Day 13 in Dixie: traveling back and final thoughts

Well, I'm back in New England.  Taking the bus from Boston to Hanover.  The last 2+ weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and have fulfilled a few major criteria for a great vacation:
1) they were spent with someone I adore
2) they took me out of my everyday life
3) I am a little different now from when I left
4) I am ready to go home and do some science!

We left Chattanooga this morning and drove the 2 hrs to Atlanta.  As usual for the trip, traffic wasn't a problem.  At the Atlanta airport we had one last plate of ribs (nothing to write home about.  I wonder how long I have to wait before going to Big Fatty's in Vermont...) and started missing each other preemptively.  It's always so abrupt, the parting after a long visit.

We logged more than 2300 miles in the South.  If you include the round trip from San Marcos to Santa Barbara, we did 2700 miles all told.  Over these miles, we saw:

-very moving historical places like Tuskegee, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Harper Lee's home town, Vicksburg, and the Oak Alley plantation

-a couple of very cool cities (Mobile and Birmingham)

-seven baseball games in all sorts of conditions.  Our hearts are with the Montgomery Biscuits, though!

-My good friend Matt and the incredible natural beauty of the Smoky Mountains

-many, many plates of ribs

My overall impression of the South is pretty much what I expected it to be:  amazing in some ways and disturbing in others.  I don't know whether this is just my pre-conceived notions getting reinforced by selective vision, an inadequate sampling of the region, or some level of reality.  Probably all three.

The conservative atmosphere was intense in all ways:  religious, political, and historical.  The past still lives there, often not in a good way and many there certainly seem to see the past through lenses of their own choosing.  Surfing the radio, listening to conversations at restaurants, talking to people at the B&Bs in Montgomery and Vicksburg, seeing the aggressively defiant bumper stickers and plethora of Confederate flags on vehicles, the mixing of God and nationalism in a way that makes them one-in-the-same, all lead to this same conclusion - there's not much will to "play well with others" or to change with the times.  One perhaps trivial example (but I think a telling one) - our trip was almost completely devoid of opportunities to recycle, both in public places and at hotels.  Basically, I only saw any recycling in Birmingham and the Atlanta airport.  I didn't realize how "standard" that had become to me.  The scenario I have going on in my head is that this is considered new-fangled, Northern, and Liberal, so nobody does it.  If that is in fact the reason, I would certainly call that pig-headed while we all slowly get buried under a mountain of waste.

The other thing was the large number of gun stores (many more than I've ever seen), which brings me to my biggest fear:  that the combination of a whole bunch of anger/stubbornness and a whole bunch of guns is going to erupt in this country.  That fear isn't really assuaged by the trip (in fact, it's probably increased).  Independently, I learned that it's STILL difficult for blacks to register to vote down there, at least in Mississippi.  I knew about the Texas thing, but I guess naively thought it was isolated.  This knowledge made our visits to Civil Rights sites a little less joyful because there sounds like some row still to hoe.  I try to question my own prejudices on this, but come on, at what point does one call a spade a spade?  At what point does one stop making allowances for the other?  At what point does is one permitted to get impatient and say "You are NOT living in in 1850 anymore.  In fact, 1850 was atrocious for half your population, so own that.  You are living in a world with 7 billion very diverse people and it's getting very very crowded.  Stop acting like whiny children"?  I guess I'm ranting more about the general in-your-face conservative wave in the country, in which people are very up on their "rights" but don't think their "patriotism" should cost them any money.

Reading back those last two paragraphs, I see that they themselves are really whiny, as well as ignorant.  Somewhat akin to visiting France for two weeks and coming back with the conclusion "the French are rude" after being ignored by a café waiter.  Having not lived in a place, one's impressions are very superficial.  I'm going to leave them, though.

There were many many good things good things on our trip.  The knowledge possessed by the people at Vicksburg and Oak Alley did in fact give me different perspectives on things.  Our tour with Wanda at MLK's church in Montgomery was both moving and enlightening.  Matt's views as a liberal who has lived in the South for years, and who sees both good and bad there, were very good to hear.  The fellowship of baseball never ceases to amaze me.  And two weeks of constant companionship with my daughter on the road:  finding Waffle Houses, keeping score at games, exploring new places and historical sites, binge watching "Vikings", tolerating each other's moods and idiosyncrasies...  I could do that anywhere.

Our final state line, from Tennessee into Georgia on I-75.

Returning the car after 2300 miles.

One last plate of ribs at the Atlanta airport.

Saying au revoir at the airport.  Harry sporting the UCSB colors!

Day 12 in Dixie: Chattanooga and the last baseball game

Well, we did it.  Went to our last game of the trip:  the Chattanooga Lookouts against the Jacksonville Suns.  Most games of the trip have been pitching duels, and this was no different.  The Suns took it
3 - 1, so we ended up 2 and 5 on the trip.  Our record belies the fun we have had!

We started the day at Matt's house in Sevierville, and said good-bye to Bella and him in the morning.  We took a look around Knoxville and the University of Tennessee, but it was dead dead dead, and we weren't super-impressed by U of T's architecture (experts that we are).  We also failed to find a university district where we could have some lunch.  So, we were at loose ends and I was about to break a personal rule that I didn't even know I had made:  I will never eat a meal at Olive Garden.

Well, Texas came to the rescue, in the form of a Texas BBQ joint.  We debated long and hard about the virtues of BBQ now versus at a more local-sounding BBQ joint in Chattanooga for our last dose of the trip.  The conclusion:  a bird in hand...  The conclusion on the BBQ - not the best, but even bad BBQ tends to be OK as long as it's moist and falls off the bone.  We also watched some USA women's soccer and had a good time.

Back to the game:
We've had several days of on-and-off rain, and after threatening for the first few innings it started to dump on us pretty steadily.  Everybody soldiered on, though and nothing was stopped.  We didn't move a muscle from out seats right behind home plate, happily drinking beer and eating ice cream.  Maddy's overall assessment of ball park beer:  get Shock Top.  I tended to drink the trashier stuff.

We saw the Lookouts' starting pitcher, DJ Baxendale (Rogers AR), for the second time on the trip.  He had an OK game, but man the ump was squeezing him (we could tell, being right behind the plate).  Lookouts loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first, but completely squandered it.  Chris Mazza for the Suns (Clayton CA) settled down after that and ended up striking out 7 in 5 innings.  No big blows in the game.  The guy I liked best was Dan Palka (Lyman SC), right fielder for the Lookouts.  Didn't have a great game at the dish (0-2 with two walks) but has a killer arm in right.  Looks like a ball player.

In the bottom of the first, the Lookouts' manager, Doug Mientkiewicz, got thrown out for arguing balls and strikes.  If that name sounds familiar to Red Sox fans, it is!  He's the guy who was with the Sox for like one month of the 2004 season, but then caught the last out of their World Series win that year, and would not give up the ball.  Not a big fan of him.

The rain stopped just as the game ended, the sun came out and a rainbow appeared.  Perfect ending to our baseball experience.

On Matt's deck.

Saying good-bye to Bella.

Happy Creek TN, between Sevierville and Knoxville.

Taking good advantage of Happy Creek for some advertising.

Around the corner from Happy Creek, the message is less happy.  If you can't read it, it says:

"Prayer will get you in HEAVEN!!!!
Trespassing will get you there QUICKER!!!!!"

It's OK, Maddy's between them and me.

Waffle House in Sevierville.  These places are EVERYWHERE in the South!  In fact, Maddy and I developed a punch game around it (first person to see one while driving gets to punch the other in the arm).  Despite taking a big early lead, I think Maddy might be behind a bit now*.  We'll see what tomorrow holds.

*JK - she's kicking my arm.

Texas Roadhouse in Knoxville TN.  Hook em Horns!

Going into AT&T Park in Chattanooga.

Before the game.

Jazzford United Methodist Church youth choir singing the National Anthem.

Louie, the Lookouts mascot.

Maddy with a wooden Louie.

Dealing with rain.

Some action.

The post-game rainbow.  In the words of Diana Hamer, "Don't you just LOVE baseball?"

Day 11 in Dixie: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

and it is both "Great" and "Smoky"

This is a really beautiful place and, as the name implies, it's smoky with mist.

The first day here, Matt and I took a hike through the woods and went swimming in a creek near the Sugarlands visitor center.  We were the only ones, except for a bunch of trout hopping around.  Water wasn't New England-cold, but it was brisk.  Soul-restoring.

The second day, Maddy and I headed out to go a little higher.  We drove up to Clingman's Dome, all the while being treated to spectacular vistas.  This was a 4600 foot climb in 20 miles (from 2000 to 6600 feet), and the temperature changed about 20 degrees (from 85 to 65 F).  You can hike about half a mile from there up to an observation tower.  And I do mean "up", it was steep.  At that point you're hiking along the Appalachian Trail for a bit, and straddling the Tennessee/North Carolina border.  Our sixth state!

One of the people we were hiking along with was a guy wearing a shirt depicting a Minuteman aiming an M-16 rifle, with the words "Patriot" and "Try to take it".  I was wondering what "it" was.  I was wondering whether he griped about his taxes while hiking in a National Park that is amazingly maintained and for which he paid zero dollars (this park has no entry charge).

Matt and Harry in the park.

Matt and Harry at the swimming hole.  We had suits on (the trouts are pretty modest).

Maddy at the top

Harry at the top

The top

Maddy on the tower.  Out of gas!  She had on some excellent hiking gear (flip-flops).

Evidence that we made it to North Carolina, for wont of a highway sign.

Three versions of the Creation story, at the top of Clingman's Dome.

Day 10 in Dixie: Dixie Stampede and the Tennessee Smokies

We made it to Pigeon Forge TN just in time for Matt Varhola's show at the Dixie Stampede.  Dolly Parton hails from nearby and built Dollywood here, which has made this a huge country music destination.  Sort of a great place to do it - nestled into the Smoky Mountains (more on the spectacular National Park tomorrow).  Matt's show is an intense combination of country, blue grass and adapted rock and roll songs by three very talented muscians:  Gary Davis (aka "Biscuit") on banjo, Robert Hale on guitar, and Matt on stand-up base.  Really a tight group with amazing harmonies.  They work hard, sometimes doing 3 shows a day to about 1000 people each.  People who go to that show then go on to see a variety show afterwards.

Last night we caught our 6th baseball game!  The Tennessee Smokies, playing the Jackson Generals just outside of Knoxville.  We loved the ball park and the ambiance.  Our second favorite park (to the Montgomery Biscuits, who are just superior in all ways).  Very much a pitcher's duel, with Kyle Hunter (a lefty from Gailsburg IL) throwing a lot of off-speed stuff for the Generals and keeping the Biscuits off base.  Tyler Skulina (Estero FL) for the Smokies was one tall drink of water (6'5") but also was a little wild.  Still, he kept the Generals in check until Tyler O'Neill (British Columbia) un-loaded with a homer into the left field picnic area.  Generals took it 2-1, and we are now 2 and 4 on our baseball swing.  We're going to end up with a losing record numerically only.  One game remaining in Chattanooga on Sunday.

Matt on stand-up and Robert Hale on guitar.  Biscuit (on banjo) has his back to us.

Outside the stadium.  We're getting awesome at selfies!

Inside the stadium.  Ditto!

Day 9 in Dixie: Birmingham Art Museum and a mad dash to Tennessee

We've been very impressed by a couple of cities on this trip:  Mobile and Birmingham.  Mobile because it's funky and artsy.  Birmingham is more establishment but has a nice feel too.  I hadn't realized this was an old steel city which, like Pittsburgh, hit some really hard times.  Also like Pittsburgh, though, it has done a lot to recover.  Various automobile companies have built plants in Alabama, including Mercedes Benz just outside of Birmingham.  The Birmingham downtown is very nice and walkable.

Especially impressive to us was the Birmingham Art Museum, which you can walk into for free.  It had very nice permanent exhibits of European and American art, cool traveling exhibits, and a great little restaurant in a nice indoor courtyard.  We are big fans!

We couldn't stick around too long, however, because we had to dash to Pigeon Forge TN to catch my high school friend, Matthias Varhola, performing in his show at the Dixie Stampede.  More on Tennessee soon!

Dale Chihuly piece at Birmingham Art Museum.

Portrait of Booker T. Washington at Birmingham Art Museum.  He was an amazing guy who spent his career at Tuskegee.  You see mention of him a lot in Alabama.

Random painting of the Brandywine River (Pennsylvania, my home town!) in the Birmingham Art Museum by a chap named Bruce Crane.

Somewhat absurd quote on a pillar commemorating soldiers who died in the Civil War.  Birmingham.

Going into Georgia. We were there about 20 min, on our way to Tennessee.

Going into Tennessee 20 min later.  This was a very dangerous photo.  Luckily, I had the guard rail between me and the traffic.  Maddy was in a slightly different situation.

Day 8 in Dixie continued: long drive, the Rickwood Classic, and a Liberal rant

We left Louisiana this morning at 5:30 AM, embarking on a 6 hr drive to get to Birmingham for the Rickwood Classic baseball game at 12:30.  Why?  Because it was there!

My plan was to go through New Orleans before rush hour in order to drive over the water in relative peace.  It was not to be - people go to work EARLY around here!  Road crews were already working by 6 (I guess to stay out of the heat of the day as much as possible).  We were bumper-to-bumper on I-10, all going 70 to 80 mph.  People drive QUICKLY around here!  At all times, there was a big pick up truck tailgating me impatiently, all driven by middle-aged white guys and looking pristine, like they're not even used as trucks.  In succession, I had a Ford, a Chevy and a Dodge (the biggest of them all).  I really despise these things - if you're going to have a mid-life crisis why do you have to get 5 miles per gallon while doing it?

When I went to point out this phenomenon to Maddy, the next 2 trucks to impatiently pass me were:  a real working pickup (driven by a plumber), another working pick-up (driven by a black farmer-type).  I guess I'm going to have to revise my rant.  I'm guilty of selectively using data to fit my pre-conceived notions!

We crossed two state lines and got to the game by 11:30.

This is a special day game played every year in Rickwood Stadium, the oldest baseball stadium in the country (1906) by the current minor league team (the Birmingham Barons).  The Barons stopped playing regularly there in 1987.  For much of its history, two teams played there:  a "white" team (Birmingham A's, Birmingham Barons, others) and a Negro League team (Birmingham Black Barons).  Many great ball players came through here (Reggie Jackson, Satchel Paige, Rollie Fingers - who was at the game today, many others).

It was tough keeping score, because there was no jumbotron to get names, and the names on the scorecard did not come with numbers.  Tough to hear the announcer too.  The Chattanooga Lookouts beat the Barons 7-4.  At least 3 homers were hit over the cool outfield walls.  We sort of thought the first base ump was being paid off by the Lookouts.

It was a good time and we picked seats on the west side, to stay out of the sun.  Even so, we were very hot!  90+ degrees with lots of humidity.  We doused this with water, soda and beer (funnily enough, I got a Bud Light!)  I think I got a little heat exhaustion.

Went back and crashed in the hotel room afterwards!

I have to say that I am getting beaten down by some things on the trip.  We do some surfing of radio stations, and it feels like the solid majority is either a Christian station or conservative talk radio.  The Christian stations actually are extremely "full service", giving advice on lots of things from financial to how young mothers can cut out time for themselves.  In that, they are extremely useful and it's interesting to hear how they council mothers (much the same way as liberals would, but God is always there).  The conservative commentators are extremely "good" sounding.  They sound extremely responsible and sensible.  The stuff they say is sometimes incredible, though.  We listened to somebody talking about Glenn Beck implying that Trump might have to be removed by force and, while denouncing that, they did emphasize that this is what the 2nd amendment is for, and someday such a thing might be necessary.  To me, this is one short step from organized violence.  Another station had a sensible-sounding guy saying that Obama was from Pakistan, that we should all get behind Trump, and that Cruz should be satisfied with getting appointed to the Supreme Court where he would be appropriate.  On TV, I saw an ad for O'Reilly on the regular Fox Channel (not Fox News), which I had never seen before (he's spreading).  You see signs of keeping America "strong" everywhere, on tons of commercials for other stuff.

I don't know.  Scroll back up to my "using limited data to fit pre-conceived notions" section, and tell me I'm over-reacting.  Not getting regular TV any more, I probably dodge a lot of this in daily life so it feels like a real body slam.  I have to say, though, that I'm scared.  If people who sound credible can STILL say that:

-Obama is not American

-that he's a tyrant who has caused all of our current woes (forgetting that things are A LOT better than when he came in after 8 years of conservatives, and dis-regarding that conservatives have had a blanket policy of voting down anything he proposes regardless of its merits)

-that Hilary is fundamentally dishonest and Trump is a ray of light

we have a real problem.

Truck driver on my tail at 80 mph on I-10 in Louisiana.

Mississippi border again!  Coming in on I-59 from New Orleans.

Alabama border again!  1 hr after Mississippi border.

Alabama border again!  About 1 min after the other photo.  We took about 10 takes and Maddy is getting irritated.  I also spilled a morning beer all over myself in the process.  Don't worry, it's not what you think!  I picked up an old Bud Light can from the ground to use in the photo, and up-ended the remaining contents on my person.  I then abandoned the beer can idea.  So, that's perfectly OK.

Rickwood Field in Birmingham AL.  This is actually after the game.

The Birmingham Barons in the old 1967 Birmingham A's uniforms before the game.  My favorite player, Eudy Pina, is #32 in the middle.  Don't know how good he actually is, but he looks like Adonis.  Hit a homer in the game.

Old outfield signs and commemorating the teams that played there.

Some action from the ball game.

A view from the stands.

Day 8 in Dixie: sugar!!!!!!!!!

One thing that was all around us in Louisiana was sugar.  Oak Alley (where we stayed) was a sugar plantation, and we learned how much work it took to convert cane to sugar.  There are still sugar cane fields all over St. James Parish, and huge sugar refineries along the Mississippi.

In the Oak Alley sugar exhibit, there was a video by the Louisiana sugar growers showing the modern process and extolling the virtues of sugar.  I recorded the end of the video, which is both hilarious and almost criminal in its disregard for human health while fighting the (understandable) fight to keep their industry alive.  It smacks a lot of the tobacco industry.  I will certainly play this video to the med students when teaching Type II diabetes.  Nothing in this video is un-true technically.  Sugar doesn't pour itself in your mouth to cause diabetes or obesity.  Your brain burns "sugar" (glucose) almost entirely for fuel (doesn't use fat).  However, it is very very very clear that over-consumption of sugar (specifically) is a major driver of the current diabetes/obesity epidemic.  Some doctors call it "white death".

In the video, check out the American flag coming out at a key point, over the cane fields, just to get patriotism in there.  Try to hang in there for the musical jingle at the end, which is catchy.

On a conservative radio station heading out of town, we heard a discussion of what to do to fight obesity/diabetes, starting with lifestyle modifications.  They actually never mentioned cutting down on sugar.

Sugar cane field.

Sugar plant behind sugar fields.

Tail end of video from the sugar industry.

Day 7: Louisiana and Oak Alley

I might be off on my days, because I think this is more like day 8, but whatever.

We crossed the border into Louisiana on Route 61, which was smaller than the interstate so our photo at the border wasn't as perilous.

We are staying on the Oak Alley plantation, on the west bank of the Mississippi in St. James Parish between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.  We picked this one to see because it has a little glamor but also seemed to do a good job with researching and portraying conditions on the plantation, at least on-line.  This has been true on the ground too.

The plantation was started in 1837 or so for sugar by Jacques Roman and his wife, Celina.  The greater Roman family owned a bunch of plantations along this strip.  Jacques died nine years later, and the plantation limped along under Celina and her son Andre until war broke out in 1861.  Louisiana was taken by the Union pretty quickly (with lots of revolts after) and they basically lost the plantation until sometime after the war, but things fell apart.  It was completely abandoned for a while and for 12 years cows lived freely in the house (longer than Jacques did!)  It was restored in 1925 and is now in some sort of non-profit status.

We had a great tour of the house, followed by checking out the well done depiction of the slave quarters and slave life.  It was topped off by a presentation about the sugar industry then-and-now with a hilarious but disturbing video by the sugar growers.  I filmed a clip of it below.  If you can play it, check it out!  Apparently sugar does not cause diabetes or obesity and you should eat as much as you'd like!  I'm going to be showing this to the med students next year when I teach these things.  It's pretty similar to the old tobacco advertising.  

We learned that the oaks (Virginia Live Oaks) were planted sometime around 1670, 150 years before the plantation was established!  They don't really know by whom (they're pretty clearly human-planted) but probably by French settlers.  They cause a sort of wind tunnel effect, pulling cooler air from the Mississippi to the house.  You can feel it standing on the porch of the house.  These are really cool trees, with some of the branches coming down to the ground and apparently rooting there.

The house/plantation had 113 slaves at its peak in 1848.  About 1200 acres, most of it growing sugar cane.

OK, I'm out of gas.  Have to plan our major drive to Birmingham tomorrow before dinner.

Louisiana border.  Sort of missed low on the selfie.

Missed high on this one.

Maddy getting dwarfed on Oak Alley

It is definitely one hell of an alley!

Harry's toes in the Mississippi this morning.

Other parts of Harry on the Mississippi this morning.

River boat docked at Oak Alley.

40 foot levee at Oak Alley, from the river side.  They used to be 5 feet when it was a plantation.