Ghosts of Oak Alley Plantation
During my short drive through Vacherie, Louisiana, on Saturday morning, I wasn’t paying much attention to the green stalks rising from the roadside fields at first because I see so much corn growing in Iowa, I’d assumed this was more of the same. Then I noticed that their appearance was all wrong and guessed that this was, instead, a sugar cane field. If you know for sure from the pictures below, please let me know. Oak Alley Plantation was one of at least three plantations in the area. I chose it because they had advertised their focus on the role of slavery in the life of the Antebellum Era community. I wanted to see how this was exhibited and discover how I reacted to it and what I could learn from it. Even with my studies and museum visits with their historical displays of the American South’s “particular institution,” I…
A Three-Hour Tour,…
(Really, the trip’s only 45 minutes each way, but you get the point of the title–I hope–and if you don’t, you should watch more 60’s television.) Friday was thankfully another glorious day, this one in Gulfport, Mississippi. And I appreciated this because I’m traveling in an area that can get some very fierce storms at times. As Gulfport is, well, a port on the Gulf of Mexico, it seemed logical to see if I could get on one of the excursion cruises available. I waited until the last moment to buy a ticket–my vacation trips tend to be too “up in the air” to want to purchase any more in advance than necessary–so I was glad that I was successful in getting one for the noon trip out to Ship Island despite it being a mid-summer Friday afternoon. In addition to the island having tons of beautiful, sandy beaches, it…
Tamiami Loop,… and Tallahassee, Too
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Day-9-266x300.gif" alt="Day 9" width="315" height="355" />One thing I learned from my past visits to national parks is that some are not entirely civilized--or more accurately, near civilization's accoutrements, such as gas stations, stores or restaurants. One should not enter these parks or even go near them without a full tank and refreshments on hand. So, when I saw what I suspected was the only gas station and hotel within the approximately 50 miles of the Loop Road that was my destination, I decided it was wise to stock up and wait until Wednesday morning to head in. This worked out to be a good decision because there was no gas or anything else but beautiful scenery.
I didn't have an exact address to give the GPS, and the National Park Service welcome center didn't open until 9 a.m., so I fumbled around a bit. Finally got the correct directions from a ranger at the center, plus bought a new medallion for my walking stick and some postcards for the family.The Big Cypress National Preserve's : //www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/upload/BICY-Loop-Road-Scenic-Road-FINAL-2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loop Road Scenic Drive is approximately 24 miles of nature. Mostly unpaved, it allows one to take in its beauty at a relaxed pace--in fact, the speed limit is 15 miles per hour on the gravelled portion. I had the road nearly entirely to myself, so I spent over 2 1/2 hours driving slowly and stopping regularly to take pictures. Was not lucky enough to see any alligators or other larger wild life, but there were plenty of biting bugs that seemed to have a voracious appetite for people driving by with their car windows open to take a picture. A small selection of the pix is below, while the larger selection is available at https://www.flickr.com/gp/singinone/L8LeuZ:
[gallery type="slideshow" size="large" ids="363,358,357,356,355,354,353,352,351,350,349,348,359,347,346"] Upon finally leaving the scenic road, I stopped by the Ochopee post office, the world's smallest, and mailed the post cards so that they would have its postmark. [gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="365,366"]My destination for the night was a former colleague's home in Tallahassee, some 320 miles north. My GPS said I should get in about 8: 30 p.m., but it didn't account for two extended traffic incidents in the Tampa. I arrived a little after 10 p.m., and my friend kindly waited up for me despite having an early workday on Thursday.
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Day-10.gif" alt="Day 10" width="532" height="163" />
BTW, if you have ever driven through or visited various parts of Florida, you surely would have found the differences between the peninsula and the panhandle striking, almost as if visiting two separate states. Certainly for me, with my only prior knowledge of Florida consisting of "Miami Vice" episodes, driving into Tallahassee my first time was a stunner. There is a reason why some have called the panhandle "south Georgia with a north Florida zip code." Anyway, back to the present day. I wanted to wind down a little before the stretch run ending of my vacation, so the only thing I had scheduled for Wednesday was to visit my old grad school stumping grounds at Florida State University. I had an enjoyable lunch with Sarah at a new restaurant (it used to be a Hardee's in my student days) before actually going on campus.As I suspected, none of the faculty were around, but the halls were full of my 20+ year old memories. I spent a couple hours doing some research in the music library, and then it was time to head out before the evening rush hour began. Of course, I got a few pictures of the music buildings:
[gallery size="medium" ids="372,373,374,375,376"]Made good time getting into Mobile, Alabama, just in time to find some dinner. My mistake was not investigating the area's BBQ before buying a dinner consisting of it. In one word: ACK!! It was only 7:45 p.m. when I gladly left the restaurant, so I decided to see if I could make Gulfport, Mississippi, before calling it a night.
In doing so, I crossed my 47th state off my US-states-to-visit list:
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-07-07-21.16.08-1024x576.jpg" alt="2016-07-07 21.16.08" width="415" height="234" />
As I've blogged previously, while Mississippi has one of those "Bathroom Laws" in place, I'm not going to spend my tourist dollars there. I'm making an exception with Gulfport because it, like Charlotte in North Carolina, is vehemently opposed to that law. I'm planning on having a fun day in Gulfport.: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/loudmusic-e1465435175950.jpg" alt="loudmusic" width="358" height="340" />The music in my playlist finished the C's on Wednesday while driving down the Loop Road. Thankfully, because the D's--especially the disco sounds of Donna Summer--got me into Tallahassee. I started feeling the many hours of driving well before I got there. The drive across the Florida panhandle and eventually into Mississippi saw the end of the D's and was just beginning the E's: Ella, Elton, and Elvis, plus others.
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A Close Call and a New Site
Howdy, Y’all!! This is my first post under singin1.com, which succeeds both my Singin1 on the Road and Iowa?!? travel blogs. My proposed route for the upcoming Southeastern United States trip almost swung widely to the west when I thought I might finally have a chance to strike The Alamo off my travel bucket list. However, driving to San Antonio is just too wide a swing for this trip, so I’ll have to try another time. Anyway, one of my brothers shamed me into looking for an opportunity to experience the Delta Blues in its birthplace. As a musician, I certainly should avail myself of the opportunity, but I still feel the need to protest Mississippi’s “bathroom” law. So, I settled on adding Helena, Arkansas, with its Delta Cultural Center, to the itinerary. The town also boasts its historic Freedom Park, which was the site of a “Contraband camp”–a term…
Just a Little Update
Yes, I’ve made a major change in my upcoming trip route. I’ve been keeping an eye on Mississippi and its “Bathroom law” situation. They made one state-wide step in the right direction when they decided not to fight the federal guidelines defining student use of school locker rooms and bathrooms based on their gender identity. However, the law itself is still on the books, so I’ve removed Jackson, Mississippi, from my route. Gulfport is still there because it’s in about the same situation as Charlotte, North Carolina, as a city trying to be welcoming to the LGBT community despite the backwards-leaning state government. Instead of Jackson, I’ve added Vacherie, Louisiana, site of the Oak Alley Plantation. They offer a tour that focuses on the history of the plantation’s slave population and how they lived during the Antebellum Period. This seems a very fitting addition to the Civil Rights history aspects…
Missing Mississippi?
I read with great disappointment that Mississippi had just passed a law that goes out of its way to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Added to the state’s ongoing issues with racial discrimination, I can’t see myself giving even tacit approval of this decision by playing tourist there. It might be only a few hundred dollars–not even a drop in the bucket–but I will protest Mississippi’s action even if only in this small way. I will miss the opportunity to experience the food, culture and history of the state, but I can’t support a state that would go out of its way to so disenfranchise its own citizens. With Mississippi’s history, it should know better than that. Since my trip is not scheduled to begin for a bit of time, I will hold off rerouting my trip in the hope that they will have changed this unfortunate law before I…