Last night in Charleston, first few days in New Orleans for Mardi Gras

                After my last post I drove over to a nearby park and walked around for awhile. Then I just sat around just waiting for it to get later. I picked up some beer and went back to the house. I met Jakes; it is Jake, not Jack, friend, Dylan. We played beer pong for a few games, Jake had to run and pick up some friends. Then we all walked over to a party they knew about. Everyone at the party was just about to leave. So I hid the beer outside and everyone walked over to the bar. Right when we got there one of the guys bought a shot for a girl, she took the shot and immediately threw up all over him. I helped him out and gave him my under shirt. Billy text me that he was heading to a different bar and he could pick me up on the way. So he did, we went to a bar called NV. It was a cool bar, several smaller rooms to it. We all had a great time and after the bar we went back to the house that had the party, I had to grab my beer. A few of us stayed up for awhile joking around, and then it was bed time.

                I surprisingly felt fine in the morning; I drove Billy to class and hit the road. It was a 13 hour drive to New Orleans. On the way Adam called, his trip to San Diego got pushed back a week, so I will be able to meet up with him out there. It was great news, last time we were there we had a blast but we never actually made it to the bars, so it will be nice to check that out. I finally made it there around 3 in the morning. I was going to try to check out some of the festivities but it was raining and I was pretty dead from the drive. I looked up a safe area to sleep.

                Right when I woke up, I saw the parade floats driving by. They must have parked them somewhere nearby. I looked up where the parades were going on today and drove over. It was very easy to find, they have a ton of chairs, tents, and ladders set up. The weather called for rain but it was still nice out. So I walked around for a long time. As it was getting closer to parade time I stopped at a bar and asked when everything is going to start. He guy looked at me like I was an idiot. Everything was canceled for the day due to rain. So now I really had nothing to do. As I was walking back to my car it rained for about 5 minutes. Then once I made it in my car it started to down pour. I decided I was going to try to find some gumbo, so I looked up the “best” place in town, it happened to be near Bourbon st.. As I drove over there, there was flooding on most of the streets. It was crazy to see the amount of rain came down in such a short time. I made it to the restaurant and found parking nearby. There was a long line and I eventually gave up and left. I was walking around to find a different place to eat. I noticed everyone was walking around with beers. Here you can just walk around the streets with a drink, no glass but everything else it ok. So I stopped at a bar to get a beer for the walk. I met a cool guy who told me where I could find overnight parking, he gave me his number and told me to text him when I find parking and get ready to head out for the night. I wanted to find parking before everything filled up, so I left right away. I found parking and it was $70 for 24 hours, I decided to take my chances and go for 12 hours. Then I had to get food before I started drinking for the night. I am completely sick of my food by the way. It all tastes like crap, everything is watery too. So I found a restaurant and ordered the cat fish platter. While I was waiting for food I met 2 other guys here from out of town, Kevin and Mike. They were from Nebraska and just in town until Sunday. They gave me there number and told me to text them when I’m done eating. The food was really good but I ate way too much, to the point to felt like crap. Then I met up with them and started drinking several beers. I was already full so this wasn’t going well. I eventually made myself throw up just to feel better, and you know what, it worked. Then I got right back on the house and started drinking again. The streets were packed and everyone was having a good time. We went to several different bars but the street is really where the party is. They eventually had to head back to their hotel. I walked around the street meeting random groups of people. One the funniest things to see were people throwing beads up at the people on the balconies. People would get hit and spill there drinks and then they would always try to find the person who threw it. I met a group of nice people who let me stay with them for the night they were fascinated with my travels.

                In the morning I got dropped off at me car. I was still intoxicated and very disappointed to see the boot on my car. I should have expected it but I was still pissed. The boot guy was still in the parking lot. 20 minutes earlier and I would have gotten away with it. O well I had to pay to get it off then I changed my cloths and walked to a gas station to use the bathroom. Then I saw they had a sign for $30 parking. I asked if I could park over night and sleep in my car. He didn’t care at all, so I plan on going there every night. I got back to my car and drove over to the gas station; it was like 2 blocks away. I parked and went right to sleep. I woke up every now and then to slam some water. I eventually felt better and decided to go walking around bourbon. I decided to not drink, seemed like a smart decision. I brought my camera wanted to take lots of pictures. Being sober on bourbon st is a totally different experience. You get to notice all the mayhem and laugh about it, knowing that was me, and will be me tomorrow. After a few hours I got back to the car and it was bed time. I really like the gas station parking spot because it’s right next to a police station.

                This morning I walked around bourbon st again. It’s amazing that they can clean the street each day. Then I looked up the parade times and drove back over to uptown. This is where most the parades are at. I had some time to kill so I typed this up. I will add more and upload when I get a chance. I went over to the parades, I watched 3 of them. The parades I have been to before this pretty much all suck. These were crazy. The sides of the streets are packed with people. Lots of people turn it into an event, they set up tables, grills, deep fryers, kegs, and you name it. The floats are huge and full decorated. It gets crazy down here. You have to pick and choose when you want to party. It you start drinking during the parade you’re not going to make it out to bourbon at night. The parades when on for several hours. I thought the best part was after dark, then all the floats light up. After the parades I hung out in my car for awhile, just waiting to go out for the night. I decided to just buy beers at the gas station I was parked at; drinks in the bar get expensive very quick. So I would get 2 beers and then walk the streets, then I would just walk back for more. One of the times I stopped at my car and met the 2 lovely ladies in the car next to mine, London and Amy. We all walked back to Bourbon and met up with some of their friends. Then the 3 of us went to a few bars. They had to leave in the morning and go back to Atlanta, so they needed to do some souvenir shopping. 4 am on Bourbon st really is the best time for some shopping. We exchanged info and they had to pick up a friend before heading to their hotel. It was a chilly night so I bundled up before going to be at 5:30 am.

                At 8 am I woke up drenched in sweat. It was 70 degrees and I was actually scared how hot I felt. I took care of that and went back to sleep. Then I woke up around 10 am and there was a parade going on, that happened to be on the street next to me. I was not in the mood for this right now. I eventually got up and, after realizing my breakfast was already spoiled, walked to a restaurant and got to try some gumbo. I wanted sea food gumbo but all they had was chicken and sausage. I don’t know if it was more the good food or the long night but it tasted amazing. As I was eating the waitress asked if I wanted a beer. I had to turn it down; she looked at me with disgust. After that I sat in the car for awhile, watching bits and pieces of the parade. I was parked in so I couldn’t go anywhere. I soon realized I left my credit card at the restaurant. I went back to get it, when I got back to my car the parade was over and I could get my car out. I looked up the best southern BBQ place and drove over. It was outside the city, but I was actually glad to get away from all that for the day. The BBQ place was closed and I just ended up at McDonalds.

 a bridge near the park i walked around

 the parade route, kids sit seats mounted to the tops of ladders

 some of the floats i saw driving by right when i woke up

 Bourbon St

 float

 sea of people on Bourbon

 my friend Kevin got his face painted, it a common thing here

 pirate float

 one of my favorites

 fire dancers/walkers

 Bret Michaels was on this one throwing beads

 this one was 4 train cars long, so cool to see at night

London and Amy

Nashville, Atlanta, Charleston

                After the last post I watched a movie while the pictures were uploading. Then I drove to a bar in bowling green KT. It was already late and I didn’t feel like paying a cover. So I just drove to a hotel and went to sleep.

                I woke up to another cold car, and another dead battery. Throughout the night I hit my light switch with my foot. I felt like an idiot, again. I threw on some more cloths and walked across the street to another hotel. They were having breakfast and I figured I could sneak right in. it was a buffet and everything was very good. I was eating, watching the weather channel. Apparently arctic air hopped on the trip with me, it’s supposed to cold all the way down to Atlanta. When I was just about done with breakfast a waitress came by and dropped off my bill. It’s so disheartening to think you got away with something and fail. Its one thing to scope it out and just not try, but I really thought I was home free. O well, I called AAA and had them come jump me. After all that I drove down to Nashville TN. I drove around for awhile to check out the city. Most of it seemed pretty poor. But the heart of downtown looked like a lot of fun. I was exhausted so I pulled into a hotel and took a nap for a few hours. Then I made my way downtown and found overnight parking. From there I went on a solo bar crawl. I went to several different bars, most of them country, and had a drink or 2 at each one. It was a lot of fun and I met some great people. Somewhere throughout the night I set my jacket down. I was wearing a black fleece, in a bar at 2 in the morning all black jackets look the same. I accidentally picked up someone else’s. Not that big of deal but I put my car key in my jacket pocket. I didn’t realize this until I got back to the car. I walked back to the bar but they were closed by then. So twice in the same day I had to call AAA. They came out and made a key, and I finally made it to bed.

                In the morning\afternoon when I woke up I walked back to the last bars I was at. The bar was only open Wednesday through Saturday. I still have to call them when they open. So I pretty much gave up on getting my jacket back. Then I started the drive down to Atlanta. The night before I drunk called a wrong number looking for a tow truck. He text me in the morning to see if the truck ever made it. he lives somewhat close by and he offered to check on my jacket for me. Not expecting anything but it’s better than nothing at all. My inverter broke and my phone was about to die. I got some charge from my laptop until that died too. I really wanted to try chick fil a, I drove to 2 of them before realizing that they are all closed on Sundays. I still don’t understand that one; you are a fast food place. I got a hold of a friend down in Atlanta, but his wife is going into labor any day so I didn’t try to stay with them. When I made it to the city my friend told me to stay around Buckhead, it’s a suburb of Atlanta. I found a McDonalds and charged up everything. Then it was off to bed.

                Monday I went right to the Georgia Aquarium. Most of the things here were very typical but the best part was they have largest aquarium in the world. Its over 1,000,000 gallons, the filter system filters 17,000 gallons per second. About 100 yards long and 40 feet deep. They have 3 whale sharks that live in here, along with hundreds of other fish. They have a viewing tunnel that walks you through the center of the tank. There is also a viewing wall, that about 60 feet by 40 feet. The acrylic used for this is 24 inches thick. That was very cool to see. Next I walked through Centennial Park, over to Atlanta underground. This is a section under part of the city, it used to have a historical purpose but now it’s a shopping mall. That was pretty much everything I wanted to see in Atlanta. I drove around for a bit and saw some signs for the botanical gardens. I drove over there only to realize its closed Mondays. I stopped at the grocery store then decided to head to the coast. I was about 5 hours from Charleston SC. So I hit the road. This was a pretty boring drive. Still no inverter so I had to save on using my phone and computer. Also, I usually listen to books on my iPod, but I just ran out so it was music all the way. After driving all last year one thing I learned is you get sick of your own music very quickly. Atlanta had a good radio station but other than that, it’s all country down here. When I made it to Charleston I went to a bar for awhile. It was something to do and a place to charge up. I found a place called the Blind Tiger, it was a bar that was around during the prohibition.

                I had to go buy an inverter and hook it up. After that I drove around the city for a little bit. Then parked and walked around the College of Charleston campus. It’s a very nice area and I wish I was around here for a weekend. It being Valentine’s Day I wanted to try my luck at a bar. I shaved and washed up in a hotel bathroom, then found parking for the night. I wanted to go to a cheap bar for a few drinks before finding someplace better. I was sitting at the bar watching Tosh.O when some guys started talking to me. One of them happened to travel a lot, Billy. They said they were heading back home for a bit then going out to a different bar. He said it was fine if I wanted to tag along. We all went back to his house and drank some more. Billy’s’ roommate, Jack, came home. He just broke up with his girlfriend, on Valentine’s Day, and wanted to go out tonight too. We played some beer pong then walked over to the other bar. There was some local band playing that Billy knew about. The bar was a lot of fun with a ton of people out. Billy also convinced me to stay in town longer. So I plan on leaving Friday, Thursdays and Saturdays are the big nights here. When the bar closed Jack headed home, Billy and the other 2 guys knew of an after party going on. The party was right by his house so we walked there first to pick up beer, then over to the party. It’s always fun hanging out with interesting people. We eventually made it back to Billy's and I got to sleep on the couch.

                Wednesday I was in rough shape, it was a recovery day all around. I cleaned the car, did all my laundry, re-froze all my food, re-filled my water, and took a shower. My car was a total disaster; I pulled out 3 full bag of garbage. Surprisingly the food in the cooler was still cold; the things at the bottom were partly frozen. Atlanta was about 50 degrees but here it’s been 60-70. Other then that I really just laid around all day watching TV. Billy works at a nicer food store, he gets to take home all the sushi at the end of the day. So he came home with about 7 containers of sushi. It was great to have a microwave, hot food really dose taste better. I was thinking of making more food but the cooler is still completely full and I will have enough to make it past Mardi Gras.

                This morning I took another shower, that’s the first time I have taken a shower 2 days in a row. Then I packed up and headed out. I will probably meet back up with Billy later tonight. I want to walk around the city and not over stay my welcome. Today it’s about 70 degrees but raining on and off, I’ll take it.

I don’t have a lot of pictures to upload this time. It was really just a lot of going to the bars. 

 view from in the tunnel
under is the Atlanta underground. it a mall but they have several very old cars down here

biggest tank in the world

Left Vince, Makers Mark, Mammoth Cave Nat. Park, Corvette Museum, Rail Road Museum

When Vince got home we went out to several different bars. Not many people were out but we still had a good time.

The next morning I packed everything up and said bye to Vince, it was great to see him and I wish I had more time to hang out with him; he is very busy with school and work. It’s going to be taking up all of him time for awhile. I started the drive to Mammoth Cave, along the way there was a sign for the Makers Mark distillery. I had plenty of time and I didn’t plan on any hikes for today anyway. So I drove over there. It was about 45 minutes off the freeway through farm land. I made it to the distillery and had some time before the next tour. I waited around, at first I was the only me, then a couple showed up. As the tour was starting, about 12 older people showed up. It was a good tour and cool to see everything involved in making whiskey. Towards the end of the tour my camera crapped out on me. It wasn’t that big of deal, because the tour was over, but tomorrow I was hiking mammoth cave and I needed it for that. After the tasting, I went back to the car and looked up the closest BestBuy. I had to back track towards Louisville. This Best Buy told me they had to ship it out, I told them my situation. But the power hungry geek behind the counter wasn’t budging. The next one on the map ended up being a distribution center and I had to head all the way into Louisville for the next stop. Here the guy behind the counter said the same thing but he under stood my situation and tried to help me out. His manager was a huge older black lady who gave me the line, “its bad costumer service if I treat you differently then the next person.” My line back was “it would be good customer service to conform to each situation; a robot could do what you do.” Needless to say she wasn’t going to help me out. The third Best Buy had a completely different feel to the store. Everyone seemed happy. The guy I talked to told me they had to send it out, I told him the whole story and he asked his managers. They finally let me exchange it on the spot. I swapped it out for a cannon; we will see how this one works out. The managers told me they were doing me a favor and I have to pay it forward. Then I was back on the road and went to Cave City, 10 miles from Mammoth. There was a parking area for semi trucks and RVs. This was perfect, they even had high-speed internet. I watched some TV before bed.

                During the night I left my key in the aux position, when I woke up to heat up the car at 4:30 the battery was dead. And it being 4:30 no one was around for me to ask for a jump. So I called AAA and someone came out within 30 min. the guy that came told me he just lives right up the street. After that I was up for the day, I didn’t even try to go back to bed. I looked up things for the next few days and watched some more TV. Workaholics is a hilarious show. Then I drove over to Mammoth Cave. I still had a lot of time before it opened, or a tour starting. So I watched a movie in the car. Then I went on the new entrance tour. The new entrance was found in the 1920’s and shows more of the different rock formations. It was a 2 hour tour but only a half mile long. The guide suggested going on the historic tour, this is the classic tour that most people go on and shows the main entrance. I had time so I went on that one next. This showed more of the classic mammoth cave areas. Huge open spaces with a lot of history to them. Both tour guides were great. They really loved their jobs and telling people about the cave. The second tour guide grew up on mammoth cave road about 15 minutes away. He went to cave when he was young and this is what he wanted to do ever sense then. This was a 2 hour tour also but it was 2 miles. In the summer they take up to 150 people on the tour, we had 7. This is the nice part of winter travel, that would be a zoo. I really wanted to do the extreme cave tour, but the only run those on the weekends. When I got back I was going to try to get a hike in then continue on my way. But I decided to just stay another night and do a few hike in the morning. I went back to the parking area, watched a few movies and called it a night. I asked a younger guy at a gas station if there was anything to do at night around here and there was nothing.

I slept late, I only got about 3 hours of sleep the night before. Then headed to the first hike. This hike went out to a giant sink hole. It was about 150 feet deep with a river at the bottom. The river was a disappearing river that would seep water in from one side and seep out on the other. I hiked down near the water and it was a very nice spot. In the rock cliffs you could see the different rock that helped create the caves. There is a solid slab of slate on the top then looser sandstone and limestone under that. I hiked out and went back to the car. I drove over to where the water that seeped out from the sink hole comes out. This was an over look area that showed a large section of river. This was a short hike. I went back to the visitor center and hiked the trails around there. I hiked a trail that went all along the river. After that, I was done for around here. I drove south to the Corvette Museum. Corvettes are my favorite cars and it was great to see all different models. I also was able to get in for free, that expired military ID still comes in handy. There is a really good video in the beginning that explains the creation of the car. They probably have around 50 different models on display at one time. Next I wanted to go on a tour of the factory, but the late one was at 2:00pm. Maybe I will be able to do that in the morning. So I decided to check out the rail road museum, I really just wanted to settle a bet with my boss. They didn’t have what I needed. But it was defiantly an interesting tour. I thought you were just going to look around at different train things. The tour/museum consists of going through different restored train cars. So we went out to the train tracks and hopped on. The first car was an old post office car, and then it was a dining car, followed up by a kitchen car, then all the different passenger cars. They had couch, first class, and presidential train cars. It was a very nice walk through, they got a military hospital train car but it wasn’t ready for show yet. After hiking around the last few days I needed a shower. I looked around for a hotel to sneak into. Out here there aren’t any outdoor tubs, that was always easy last year. Everywhere I go you need a key to get it. And if no one is around as I walk up to the door it just gets weird standing there. So I found one where I saw people were in the pool. They were older people, I knocked and the older guy came to the door. Then the old bastard called me out. He wouldn’t let me in, and he was happy about it. I really really hope I’m never that old and bitter. So I went to a different one, here there was a father and daughter swimming. He let me right in. I sat in the hot tub, but I was totally disappointed. I think it was broken, it wasn’t hot at all. If I had to guess I would say like 85 or 90 degrees. So I didn’t soak long, but they had a shower area so I was able to clean up there.

inside mammoth cave

 main entrance

 huge room in the cave, they used to mine salt peter here

 large tunnel

 people used to write on the ceiling with candles

 at the bottom of the sink hole

 over looking the river

 the mouth of a underground spring

 yes please

 different concept cars for Corvette

 old meet new

 i think i found my next road trip vehicle

 post office train

 dinning room

 kitchen, there would be 4 people in here all the time

 military hospital train

 hobo symbols

 you could watch clear whiskey flow right out

 fermenting

Last day in Hatteras, drive to Kentucky, met up with Vince

The rest of the day Saturday, we went to the bar and grabbed some dinner. We got some much needed burgers, and still weren’t up for any beers. After that we went down to the beach. We really wanted to catch some fish and cook them over a fire. Tom dug the pit and got the fire going while I set up the rods. It was low tide and fishing wasn’t going well. It was windy out and the fire was great. I checked the lines every now and then but there was nothing out. We hung around the fire for a few hours. Soon we dug a wind funnel that channeled into the flame. It actually worked surprisingly well and got very hot. Next we headed to the only bar open tonight, there weren’t many people here and we had a few beers. I was still in rough shape from the night before. Tom had a little more sleep, and a lot less beer, so he wanted to stay for awhile. I ended up heading to the car early and got ready for bed. Tom soon came out and we drove over to their lake house to sleep in the car.

                This morning it was raining. We were hoping to get some fishing in but that wasn’t happening. So we started the drive home. When we made it back to his place tom took a nap. I unpacked my things and had to clean up, the car and myself. We smelt like bad fish. Later on Sarah and Kaite picked me up to watch the super bowl. I was glad to get another chance to hang out with them. During half time tom and his wife Martha joined us. Sarah had to take Kaite home before the end of the game but us 3 stayed until the end. It was a good crowd and I would have liked to stay longer, but I was exhausted. Tom and I stayed up for a bit then it was off to bed.

                Monday I was up early and said bye to tom before heading back to the mountains. I drove through Shenandoah national park. The clouds were low and I got to drive through them and I ended up above them. It made for a sea of clouds with mountain peaks sticking up, very pretty. Sarah told me about several good trails along here but the road ended up being closed and I couldn’t get to them. It made for a great drive but then it was off to Kentucky. This was a long drive that took me through West Virginia. This was a better drive then I expected, a lot of mountains. When I made it to Louisville I had some time to kill. I have finally run out of premade food, so I stopped at Walmart and restocked. Then I sat in the car watching workaholics on my computer. My friend Vince lives here and I was waiting for him to get off work. I haven’t seen Vince in a long time, and the last time we actually had some time to hang out was back in 2007. So it was really great to see him. That night we went to bar and hung out for awhile.

                Today I cooked up all the food and Vince had class. After class Vince and I went to wrestling practice. Vince is a part time coach at a high school nearby. It’s always nice to wrestle again, and see the different techniques they use. After that Vince had work and I just watched TV and did some laundry. It’s nice having some time to just do nothing and relax.

 wind channel

 me, sarah, tom, martha, kaite

 mountain in the clouds

 me and vinny