I successfully left the house today. It's the first time in a while where I can count something so mundane towards the day's overall productivity, but it's also the first time in a while when I've been completely surrounded by the unfamiliar. Sure I'd visited Texas a handful of times while Jeremy was living here and I was still in VA, but I still had no idea how to get to the highway on my own, and the Home Depot I visited still seemed somehow otherworldly, despite my knowing that the store and it's customers were absolutely comparable to those of my local hardware shop.
Frankly I didn't feel as though I had any reservations at all about this move in the weeks preceding it. I knew reality would hit eventually and the hesitations and doubt that are never far from reach would return, I just wasn't sure when. By all accounts they were right on schedule, I was cranky leaving Charlottesville and just felt something was somehow "off" for the entirety of the drive down. Which is not to say the drive down wasn't good.
We left Charlottesville on Friday afternoon, after a lunch that ran long and a rude-ish last interaction with my mother. By the time arrived in Knoxville that night we were exhausted and had only enough energy for a quick run to Kroger and some lazing about in the (newly redesigned!) Red Roof Inn. Saturday we got to explore Knoxville a bit which was utterly charming, or at least the parts we saw were. There was some kind of children's festival ongoing and the streets in that area were swarmed with color-coded kids, but the downtown area was much more laid back and reminded us both of Charlottesville's downtown mall. After an awesome lunch at the veggie-friendly Tomato Head, we were off to Atlanta.
Things got off to a bit of an awkward start in Georgia largely because Jeremy's brother and more so his sister-in-law are a bit, well, awkward. We hadn't come with any plans, kinda expecting the locals to show us around, so there was a bit of "well what do you want to do?" and "I don't know, what do you want to do?" before we finally decided to head to the nearby farmer's market to pick up some dinner. Wise choice I must say, as this was definitely one of the top five best grocery stores I've ever visited with insanely low prices and a huge selection of fresh fruits and veggies, spices, baked goods, fish, meat, cheese, and kitchen sinks. We settled on some snapper and corn which we later grilled and enjoyed immensely along with some fantastic margaritas.
Feeling a bit low on energy, we decided to catch Shrek 3 for the evening's activity and wow, if that movie didn't put me to sleep. Shrek 1 was funny, this was just tired (like me!). The next morning more than made up for that hiccup, however, as we enjoyed fabulous, enormous breakfasts at The Crescent Moon. Our hosts had urged us to get there early and they were right as our own wait was only five minutes and by the time we left the line stretched down the block. To walk off some of the calories we decided to browse around the Decatur Arts Festival that happened to be taking place up the street. It was like every other arts festival you've been to, which is to say, lovely, full of overpriced crap along with some treasures, and overall just a great way to pass time.
We left Atlanta for New Orleans around 1 and arrived in the Big Easy around 8. I know I didn't see much of the city's damage at all but it was striking to witness what I did see. This long after the storm there are still so many basic things wrong and missing. We checked in to our lovely hotel, the Queen & Crescent, and left almost immediately to explore Bourbon Street. Our first stop on the way was the Moteleone Hotel, where I originally wanted to stay based solely on their rotating carousel bar. Good choice on the cheaper (nicer?) hotel and visiting the Moteleone bar. It rotated once every 15 minutes and despite having had only one drink prior to arriving I could already tell it would be a bad bad thing to be sitting at that bar after more than a couple.
After a lovely cocktail there we set out for Bourbon Street which was a bit, you might say, much? for me. I mean I'm glad I went, it was something to experience, just like Daytona Beach Spring Break was, and similarly trashy, overpriced and loud. We didn't manage to find any bars that struck our fancy but we did managed to get drunk nonetheless what with the mixed drink stands that line the street and the fact that you can grab a beer at a convenience store and walk around with it no problem. At one point we settled in to a traditional New Orleans bar to hear some great jazz and get a drink. It was crowded and costly but the band was swinging and I couldn't help but feel, however entitled this might seem, that we were doing something good for the city by getting drunk there.
Monday morning we both woke up ravenous after never really getting dinner the night before and then drinking the whole evening. On our way out of town we stopped at a Greek hole in the wall to get some greasy eggs, falafel, fries, bread pudding, and beignets. Yes all of that. We ate all that. And didn't eat much more until we arrive here in Houston.
I’m surprised at how good I’m feeling so far, not homesick or sad at all, but I also have way to many things to think about and get excited for and look forward to to waste time worrying. I can see how that might come though. Jeremy works insane hours and without a job, or friends, or familiarity with the city to occupy my time with, this staying home thing might get old fast.
But it hasn’t yet. It’s hot and it’s sticky, it’s sprawling and gritty, but it’s got Jeremy, and it’s got my future and now it is my home.
