Memphis

First of all…
No, we didn’t go to Graceland. Sorry.
But we did make it to Stax, – otherwise known as Soulsville, USA. What used to be a recording studio and the label’s HQ is now the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Great museum, really great music, and a pretty dead neighborhood. Hand-painted hairdresser signs, [...]

Smoky Mountain Wonderland

I’ve wanted to visit the Smoky Mountains ever since I saw an interview with Dolly Parton on TV a couple of years ago. She was talking about her upbringing near the mountains and mentioned how they are the most beautiful place on earth, and I couldn’t help but take her word for it.
And Dolly [...]

Fried Grease

This was perhaps the most amazing lunch I’ve ever encountered. It was at a restaurant called “The Old Lighthouse”, located (near no body of water) somewhere alongside of the road leaving Charleston on the way to Tennessee. The meal consisted of fried catfish (”delta-style”), deep-fried hush puppies and freshly-fried potato chips. Each of these items [...]

Environmental Degradation Tourism

For the past couple of years I’ve been working in the environmental sector, giving me the opportunity to learn about all sorts of environmental atrocities that are happening throughout the US and the world. One of the issues that has stood out among all of the messes of our time is [...]

Stuff

Guh. Before this whole thing started we packed up an apartment and put everything in storage. Gwen and I are hoarders. We like to tell ourselves that we only save nice things or handily reusable items but as we packed I got this sneaking suspicion that mostly we save crap. So we were leaving it [...]

Open for Business

This is the sign that greets you upon entering West Virginia. Open for business? At least we should be able to get some coffee and a slice of pie before the next state border.

Barbecue and Beer

This was a very tasty pulled pork sandwich from the Gold Dome BBQ in Charleston, WV. Their specialty is topping it with homemade slaw – I love cole slaw and have never actually put it directly on the sandwich before, so this was an interesting treat. And the beer was only $5 for a big [...]

Are we there yet?

West Virginia politics confuse me. For most of the twentieth century the Mountain State had a strong legacy as a blue state. Even now its current governor, both its senators, and two of three house reps are all democrats. So people outside the state were a little surprised when Dubya eked out a victory [...]

Virginia

Pit Beef

Delicious Baltimore fare: a Pit Beef sandwich with beans and slaw from Chaps on Pulaski Highway.
Very tasty.