Notes From the Road

I often say that what I miss most about living in Kentucky is having four distinct seasons. Austin is great, but the two temperatures, warm and hot, get old. But all you have to do is leave and go back to the sub-arctic wind chill and ice encrusted avenues to remember what makes living in Austin so great: the warm and hot temperatures. After a wonderful holiday break in Lexington and Eastern Kentucky, it is nice to return to this ridiculously pleasant weather.

I?m glad we decided to drive home. We were so stressed with planning for the holidays, work responsibilities, etc. that driving 1000 miles gave us time to decompress, catch up with each other, and try out our fantastic new windshield wipers. And the time spent in the car provided ample opportunity for both personal introspection and seeing some interesting places on the way home.

As soon as you leave Austin, en route to Dallas, you are out of the Hill Country. So the stereotypically flat, vast landscape of Texas is what you experience all the way to the Arkansas border. Dallas is such an odd city. Fifteen miles or so southwest of town, you enter the familiar sprawl corridor?car dealerships, fast foot joints, Wal-Mart Supercenters, etc. But just before you approach the downtown skyline, the land becomes green and empty of development. There is sort of a swampy wasteland where I guess the land won?t support any buildings. It is strange to see all of this “greenspace” surrounded by freeways, interstates, and glass buildings.

Sarah and I had plans to visit Graceland if we made good time. We decided instead to poke around downtown since neither of us had really seen much of Memphis. We were pleasantly surprised at how lively and revitalized the city appeared. I sort of expected to see Beale Street with its bars and restaurants but then find other streets full of vacant spaces and sketchy neighborhoods. We saw cafes, restaurants, and new loft apartments right behind the pedestrian-friendly, urban baseball stadium. We parked next to the famous Peabody Hotel and ventured inside, hoping to see some of our friends of the quacking variety. The lobby was simply magnificent. Grander than any hotel lobby I have ever seen?without scaring you off with its regal splendor. After a cholesterol-laden Southern breakfast, we took an elevator the roof to see the ducks. There were several of them in a little pin. They would quack and then get all spastic, sending feathers flying. I think they have it pretty good at the Peabody. We had an excellent view of the city from the roof. You see both a lively downtown and the origin of the Mississippi Delta.

Rather than taking the scenic Bluegrass Parkway to Lexington, once past Nashville, I talked Sarah into driving a little bit further to visit Louisville. I have previously asserted that Louisville is one of the most up-and-coming mid size cities, and our recent visit really confirmed this speculation. I wanted Sarah to see the Highlands neighborhood and particularly Bardstown Road. Bardstown Road is lined with ethnic restaurants, cafes, record stores, and everything else imaginable. You have three styles of coffee houses: corporate (Starbucks), locally-owned ( Heine Bros. and Socialist-owned Bohemian ( Twice Told.) What I like about Bardstown Road is that unlike many famous destination streets, such as Sixth Street here in Austin, and Beale Street in Memphis, Bardstown is surrounded by a dense, functioning neighborhood. It isn?t just about entertainment. Amongst the funky retail stores and restaurants are massive Catholic churches, a historic cemetery, schools, etc.

Once in Lexington, I spent some time driving around and seeing what was the same and what had changed. My friend Jon and I were downtown one evening and it occurred to us that one thing Main Street businesses were lacking was good signage. Many of the storefronts have painted signs on their windows or poorly designed signs fixed to the front of the building. Even the amazing new Natasha?s Caf?, a Russian restaurant/ coffee house and retail store, which is both tasty and tasteful, doesn?t have adequate signage. I could totally imagine brushed-steel letters N-A-T-A-S-H-A-?-S C-A-F-E, nicely backlit.

We decided to stop in Little Rock on the way home to get some dinner. We had made great time, so instead of just pulling off the interstate for typical fast food fare, we steered into downtown in search of something interesting. Little Rock?s downtown is absolutely empty after dark. There were so few people, both on sidewalks and in cars, it was a little spooky. We did find a new redeveloped area along the river, called theRiver Market District. It looks to have great potential. There is a permanent Farmers? Market and a wonderful indoor promenade with a newsstand, coffee house, international markets etc. This place seems to have achieved both a destination status, along with serving nearby residents with everyday things that they need. We visited an “English” pub for some eats and coffee. On the way out, a super sketchy-looking man, whom we had spotted earlier started walking across the parking lot in our direction. While the River Market area was well-lit, people were nowhere to be seen?it?s as if at 6:00pm, everyone in Little Rock is magically transported out of the city. Sarah and I, both with an uneasy feeling about the guy rapidly approaching, started walking much faster and rounded a building. We looked everywhere for an open business to run inside of?everything is closed. As soon as rounded another corner I was about to yell “Run!!” when he had us. We were walking so fast, that he must have been running to catch up with us. We turned and confronted him. To “ease” our concern, he unzipped his jacket, (we?re thinking he?s pulling out a gun and it?s curtains for us) and says, “You think I?m homeless don?t you?” Sarah assumed he was showing us his nice clothes under the jacket to prove that he could not be homeless. I don?t remember what was said next, but somehow the coins in my pocket, not my wallet, were sufficient for him. We escaped unscathed only to later be terrified by the millions of 18-wheelers barreling along I-30 in Arkansas. Funny how the panhandlers and homeless population in Austin seems so mellow and are never that aggressive. Maybe it?s the weather. Every time we go through that state, something bad happens. I think next time, we?ll go north from Dallas to Oklahoma and then on to St. Louis.