. I looked one way, Matt the other and we crossed carefully as a train was making its merry way towards us. When the train is ear splitting distance it roars with a giant horn loud enough for every car to pick up its own wheels. We fired up our Moxy box (travelling wifi) for our Google Maps on the phone to redirect us back into the city and find the magnificent book store after a couple of wrong turns, we had the excitement of parking the car. The owner of the store has a weekly podcast and recommended an author so I picked up a book. After such a long day following an early start we finally sat down to have a welcome coffee (mid afternoon) before locating the car and aiming it back through the busy multi-lane interstate (still not a fan) to the hotel 40 mins or so away.

We had planned on seeing an art gallery but I am certain we have more on the list in future states.

The hotel we have settled in is next door to Cracker Barrel. We do like a Cracker Barrel. Dinner with beer was hearty given our light eating day.

Montgomery

After breakfast we collected our room deposit, then planned to head north passing through Evergreen. Of course it would be rude not to. On the edge of the city, Matt spotted a car wash and we had a fun five minutes power washing the car. Matt left a video message for maxy, and we popped into the Evergreen library, the librarian has her parents visiting from the UK. Small world.

Our total journey today was light, 120 miles, and after waving Evergreen goodbye, we made tracks for Montgomery. This is the state capitol of Alabama. We found the roads quiet and located on-street parking to visit the Rosa Parkes museum which was brilliant, with testimonials, videos, recordings, records and the timeline of the 13 month struggle for the simple and rightful end of segregation on bus routes (they had not set out to change anything else) which started with one brave woman peacefully declining to relinquish her seat on a bus. The Freedom Riders museum was closed today which was also on our list. Everything was in walking distance, a dedication to Martin Luther King, the State Capitol and the first White House where the first President of the Confederacy lived for four months. It was indeed a wood white building tucked to the side of the State Capitol building and we were greeted with a welcome bottle of water from a nice chap who advised that we were free to explore the White House. So we did.

We walked back to the car after a little tumble where my head broke my fall and I am an egg-head (I have to stop doing that) made the journey to the hotel, it had been a good fruitful day of discovery. There are many restaurant across the road, but there wasnt a simple way to get to them which was highly frustrating. Google maps advises that the nearest restaurant a quarter of mile away can only be accessed on foot if you were prepared to undertake a one-way 8 mile walk. There are no paths or safe route to across the multi-lane interstate. I am now going to add an extra check to google “walk” the local area before booking future hotels. We are looking forward to tomorrow night out and change from microwave or fast food.

Loving Alabama

Alabama is full of rich history and a lovely lady at a welcome centre shared with us lots of great maps and information of the local area and places to visit and explore, her passion about her wonderful State was infectious and I was hooked. We are spending extra time in Alabama. If you are reading this, thank you :-) She also had the bluest eyes I have ever seen, and she said they were the same as her father. I am wearing the beautiful Alabama pin which we were unexpectedly given, and I am taking it on the remaining journey with us and then back home.

We are going to learn more about the Civil Rights period over the next day or so.

This morning we didn’t need to travel far to visit the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis Home (visitbeauvoir.org)

We dipped our toes into Florida, Matt and I wanted to spend our precious time elsewhere but we needed to visit all 48 states so that box is now ticked.

Sunset in Biloxi

I can still feel the soft white sand which hasn’t quite washed off my feet. Pure white sand with warm water. Ending today on the coast is a treat and made me feel a little homesick.

We started this morning having coffee on a reportedly haunted plantation, before heading to Baton Rouge where we passed several rows of cars near parking lots with drivers all gathered in the heat of the day to chat and share news and pass the time.

Louisiana

We have ended the day in Louisiana, much of Louisiana's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. Half of the state is forest and they have green tree frogs.

Today we visited three museums in Mississippi. The state capitol Jackson is home to The museum of Mississippi History as well as the Civil Rights Museum in a combined building which is fully funded by the state. It was overwhelming, packed with stories, immersive and impactful. We spent most of the time in the Civil Rights Museum - you can read more here Mississippi Civil Rights Museum | Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (ms.gov)

The State Fair is also in full swing so TomTom of course wanted us to drive through it… Matt circumnavigated it and we travelled to Crystal Springs to pop into museum #3.

The photos I took, pale in comparison to what I read and learnt today. Most of us take the every day for granted, whilst generations of people suffered and had to fight to be equal. I am only adding this photo which changed colours in time with the song “this little light of mine”… click on the link to watch this pulse in Gallery #3 - This Little Light of Mine | Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (ms.gov)

Mississippi

We were up and about early today, but took our time getting ready. The breakfast offering was all but empty at 8am, but we picked up fruit, water and a yoghurt. The Delta Blues Museum didn’t open until 10am and not too far to travel. The first stop of the day was to take a picture of The Crossroads which is in an area of extreme poverty. One man shuffled towards Matt, and then hovered near the car so I chatted to him and gave him enough dollars for food. He was older and clearly vulnerable and there were many others like him.

Our navigation tool TomTom failed to find the museum, so we fired up Google maps and our new mobile wifi which located it after a couple of wrong turns. The building was again in a deprived area surrounded by smashed up buildings. Many dogs were exploring freely in the road, with men sitting in doorways and waving to passing cars. Distinctive in this state is that with every interaction we have, the women are referred to as “mam”, yes mam, thank you mam.

Similar to St Louis, a street separated both extremes within the community. When taking local pictures a van filled the air with a loud, deep base of a song which penetrated solid objects. We heard it long before the van made an appearance.

The Delta Blues museum itself was great, but we were unable to take photos. I made a few notes to refer to in this blog and many of their stories were poignant.

• I now know that a Mandika Kora has a harp like sound.

• A Blues Singer called Sam Chatmon lived just east of Vickburg (where we are staying this evening). His father was a fiddler, an ex-slave who lived until he was 105.

• Robert Johnson has three headstones in three different locations across Mississippi, He was reportedly poisoned at the Three Forks Store.

• Koko Taylor (originally Cora Walton) lived from 1928 to 2009 and a great Blues singer. She was inspired to change her name from her love of chocolate and the stages she performed at.

• Bessie Smith was paid 37.50 dollars for her Okeh records and died in poverty without a headstone until Janis Joplin and Bessie’s friend Juanita Green purchased one for her in 1970.

• Doris Carr was a talented Blues performer, singing in her husband’s band until he forced her to stop as he didn’t like the way other men looked at her.

• We read about many Blues singers or bands, too many to list here, but many stood out such as BB King, Misty Blue and Muddy Waters.

• We saw a lovely sign which read: The Blues had a baby, and they named their child Rock & Roll.

We then had a long journey to the hotel, but stopped for a library and caught up on world events via wifi. We passed cotton fields with controlled burning.

As I am writing this, we are watching a programme of “Finding Bigfoot” on Animal Planet. We are living in a different world.

Cotton Fields

We made coffee and packed up the car and today we travelled to Mississippi, and Elvis’ childhood home until he was 13.

His father built the two roomed house and the contents have been donated to replicate the period. The only original features were a stone wall with a stove and a home-made fridge. The family car is parked outside the museum. We also watched a short film of his childhood, living in Tupalo, prior to the family moving to Memphis. In other news the outhouse was shared with several houses on the same street.

We had brunch at D’Cracked Egg.

On route to our nights stop and settling into our hotel, we passed fields full of cotton. I haven’t seen a cotton field before, and it was fascinating.

Jack Daniels Tour & Sweet Home Alabama

This morning was cool and bright. Matt grabbed fruit and a sweet pastry from the breakfast table and then we set out to explore Lynchburg. We had toyed with the idea of booking tour tickets for Jack Daniels Visitor Centre online but decided to take a bimble through the town, after picking up tickets we returned to the hotel to finish breakfast, change and pile into the car.

The tour was excellent. You are shepherded onto a Jack Daniels bus, driven to the start and then the tour meanders back to the beginning. We learnt about the Jack Daniels history (he was 5ft 2) from a family of 10 children, he left home when he was 6, to live with a neighbour who also made whiskey and that family taught him the skills needed. He bought his first land at 13 years old, and today many family generations have worked on site. 700 or so work at the plant today, that supplies the world with Jack Daniels Whiskey. They have 120 tasters and when a batch is ready, all the barrels with that date stamp can then be bottled. They make everything from the charcoal which the whiskey is filtered through (of course fuelled by Whiskey), to the barrels. Everything is recycled, the filtering charcoal is then sold later for BBQs. There were 20 of us on this particular tour, and the tour guide called Matt “England”. Matt got to pump the lid on the charcoal vats, which filled the air with the distinct smell. There are 72 buildings all producing Whiskey and they purchase the ingredients from farms across the country and if the quality is not good enough, they look further afield, to places such as Canada or Poland. Some of the buildings were highly controlled with no cameras because any electric spark could ignite the alcohol in the air. Each evening large trucks arrive with raw materials to commence the fermentation process. Each building has a name, barrels, bottling, fermenting.

The buildings were coated in a black bloom (harmless mould) because of the high concentration of gasses from the yeast). Today those gasses are also being recycled. Many illegal moonshine operations were set up in woods and they could be located by the blacked trees from this mould. To hide these sites, the trees were “power washed”.

Each building is built with reservoirs around it, so that if there was a fire, the liquid fire could be directed away from other buildings. They have their own on-site fire department who train every week, with the largest engines and pumps. John T (our tour guide advised that they have never lost a drop to fire to date - operating since the 1800s with official tours commencing in 1966. There are only two people who are responsible for making the charcoal which the Whiskey is filtered through (Tom and one other). They have worked there for 20 years so every barrel made and bottle shipped has had them involved.

Following the most excellent tour, we returned to Lynchburg town for lunch and then headed to our next hotel, 90 miles away in another state. We passed a few cotton fields on route and a Rocket (see Matt’s blog for info).

We need more whiskey to toast our arrival as we have hopped over the border into Sweet Alabama.

Falling into the State Capitol

Today is Columbus Day so we are not expecting places to remain open.

We popped into Walmart to top-up the travel wifi and then plugged Nashville into TomTom. Many roadworks and brick barriers later we crawled into the Nashville. I had in mind a country town… it was a metropolis with between four and five lanes of traffic which you can imagine wasn’t a gentle walk in the park. The skyline was filled with skyscrapers.

We drove into a multi-level car park and escaped just as quick. Scan and Park option for payment excluded our rental car. Luckily there was street parking with an old-fashioned coin eater that spat out a ticket/receipt. We climbed stairs to the State Capitol building and I fell into the building. Luckily Matt’s camera broke my fall and both it and I survived the experience. The building is elegant and we got to take a tour of two of the floors and walk out onto the balcony. The State Library behind the State Capitol is no longer a library so no bookmarks. After a quick Subway we set off towards Lynchburg in Tennessee.

We stopped at for a welcome coffee in a little village called Eagleville then finished the day in Lynchburg. We often hear that our accent is “cool”. some think we are from Australia. The other day we were in a little town in the middle of America and the young person commented that he hadnt spoken to someone from England before and he was amazed we were in his little town in the middle of nowhere.

After exploring the local village, which is Jack Daniels themed, we picked up a takeaway dinner at the local Chinese and toasted with another State under our belt. If you are keen to see other info (and you know you want to) have a nosy at the Stats, and finally if you want to see where we have been then take your eyeballs to this page which Matt updates with our TomTom downloaded data.