trnscontinental

Arkansas and Oklahoma

January 6, 2014 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

January 5th – Memphis to Oklahoma City

It got quite cold and rainy today to start with. We bid our wonderful hosts goodbye and set off into the weather. There was a lot of traffic and construction through Arkansas, which made the drive very blah! Arkansas was pretty non-descript…cold…camo…fields…

We transitioned into Oklahoma and found more fields, lots of cows, a river called North Canadian, a Sunkist orange toting semi on its side, a goat, and pretty, clear blue skies. Since we’re going towards the West, and it was so flat, we were treated to a beautiful sunset that lasted for basically two hours. It was wonderful!

Long drive tomorrow, so headed to bed!

Walkin in Memphis

January 6, 2014 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

January 4, 2014
Nashville to Memphis

We said our goodbyes with Alex & Mike and headed west to Memphis. We noted there were still a whole lot of “-ville”‘s and some other interesting names along the I-40…. We contemplated moving to Bucksnort but quickly changed our mind and figured we may as well continue to JT’s hometown instead….After a short three hour drive, we arrived in Memphis, at Sun Studio. This is such an iconic and amazing place and it was totally inspiring, get your groove on, be in the same space as the greats, fantastic! We saw the studio that such greats as Elvis, BB King, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and U2 have recorded in. The studio is still in its original condition and is used as a working studio on a regular basis. We touched the same mic as many of the greats. It was so incredible to experience!

Though there is free parking at Sun Studio and a free shuttle from there to Rock n Soul Museum and Graceland, we decided to drive with the little time we had to complete the most things possible in Memphis. Graceland costs $10 for parking plus about $34 each for tickets. We were so excited to experience this place and it was as incredible as I thought it would be. The decor is unbelievable, very old-school, but totally representative of the times and the King. The upstairs is not accessible to the public, perhaps fueling the suspicion that Elvis lives?! What an excellent performer though.

After Graceland, we went to the car wash and vaccuumed and washed the car, as per Houston (as we have taken to calling Jeramy) and his instructions. The car looked rather spiffy after it’s bath, although it is close to turning over 9,000kms already!

With that over with, we headed down to explore downtown Memphis and Beale St. It is really fun down there and we enjoyed the experience even in the winter, with live music flowing out into the streets. Our dinner consisted of seafood gumbo cheese fries and catfish, with green beans, Texas toast, and coleslaw. It was SO delicious!! We partook in this amazingness at the Blues City Cafe.

Our final stop was the Rock n Soul Museum. We were the ONLY two people there, which was great, as it was an hour until closing. The museum is affiliated with the Smithsonian and it is just as amazing as that would suggest. The audio tour was wonderful and there were many interesting items on display. We concluded the evening by going by the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr was shot, which is now the National Civil Rights Museum. Powerful place indeed.

We stayed the night with the interesting, hospitable, and generous John and Brucia. Our way there was slightly detoured by a visit to the pyramid of Memphis….yes…you read that right. There is a pyramid in Memphis. Apparently it is being turned into a Bass pro shop….

Anyhow, our hosts! They were so sweet and had many fascinating stories to share. We were impressed with their charming house and the very comfy bed they provided for the night. Thank you so much for a wonderful home away from home during a busy and tiring trip.

We love Tennessee!

January 5, 2014 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

January 3, 2014
Knoxville to Nashville

We had a delicious breakfast at Linda & Don’s, filled up our washer fluid courtesy of Don and headed for the post office to mail some postcards on our way out of town. It’s weird; somehow, every morning turns into a black hole vortex, where we look at the clock one second and it’s 0730 and we look again, what feels like 10 minutes later and it’s magically 0830! Anyhow, we figured we were still good since Nashville is one hour behind Knoxville, meaning we would gain an extra hour of time! We hopped on the I-40, much placated with this realization, and headed towards Nashville. On our way we popped into a uniform store, as only nurses would, and stocked up on some fun uniforms which are much, much cheaper here than in Canada. (Well as fun as they can be when all Leah can buy is white and black and Gillian figures BC will be converting to white & black soon too so didn’t want to buy a bunch of colourful scrubs!)

Our first stop in Nashville was the Gaylord Opryland Hotel which is massive and impressive and was just as amazing inside! We popped in quickly to check out the gardens – you can park free from 0-20mins (otherwise it was $20!!!) and we figured that we could probably use such a time limit. The inside is like a huge greenhouse with various greenery, little creeks, and waterfalls on multiple levels, with the balcony’s of the rooms, restaurants, and cafés, all looking out over the scenery. We considered re-thinking our evening’s accommodations when we saw this place! We then popped over to the new Grand Ole Opry House. The Opry Hills Mall next door was playing a Backstreet boys song while we were standing in front of the Opry and Leah questioned whether this was sacrilegious within earshot of the Opry….

We drove downtown and did a backstage tour of the Ryman Auditorium which housed the Grand Ole Opry for 31 years, until it moved in 1974 to the new location mentioned above. It is still the home of the Grand Ole Opry from November to the end of January. During the tour we learned that the Opry isn’t actually a location but a radio show so the “Grand Ole Opry” is actually just wherever the show is broadcasting from, for example, could be your living room. The theatre has an incredibly interesting history, and much of the current pieces in it are from the original structure (ie the pew seating). It is said to have the best acoustics in the world apart from the Mormon Tabernacle… amazing! For anyone who watches Nashville – Charles Esten (who plays Deacon) was playing that night with a long lineup of people.

After the Ryman we walked the strip (Broadway) to pop our heads into a few honkytonks and have a snack (cheese tots at Paradise Park Diner, don’t judge). There is music playing in all these bars all day, starting around 10 am. We walked around the corner to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Leah was very happy to see that there was a special exhibit all about Reba! The CMHF itself was really cool. It was incredible to see the history and evolution of this part of music, and the building itself is really lovely. Definitely recommend doing this! We arrived at 4pm (it closed at 5pm that day) and found out that it was only $14, discounted rate for everyone arriving at that time. Yeehaw!

We walked back through the strip and headed back for the car. Since the sun was just setting, we googled a good lookout to get a view of the city and headed for Shelby Street Pedestrian bridge – we found what we were looking for! Nashville certainly has a beautiful night view.

We then swung over to Greece for a few minutes – there is a full-size replica of the Parthenon in a park in Nashville…. It was built in 1897 for Tennessee’s Centennial Exposition and was rebuilt in 1930 due to “popular demand”… Leah actually preferred this version to the original because when she was in Athens it was covered in scaffolding and surrounded by cranes!

We headed over to Alex & Mike’s apartment, our hosts for the evening. Gillian met Alex while teaching in Korea through a mutual friend, Erica, who we will also be staying with this trip in San Fran. We had a glass of wine and headed out to a bar where Mike and many other singer-songwriters play! Very different from the strip where we were earlier in the day but the perfect spot to have a couple drinks, something to eat and catch up/get better acquainted! We tried fried pickles for the first time – delicious! Leah continues to sound more and more like she’s from here and has “y’all”ed more than a few times since arriving in Tennessee…. Alex suggested she may have been born here in another life and we think she might be right!

After a few drinks we headed back to Alex & Mike’s for another drink and to hear Mike play! They were awesome hosts and it was great to see/meet them!

Overall, we thought Nashville was pretty darn cool and would give it a high rating on our official city rating scale. Maybe an 8.5?!

Smokey Mountains

January 3, 2014 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

January 2, 2014
Asheville to Knoxville

We woke up in our adorable hostel, Sweet Peas, in Asheville. This was one of the nicest, cleanest, most organized hostels we’ve ever been to ( and we’ve been to a lot!!). The owner must have done a lot of travelling before opening Sweet Peas and did an excellent job! We took note of their details in case we eventually open once myself! Thanks Sweet Peas!

We drove across Asheville to Sunny Point Cafe at the recommendation of the sweet guy working at the hostel and had the BEST breakfast of the trip! Leah had amazing huevos fucheros (huevos rancheros with tofu chorizo instead of meat which are among the best in the country) and Gill had a delicious breakfast sandwich! They had the best coffee of the trip so far – organic and locally roasted. We split a white chocolate peanut butter tart for dessert – unreal!

We set off for Biltmore Estate only to find out that we can’t even enter the grounds without a $70 entrance ticket…. Each. Sorry Vanderbilts, just can’t justify that with so much more to see!

We jumped on the freeway and followed signs to the blue ridge parkway but ended up in Canton, NC where a kindly man in the visitor info centre informed us that I (Gillian) spoke English well. HAHA! He was just adorable and informed us that the Blue Ridge Parkway would likely be closed between Canton and Cherokee, and that the road through the Smokey Mountains would be very low visibility and/or bad weather, so we should probably go on the I-40 to Knoxville. Well, after promising to visit him again if/when we came back to Canton, we proceeded to completely ignore him and take the road through the Smokey Mountains National Park (but not the Parkway!). It was a foggy, rainy, at times snowy, drive, but beautiful and not bad road conditions at all. We were totally mind boggled at all the “Native American Indian” tourist traps all throughout Cherokee and then on the other side of the mountains, basically from Pigeon Forge, straight through Sevierville. It was incredible. So tacky looking, so exploitive looking…. ALSO! Totally different topic, but we almost ran over 3 puppies who were randomly on the road before Cherokee. We thought they were wild animals at first, then realized they were puppies of some sort, then pulled over to the road a little ways down and wondered if we should go back and pick them up, but they had gone off the road and we had no idea where to drop them off and/or if they were harbingers of disease that would render Leah’s fragile health even worse. 😛

So, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, the tackiest, circus sideshow-esque towns I have ever seen. Signs included: stuff, spelled ‘STUF’, ‘pan fer gold’, and multiple places with ‘hillbilly’ in the title. The outlet mall was decent though. AND people have the cutest accents.

We finally arrived in Knoxville around dinner time and headed to Market Square for some nosh. Leah found Gillian some astronaut ice cream at Urban Outfitters, which we had just been talking about at Liam and Gisela’s the other night. Gillian was SO excited. We had an AMAZING dinner at Tupelo Honey Cafe, which Leah had wanted to try the last time she was in Knoxville. It was FAB. Gillian had brown butter butter brussels sprouts and a veggie melt that consisted of fried green tomatoes, lemon aioli, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, spinach and melted havarti cheese openfaced on sourdough wheat bread, and Leah had a 3 cheese, 2 meat grilled cheese with cheesy onion bisque. YUM! They also serve homemade biscuits with blueberry jam as an appetizer. Very reasonable prices too.

Virginia: I’m sure there’s something good around here somewhere.

January 2, 2014 by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

January 1, 2014
New Year’s Day enroute from Germantown, MD to Asheville, NC via Blue Ridge Parkway

We got up (relatively) early, packed up and headed in the direction of Luray Caverns in Luray, VA. Gillian’s family plays this game called “Touched You Last” in which you make sure you tag another family member when you say goodybe and say ‘touched you last’ then escape quickly before they can tag you back and say the same then run away and lock themselves in their bathroom (it’s happened). One time, the offenders pretended to leave, circled back, climbed up a gully, and tagged the unsuspecting family member before making a speedy escape!

On the way there we learned that Liam’s suggestion that we watch our speed was a good one. Word to the wise: speed limits are taken very seriously in Virginia, at least right at the border with Maryland nearby DC, with cops E’RYWHERE and apparent policing by plane too….. ummmm….don’t you guys have better ways to spend your time and money….like providing your citizens with health care? We were even told that parts of Virginia house people without running water…??? Anyways, overall impression of Virginia was: YOU SUCK. ALTHOUGH, we should note that the Starbucks employees, as always, were friendly and very kind!!

We arrived at the caverns markedly later than we expected and chose to continue on rather than stay for the hourlong tour so as to conserve as much daylight as possible to make it to Grandfather Mountain. I (Leah) got a smushed penny to add to my collection (I also added to my collection the day before at the natural history and air & space museums). Sidenote (this is Gillian writing) – Leah entertained a group of about 6 small children at the natural history museum with the penny smushing and then crushed their dreams when she took her penny and the kids’ parents ushered them off, penniless. Later, at the Air & Space Museum, she felt like a grown up child, when the kid behind her said, ‘mom, I want to make a penny!’ and then mum said to the kid, ‘Wait for the lady to finish.’ She sure loves a smushed penny.

So, after some uneventful driving, and numerous culinary disappointments (why are all the good places closed on New Years Day?), we decided to hop onto the Blue Ridge Parkway around Exit 114 (near Riner and Floyd, VA). We successfully found the entrance to the parkway, which we felt was a great accomplishment, and began the beautiful drive. It is a beautiful drive, the speed limit is ridic slow, and there are many beautiful lookouts and what appear to be hiking trails to enjoy. We realized a little ways into the parkway that we’d better hurry it up or we’d miss Grandfather Mtn, and low and behold, we did end up missing it, partly due to the fact that the parkway was closed from milepost 234, for reasons unknown to us, a fact that was only announced 4 miles prior. Heads up! Check out the national park service for the most up to date status of national park trails and closures. We have learned our lesson.

Having missed all of our intended sights for the day, we decided to head straight for Asheville and opted for brenner at IHOP, where Leah had never been. It was a most satisfying experience and our waitress was adorable. The NC accent is awesome! We stocked up on Sbux before leaving and once again had an amazing experience. We pulled up to the drive-through and the convo went a little something like…

Sbux dude: Hey, welcome to Starbucks, what can I get you?

Me: Ummmm…..just give us one second.

SD: Ok! One. Hi, so what can I get for you? Haha, JUST KIDDING! Let me know when you’re ready.

Us: Hahahahahaha, ok!

Then we got blonde roasts, which apparently aren’t brewed in the evening as we’ve gotten pour-overs every time we’ve been in the evening to have them, so because it took “so long” (sidenote, it didn’t), we got a coupon for a free drink! Starbucks, I want to hate your massive conglomerate-ism, but you make it so hard!

We finally made it to Asheville around 7pm. We found our hostel, Sweet Peas on Rankin St, very easily and were pleased to find it clean, cute, and a neat open concept idea. The linens and towels were all provided and we even got a lock for our locker and a sticker! The front desk dude was adorable, very helpful and friendly. We found out he was from Virginia….AFTER we had complained about what a terrible hellhole it was. HAHA! Luckily, he agreed and noted that that was he was here in NC. 🙂

Off to bed…another busy day tomorrow!

G xoxo