Road trip to New Orleans... Part 1

OK, I just got back from a nice road trip through 8 states, going down to New Orleans and back up to Kentucky.  We saw a lot in every state, though New Orleans was our main stop.

To be honest, we made this road trip in an effort to hit some states we had not been to before.  We are trying to visit all 50, and driving through this area allowed us to go to Louisiana and Arkansas, states we had never been to at all.  We changed planes once in Texas, so we had never REALLY been to Texas and we were able to hit Texarkana on this trip.  Mississippi and Alabama were states we have passed through before briefly.

So, in a lot of ways, we were going through some areas just to go through them.  Sure, New Orleans is one of those areas you want to go through at some point in a life time, but otherwise, we were going places just to go there.  And, after this trip, we are up to 37 states that we have visited!

Our first night on the road was spent in Chattanooga Tennessee.  If you have read this blog before, you know that I love Tennessee almost as much as I love Kentucky AND Chattanooga is at the top of my list.  We got an early start on the road after work and headed south!

We only had enough time in town to catch a Lookouts game.  I love minor league baseball, and this team and park are very special to me.  The season is over now, but make sure you go by the stadium next time you are in downtown.  Its walking distance and it is amazing.  We were able to watch a true Volunteer state game as the Chattanooga Lookouts hosted one of my other favorite teams, the Tennessee Smokies.

The next day we drove to Birmingham for more minor league baseball (counting the AA Barons current park which just opened this year, there are THREE historic ballparks in town!).  We did go to a Barons game at their new stadium, Regions Field, which is perfect.  It offers a great view of downtown (I love a stadium with a nice skyline view).  AND you can see Vulcan from the park!  In a game that could only ever occur in Alabama, the Barons hosted the Montgomery Biscuits.

Back to Vulcan......  Are you familiar with Vulcan?  I wasn't until recently, when a pal from Birmingham told me about it before our trip.  Vulcan was definitely one of the coolest things we saw on this trip.  MUCH more on Vulcan later, but this is a very under appreciated tourist stop.

We left Birmingham and went to the Vicksburg Mississippi area.  This is another one of those places you do want to hit at some point in a lifetime, but we were sort of expecting something similar to Gettysburg.  We enjoyed the National Park at Vicksburg, but the town is not Gettysburg.  Oh, and the USS Cairo was very cool, that alone was worth the trip to the area!  Where else can you see a somewhat reconstructed shipwreck from the Civil War?

We walked the streets checking the area out and we just didn't have the same experience we had in Gettysburg.  We saw a cola museum that looked cool from the outside.  After going in and spending a few minutes, we realized that the "museum" was not cool (it was small).  We left Vicksburg.

The next day we drove to Louisiana.  I must say that I had large expectations. 

Our first stop once we crossed in to the state was at the welcome center right off of 55.  The place looked great.  I love welcome centers.  I always pick up brochures of places we are going to, and places I might want to catch on another visit.

We walked up to the center and noticed a sign that said "free smiles and free coffee."  Both sounded good right about then.  We walked to the door and it was locked.  We looked in and saw people sweeping.  Then I realized that the sign said they opened at 8:30.  According to my cell phone, it was 8:28.  It was obvious that the casual sweepers inside knew we were out there, but they were not going to open up a minute early.

I thought about the friendly staff I always encounter at the visitor centers in West Virginia (I almost feel like some of those guys are old friends).  I also thought of the time we stopped at the Hallmark visitor Center in Kansas City.  We were there 15 minutes early and the very sweet person running the center came out and excitedly let us in early.  That obviously would not be happening here.  Not cool Louisiana.  We left before they could open the door.  We would not be taking advantage of their free smiles.