Hello, readers. I’ve woken up alive and rested in Raleigh, NC, soon to grab some of my favorite maffé sauce, and then I’ll drive north to DC.
I’m sorry this blog hasn’t been updated as I go from place to place on my road trip; it started that way, but over the past several days I haven’t found the time to update in the kind of detail I want to share. I sacrificed valuable writing and reflection time to see six concerts in six separate cities in a row. There’s plenty to share when I find time to sit down and write and actually have the energy to do it.
Know that I am safe and still making all the dates on my tour poster. If I haven’t seen you yet, I’ll see you soon. If I have seen you, you’re great! Let’s do it again sometime!
The beginning of a very, very long leg of the trip
Tennessee is longer than you think it is. I’d make a corollary for Hofstadter’s law to say this:
Corollary for Hofstadter’s law: Tennessee takes longer to drive than you think it does, even when taking into account the Corollary for Hofstadter’s law.
To be fair, Tennessee was only a little more than half of the distance I needed to cover.
The distance I needed to cover between “tour stops”A reasonable amount to travel in one day?
There was rain and construction most the way on I-40 west. Fortunately fog and pink redbuds made the drive scenic even when I was halted to a stop.
Not a good sign when you see red tail lights and one lane of traffic.Fog and redbuds, both lovely
Long after the sun had set and I continued on, not even close to being through Tennessee, Nashville appeared as ghostly lights through the rain. My legs were starting to get antsy and I was happy to stop driving, even in this ghost city.
Ghost Nashville
Sidebar: I have a trick for finding the most interesting spots of any city: search for vegan restaurants nearby. You usually find two categories of vegan restaurants:
Asian restaurants serving mostly vegetables and vegan beef and chicken (sometimes vegan eggs, too; My good friend T had some and didn’t think they were like eggs at all), and
Very hip, ethical vegetarian/vegan places in very hip parts of town.
I’d only driven past Nashville in the past to head west (or east) to (or from) Dallas, TX. I wanted to dip into the city a little bit and get a feel for what it might be like. I tried the vegan restaurant trick by using Yelp near Nashville. I found a place called The Wild Cow. Seemed like a pleasant residential area around that restaurant. I feel like I hit the jackpot every time I see tattoos and blue hair. And not only that, the food and scene were both delectable.
A view from the counter at The Wild Cow in Nashville. Haha, “Hail Seitan”.A vegan variant for the Wild Reuben at The Wild Cow. A vegan Reuben?! You betcha.
I stayed the night in Memphis after getting very, very tired of driving through the car wash that was weather over Tennessee.
Adverse weather conditions and darkness do not make for a pleasant drive.
Little Rock was a beacon of hope while driving the next day. I only had a little longer to go before finally making it to Texas. The sky was clearing up. I filled up on gas there and marked another merit badge in the dirt coat my car was wearing.
Sunny and shiny Little Rock, AROhio and Tennessee, COMPLETED!
I traveled along I-30 long enough and sure enough eventually made it to Texas. I put on some Throwing Muses albums, looked out at the silver sky, and felt tingling elation. After two years away, I was back to see my old stomping grounds and friends and coworkers.
Suddenly everything was bigger.The last major stretch into Dallas. The surrounding area is called Rockwall. I could see Dallas’s skyscrapers in the distance here, but I guess the camera didn’t pick them up.
Up next: an entry on the fun in Dallas, TX and surrounding area.
A sunset over the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, NC
There’s something about mountains that really magnetizes me to them. When I was little, I had these dreams that mountains magically appeared in my backyard. Having grown up in the Midwest, the greatest changes in elevation I was used to were tires popping into potholes. Mountains beckoned me last summer as I drove east from Seattle through the Cascades, and then again into the Rockies of Montana and Alberta. I knew I wanted to see the Appalachians this time around.
These are the Cascades in Washington. But what if you woke up and saw them in your backyard out of nowhere?!
Heading south from Cincinnati, the other side of the Ohio River is Kentucky, a land of good basketball teams and fried chicken. I didn’t spend much time there, as my next planned stop on the tour poster was Kingsport, TN, and I intended to get there quickly so I could spend more time with my kin there. But there are a couple notables from Kentucky.
Florence, y’allThis cloud was impressive.
I took the route south through Lexington, KY. I got into some rolling hills and forest in southwest Kentucky, part of Daniel Boone National Forest.
The 6 hour alternate route looks boring, but I could be wrong about that.Wooded, rolling hills
There’s a fascinating part of this trail that goes through three states in a very short distance, called the Cumberland Gap. You’ll be in Kentucky, then Tennessee, then Virginia, all in a matter of minutes.
Welcome to Tennessee!Haha, just kidding! You’re in Virginia now!Sunset over Cumberland Gap
The sunset beauty around the Cumberland Gap behind me, US-58 through Virginia felt like a roller coaster in the dark, a Space Mountain. Along US-58, I experienced my first DUI checkpoint, two flashing blue cop cars on each side of the highway. “Uh, Officer,” I said, “What is this?” He flashed a light in my eyes, looked at my clearly-not-Virginia license, and let me through. Apparently I was not drunk.
US-23 south spiraled through some more mountainsides, passing by Food Lion, Food City, and Food Country stores, and then I was in Kingsport, TN. A few wrong turns through town and I finally made it to my kin’s renovated farmhouse on a hill. I was welcomed with sushi and a local IPA. Feeling full in all regards, I fell into pillowy bed and collected four times as many sleeping hours as I had the previous two nights.
Cozy farmhouse livingNeat old bathtub and the second cat on my journey, Gabriella
I started my day nice and slowly in the fairly luxurious “spare” bedroom. The room had a couch where I typed up the previous entry, a coffee nook with several K-cup flavors, a bathroom with all the amenities. I doubt I’ll stay in any room that nice for the remainder of the trip.
Accurate.This is what you find under “Southern hospitality” in the dictionary.Lazy Sunday southern breakfast
My kin and I went on a hike after breakfast around Bays Mountain. I love hiking through the woods. Plenty of fine vistas around the Kingsport Reservoir, which was historically the fresh water supply for Kingsport, TN.
View from behind a naturally occurring dam at the Kingsport Reservoir atop Bays Mountain
I drove south to Asheville after a warm goodbye to my kin. It feels good to know I have such a comforting place to stay in Appalachia.
After I parked near my friend W’s house in Asheville, I ate dinner at Plant on Asheville’s north side. Some of the most delicious food I’ve had, let alone vegan food.
Lemongrass seitan, with a winter squash puree, baby bok choy, fermented black lentils, cashews, and pickled daikon radish
I walked south through Asheville’s downtown to the River Arts District (RAD). I immediately felt at home seeing a high relative density of plaid shirts worn. Asheville is a very pretty city. So many colors!
Modern architecture reflecting sunsetTurquoise and periwinkle buildingsBlue, olive, and yellow buildings
I decided to get a beer at Wedge Brewing, a beer garden and brewery in the RAD I heard good things about. I thoroughly enjoyed their IPA and their peaty Scotch ale. Both cooled me down from how sweaty I’d been walking that way.
Eventually my friend W made it to Wedge and we caught up. It was nice to sit outside with beer and chat, something I haven’t been able to do in the Midwest since last September. We headed to Wicked Weed Brewing afterward and enjoyed some sour beers produced by their offshoot Funkatorium.
I had fragmented sleep on W’s futon because a cat named Hazel wanted to rub her head on my hands and face at all hours of the night. She was darn cute, so I let it happen. I’ve met three cats along this road trip so far, and I hope to meet more.
Oh, good morning to you too, Hazel.
As I write this, I’m sitting at Izzy’s Coffee Den in downtown Asheville, NC. I’m planning out how I want to get to my next “planned” stop, Dallas, TX. Something like 14 hours of driving that I hope to split across a couple days. I hope there will be music blue, green kudzu, and barbecue along the way.
If you’re driving south into Ohio, do yourself a favor and avoid US-23 south for as long as possible. Yes, Google Maps suggests it is a shorter route by 10 minutes and 23 miles (distance and time may vary). Don’t fall for it.
Or you could fly for only $451!!!
If you go that route, you will be forced to drive through rural Ohio, including the bizarre Fostoria. Here is what you can look forward to on that route.
55 mph with periodic traffic lights THE WHOLE WAYThis establishment is Butt Hut, selling tobacco. “Great Deals on Great Butts.” :sigh:“Truckers welcome.”Seriously?
The first “posted” stop on my road trip poster itinerary was Columbus, OH, in the Short North neighborhood. My best friend B and her husband live there with their furbabies. I hadn’t seen them since I officiated their wedding last July. (Search here for “Lauer” under last name. I’m available to perform your marriage ceremonies in Ohio.) It was great catching up.
We ate pizza and drank pitchers of beer at Hounddog’s.
I prefer dim lighting to ghostly green flash on food photos.
The next morning we sat around taking in the morning light and chatting, and later ate at a cute Asian deli serving both vegan bagel sandwiches and spicy tuna bowls.
Townes Van Cat taking in the quiet Columbus morningSALADS
Be sure to visit Cincinnati. Until last summer I thought the city was only pigs and P&G. Turns out I was mistaken. Cincy feels like an independent city state that happens to be in Ohio. My friend B was telling me that they designed it to be like New York City. I agreed that it smelled about the same.
Cincinnati’s architecture is classic and lovely. Some examples below.
We need more clock towers. Sometimes I intentionally don’t have my watch or phone on me.There are two bicyclists in the middle of Main Street, in the shadows. Lots of bikes around, if you’re into that. Many people wear Reds apparel. Ohio is overall a very “red” state in terms of apparel.Down on Main Street
Definitely check out Main Street in Over-the-Rhine (OTR). Park + Vine is a general store and vegan cafe in OTR that satisfies me every time I visit. They serve vegan goetta, which is normally absolutely not vegan, a product of Cincy’s meat culture.
I’m following this rough map as I continue south then east then north on this road trip. So far I’m only at the first dot. Something like five days of driving to go, fortunately with things like eating, sleeping, and spending time with others in between.
I find it interesting how the shape of the path looks like a character from my old comic Behold The Cheese. This was not intentional. Also unintentional was how I wasn’t sleeping much the night before I started driving south. I swear.
The question is then, why go to all these places, in that order?
In Columbus, OH (my current location), I’m visiting one of my best friends, her husband, and their two animal children. We’ll eat, drink, and be merry.
In Kingsport, TN, I’m visiting family that I used to see once a year in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for family gatherings. Feels good to visit someone who normally makes the long drive. I’m looking forward to those blueish mountains too. So much so that I changed my phone wallpaper to be blue mountains.
In Asheville, NC, I’ll be mostly exploring around. I have a friend living there that I’ll probably have dinner with. Everyone keeps saying, “Oh man, Asheville’s great.” It’s time for me to find out why.
On the way between Asheville and Dallas, TX, I’m sure I’ll see some kudzu, country music, and hot springs. The days between are a little bit less planned intentionally.
In Dallas, I’ll be catching up with old coworkers and friends, and also seeing a show at the historic Granada Theater.
In Austin, I’ll be pretending to be hip and seeing a show at Stubb’s BBQ.
In Houston, I’ll be getting lost and seeing a show at Warehouse Live.
In New Orleans, I’ll be looking at architecture and musicians, while seeing more musicians at The Civic Theatre.
In Atlanta, I’ll spend time with my cousin whom I also normally only see once a year, and—you guessed it—seeing another show, this time at The Tabernacle.
In Raleigh, I’ll be looking for Maffé sauce. I’ll also be seeing a show at The Ritz, which is rated terribly on Yelp. I like going to places rated terribly and then being pleasantly surprised. Example: Lewis & Clark Motel in Bozeman, MT.
In DC, I’ll stop by 826DC, which is a sister nonprofit to the one I normally volunteer at, 826michigan. I also have family that lives around there.
NYC has so many BuzzFeed and Thrillist articles about what to do. I’m sure I’ll find a way to spend some hours. I better find a way to spend the night. 826NYC is also there, another sister nonprofit.
Finally, the last “planned” stop is Providence, RI to see a show at The Parlour. I love Rhode Island. I can’t wait for coffee milk and looking out at the water.
Arthur Hovinc's Port Manteau 
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