Moving on to McComb, MS

As soon as the workday was over in New Orleans, we jumped in the car and drove to McComb, MS. It was a pretty straight shot, and took no time at all. Despite my dreams of Mississippi barbecue, when we arrived to McComb it became very clear quite quickly that the place wasn't swimming with places to go and have a good meal, and certainly none very close to the hotel. Since I had no desire to attempt to drive at night I had resigned myself to walking to the nearby McDonalds when I remembered that Mississippi Hotels had the most wonderful habit in the world: Happy Hour. For some reason, every evening, most hotels will provide their guests with some tasty morsel of food, and beer or wine (or a non-alcoholic beverage.)

Beyond awesome. Then it was time to make a decision: the hotel was providing its guests with pulled pork sandwiches. Normally, I only eat processed pork, since I never grew up eating actual pork meat. But it smelled like heaven, and I couldn't bring myself to walk outside in the dark, so I went for this:

It was good. It was soooooo good! Even though I took my dinner to my room, I had to sneak downstairs and go for seconds. The whole point of Hotel Happy Hour is for people to sit downstairs and make friends with the rest of the guests, but since during these trips I already spend so many hours being friendly, I needed to decompress in the silence of my room.

The next day at work, our contact people made good on their "Southern Hospitality" and ordered lunch for us. It consisted of greens, fried chicken, fried eggplant, and I don't remember the fourth one, actually. Unfortunately, this meal was quite disappointing, since it didn't have the deliciousness I found in fried chicken from the last time I had been in MS. But it was good enough to kill the hunger!

That night after work, we drove right back to New Orleans, where we spent the night in an airport hotel before flying back to our respective towns. It was quite the interesting week, and not one I'll soon forget.

It's Nawlin's Dawlin!

Once work was finished in Mobile, we immediately drove to New Orleans, LA. The ride wasn't so bad, and Lauren is a pretty good and confident driver, so it was easy street in that department. Quickly I got in touch with Mary Lee, who took me to Mandinas - a really old New Orleans style restaurant that's been around for more than a 100 years. It had a great atmosphere, essentially the first level of a house gutted out to make space for the restaurant.

We started with some fried eggplant, which y'all know is my favorite vegetable.

Since it was Monday, Red Beans and Rice had to be had, and I figured I'd share Mary Lee's Gumbo. I topped off the beans and rice with Italian Sausage.

After dinner we drove around, picked up Mary Lee's girl, then headed to Columns Hotel to just chill out. It's a hotel, a huge ass house/mansion essentially, with yet another first floor gutted out to make space for a restaurant/bar. I had me some Abita Amber.

And because, apparently, one can't go to New Orleans without having some Beignets, sometime around 11pm we made our way to Café du Monde.

The whole town had a very New York feel - in the sense that it seemed like everyone was out and about at almost midnight on a Monday night - but the low houses, the verandas, the colorful storefronts, not to mention the narrow streets reminded me I was not home. I really enjoyed it though - although I'm not much for going out that late at night, what I like the best, is the possibility. 

Hello South!

So work sends me South - and I'm in New Orleans, LA by 9 a.m. Sunday Morning. In this trip I'm working with Lauren, whom I've only met in a passing way once, so a little apprehensive to begin with. After a misshap with the renting car (their fault, not ours,) we left in our SUV to Mobile, AL via Gulfport, MS. The trip was supposed to take 2 1/2 hours, but turned into a 5 hour road trip. My view of Gulfport.

After some sandy beach view Lauren expressed her desire to play at one of the local casinos. It began a discussion about gambling, Native Americans, and Casinos. But I also agreed to play, but decided I wasn't going to spend more than $10 dollars.

I tell you, the way they pull you in is amazing. We spent an hour in the place. Lauren spent $20 bucks or so. We played the slots; I only used 6 bucks to play the slots, with $3.50 spent on a bottle of water. I know. The Casino gave me $15 of "free play" which essentially means that if you play the slots and you lose, you get that play reimbursed. So I played using my free play, stopping exactly when the free play was over and tallied my wins, which amounted to... $4. And thus, I left the Casino 50 cents richer. I have never been one to gamble, but I certainly wasn't persuaded to try it again. I did glance at someone's slot machine on the way out, and they had $100 bucks going - I don't know if that was money he had won or that he put in, but the amount just made me sad.

After the Casino in Biloxi we tried to eat at a place that the bartender recommended, but the place was closed, thankfully. We searched for a new place, but coming off of the Casino I gave Lauren the wrong direction to drive to, and when we were rounding on the block in order to try to get back in the right direction we drove by the Schooner Seafood Restaurant, which happened to be one that Lauren remembered from her childhood. We found a parking place nearby and got ourselves settled.

We started with some sweet tea

I chose the fish Po'Boy dressed with lettuce, tomato and mayo, and a side of fries (without gravy)

Ate every bit of it, it was delicious. I mean the fries were hella salty, but that did not deter me from eating every bit of food in front of me. After we had rested enough to actually move, we got back to the car and off to Mobile.

We stayed in downtown Mobile, and there isn't really much going around here, except for some museums that were within walking distance. Since it was already 4pm by the time that I was settled in my room, I ran out in an effort to find them still open. On my way I saw the Fort Conde. (it's way smaller than it looks. And not nearly enough near water to be effective, so I don't know if it's a replica of something.

some funky downtown buildings

The Condé Charlotte House Museum, which was the first Jail in Mobile, AL before it was converted into a House.

And the Museum of Mobile, which I was very disappointed by, because I got there at exactly 4:40, but was not allowed to stay in for more than 5 minutes because they closed at 5. The gift shop closed at 4:30pm! Ridiculous. But I guess they take their closing time and their Sundays very seriously in Mobile. In the 5 minutes I was inside I glimpsed at a 9/11 exhibition - apparently, the museum opened days after the attacks and so it was trying to (somberly) celebrate its 10 year anniversary.

After MoM, I tried to dash it to the Carnival Museum. On my way I passed by this, which was hella cool. Although no one was occupying the Government Plaza where it was written, I appreciate that the movement is reaching everywhere.

The Carnival Museum was also closed, but there were bits and pieces you could read outside of it. They take their Sundays seriously, y'all! However, I learned that "Mardi Gras" actually happened in Mobile, AL first, and that it's supposed to be a very big deal here as well - just that it's a lot more family friendly than the New Orleans version. Which reminds me, on my way to MoM I saw me a tree that still had some beads in it.

The Carnival Museum looks like fun, though.

On the way back I stopped by the Spanish Plaza, which celebrates Mobile's Spanish Heritage. It was okay.

Not a bad way to start the "tour of the South."

Nashville, Day 2

Despite the yummy Thai food we ate the day before, at the end of the second recording day in Murfreesboro, we were ready to head out of town. However, we began the "after work hours" by stopping by the Agriculture department of Middle Tennessee State University, thanks to the recommendation of a participant. There we tracked down the Head of the Department's secretary, who hooked us up with the one thing MTSU "Ag Department" is apparently well known for: Chocolate Milk.

The Ag Department students at MTSU take care of their own cows, milk them everyday, pasteurize it, then take it through the process of making it all chocolaty. We were lucky in that we were able to get a batch that was very much freshly made - so fresh the bottle still didn't have a label on yet.

Despite my lactose intolerance, I had me two delicious cups of chocolate milk. I admit it's been a long time since I actually drank milk, much less chocolate milk, so maybe my system was just doing the happy dance at flavors it thought it'd never taste again.

We chatted with our southern host about hospitality and oral history and archival work before finally beginning to make our way out of Murfreesboro. We decided to go with the recommendation made by Gaspar's friend, and headed to Monell's Dining and Catering in Nashville.

The restaurant is in the middle of a residential block, definitely the kind of place one only goes to when looking for it, and essentially it's a house/manor that's been emptied out and filled with long family size tables. You see, Monell's is a family-style restaurant, which we learned meant that you sat on a table with a bunch of people you don't know - and you share the food. That is, the restaurant has the food they've cooked for the day, and they bring you plates, which you pass to your left. The special of the night was Spinach Lasagna and Pot Roast.

We sat on a table where only two people were sitting, two very friendly men from D.C. turns out that they were U.S. Navy musicians, in town thanks to the Bluegrass Convention that was going on. One of them had even served in Iraq and Afghanistan a couple of times. We shared stories as we shared our meal, which ended up being more than just the special.

I wish I had taken better notes about the food but then I was very busy eating and having a great conversation. Besides what you see on the plate (biscuits, corn bread, mashed potatoes, skilled fried chicken, turnip greens, white beans, pot roast, spinach lasagna, something sweet and mashed I can't remember the name of) there were peas in mayo, and some other veggie in mayo. There was sweet lemonade before we ended the meal with peach cobbler.

The bill came in the cute form of a card, since everyone gets charged the same

Before they left, however, our table mates told us of the best way to listen to some live Bluegrass music: Go to the Renaissance Hotel downtown, and essentially walk up and down the 21st floor, where we could wander in and out of hotel rooms. Gaspar and I decided to take them at their word, and after paying our bill and admiring the outside garden of Monell's, found our way to the downtown area.

Mind you, neither Gaspar nor I can be considered real Bluegrass fans, but live music is live music, not to mention the opportunity to experience something that we'd otherwise never get to experience. We made our way to the 21st floor and were still too early to see any "shows" and so walked around. We heard some really fun music coming through partially open hotel room doors, but didn't have the guts to just open up and walk in. Eventually though, we ran into a show in room 2114, Acoustic Trail's room. We listened to Brittany Haas and Lauren Riouxe, who were pretty impressive.

I can't remember the names of the songs they played, but some were originals, and some were well known. The "Show" was great - there was free beer to be had, and even some spicy soup to wake up the system. After they were done we made our way to the basement showdown floor, where several bands and groups were performing. They were okay, but I liked these two the best.

Eventually we made our way back to Murfreesboro, listening to a Radio Lab podcast about parasites, which of course, sparked an energetic conversation between Gaspar and I about the little suckers, evolution, and perception.

Not what I thought I'd be doing with my Tuesday evening, that's for sure. But the whole thing was great, tasty and a lot of fun.

April 3rd

Hello again my peeps! I write from awesomely warm Jackson, MS. Don't get excited though, we're supposed to have a thunderstorm tomorrow. I choose to enjoy the now. So, you get two awesome things in this post: first, tonight's meal, brought to you by Open Table and the recommendation of the front desk clerk.

Traveling with John this time and the one thing we agreed on with the trip was that there would be no holding back when it came to food. Enter Julep! We began the meal with some deliciously warm rolls.

They were hot and perfect and I could feel them sticking to my ribs as I ate. They were so warm, that after cutting the roll with the knife, touching the butter with the knife was enough to have it melt.

As part of the "no holding back" we went with an appetizer. We chose Eggplant Fries, because, hey, it's a vegetable!

I wasn't too excited about them though - barely tasted like eggplant (I hope it was eggplant in there) and the whole thing had obviously been fried with fish or in fishy batter.

Main entree: some fried chicken dipped in a honey batter, with red skin mashed potatoes and green beans

I absolutely ate everything on that plate and there's not an ounce of guilt in me. It was super delicioso. I mean, sure, I feel a bit sluggish now, and hella sleepy, but I've been traveling all day - don't blame it on the chicken!

In any case, it's time to turn in. But first today's poem. I decided to follow the prompt Mi Cariño followed for today. I grabbed the nearest book, in this case it ended being Jodi Picoult's "House Rules". Don't judge. Found the first 10 complete words, wrote a poem with them. The words: I glance at It isn't. Well says it's not know

Hampton Inn


Isn't true then that the secret's in the color?
warm reds, not just cream, adorn this hotel
room, with a hide-a-way couch by a king's size bed. 
At it's left there's the desk where I 
seat, trying to avoid sleep, trying to forget
I didn't choose the painting on the wall. 
But at a glance, the room is mine, with 
its warm red walls and bedside clock 
a tiny studio apartment maybe, that
lady with the 90 foot square place in the upper
west would well do wonders with this place. But
she would keep the warm red walls, because the interior
decorating magazine I read says that 
warmth is what makes home, even when 
I set the thermostat to 65. This
I know. 

© yazcaminante, 2011.

The Justin Bieber Experience

Got together with the girls to watch Never Say Never, the Justin Bieber story. First, though, we stopped by The Bourbon Street Restaurant, on Restaurant Row. I had me the Veggie Po'Boy, and it was gooooood.

The biebs was pretty impressive himself. Beliefs about abortion aside, he's obviously a talented boy, and seems genuinely a good kid. Plus his songs are catchy. Hope he stays the same. And that someone teaches him the difference between adoption and killing a baby.

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