Whoa... We have A LOT to catch up on!
As soon as we crossed the Texas/Louisiana border, we knew we were in the south. Humidity became thick as butter, accents grew heavier and insects began to swarm. The heat took hold in a different way than in the southwest. It was a relentless, sticky, sweaty mess with little relief. But hey, all part of the adventure... right?
Our first night camping in Louisiana was surreal. Once we embraced the discomfort, for lack of a better word, we loved it! Bayous, swamps and alligator warnings all within a few miles of the Texas border.
We didn't actually see an alligator this time, but we did catch sight of a ton of turtles!
One of the things we were most excited about in Louisiana was making stops at local seafood shacks (as they call it) for blue crab and oysters. Our oyster knife is one of the few extraneous kitchen items we actually packed. We hopped off Interstate 10 and took the long way to New Orleans and found exactly what we were looking for.
We did our own crab boil right there at the campsite! It was mighty delicious... And extremely cheap.
The next day was spent exploring New Orleans. We parked our beast on the south side of the Mississippi River and took a free passenger ferry into the city. It rained incredibly hard that afternoon. The kind of rain that floods the streets in minutes. We were drenched! So what do you do? Run to the next bar for temporary relief, of course.
We began at ACME Oyster House, a place Joe has had on his mind since watching Adam Richman on Man Vs. Food devour DOZENS of oysters. By no means did we compete with Adam's accomplishment, but we did enjoy our fare share. The place was PACKED (yes, very touristy, but we loved it). The grilled oysters were also phenomenal.
An earlier bartender recommended the oyster house across the street from ACME, where the oysters were considerably cheaper without the frill of a tourist destination. So we went there, also, and enjoyed more oysters. A 79 year old man shucked them behind the counter and served them to you right there, one at a time, on the bar top. No plate. No ice. Just cheap, local perfection.
After we got our fill on oysters, it was time to hit Bourbon Street. For a Thursday afternoon, the streets were packed (finally, the rain had stopped). It took a few stops before finding the perfect bar with awesome live music! And we stayed for a few hours.
We then continued to tour the city.
We didn't actually see an alligator this time, but we did catch sight of a ton of turtles!
One of the things we were most excited about in Louisiana was making stops at local seafood shacks (as they call it) for blue crab and oysters. Our oyster knife is one of the few extraneous kitchen items we actually packed. We hopped off Interstate 10 and took the long way to New Orleans and found exactly what we were looking for.
We did our own crab boil right there at the campsite! It was mighty delicious... And extremely cheap.
The next day was spent exploring New Orleans. We parked our beast on the south side of the Mississippi River and took a free passenger ferry into the city. It rained incredibly hard that afternoon. The kind of rain that floods the streets in minutes. We were drenched! So what do you do? Run to the next bar for temporary relief, of course.
We began at ACME Oyster House, a place Joe has had on his mind since watching Adam Richman on Man Vs. Food devour DOZENS of oysters. By no means did we compete with Adam's accomplishment, but we did enjoy our fare share. The place was PACKED (yes, very touristy, but we loved it). The grilled oysters were also phenomenal.
An earlier bartender recommended the oyster house across the street from ACME, where the oysters were considerably cheaper without the frill of a tourist destination. So we went there, also, and enjoyed more oysters. A 79 year old man shucked them behind the counter and served them to you right there, one at a time, on the bar top. No plate. No ice. Just cheap, local perfection.
After we got our fill on oysters, it was time to hit Bourbon Street. For a Thursday afternoon, the streets were packed (finally, the rain had stopped). It took a few stops before finding the perfect bar with awesome live music! And we stayed for a few hours.
We then continued to tour the city.
After recovering from a rather unfortunate hangover the following morning, we stopped at another seafood market. We bought jumbo shrimp and oysters and had a rather long, enjoyable conversation with a local about the government.
We then toured one of New Orleans famous cemetery's.
All in all, we had a really great time in New Orleans. We even caught up with an old friend and coworker of Joe's at Kells, Garrett!
New Orleans is one of those gritty yet beautiful, threatening yet comforting cities to really fall in love with. We could have spent some serious time here. But, as always, it was time to move on.
And so we headed north.
Driving through Mississippi to reach Memphis was surprisingly beautiful. We took a highway called the Natchez Trace Parkway that let through gorgeous Mississippi country for nearly 160 miles. We stopped here and there to hike around a swamp or check out a meadow, eventually making our way to Tupelo, MS, where Elvis happened to be born.
Of course we had to make a stop and check it out.
There were some SERIOUS fanatics there! (it was a bit overwhelming)
On our way to Memphis the next day, we stopped in the college town of Oxford, MS and had some extremely satisfying southern cooking at a place called AJAX. The town itself was super cute.
We made it to Memphis, drove straight to Graceland, and then kept on driving. Without seeming disrespectful, the place was PACKED and beyond expensive and honestly, not our style. So we kept on driving and found ourselves at Central BBQ enjoying the BEST BBQ we have had on this trip! Memphis BBQ has something to be proud of. The pork ribs were beyond outstanding.
Since we skipped out on Graceland, we had to see Sun Records.
Memphis is pretty rough around the edges, so we enjoyed our afternoon and decided to move on towards Nashville. After camping about 30 miles outside of Nashville, we drove in town the following morning and had an absolute blast.
Live honky tonk at Tootsies was the highlight. We found this little gem and stayed all afternoon.
We didn't spend nearly enough time in Nashville, but after Austin and New Orleans our wallet needed a break. We are definitely looking forward to getting back here soon!
After days, or rather weeks, in the city we were looking forward to getting away for a few days in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
But of course we had to make a quick stop in Knoxville, Tennessee. What a great small town!
We camped for two nights in the Smokies and did a rather challenging hike to burn off some of the southern cookin' we have been enjoying!
We LOVED Tennessee. From here, we headed back south with Key West as our destination. We made a pit stop in Atlanta for Gladys Knight's fried chicken and waffles (darn good!) before putting on some serious miles.
Until next time...
