Hi Everyone, I feel like everyone else is speaking their piece on the topic, so I thought I would update you all on my status and my plans for the coming period of time as the country and the world deals with the pandemic caused by the COVID 19 coronavirus.
First and foremost, I am safe and sound and healthy. As I write this, I’m currently in Corpus Christi, Texas and there are, as of now, no reported cases in the city or in surrounding Nueces County. The hospitals are preparing to offer testing to anyone who meets the criteria to get one and respond accordingly. The stores have weathered the initial storm and while the toilet paper and hand sanitizer supplies have been depleted everyone remains civil and courteous. I think the fact that the Gulf Coast has had its share of hurricanes and tropical storms over the years leaves it a little less likely to react over-zealously. I have made some rounds and stocked up for myself with enough food to last for several weeks if the need arises. I have plenty of water, a full propane tank and yes, I even have enough toilet paper to last me if necessary. Most of my equipment, from my camera to my computer, can run or be recharged on board my van. We’re pretty self-sufficient at this point. In short, I’m good for the foreseeable future when it comes to supplies. Also, for those of you who don’t know, my mother is a nurse so I’m getting expert professional advice on keeping safe and healthy.
I’m pretty good at the whole idea of “social distancing” and have lived most of my life in at least a somewhat isolated space. I rarely get the flu because I’m rarely in that close a contact with anyone. But I cannot park and hide out in my van for the next few weeks or months. I would lose my mind and that’s too much to ask. I don’t think driving 24 hours to get home would be very helpful either as I think I would be putting my folks at risk just being there and I would be putting myself in a far more concentrated area than I’m currently in. It seems the more spread out people are, the better situated to deal with this. So for now, I’m staying put, and by that I mean I will continue on this journey albeit on a modified course with an eye towards safety always.
I’m keeping updated on the news but trying not to overdue it. I think many people aren’t listening critically and seem to be making up their own version of what’s going on. On the one hand, some people have watched too many disaster movies and feel like the apocalypse is upon us. It is not. Others think this whole thing is a hoax or a test or something significantly less serious than it is. It is not that either. It is a time for caution and a time to pay attention to real doctors giving out real advice. People have lost faith in the media and while some of that is deserved, there are still good reporters doing real coverage out there. Try and keep informed the best you can, and as a general rule it’s better to err on the side of caution…
Beaumont, Texas traces its roots back to 1824 when Bobby and Nancy Tevis settled on the Neches River and built a small farm. A community grew up around them called Tevis Bluff. Developers Henry Millard, Joseph Pulsifer and Thomas Byers Huling purchased all of the land in the area in 1835 and began selling lots in a town to be called “Beaumont” after Henry Millard’s wife Mary Beaumont. Lumber, cattle and rice were early drivers of the local economy, as was the port which got these products to market. That all changed in 1901 when oil was discovered at Spindletop, and America’s first oil field was developed right there in Beaumont. The town’s population tripled almost overnight and oil has been the city’s main economic driver ever since. Today, Beaumont is a quiet city of about 120,000 people, with most living outside of the downtown core. I found the city to be charming, with a lot of great historical buildings. My favorites were the Jefferson Theater and Tyrell Historical Library. I was sad to see that despite some wonderful efforts at reviving the downtown area there didn’t seem to be much going on there during my visit. Regardless, I enjoyed my stay in Beaumont and it is definitely a city I will return to in the future.
Hello everyone, I hope y’all are having a nice week out there wherever you are. March is upon us and I’m loving the warmer weather and longer days. Flowers are popping up, the clouds are clearing and spring is definitely in the air here in Texas. This week has brought me through some fascinating parts of East Texas as I begin my exploration of the Lone Star State.
After I signed off last week, I did indeed make my way out to Rutherford Beach in far southwest Louisiana. It’s not a beautiful beach, but the waves are nice to listen to, it’s quiet and nobody bothers you out there. The camping is free and you can stay as long as you want. I’ve been there before and was really looking forward to a day on the beach to relax, read, plan and give Shadow Catcher a good cleaning. It was definitely a wonderful place to be for a couple of nights and I left feeling refreshed and ready to go. Rutherford Beach is also as far west as this journey has taken me so far so it was a good place to sit and reflect back on the last couple of years and prepare to set off in a new direction: west to the Pacific.
Hello Everyone, I hope you’re all having a wonderful week out there. This is going to be short and sweet this week, because I’ve been off the road and hanging out in New Orleans for most of it. After Mardi Gras, I started in on getting the rest of my photos from Mississippi edited and published and am almost completely caught up in that regard. Many thanks to my friend, Luke, for letting me crash at his place all week and use his internet to do so. I think you’ll find some pretty great photos in these posts, from the Mississippi Delta to the Gulf Coast. I enjoyed getting these photos up and hope you enjoy looking at them. It was a fast but amazing month in Mississippi.
Other than that, I’ve been catching up with some old friends, eating some wonderful New Orleans food and preparing for my dash across Texas. I’m not going to lie, Texas is a pretty daunting state. While I’m really looking forward to it, I’m trying to come up with a reasonable plan to see as much as I can in the 2 months I’ve allotted to be there. If y’all have any awesome must-see places, please feel free to leave me a comment on this post…
Ocean Springs, Mississippi got its start as a French colonial fort called Fort Maurepas way back in 1699. The fort was founded by the famed Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and was used to protect French interests in the area from Spanish encroachment. The city was incorporated in 1892 as Ocean Springs, named after the natural springs found in the area. Today, Ocean Springs is an enchanting coastal town with a thriving artists community. There is a lovely beach with a pier jutting out into the gulf for fishing or just relaxing with a good book. Downtown if bustling with shops, galleries, restaurants and bars and is a nice break from the nearby casino-centered towns. I really enjoyed my visit to this quaint seaside community shaded by ancient oak trees draped in Spanish moss. It was cool to see the Mardi Gras decorations up while I was there and I even got to see the town’s Mardi Gras parade during my visit. If you ever find yourself cruising the Mississippi Gulf Coast, be sure you take a minute to stop into Ocean Springs for a look. You might just find yourself sticking around longer than you had planned. I sure did. I hope you enjoy these photos from Mississippi’s City of Discovery.
Meridian, Mississippi was chartered in 1860 at the junction of the Mobile & Ohio and Southern Railways. When the Civil War broke out the following year, Meridian was just a small town but its railroad connection made it logistically important. After the Battle of Meridian in 1864, General Sherman all but burnt the town to the ground. After the war, the town was rebuilt and quickly grew as a manufacturing center and railroad hub, and was actually the largest city in the state from 1890 to 1930. In the midst of this boom-time, Meridian’s most famous son, Jimmie Rodgers was born. He would grow up to be known as the “Father of Country Music”, although much of his style was more closely associated with the blues music he heard as a young man working for the railroad. Meridian today is a beautiful small city with a population of around 40,000. While the trains still roll through downtown, Meridian’s economy has diversified with two nearby military bases, a major regional hospital and Peavey Electronics Corporation. I’ve enjoyed watching the Renaissance of the downtown area in recent years, and the new MAX Museum is a great addition to the city. On my most recent visit, I saw a lot of new businesses opening with many more in the works which really made me happy. Of course, a stop at Weidman’s Restaurant has been a must since it opened in 1870. If you’re ever on this side of Mississippi, stop in for a night or two, you’ll be glad you did. Mississippi’s Queen City is sure to win your heart as it has mine.
Hey y’all, it’s time for another edition of This Week on the Road. It’s going to be a short one this week because I only really spent the first couple of days of the week on the road. Since Saturday I’ve been relaxing here in New Orleans, spending time with my friends and enjoying the Mardi Gras weekend. I did have a great few days along the coast to wind up my time in Mississippi though, and wanted to share what I got up to out there.
My week started in Pascagoula in the rain, but I quickly moved on to Ocean Springs. I really liked this quaint and quiet seaside town with its thriving artists community, pleasant bars, and good restaurants. It seemed like a vibrant and livable place. My first stop was a restaurant I’ve wanted to get to for a while: The Shed Barbecue and Blues Joint. The Shed is a South Mississippi Institution, and occupies a huge, ramshackle building just north of the interstate. The Shed is the kind of place that chains have been trying to emulate for a long time, but with little success. The place is full of old beer and traffic signs, mismatched furniture and dollar bills hanging from the ceiling. It’s the real deal though with great food, wonderful employees and an all around good feel to it. I went with the ShedHed Sampler which came with all seven of their smoked meats and three sides. For $26 I didn’t expect too much, but what came out was amazing. It was a tray piled high with food, enough to fill me up that night, and also for lunch and dinner the next day as well. It was a great meal and experience and I will definitely come back to The Shed in the future. After dinner, I went for some live music and a few beers at the Glory Bound Gyro Co. on Government Street. It was a little chilly, but not too cold to enjoy the outdoor seating area which had a beachy feel to it. I sat by the palm tree and enjoyed some acoustic music there, and later popped in for a quick beer at a place called The Juke Joint. I really liked this divey bar in a hundred year old house a mile or so from the main part of downtown as well.
I didn’t really intend to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras this year, but after getting a late start from Washington in January and spending more time in Mississippi than I had planned, the stars aligned and I found myself pulling into New Orleans on the Saturday of Mardi Gras weekend. Normally when I’m here for Mardi Gras, I come to town at least week early to catch some of my favorite parades, see some friends, eat some of that great New Orleans food and enjoy myself. By the time Fat Tuesday rolls around, I’m already pretty tired from all of the lead-up. This year, I was still pretty fresh for the big day, and I wanted to experience some of the traditions I had either never seen before, or not experienced in the way I wanted to. I kept a loose plan in my head and allowed myself to go with the flow, warning my friends that I might break off at any moment and go a different direction. This all allowed me to have an amazing Mardi Gras, see some different sides to the experience, and gain a better understanding of the traditions of the day. I thought I’d share my my Mardi Gras with y’all in this post.
Hello Everyone! It’s been another amazing week on the road, dodging the rain, learning some history and thankfully catching some breaks in the weather to get some cool shots of some wonderful small towns as well. I’ve got a lot of photos that need to be edited and published, but I’ve really enjoyed taking them and am looking forward to getting to them ASAP. This week started in Vicksburg, took me down to the one-time State Capital of Natchez, up the Natchez Trace Parkway through Port Gibson to Jackson, east to Meridian, northwest to the Choctaw Indian Reservation and then due south to the coast here in Pascagoula. It’s been a busy week with lots of miles clocked, but I’ve seen some amazing places along the way. I want to give a big shout-out to one of my readers, Todd, who gave me a lot of suggestions for this week, all of which were spot-on. Thanks Todd!
After I left y’all last week, I had a pretty quiet night there in Vicksburg. Thursday morning I woke up early and headed straight for the Old Courthouse Museum high above town. I had a nice chat with one of the men working there as I entered, and then had a great long wander through the collection. I realized at some point that I had been there before, but it’s been at least a decade. I really enjoyed it. There was a hammer made from the wreck of the Star of the West, some original Dix banknotes (Dix is 10 in French, and people used to say they had some “dixies”, which then offered up “Dixieland” and the rest is history), the tie Jefferson Davis wore at his inauguration, an original Teddy Bear presented to a local child by Theodore Roosevelt himself and so much more. The courtroom itself has been nicely preserved, and I loved the swivel seats for the jury – it was probably all the rage when they were installed in 1890…
Winona, Mississippi got its start when Colonel O.J. Moore arrived from Virginia in 1848 and established a plantation in the area. When the Mississippi Central Railroad came through in 1860, they bought a part of Moore’s land and ran tracks which would eventually become part of the Illinois Central Line from Chicago to New Orleans. Moore sold some more land around the station and a few businesses sprung up to serve the rail travelers. When the town was incorporated in 1861, they chose the name Winona, which is apparently the name an Indian Chief would give his first-born daughter. After the Civil War, Montgomery County was organized, and Winona was chosen as the county seat. While the trains no longer pass through Winona, it still sits at the crossroads of highways 51 and 82 and is just a short distance from Interstate 55.It also rests right between the Delta and the Hills regions of the state. Winona has often been called the “Crossroads of North Mississippi”, but I’ve also seen it called the “Art and Soul of Mississippi”, a nickname which I think I prefer. This Norman Rockwellesque town of about 5000 is definitely full of charm and worth a detour from the highway. I wasn’t there long, but I definitely enjoyed my stay in tiny Winona, Mississippi. I hope you enjoy these photos from my visit.
Hi Guys, it’s that time of the week again. It’s been another great week on the road in Mississippi, and I’m happy to share some of the highlights with you here. My week started in Cascilla in the rural center of the state, led me on a quick loop through the Delta with night stops in Cleveland, Clarksdale and Greenwood and is ending right here in beautiful but rainy Vicksburg. It’s been a week of beautiful towns, incredible food, good music and some really great photo opportunities. Despite the gloomy weather which has been a pretty constant companion this week, my spirits are high and I’m enjoying myself out here. I’m finding some good balance and trying to stress less and enjoy more. In all, it’s been a pretty awesome week out here.
Storms came hard in Central Mississippi as my week began, with hail, tornadoes and damaging wind. I was grateful to my friend John and his family for giving me shelter from the storm last Wednesday night (and for two nights before that). By the time I left Thursday morning, the worst of the storms had passed although the clouds persisted. Shadow Catcher was a whole different vehicle with new shocks, and we no longer bounce down the road like Tigger. That would come in really handy on the less-than-ideal roads of the Delta. I went with stiffer shocks because it’s a big van, so it’s not a smooth ride, but it’s enormously improved on what it was last week.
Decending from John’s place in the hills and heading west on Route 8, I came out into the beautiful, pancake-flat Mississippi Delta. Cotton fields hemmed in the road, and the familiar sights of rusted out cars in front of old sharecroppers’ cabins made me feel like I was once again on familiar ground…
Hello Everyone,
It’s great to see you, and I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to our new subscribers this week, I’m happy that you’re here. It’s been a pretty quiet week here in Mississippi, but a busy one as well. I haven’t done a lot of traveling, but I’ve been to some pretty cool places and met some wonderful people. This week has brought me from Columbus back through to middle of the state with stops in French Camp, Kosciusko and Winona. I spent a couple of nights Cascilla in a pretty rural part of the state with my friend John and his family, and then wound up the week traveling northwest into the Mississippi Delta. Of all the time I’ve spent in Mississippi in the past, most of it has been in the Delta, so it’s pretty comfortable to me. I love it here, and have always been fascinated by the music and the culture. Sadly, I know that poverty levels in the Delta are high, and that this factor contributes to both the music and culture of the region, but I’ve also seen the region develop a reasonable tourism industry in the 15 years or so I’ve been coming here, and hope conditions continue to improve for the area’s residents. Regardless of any of that though, it’s always great to be back in the Delta.
When we last we spoke, I had just pulled into Columbus, in the far east of the state near the Alabama border. My first impressions of the town were good, but my lasting impressions were even better. I really found it to be a delightful and hospitable town full of history with surprises around every corner.
