Happy Birthday to Jack Kerouac

12, march 1922 - 21, october 1969

his words are jazz.

his voice, like whiskey.

and once I drove 4 hours to bury a poem in the ground.

Road Tales - Mississippi and Alabama

Highlights from Mississippi, Alabama, and Dreamland BBQ!



Enjoy!

Road Tales - Alabama

After our slight disappointment with Mobile, our hopes weren't so high for the rest of Alabama. That all changed when we were driving north on I65 and a Mr. Hank Williams came on the radio at the very moment we saw this:

photo by jimmywayne

Shortly thereafter, another sign directing us to his boyhood home popped up alongside the road, so of course we pulled of the highway to check out this little town of Georgiana, AL. We paid our 3 bucks to look at photos of photos, newspaper clippings and other artifacts. But the best part was the woman in charge of the museum that day that was a Hank historian! She knew dates and times and names and places of all the Hank scandal and LOVE sharing her stories.

We made it to Birmingham not long thereafter and met up with Liz Clark who keeps following me drove down from Nashville on her day off. We went to The Bottletree Cafe, an awesome venue/restaurant/bar place that was the perfect setting for three friends to reunite and get tipsy.

The next day we went sightseeing and ate BBQ at Dreamland!

Birmingham is filled with the most unbelievable art deco architecture and store signage that has been up for decades!
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What do you think?

Road Tales - Mississippi and Mobile, AL

Leaving New Orleans on the morning of Mardis Gras was bittersweet. We watched part of the first Mardis Gras parade that started at 8AM that morning while packing up our beads. As we drove away from all the fun, we bade New Orleans adieu, but waved a big hello to.....

If ever you get the chance to drive through Mississippi, take the route along the coast. For there you will drive along the most beautiful coast this California girl has seen this side of the Mississippi.

You will also see 5 trillion Waffle Houses on a 9 mile strip. No joke, we counted.

On to....

We had hoped that stopping in Mobile, Alabama was going to be more eventful. It wasn't except for our lunch at Wintzell's Oyster House where I had cheese grits with shrimp for the very first time ever, and of course grilled oysters! Boy were they most delicious!

We stayed in a very nice Marriott on the outskirts of Mobile and spent a very long time trying to find a Ruby Tuesdays. We failed and settle on Logan's Roadhouse where our waiter was taken aside by a group at another table to be prayed for. Yes, you read that correctly. So, we got a good night's sleep and off we went to Birmingham.

Road Tales - New Orleans, LA

New Orleans is an amazing city, and as our Haunted House tour guide asked me to tell you "It is not under water or ravaged in crime."

The New Orleans people are so friendly and enjoy their food, their drink, their music, and their city. They love their music so much that The Spotted Cat on Frenchman Street has a piano in the Ladies room!

Walking through the French Quarter and the Marigny is like taking a trip back in time.

We went for Mardis Gras which was kinda crazy, but an experience that should everyone should have. The people who live there spend hours getting in the spirit of Mardis Gras.

It is an eclectic city where having fun is a theme practiced by all, and where robots and skeletons can dance freely in the streets.

I can't wait to get back to New Orleans!

Road Tales - Baton Rouge and NOLA

Where do I begin! Our first week on the road was fantastic! On this episode I'll tell you about our first part New Orleans, which includes a morning in Baton Rouge for Beignets at Coffee Call. (Thanks to Lacy in Austin for the tip!)

Some fun facts and other stuff not caught on video:

Baton Rouge Hotel - Radisson. It has those sleep number beds you see infomercials on TV for. I'm a 75.

New Orleans Hotel - Hilton. Whatever. They want you to like $1 Million dollars to use wifi and you can't turn up the TV volume past quiet. BUT it was on the Mississippi River! Never in my life did I think I would fall asleep looking out onto the Mississippi.

Best Dinner in Nola - Adolfo's on Frenchman Street in the Marigny - Rack of Lamb and the best fucking eggplant dish I will never forget and can't really explain because it tasted like nothing I've ever had before in my life.

Steamboats, all Mark Twain style, on the Mississippi!

Best Gumbo this side of the Mississippi - World's Famous N'awlins at the French Market

Best Dixieland Jazz Busking Band - Tuba Skinny. I couldn't find much about them on the net except for a Facebook Fan Page. I kinda sorta fell in love with the washboard player and included their music in the Videos.

Stay tuned for our second part of our New Orleans stay....

Road Tales - San Antonio, TX

Before I left for my 2 week tour of the South, Liz Clark, our good friend and the voice of our show titles, came to visit me in San Antonio. But only after I bribed her with BBQ ribs from Mary Ann's Pig Stand and a trip to the Alamo. Enjoy!

Liz Clark is currently on tour in support of her album, Pursuit. Please visit her site for dates.

Leveeland Creations

Firstly, New Orleans is a magical city and everyone should visit. Secondly, art is everywhere. We met Lance selling his art in Jackson Square and were smitten with his work! He took a few minutes out to talk about his found object art and you can watch it right here!

Please visit his Leveeland Creations website, or his Etsy Shop, to buy some art of your own!

The MB Show Road Trip - Day 1

Today we drove from San Antonio, TX to Baton Rouge, LA in our fancy Ford sedan which we were upgraded to by using flirtations and a $5 dollar tip.

466 miles that took 8 hours (which included some wrong turns, gas getting, coffee drinking, phone call making, country music blasting, and stopping to pee 3 times!)

When we crossed over into Louisiana, we stopped at the Tourist information building which was situated on a lake. This signed suggested we stay on dry land.

We also discovered the Shooter Jennings Electric Rodeo show on Serius! For reals!

We are going on the road!!!

Today officially marks the beginning of our road trip through the southern United States! We're very excited and cannot wait to show you snippets of our adventures and interviews with people we meet along the way. Please stay tuned for updates!!!