Grand American Tour Day 04: Drive to Austin

What a day!

Amazing things happen when I am not on routine.

Therefore.....

To have an amazing life, I will not live a routine life.

That's what I thought today.

Got up early getting ready for the drive from New Orleans to Austin. It's going to be a long haul, so I left at around 8am. But wait, I was thinking that the French Quarter must be quiet now, so I drove right into it and took some photos with the car....

Oh no, I didn't.......!!!!





RELAX, THEY ARE LEGAL!!!! Kiddin'



As I was driving along I-10, passing through Baton Rouge, then Lafayette, flying above the beautiful parish (too bad there was no place to pull over for some sight seeing), I stopped by a garage to have something checked out on my car. It turned out to be just a forgotten connector, so it was easily fixed. The guy was impressed with the car and wanted to get the same engine for this 93 Accord. Another score by my Prelude! Earlier on, the valet kid at the hotel commented on the Prelude too. It's like walking around with a hot girlfriend.... ya noe!

So what's the next amazing thing?

As I was driving towards Lake Charles, I was thinking.... Is my cousin still there? I last spoke to her on the phone when Hurricane Rita hit the area back on 05. I've never met her in the US, only back home, back at my grandparents home town, so far far away. And today, I just happened to drive by, happened to be just before lunch, happened to dial her number not knowing if it is still valid or if she's even still in town. She picked up, we met for a quick lunch and off I continued the journey.

It all seemed so random and weird. It's as though I was traveling on a time path and she was on another, and I happened to cross path at the same instant as she did, and we met briefly, almost too briefly and departed from each other again, on our own separate ways. Eventually, we will meet again back home in Taiwan. That's like the home base, no matter how far we've ventured, we know we will see each other back home, some day, but we will.

And for me, this drive is the drive home.

The drive through Texas is really quite neat. Texas, like Miami, is a stereotype that is real. Dry ranches with long horn cattle with iron gates and old western barn houses. I was thinking if I should go right into Austin for the night, but have to pay a lot more for the hotel. Or should I stay outside of it for much better rate and go into the city in the morning. I chose the latter. So here I am, at Bastrop TX.

Then the amazing happened. The hotel is quite alright, especially for the price. The more important thing is, Bastrop is the oldest established town in Texas and has many neat old features. As I was driving around, I passed by this pile of rotting classic car bodies, with the sun setting in the back drop and beautiful clouds.... JACK POT!!!! I made a big U-turn and jumped out with the camera and tripod.












Don't be jealous, because I would too!














So that's an amazing day for me, all things random because I am not on the dead routine that I have always been on. It's a day expecting the unexpected, but most importantly, exposing myself to it. Tomorrow, I will spend some time exploring this little town before heading to a highly recommended BBQ place (It's been down hill for me since Memphis, so this is highly anticipated). Austin is not going anywhere, and I will be sure to enjoy it.

MOAR Photos HERE!!!

Grand American Tour Day 03: New Orleans

Saturday night in the French Quarter may not be the most accurate representation of New Orleans….. right?

Well, today while the sun is back out, I decided to take a walk in the Warehouses district, where the art district is supposed to be.




( Micheline house?)

It’s a quiet Sunday. Walking down to the warehouse district feels like any downtown on Sunday, without the usual crowd, the traffic, the vibe. It’s as though the city is on break. Oh wait, that’s because all the galleries are closed on Sunday! What? This is not Chick-Fil-A, so it’s just out of laziness that they are closed? Bummer!

This part of the town consists of mostly converted warehouses and lofts. Strangly, a lot of “art districts” in the US are very similar, like Miami, NYC, Detroit and so on. Seems like artists are like roaches that find abandoned buildings and cracks in the wooden panels places that they feel comfortable in and thrieve. That’s fine, but don’t freaking close shop when I’ve driven over 1000miles to see you!






( Who's da rockstar here?)






Wondering on the street in the blazing sun, I had oyster poboy and freshly brewed iced tea for lunch…..

How’s the poboy? I have to say, not that good. The oyster isn’t that flavorful which is unusual. The bread is a bit chewy. The best oyster poboy I’ve had so far is at Sxi Feet Under restaurant in Atlanta. It comes with cole slaw that has wasabi in it, very unique and authentic in its own ways. This poboy pales in both taste and sophistication, and is much more expensive.



It seems that the town is taken over by hotels. There’s Hilton Garden Inn all over the place, using different buildings as different themes. Marriott also has a big presence here. I’d say that 50% of the buildings I walked by are taken over by hotels. If New Orleans is this dependent on tourism, that’s pretty damn risky.

Walking on back towards the French Quarter, I wanted to visit some of the spots that I was at last night with better lighting. Surprisingly, there are way more art galleries on Royal Street than the entire warehouse district! And they are open!



The art galleries on Royal street aren’t the usual uptight high-art type of gallery. They are unique in different ways, unconventional, radical, comical and somewhat local. One eye-catching one is the Blue Dog by George Rodrigue, who started painting this particular image of a dog 25 years ago to illustrate a dog character in a folk tale. Ever since, he’s stuck with it, repeated the same image on pretty much anything you can think of, and like Frank Ghery, he hasn’t moved on yet. After two days of seeing the dog image every where in the city, I am already sick of it.

BTW the dog looks like it’s stoned on weed.

Entering a gallary that has a collection of somewhat more casual pieces, I saw a back door that leads to a back court yard. I was granted permission to walk through it. It was then I realized that every block in the French Quarter has its own central court yard, something that street tourists will not see. It is very interesting how the French-Orleans style architecture extends to the private space. Decks and decks of balcony, some looks more steady and strong than others, defines the community by its usage of space. It’s very tight, but cosy. The tightness reminds me of slum, but the atmosphere makes the space feeling very livable, like old tightly knit communities where old folks will sit on rocking chairs all day at the balcany and kids will help moms hang bed sheets on the railings to dry. I can already imagine the golden days at the French Quarter.











Now, it’s just drunkards, tourists, hobos, skanky dressed girls and drunk skanky hobos who happen to be a tourist. I cannot imagine living in an apartment in the French Quarter. I think it’s way more intense than to live in NYC.

Perhaps that’s why I am a tourist, yet to be drunk or skanky, but close to being a hobo.


More photos click HERE!!!

Grand American Tour Day 02: New Orleans

Hmmm.... took me damn long to get the hell out of Florida!!! I never knew how big the state is until I had to drive through the pan handle. After about 12 hours, I am finally outta there!

Things went really fast from then on. Alabama, Mississippi then Louisiana. They all just lined up one after an other. Eventually, New Orleans is within sight!

Oh BTW, I managed to do 29.85 miles per gallon on my 14 yr old Honda. I will inflate the tires more and see how much more I can get.

It's weird that human society will disapprove many things, but then set a zone where these disapproved things are approved. Las Vegas, Red Light district in Amsterdam... New Orleans' French Quarter is one such place. It has almost everything except gambling. Sex, alcohol, being homeless, being weird, being drunk, being broke, being filthy rich, being filthy kinky.... you name it. There isn't much to say from me, just enjoy the photos.

Oh, I did try jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish boil and beans and rice on the first night. Need to get oyster poboy next!!!

I also went to Snug Harbor for some Brazilian Jazz. Well, not the best I've seen. I think the drummer needs to hit lighter. He's killing the harmony!


Through Mobile


New Orleans within sight!


Woah, Alaska plate!!!


















There are a lot of people who just stand around and expect people to give them money.... WTF?!










Did not get permission from mom.....


































These guys are awesome!!!





















Click HERE for all the rest of the photos!!!