Whirlwind of Adventure Pt3

So it seems like all I do is go running around the country... Seems like a great life, right??? Well let me tell you, it is... 

After being home for about a week, again I was off. This time my girlfriend had some work to do in New Orleans and I got to tag along to take some pictures. While she was working I was pretty quiet, like I should be. I had the fortune to see and hear some very interesting things. Little did I know that some 5 years later the residential areas of New Orleans were still being reconstructed from hurricane Katrina. It was eye opening to see first hand what condition it was in. I got to see some of the new building practices and hear about what different groups were still doing to help. Parts of it gave me hope for humanity because there were still so many people willing to give and work for the good of people they don't even know. While smaller portions of the companies did profit from the work being done the larger parent companies are non-profit and working from donations and government aid. Here is a list of just a few but there are more... 

Project Home Again ~ http://www.projecthomeagain.net/

Make It Right ~ http://www.makeitrightnola.org/

Global Green ~ http://www.globalgreen.org/

Now it wouldn't be that great of an adventure if it was all work and no play. So we made sure while in this city to do some walking around. We hit the much talked about Bourbon Street. When we first arrived we ventured out just a little but it was a little bit too crazy for how tired I was from traveling. Later we made a good evening and night of it though. Somewhere in the middle I realized what I thought was so funny, It reminded me of the stories of old pirate ports, think Tortuga from the pirates movies. Everyone running around crazy and loud and drunk... All having a very good time... After walking and stopping by here and there we stopped by a really nice little place that had live jazz going and it was really good. We had walked by earlier and stopped outside to listen but it was too packed to find a seat. Not the case when we came back. It was a great night of fun and adventure, but like most was over too fast and in the morning we were off back towards home..

(I didn't feel any of my pictures of this trip were artistically pleasing enough so I am not posting them...)

We actually had a weekend at home and we decided we still needed to get out and adventure. If you haven't found out already it is addicting, or maybe its just me... If you have ever spent time in the south, then you know they don't seem to be too big on nature or parks or nature parks. But, in the Atlanta area there is one and its not too bad. It is Stone Mountain Park. Well I wouldn't call it a mountain by standard terms. It is a nice hike though, except for the children running rampant and the people completely lacking in outdoor etiquette. After hiking it I decided, I will from then on refer to it as "Big Ass Rock Park".... It has a random memorial in the middle of it and after you hike to the top you cross over the center and arrive at the gift shop, bathrooms, food stands, and of course the cable car that leads to the top... According to their website it has a great view of a carving in the rock, I would say it does a fine job of obscuring it for those that use the two appendages that have grown out of the lower half of their torso... A little harsh, maybe, but none the less...

From time to time I do have to work, but I find ways for even that to be an adventure. While I was out on tour one of the people I had met convinced me to look into the Spoletto Festival. I did, and it seemed like a pretty good gig. I had a little time between some regularly scheduled programs and they were willing to hire me for the time I could commit to. So again I had a few days at home and was off to Charleston, SC. I was busy enough that I didn't get out to do too much but my girlfriend came to visit for the weekend and we made it out to the beach. It was a great spot and Charleston was a great little city full of good and interesting restaurants and bars and seemed like there were often things to do and when there weren't it is right there on the ocean.

Once my time there was up, I was off to Myrtle Beach. Did I not mention before that my family decided to rent a beach house for a week??? Well they did and it was pretty sweet! Turns out we made it just in time for Bike Week! I had for a long time heard and thought Myrtle Beach would be a nice place to be. It especially is if you like mini golf, that shit is everywhere. Im pretty sure within the first half hour of being allowed into the house I was in the ocean. You just cant get me near a large amount of water and expect me not to get in it. My activities over the course of the week consisted of; playing in the ocean, drinking, long walks up and down the beach, playing cards and games with family and friends, checking out all the amazing bikes all over the place, drinking, mini golf, caught a movie, going out to bars filled with bikers, cooking, watching the moon rise over the ocean, and about anything else you could do on a great vacation... I also had some nice time to stop and reflect on life, where mine is, and how I am happy.

My hope for you is that you are happy. If you are think about why and treasure it. If you find you are not, figure out what will make you happy and go after it. If you just don't know what will make you happy, well, its time to try new things until you find what you are looking for...

Yep that is the moon rising... Next time, I will share a 2,440 mile road trip and a couple of national parks.


"Lost time is never found again."
~ Benjamin Franklin

Whirlwind of Adventure Pt2

Wow, it has been a little while since I have taken the time to write. Last I left off I was leaving DC on my way back to Michigan. In a way it will always be one of my homes, I have several of them. There is the "Home is where you hang your hat." which has been in many places for me. My personal favorite is "Home is where the heart is." which is currently far away from me. But I will probably always consider Kalamazoo a home of mine. Now, I was not born there, I didn't even grow up there, but I have a lot of friends and great memories there. Last there is my parents house which will always feel like home because I am so welcomed whenever I make it there.

Anyway, I am going to try to keep this a little brief since I have quite a bit to go over. Also, because it was a while ago now and I don't remember the details all that well. Right, Home, Michigan. Saw my parents and some other family. Being around them reminds me all the time that I am lucky, I have a great family, They are just really good people and help me remember to be a good person too. I stopped by Kalamazoo and got to see a few friends for a night. On my way out of town I had breakfast with two of my best friends (whenever possible make sure to see your best friends, it will always be fulfilling) and on our way we went. My wonderful girlfriend and I were finding out if we were right about being great road trip partners. Yes, yes we are.

We head south, our destination, Mammoth Cave National Park. After many hours of driving, we arrive well into the night, we get right to business. She starts the fire while I setup the tent and get the sleeping quarters arranged. We open some wine and relax while prepping dinner by headlamp. I don't remember everything but I know we had some great steaks and cheese stuffed peppers. It was a great night, but then the cold began setting in. I often think about what the weather will be like and many times I will research it. This time I made a slight error in judgment, I figured we were in the south so therefore it will be warm. Well..... I was wrong, I don't know where the thermometer bottomed out but i believe it was somewhere around 15-20 degrees. Being the gentleman I am I gave my girlfriend the 0 degree sleeping bag and I took the lighter one, I am also much better at staying warm, so it was just logical. Obviously I survived and in the morning we made a great breakfast of eggs and bacon over a campfire again, it is my favorite way to have them. We had to get back to Atlanta by the
end of the night so we did not have a whole lot of time for investigating the park. We drove thru and did a lot of looking around. I also had my first experience being in a car on a ferry, it was neat. On this day they were doing the basic Mammoth Cave tour for free and we arrived at a perfect time so we jumped right in. It was a really nice cave, and yes it was mammoth, but the guides were also very nice and quite informative. Afterward we were hungry again so we stopped by the cafe and had a meal, it was good but nothing amazing. We went on a short walk after, then decided we were both a little tired from crazy amounts of traveling and we wanted to be back home. So off we went... I do have to say that I hope to find time to return some day because there is a lot there to explore and it seemed like it would be a lot of fun.

Less than a week later we were off again. This time to upstate Georgia. A while ago we found a great deal on a resort. It was about 1/3 of its usual rate and sounded like a great place to get away and relax. It was nice, but I think it was really worth closer to what we paid than its usual going rate. Upsides; great food at the restaurant, its right next to a nice lake which I'm told is very pretty when the sun rises over it, there is a fun country bar just around the side of the lake, they set out
smores and have campfires in the evening, and everything is pretty clean. Downsides; almost the entire staff needs to go to charm school and be trained to do their job with the exception of one waiter, it seems rural but is right next to a moderately busy road, and it seems we were not the only ones to find this deal because the place was pretty packed and the grounds aren't really big enough for the amount of people they can occupy. We had a very nice time and went off one of the days and found a nice little Georgia Winery, had a tour and then took a bottle of wine on a nice walk of the grounds. We found a nice little spot on the far side of the pond to sit and relax and a couple local puppy dogs came by to keep us company. All told, It was a great little getaway. Then it was home again, home again.

Next time I will tell stories of New Orleans and a couple parts of South Carolina. But, that's for Whirlwind of Adventure Pt 3...

"Experience is the teacher of all things."
~Julius Caesar

Whirlwind of Adventure pt1

So if you are me and you don't have enough time to do everything you want to do, what do you do??? Well obviously you pack it all in to a smaller amount of time and give up a little sleep and maybe a touch of sanity... So lets begin this whirlwind of adventure.

Less than a week after returning home from the great smoky mountains and all the adventure there, we are off again, this time to our nations capitol, Washington, DC. I have never been and I can already tell you i would very much like to go back and spend more time there. There are a lot of things I loved about it but not the weather, it was a little cold with a large side of rain, not how I like my weather. Anyway, we arrived and went right to seeing and doing things a little stop here a little stop there and had a great lunch at Pizzeria Paradiso, it was fantastic, a lot of great beer on tap, as well as wonderful wood fired pizzas. We then took a walk down the National Mall.
I am a bit of a skeptic, but even beyond all the people all over the place and the field trips and gift shops, I could feel the history and the heritage around me. I stood in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln reading his first and second addresses on the walls, and I cannot even explain the feeling that came over me, maybe it was a longing to have true leaders like that again for our country. I also stood on the steps and looked out toward the Washington Monument (the reflecting pool was under construction...) and thought about the pictures from days before when it was filled with people protesting war or injustice or listening to people speaking. All I can really tell you is if you have never been there, and if you have any feelings toward real patriotism, you should find time to visit. No matter how many pictures you see, or even how well they are taken and the objects depicted, you cannot understand the feeling of these "objects" until you stand before them.

That night we went out with friends and had a great time. It turns out that this city also has a great night life as well...

On my second day in DC I had most of the day to myself, so once it finally stopped raining too hard and i rolled out of bed, I took off in my usual fashion... Pick a direction and start walking. There were things I intended on seeing but I wasn't going to limit myself by setting the gps on my phone and following it with my head down. I was correct in my natural direction finding and was on my way to the Capitol Building. I wandered about for quite a while making it to many of the places I wanted to see including; The Capitol Building, The Library of Congress, The National Archives, The Smithsonian. I wandered by many building that I did not even know I wanted to see...

I laughed very hard at this one because just before I was thinking it would be cool to see. I almost walked right past it because it is so plain. When you look a bit more carefully you start to notice the cameras and security surrounding it....

 I don't know what this building is but I found the vehicle sitting outside of it a little unnerving...

Here have a better look.

Yep.

I did not previously realize that The Lincoln Memorial, The Reflecting Pool, The Washington Monument, This Statue, and The Capitol Building all make an almost perfect line... The Capitol Building is slightly off center.

Speaking of which...

The front of The Library of Congress.

 The Fountain out in front of it. It struck me as a little odd and/or angry...








Including this little guy...

DC was filled with statues and memorials most of which were very beautiful.
















After my little 4 hour walk around the city I went back to take a nap and shower before dinner, which happened to be the best Italian meal of my life. It was at "Al Tiramisu".

Unfortunately this was my last day in Washington, DC. for now, but I am sure that I will have to return to see even more.

After some traveling to Baltimore I hopped on a plane headed towards Grand Rapids, Michigan. Next time I will be talking about my trip home, a couple of road trips, and a short stay in Mammoth Cave National Park.

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."
~George Washington