by dodgyhoodoo on July 7, 2013, no comments
The con is in the hotel over there:
Maybe 15min walk from my hotel, in a town built for humans. In real terms, best part of an hour’s walk assuming you can find sidewalks all the way; effectively only accessible by hotel shuttle or cab. Madness.
by dodgyhoodoo on July 6, 2013, no comments
First stop in New Orleans was St Louis Cemetery, via Louis Armstrong Park. The tomb with all the Xs and offerings is Marie Laveau’s (New Orleans’ queen of voodoo) – people still use it as a votive site, though the cemetery management keep asking everyone not to add anything more to it…
After the cemetery, I headed into the French Quarter. First thing I saw when I got to Jackson Square was about a dozen guys playing jazz (they seem to be there most days).
It was pretty uncomfortable to begin with – temperatures hovering around 34C the whole time I was in town, humidity so high it was like walking through soup – but after a while I thought I was acclimatising. Unfortunately that wasn’t entirely accurate… but it took a couple of days for me to realise that.
by dodgyhoodoo on July 5, 2013, no comments
Those New Orleans photos are on the way, I promise…
In the meantime:
I’m at CONvergence this weekend, which has been a lot of fun so far. Haven’t been to much actual con content so far (though the Avenue Who puppet intro to the opening ceremony was hilarious), instead I’ve spent a fair bit of it being (whisper it) sociable…
It was lovely to catch up with Emma Newman again at her book reading, and she’s introduced me to whole bunch of people… Which is why I ended up playing Cards Against Humanity last night with Paul Cornell, Lee Harris, Lou Anders and a few others till the bar closed in the wee small hours. So that was a blast. Meant I was moving verrrry sloooowly this morning though, it occurs to me that I can’t actually remember the last time I was out that late. Bugger that, I’m not ready for pipe and slippers just yet… Might be time for a slightly earlier night if I’m going to get up in time to get to a 9:30 panel though…
Oh. Also. I found this on a bench outside my hotel.
by dodgyhoodoo on July 3, 2013, no comments
Another day, another Greyhound station. And I still aten’t ded.
So I didn’t get around to posting anything about New Orleans yet. Put it down to a slowly-broiling brainpan, I think I was beyond my safe operating limits there… Great place, but I’m very glad to have been in the cooler climes of Chicago for a couple of days. I’ll post up photos from both cities soon.
Not had as much time here as I’d planned – I ended up staying an extra day in New Orleans after the train I was hoping to get doubled in price and then sold out over the course of the hour I faffed through instead of buying the ticket straight off. Lesson learned there, I think.
So now I’m off to Minneapolis / Bloomington MN for CONvergence, which will probably be a good time to stop running around and rest up a little, as well as doing all the con stuff. Got those photo posts to sort out, and I owe some quick host reviews on Airbnb.
Using Airbnb for this trip has been a really great experience so far. If you don’t know that one, it’s a site where people can let out spare rooms, trailers out back, anything up to entire homes for a couple of days or long-term. I’ve been really lucky with my choice of places so far, without exception the places have had everything I need and the hosts have been so welcoming and helpful. (It’ll probably be a bit weird staying in a hotel for the con…)
Been almost a month already. Wow. Had a few wobbly moments along the way, not homesick but missing certain people like crazy. The long train journeys with no wifi? HARD. Got one 36hr comms blackout next week and another 50hr train journey before GenCon… Though the scenery will definitely help (Minneapolis to Seattle next week, then the entire Southwest Chief route in August). Very glad I stocked up the Kindle before I left!
by dodgyhoodoo on June 25, 2013, no comments
by dodgyhoodoo on June 25, 2013, no comments
by dodgyhoodoo on June 24, 2013, no comments
So the other day I went here:
The words “powerful” and “emotive” barely even summarise the experience of visiting the MLK Historic Site. The visitor centre covers the history of the bus boycotts, the freedom rides, the backlash against the civil rights movement, the marches on Washington, with video clips of King’s speeches, new reports from the time, and retrospectives. It’s powerful stuff, and a reminder of how far the world has come and how much still has to be done (in terms of every form of bigotry and -ism).
by dodgyhoodoo on June 21, 2013, no comments
I never did take that trolley tour…
As usual I decided to walk instead, and see where I ended up. Downtown Savannah’s really not that big, so where I ended up was pretty much everywhere at one point or another. My usual walk-for-hours schtick wasn’t going to work here, though. Savannah’s a slow-moving town because if you try a regular city pace, you’ll probably keel over and die in approximately no time at all. Mooch, find a shady bench and hydrate, mooch, rinse, repeat until you find a cafe or bar with wifi. There are worse ways to spend a day.
One of my hosts drove us out to Bonaventure Cemetery and Laurel Grove Cemetery, a smaller place near where I was staying. They’re beautiful places – lush and green with more of those old trees and hanging moss.
I was spectacularly lucky with the place I ended up staying. As well as the cemetery trip, they gave me lifts into town and to the Greyhound station when I left, and were mines of local information. The house was a ways out of town, through a neighbourhood that raised cab drivers’ eyebrows every time I said where I wanted to go: “Carver Heights? Really?” Every time… Granted, after dark I wouldn’t have walked it either, but the general idea was a white guy, with a backpack, obviously a tourist, in that neighbourhood… Well, I never had the slightest bit of hassle during the day.
So today it’s so long, Savannah, hello Atlanta.
by dodgyhoodoo on June 19, 2013, no comments
Pretty sure I’ve never appreciated air conditioning as much as this last week. Walking out onto the street here in Savannah’s like suddenly finding yourself in a sauna. You get used to it (Hell, if *I* can get used to this, anyone can) but you have to remember to take frequent breaks and to always carry water and sunblock…
I think getting to Savannah’s the first time I’ve really felt I was very, very far from home. If you’ve seen photos of the place (mine are on the way), or seen Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – apart from a couple of main shopping streets it all looks like that. Old trees, hanging moss everywhere, the squares… I think the one thing I haven’t seen here is someone walking an invisible dog.
One thing I did see this morning, though, was a poster with club dates for The Lady Chablis. Ladies and gentlemen, the Grand Empress of Savannah is still doing her thing. That was quite a moment: it’s one thing walking through all these locations from the film, and something else entirely to bump into an advert for one of the characters. (One of my hosts tells me there’s far more truth than fiction in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and having read the book that doesn’t surprise me one little bit.)
So. Photos soon (haven’t actually had a proper look at them yet…)
by dodgyhoodoo on June 19, 2013, no comments
Got the Greyhound down to Washington DC on Thursday with a definite sense of trepidation. The weather forecast for that afternoon was for strong thunderstorms and flash floods – turned out I missed this by about 20 minutes, that’s how quickly the weather front in question was travelling. Incessant wall of rain one minute, dry and clear skies the next, like somebody switched off the monsoon. Living in tropical storm country… Not something I’d envy anyone.
So my place this time was up in Petworth, another pretty chilled neighbourhood 10-15 minutes’ walk from the restaurants and bars at Columbia Heights. Didn’t get much done that evening beyond dinner and crashing, the rock’n’roll lifestyle strikes again…
So basically the DC visit was all about the Smithsonian museums. Got a few Obligatory Tourist Shots (TM) but really… There’s something about the “Our Nation’s Capital” side to Washington that leaves me cold. I’m getting used to the flags all over the place, but much of DC takes that and turns it up to 12, because stopping at 11 is un-American. It’s like the city wants you to like it, but its way of getting your respect is about as subtle as a 1,000lb gorilla yelling “USA! USA! USA!” two inches from your face.
Speaking of gorillas, I was totally lied to by the movies. I came here to see the Thade Memorial, who’s this Lincoln guy?
Anyway…
Over the weekend I visited the Natural History Museum, the National Museum of the Native American, and the National Air & Space Museum. (I’d have done more had my pre-paid Mastercard decided that it didn’t want to work in Washington. Stopped the minute I got in, started working again straight away when I got to Savannah. Sigh) The Native Amercan Museum was absolutely fascinating, obviously we don’t have a direct equivalent in London. Oh, and the tradition of major monuments being covered in scaffolding when I turn up continues…
So yeah. Very brief post this time. Glad I visited, but mostly not my kind of town and I can barely put my finger on why, Patriotic Gorilla Vibe aside (though Petworth and Columbia Heights were nice neighbourhoods). Onwards to Savannah.
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