Day 8: Broadway Motel, Hattiesburg, Mississippi to New Orleans

We took our time this morning in the Broadway Motel, using the internet and sleeping in. What a shitty beginning to an amazing day. We packed up and headed south on rt. 11 on long straight roads. Our plan was to drive on 11 to 607 through the John C. Stennis NASA test site to 604 to 90 and on in to New Orleans.

As we were driving down 607 we saw a security checkpoint and I started to just crack up because we had come so far down this road and we were stopped by the gate attendants. You can't get there this way, a cyclist tried the same thing and they turned him around as well. He was doing a similar trip to Mexico. So we drove back the way we came to a road we noticed on the way in and took a right onto this "dirt interstate."



It was the reddest dirt and seemed as if we were in another part of the world, and the road was about 100 feet wide, enough for 4 tractor trailer trucks to drive side by side. The road was also in the NASA blast buffer zone, whatever that means... It was very strange to me, the whole situation with the guards being so chill and not really knowing what is going on in the government test facility and not really caring. It also seemed as if they had been working their for 30 years. On either side of the dirt road was tree farms of massive amounts of pine trees stretching as far as the eye could see, it was Saturday so no one should have been working on the road but there were a few sketchy pickups around not really doing much. It was a very beautiful event though.





We made it off the road and into a breakfast joint, ordered and then witnessed a van catch fire outside the window right in front of us. I tried to use one of the fire extinguishers but it had expired and didn't work one bit. We finally put out the fire with the help of the "chef." The funny thing is that this was the third fire today in front of the gas station/restaurant.

Driving into New Orleans on Rt. 10 was a trip. We had been warned that the city is dangerous and is not a great place to be traveling, we listened but still made our journey. The first sign that the there is something wrong with the city was a billboard that was still on the massive steal post but blown sideways. Also, all of the rest areas and weight stations that we opened (I think there was one) had a new sign saying that it provided security to users. The welcome center was closed for renovations and there was construction going on along all of the interstate. There was even an exit which was barricaded off... no where to go there.

The bridges were another major sign that something was wrong. The majority of the sides of the bridges were non-existent and parts of the bridge had been blown out and temporary steel sections had been put in their place. A new bridge was being built alongside the old one.

Once we passed over the bridges and entered New Orleans the air became thicker and had a stench to it. The houses along the highway looked as though there had been a zombie invasion, actually the entire day felt like that, that we were entering an area where a recovery effort was underway to rid New Orleans of zombies. Neighborhoods had been fenced off with broken windows and ripped roofs.

Just a very strange feeling...

After a few times around the streets of the French Quarter, we homed in on the corner of Bourbon and Orleans and finally met up with Robert. Beer in hand, Robert directed us to our accommodations a few blocks away, We unloaded the bikes and shed some layers of riding gear before we all (yes Robert included) hopped back on the bikes to go find the place to park them where for $40 we apparently can count on them being there when we go looking for them tomorrow.

We first stopped at Johnny White's Sports Bar, the only bar that didn't close during Katrina in all of New Orleans! There we met some interesting characters and had a couple cold Abita Ambers (Robert's choice brew). Then walked around the French Quarter passing by some amazing architecture (Robert of course had the skinny on pretty much every building we passed).
This place pictured here is the oldest building in the city built in 1788.


We eventually ended up at a little joint called d.b.a. to listen to some Jazz, the most phenomenal live music I have ever herd. We sat on the floor right in front of the musicians while enjoying a half dozen more Abitas.



I could go on and on about the politics of the whole situation and the inequality and lack of government support for the New Orleans community, but I won't now cause I am to tired. What I will say is that this city looks and feels like a nuclear bomb was dropped on a zombie invasion and the only thing that is keeping the city's heart beating is the Jazz. This city has a future and has an amazing history but just needs a little help from its friends to rebuild the city stronger and better and more sustainable. It was very interesting to see the impact of global warming and the possibility of this same scene happening all over the world. We need to help these people and we need to put on our thinking caps and make non-political solutions to the real world problems of poverty, inequality, crime, disparity, health, family, love...

I might be rambling...

We are staying in a little cottage that used to be slaves quarters behind the main house of a friend of Robert. Totally adequate living space if you ask me. From the way life goes here, you don't really spend much time at home anyhow.

Goodnight and let the music set you free!