Hello compatriots. I have rekindled my love affair with the road. Aye, she is beautiful and soft as ever, except for a rough patch of gravel on I-95 about 107 miles outside of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Can you believe that on a single full tank of gas you can make it a good distance into NC before you have to stop and fill up again? These German cars (I’m in a BMW this time around, acting all… High Society) sure get good mileage. For those of you keeping track at home, today’s jaunt was about 8-and-one-half hours of beautiful scenery. Here’s the science:
New Jersey’s foliage is slightly past peak, but that’s from the perspective of someone who knows absolutely nothing about the way leaves change colors on trees. I guess since it didn’t rain all summer the leaves aren’t very vibrant. Then again, what more astute observations are you going to get from someone who has absolutely nothing to do with science or botany. I’m a writer, dammit.
Only a small sliver of Pennsylvania’s landscape is traversed before you hit the Delaware.
It felt like I was in Delaware for maybe ten minutes. I definitely passed by Newark, but that’s about all I remember. Somewhere in there I’m pretty sure I crossed over the Mason Dixon Line. Between PA and MD?
Maryland, she is a pretty state, no? Once again the trees were bright orange and yellow with some deep red hues. It was a nice drive south, to say the least. Not a lot of life outside of the Baltimore area, but with the sun shining overhead and big tall trees lining the roadways it’s hard to complain about the lack of development. To all the people who fret about our nation’s urban overpopulation crisis, get in your car and drive for a few minutes. There’s plenty of land out here waiting to be used. Let’s just partition the overcrowded areas and send folks to live in the middle of nowhere. We can even make new state names. I propose we name the majority of dead, unused space in Virginia: New New Mexico. It’s got a nice ring to it.
By the way, until today the only Confederate States I’d visited were Texas and California. After this excursion I’ll be able to add Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to that list. Git ‘er done!
The sun setting in Virginia as you speed towards the North Carolina border sets the horizon ablaze. Purple and orange and deep blue swirling together. I suppose I have an uncle or great uncle living in Norfolk, but we’re not sure if he’s alive or dead. People stopped talking to him back in the day because, as the story goes, he married his Asian step-daughter (how… Woody Allen of him) and raised her child as his own. As far as my father knows, uncle Karl has never had sex with a woman, and has a taste for wearing kimonos year-round. If I haven’t told you stories about his side of my family, there are enough to fill many, many long car rides. Ask me about Uncle Abe sometime…
Stopped at a Cracker Barrel (sniff sniff) just over the border in NC for two eggs over, smoked bacon, grits and biscuits. It was good. Desert included Apple Pie and ice cream. Now I’m in Rocky Mount, North Carolina settling in for the night. Miraculously (or, maybe not), there’s no such thing as “autumn” in NC. Everything is still lush and green here. It’s 71 degrees and should be in the 80s tomorrow. How’s the weather back home in the shit?
Savannah tomorrow morning. Goodnight and godspeed!
