The Big D

Ashley Davis, Jewya, Em at Dealy Plaza in Dallas!

Sleep! Oh, Sleep, how we love thee! Slept in for a bit this morning, took it easy kickin it with our good old Castaway friend Miss Ashley Nicole Davis, Texas A&M grad and substitute teacher of the universe!

Dallas is a really pretty city! For some reason it kind of reminds me of Charlotte. It doesn’t feel like the buildings are smashed in on top of each other like so many other cities. Very clean.

We visited the Sixth Floor Museum today, which is the museum about JFK’s assassination. He was killed by a sniper rifle from the 6^th floor of this textbook supply warehouse, and they have built the museum remembering the event on the exact floor where Lee Harvey Oswald shot the President. If you ever go to Dallas it is worth going to. The museum is very well put together and holds your interest throughout.

The Dealy Plaza, where it all happened looks basically the same today as it did in 1963. It was crazy being in the exact spot that such a terrible thing happened for America.  They have an X painted on the spot in the street where he was hit with the shot that killed him.

Drove by the new Cowboys stadium!!!!! IT IS EVEN MORE MASSIVE THAN THE MEGACHURCHES!!! For reals I’ve never seen anything so big. It can fit up to 100,000 people and they have GIANT screens on the outside to show the game to more people who buy outdoor tickets. George Strait has sold out for his concert there already. Duh.

We also got to experience Dallas nightlife…but only after doing a little shopping. I  usually restrict myself from going into stores such as Anthroplogie but Texas water must have got to my head and there I was, doing it big like a Texan, and actually going into Anthropologie. Don’t worry, I didn’t go crazy…

Anyways, back to night life…we went to see Amos Lee play at the Granada. He was awesome! Emily knew every word, I knew about 5 (“Somethin bout a Southern girl…” you should check it out) but it was a great concert.

We’ll be up quite early in the a.m. Lonnnnng drive tomorrow!

 

PS WE ALMOST EXPERIENCED TRAGEDY TODAY:

            I walked into the living room, and there was Clairethestupiddog sitting on her little pallet with PUFFY (my beloved stuffed animal) laying there!!! My heart dropped to the floor..but no worries, Puffy is still alive and well. Claire had just carried her away. I no longer like Claire. You don’t mess with Puffy and still get my friendship. It just doesn’t work like that. I’m just putting that out there to all those who have ever thought it might be “funny” to pull a prank and do something to Puffy. I will go crazier than a Momma Bird protecting its young. I’m serious. 

And shoutout to the more likeable dogs belonging to Ashley: Lucy aka Daisy, Cooper, Ginger aka Sandy, and Abby. I may or may not have continued to call all her dogs by whatever name I chose.

 

And I ate a taco puff today and saw Terry Bradshaw’s humble abode.

All My Ex's Live in Texas...

Well I've been in Texas for 8 hours now and I still haven't met George Strait. 

We blazed the trail from Hammond, LA to Dallas, Texas today. Took us about 9 hours total. Crossed the Mighty Mississippi River! I swear I saw Mark Twain floating down...

We were blessed enough to have dinner at PF Chang's by my good friend Meg Lybrand's Mom and Stepdad, Leslie and Steve! So sweet to be treated after a couple of days of PB and J (or B if you enjoy an Elvis Presley special). 

I think a great comparison of our experience traveling through Louisiana versus Texas can be represented by churches. Winding down US Highways through Louisiana we saw vast fields and farmland with lots of small and run down (but occupied) houses...then would see huge, beautiful plantation houses. Interesting how the extreme economic gap extends out to the countryside.  Even way out in the country, about every couple of miles we would see a church: small, white buildings whose seams would be bursting if more than 30 people showed up. It made me wonder why and how so many of these tiny churches could exist in what looked like middle of nowhere country roads in Louisiana. Also, who preaches? 

Then there was Texas. Crossing over the Lonestar State line really meant crossing over into MEGA CHURCH LAND!!!! Seriously, these churches probably could hold more people than the class that graduated with me last Sunday. One of them was converted into a sanctuary out of a mall. 

Yes Texas, you do it big. Even Jesus.

Til tomorrow folks.

Oh my gosh...what a long day.

Toes in the Gulf of Mexico in Gulfport, Mississippi!! Guess who toes are whose?

hmmm....where to start dear followers...

Went from ATL to New Orleans today with a goal to  get to NO about 4 or 5 for dinner and touring then planned to stay with a friend outside the city...

So all day we were quite a jolly pair hoppin through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. At each state we've been stopping to take a picture at state signs. We took some fun US highway detour rather than interstates for short stretches today.

So we pull into NO about 5ish, my heart beating rather quickly because there are about 490345803 stop signs and all streets are one way and I am not a champion at drivin manual...but we got to a nice expensive parking lot and were ready to roll....then Emily couldn't find her wallet!!! It was no where in the Fit....and then she realized she had left it on top of the car when using it to prop the camera up at the LA state line (one hour back).  

Long story short, we drive all the way back to look for it without much hope...and then MIRACLES OF MIRACLES she starts to find items down the side of the road...first a credit card...then more and more and she ended finding all credit cards and debit cards, check book, 3 $20 bills, and an MVP card (shout out to Food Lion whose home is in Salisbury). Yes, 3 twenty dollar bills were still waiting there on the side of the road. So weird.

So all in all we spend about 30 minutes in New Orleans, ate some beignets, bought 4 postcards and a deck of cards for Nertz. Apologies for lack of humor in today's post. We are exhausted. Blah.

BEST FACT OF THE DAY: Emily drove!!!! FINALLY...

Day One is Done

Picture Caption: Emily C. Cochran, a recent NCSU graduate, gets emotional while hugging Marie Leonard-Hartsell before embarking on the trip of her life. 

Well I bet y'all thought that we had already failed in our daily blog promise...but you are wrrrong!!!

We finally left Salisbury (where beautiful people are born) at 5pm and got to Atlanta around 11. Why did it take that long? One hyphenated word: Books-A-Million. In the luxurious streets of Anderson, SC for some reason we went into this B-A-M and ended up taking an hour break (including Zaxby's dinner and gas). Don't worry, this willy-nilly time management shall not be indicative of our whole trip!!

Anyways...many laughs today...Courtney Lancaster is pregnant...and USA FOREVER!!

PS We hope you enjoy the Pic of the Day. (I have to admit, it was Julia's not Emily's pick)

T minus 5 days

Hey y'all! So, I guess since you made it here, you know me and Julia are going on a 4-week roadtrip across america. Our dreams are finally coming true! We figured this would be the best way to daily keep everyone up to speed on our adventures over the next month. We have planned out our entire trip and are staying with friends and friends of friends all along the way. Here is a link to our map... We are leaving the afternoon of Monday May 11. Be on the lookout for our first posts!

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