I'm in the South now. Not the Deep South just yet - but far enough down the east coast to see McCain / Palin posters in most driveways, far enough to see a Methodist or Baptist or Adventist church more often than usual. There's more country and blues music on my car radio, than there is rap and pop. This is the Bible belt - or the typically red states, as you hear it very often in the media these days. This is far enough South for you to find a bumper sticker reading 'God bless our troops. Especially the snipers' on the back of an old Ford pick-up truck. I'll just leave that one hanging for a little while, for everyone to digest...
I left NYC Saturday, after some great, but stressing days. I still haven't found THE perfect hotel to stay in at a decent rate, so I ended up trying two more hotels, other than the hostel I stayed in the first night. Both were decent, but nothing spectacular - and still too expensive.
I love New York. I always knew I would love New York, but being there really confirmed it to me. It's an amazing city, so full of life, so dirty, so crazy. And what probably confirms it to me the most is that I haven't even seen 1% of the whole city. It almost stresses me out that I can't even decide where to spend a few hours; should I go up to Central Park, down along Broadway, through SoHo and The Village ? Should I try the east side, where I've never been before – walk across Brooklyn Bridge, see the UN and so many other things ? Instead, I ended up jumping on a sightseeing bus, hoping I could take it all in during the two hours’ drive. I was wrong, it just stressed me even more, knowing there are so many things to see, experience, taste, try ! And that's just Manhattan - then there's the rest of New York, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island. Baby, we’re gonna have to live here one day !
And so I left New York on Saturday, having to start the long drive down to Durham, North Carolina. I didn't know what to see enroute, where to stay or how long it would take - so I just set the GPS for Durham and started driving. I drove most of Saturday and ended up staying in a little town called Charlottesville, at the Red Carpet Inn. It certainly wasn't fancy - but it was cheaper than New York, and I just needed a place to stay for the night.
This is also the beautiful South. Today is Sunday, and I’m getting the very best of it. The sun is shining from a blue sky, the temperature is mild autumn - and I'm getting the very best the USA has to offer. So this morning I loaded up on a Starbucks triple venti latte with vanilla and decided to try the Skyline Drive, a picturesque drive down through the Shenandoah National park. The autumn colours are everywhere, there's a lookout point every 200 meters with some amazing view of some amazing mountain - it's almost too much !
I've called and told my host that I will arrive tonight, so I can be ready for work tomorrow morning. As a volunteer, they offered me housing, which just shows how committed people are to the cause - I was quite amazed to hear that. So I'll leave my little Virginia lookout point - where I'm sitting and writing this post - head on further down south and into North Carolina. I can't wait to start working tomorrow, meet the people. Hear more country and blues music, experience the Deep South - and perhaps even see some more of those redneck bumper stickers.
But first, I have a few more hours of driving. And with weather like this, a car like mine, country music on the radio and another refill of Starbucks, that's not the worst thing to spend your Sunday doing. Although some around here would opine I should be in church...
How fitting after the rescue yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThree pirates, three snipers, three bullets!