Cars with Holes and Pirate's Souls

Day 28:
It's been about 4 weeks since we left. This has been one of the greatest days of the journey, and the most repetitive. Our car broke down AGAIN and there was a crack in the hose of the reservoir box, which supplies the coolant and keeps the temperature to a low. Thankfully it was fixed at around 2:00 and we got on our way to Hilton Head, SC. Before that, and since we had time to kill in Savannah (courtesy of Ginny the car) we had lunch at The Pirate House which is the oldest house in Georgia and where Robert Louis Stevenson got his material for Treasure Island. It is known as a huge hot-spot for paranormal activity. The pictures we took turned us skeptics, into believers. There were three photos that I posted that were the most paranormal. The first one shows one of the windows in the Herb House, the original house owned by a gardener. It was said that many people see orbs of some kind when taken from that view. We found that everything was black and white when we took the photo, although without the window, the pictures come out fine. The first picture shows a cloudy figure in the far left with 2 eye like spheres and is assumed to be a young boy who died. The second picture shows 1-2 orbs and was taken from inside a restricted cellar that was a tunnel which led to the Savannah River a block away. The tunnel was used to hide sailors when they came off of their ships, We weren't allowed to go down but got a tour guide to take some and couldn't believe what we found. You can see in the very right of the picture. The last picture we took of the same window as the first picture, except it was coming inside, rather than outside (people happened to be dining in that room and got totally freaked!) and we found what looks like a face. If you look closely you can make out a mouth, eyes, and what looks like a hat. Many of the non-believers have had haunting like pies being mysteriously thrown against walls and paintings falling on people's heads. Believe?? We made it to Hilton Head Island which is great and we were serenaded by a very talented musician named Jordan Ross at Harbour Town. There was a marina that we walked about and the island seemed pretty lively. Tomorrow we will go to the beach and see more of the Island before heading to Charleston and hanging out there. After South/North Carolina our next major destination is Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Georgia on my mind.

Day 26 & 27:
The reason that I haven't blogged yesterday is because we encountered the daughter of Donna in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Earlier we went to the St.Augustine Beach, and it was great! the town looked like something from the Italian Renaissance. There was free wi-fi, but "It doesn't go through the concrete very well..." Anyway, we LOVE St. Simons Island which is right off the coast of Georgia not too far from Jacksonville, FL. They have the most beautiful Spanish Moss trees everywhere which hang down and look a little creepy. We hit the beach and I recently found my father's new fears. We drove to Savannah, and got another awesome sweet suite that was $500 for only $89 it's in the historic district but brand new (less than a year old) and sleek and modern. August seems to be off-season in Georgia as school here is already open. We walked for nearly 6 hours today touring the old plantation houses and churches and cemeteries from the 1700s Revolutionary War era. We visited the oldest church since the Colonial era. The cemetery that patriots were buried in. We went to Paula Deen's restaurant (Lady & Sons), which has the best fried, salty foods ever! The Savannah River is great, and found some neat stuff that is quite funny. Tomorrow we will head out to Hilton Head, SC, which will probably be our last beach day, but we will still be doing pretty cool stuff, so don't turn away, we're just at the last neck of our journey, sliding across third base and heading for home. Stay with us!

Driving across the state of Florida looking for signs of life

Day 25:

Today we took a very long walk on the beach to see the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert being set up. They were scheduled to play at 5:00 (nice) rain or shine. We walked on our first sand bar. Unfortunately there was an 80% chance of rain, and there were heavy clouds rolling in, and we didn't want to risk staying another day especially if it rained all day. We also saw these 2 crazy dolphins, who were extremely close to shore. Miss Shelby thought it was a shark, but we must have got Punk'd by them. We took the scenic road (of course) and drove all along the entire Florida panhandle along the Gulf of Mexico which was so beautiful and the road goes extremely close to the water with no guardrails, it was like we were driving on the beach. We went over a million bridges that connected all the small beach towns. We stopped in a place called Mexico Beach on our way to Perry for the best ice creme in Florida, and a giant pothole that scared the bejeesus out of us. Perry was also dead as a doorbell, so we hightailed it to Gainesville (home of Gatorade), which is very much a young person's town - YAY. The best part I would say is the upgrade to a presidential suite in this exquisite hotel we were in. Our rewards program gave us free popcorn, which I objected after a brief war with my sister. And we had a very nice dinner. After dinner Jade chased a frog in the parking lot and then almost dropped it down a sewer grate. St. Augustine will be tomorrow and we will maybe stay for 2 days, then make our way to Savannah,Georgia and the Carolinas. We hope to make the best out of the rest of the experience going up the east coast and enjoy the time we have left. Blog on Augustine tomorrow.

Big Easy Over - Headed for the Panhandle - Destined for Destin

Day 24:
Hurricane Donna strikes back!!! She screwed up once again. She called my mom Miss Shelby instead of Jolie, and brought no English muffins and only one coffee mug. We decided that everyone should call my mom Miss Shelby. We heard that the hotel was once a former morgue which was sufficiently creepy for Friday the 13th. So we booked it and drove though this historic Garden District to see some old time Plantation Houses. We took the scenic highway 90 along the gulf coast and drove through Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama. We stopped at a wood hut on the side of a country road in Mississippi and bought sno-balls. We saw the little towns along the gulf coast that were severely attacked by BP and saw the cleaning crews with our own eyes. We went to Pensacola, Fla which was more dead than Deadwood. The liveliest place to be in that town was the cemetery. So we took the "scenic" highway to Ft. Walton and Destin Beach, which turned out to be a much nicer place to stay on the beach and found a great Italian restaurant. Today (sorry for late posting) we will visit Tallahassee, therefore missing the free Lynyrd Skynard concert, also being paid for by BP. That's too bad. We will be in St.Augustine in less than two days. Five days earlier. FuBP

Who Dat on Friday the 13th

Day 23:
This morning, aside from the tropical storm, which attacked us, we encountered a hurricane of our own: Donna. She is the one who provides room service for breakfast for us. We asked for it to be brought in between 8-8:30 am. At 7:30 she called and told us she was already making it. At 7:55, she called and said it would be there in five minutes. One hour later all we got was China plates left at our door! Donna had forgotten about our breakfast. We are still laughing about Hurricane Donna.
Anyway...the storm cleared, we went on a Cemetery/Voodoo tour and we found one of the funniest tour guides of all time. He looked like the Old Spice guy and was as funny as Dave Letterman, ranting all about how stupid the people were in New Orleans and their obvious names. Later we walked around Bourbon St. One of the most craziest streets you will ever step foot on. Everyone carried hand-grenades, a drink where the glass looked exactly like a hand-grenade. In the French Quarter, we tried our first beignets, kind of like a zeppole you would get at a carnival in Little Italy. Our server was really nasty, and the only thing he said was: "Ordah!" and we were a little freaked out. We made a little joke of how he just sat there sleeping, pretending like he was working. Tomorrow we will sadly leave New Orleans, and slowly make our way to St. Augustine by next week, and have a rough 80-90% chance we are returning exactly on Aug. 27. That's all for now, hope you all enjoy hurricane-free weather.

Goodby Memphis - Hello Big Easy

Day 22:
Today we finished the rest of Memphis, finished the musical town with Stax record company. It was very good to be inside on a scalding 100 degree day. The museum was all about the birth and evolution of Soul music, starting in the late 1800s and began as Gospel in the churches. Soon, many white folks started to record with many black artist, and the Stax label took off from there. Most of the artist there had many #1 hits and won awards for their singles, and Stax was very popular around the world and Memphis soon became very well known. Though, once Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, then came the downfall of Stax. By 1975, almost 85 employees working for Stax received the pink slips, and then came the closing of Stax. Soon, in 2002-03, Stax was reopened as a museum and declared a historic landmark of Memphis, sharing Soul with the many hearts of Tennessee. We drove on the highway 55 until we came to Jackson, Mississippi(felt like actually spelling it for kudos) and stopped for lunch. I had one the 'award winning' fried chicken dinners in the top ten of USA Today. It was surprisingly sweet and delectable. After our late lunch we hit the road again to New Orleans, LA. A lot of the hotels are smoking rooms, which isn't great for us, even one hotel didn't have a window. I bet the AAA discount for that hotel is a window with a view of a brick wall. However we got a very sweet suite, and soon realized that the Times Sq. of New Orleans is something I would be more interested when I turn 21. Tomorrow would conveniently be Friday the 13th, and I thought it would be fitting to do a Voodoo tour, including ghosts and vampires and the New Orleans cemetery, where the tomb of the voodoo queen lies. Voodoo is very popular aspect of New Orleans, maybe even a cult. Tomorrow there is flash flood warnings for tropical depression Danielle, but is said to be 90 degrees out. I'm gonna rest up for a long heat walk tomorrow.

Going to Graceland

Day 21:
Today we visited the most absolute musical town and home of many Rock n' Rollers: Memphis, TN. First off, we paid almost $100 for a premium tour of the real Graceland Mansion, his car collection, and his private air crafts. Every year since 1977, from August 10-16 is considered Elvis Week. A week dedicated to world wide fans of Elvis to come and memorialize the King. Many people gather around the Meditation Garden, in the mansion, where himself, his parents, and his grandmother is buried. August 16th, the day of his death, is expected to have almost one million people lighting candles and remember the great musician. There were also many Elvis impersonators, from old Elvises to wheelchair Elvises, and even obese Elvises! So many Elvises!! Our tour was included with an audio program about all sections of the house, and others about more information on movies and performances, such as his performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. There were many crazy rooms to his mansion, such as a firing range and a "Jungle Room," a room filled with stuffed animals, and many crazy furniture that made it look like a jungle. We were also able to see all of his gold and silver records/boots and his Grammy nominations and award. Including with the mansion was his huge collections of cars. He owned a couple of Honda & Harley motorcycles, a couple of Cadillac cars, including one pink one, which he calls "Gladys' Car," because it was his mother's favorite car. The automobile museum also contains a bunch of toys, such a motorized snowmobiles and motorized tricycles he used in multiple movies, and a limousine he used when he was in the midst of his career. We also visited his two planes he used for tours and just for fun. His biggest plane was called the "Lisa Marie," named after his daughter. It contained full size beds, 24k gold sinks and seat belts, and had mostly non-alcohol drinks. He didn't prefer the taste of alcohol, so he mostly drank lime Gatorade, spring water, and diet Dr.Pepper. But he did have alcohol, because he wanted his guest to have the most fulfilled flight while on the plane. His jet, "Hound Dog" was mostly used for fast travel, being tours and concerts. Both planes have a bolt of lightning and the letters TCB, meaning Taking Care of Business, his trademark. We also went to the Sun Studio Records also in Memphis, where Elvis became a big hit in his Rock n' Roll and Blues and was also used by many hit celebrities such as Johnny Cash, where he successfully recorded "Walk the Line." The studio is still used by many people during the night, and has many occasional visits by a small Irish band by the name of U2(I hope you all heard of them.) And that has been quite a day. Tomorrow we will go to Stax Studio (to pay equal homage to soul music) and start to make our way south to the Gulf states.