Highway Adventures
Sometimes I take road trips.
You guys have been waiting so patiently, that I thought you deserved a Graceland picture post while I deal with all my personal life bullcrap.
Enjoy! :)
Yes, the Weinermobile was at Graceland. Yes, it was GLORIOUS.
ELVIS AIRPLANE.
This is the best living room ever.
This is where Elvis cooked his peanut butter sandwiches.
PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH.
Creepy monkey
I just like the amount of fabric used in this room. Completely gorgeous and ridiculous.
Elvis’ Jungle Room!
Yes yes, I am behind on pictures and big posts about my trip. They are coming.
For now, please enjoy my list of ROAD TRIP SUPERLATIVES. HECK YES.
Prettiest Drive: I-85 through Virginia. Stunning.
Most Awful/Boring Drive: Arkansas
Most Surprisingly Pretty Drive: Alabama
Worst Rest Stops: Arkansas. They were dark and dirty and just plain scary.
Best Rest Stops: TRICK QUESTION. They all kind of sucked.
Favorite Waiter: The tattooed guy at Chuy’s, in Austin. Probably one of the top five waiters I’ve ever had, ever.
Best Motel Chain: Red Roof Inn. I stayed at two during the trip, and they both were even better than the “real” hotel I stayed in when I was in Nashville.
Rush hour traffic most comparable to DC/NOVA: Pelham, AL and Birmingham, AL. Surprised? So was I.
Creepiest Historical Landmark: Dallas, TX. Dealey Plaza. There’s an X in the road to mark where Kennedy was assassinated. Tourists ran into the middle of the busy street to smile next to it for a photograph.
Best Nashville bar before midnight: Tootsie’s
Best Nashville bar after midnight: The Stage
Soundtrack to the overall trip: The Swell Season, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. (Close second: Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, Simon and Garfunkel.)
Best Audio Book: Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
Most Played Song: When Your Mind’s Made Up, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Favorite City: Austin, TX. No question.
So I’m back home.
What a shitty end to a totally awesome road trip.
This sucks and I’m really nauseous.
Picture updates from Austin coming soon. Stay tuned, friends.
Why is VA so hazy? It fogged up literally right when I crossed the state line.
The manager of the BBQ restaurant I’m eating at is also from DE. Bahahah.
There is nothing more breathtaking to me than seeing a city skyline suddenly appear on the horizon - especially after hours of flatness, hills, and trees.
Seeing Atlanta come into view tonight was particularly moving. I never realized how much I have associated with this city, but I spent the peak of my sophomore year of college here. Yes, it was only a week at SETC, but it was a week that marked the start of a lot of things, and the end of many others.
Good lord, I was only 19. I can’t believe how much I’ve changed in just three years.
I was so stressed about getting a theatre internship somewhere for the summer. Now I’m gainfully employed in my field.
I was just in the thrilling first stages of a budding romance, which has long since gone through the emotional roller coaster of love, loss, despair, hatred, and forgiveness.
I was just beginning to bicker with a friend that I lost touch with soon after.
I was at the height of a strong connection with a then-best-friend who now refuses to speak to me.
I had yet to experience the death of a peer. I had five ear piercings, and no tattoos. My hair was shoulder length, but oddly enough, pretty close to the color it is right now. The only alcohol I found palatable then, makes me feel like my teeth are going to rot now.
For some reason, all of this came rushing to me as soon as I saw that Atlanta skyline come into view. It all feels so distant, and yet, here I am again.
Sorry this is so sentimental. Maybe I’m just tired from driving.
It’s truly amazing to me the emotional power cities hold over me.
I wonder if the drive is really more boring, or if I just wish I was still in Austin.
