nicolas cage

hello im big time hollywood actor nicolas cage 

im in action films

i love jeans

im very serious

and i love muffins

watch my movies.

road trip!

preface: vacations rule!

our first stop was the natural bridge in virginia.  we werent really sure where our first night was going to be spent but we kept seeing roadsigns for this natural bridge and we were like we have to go.  it was really beautiful but they had all these funny touristy things there.  like a wax museum, toy museum, and monster museum.  weird.  the night we checked into the hotel we got passes to watch a christian light show explaining the 7 days of creation at the bridge.  it was out of control!  everyone was around 75 years old.  my target demographic.

"eve i dont want you to worry but i just ate one of those apples we werent supposed to touch and now there is a giant lion right next to you"

"look you guys i know one of you is a traitor and this is the last time im going to eat.  

from now on im bread and wine"

"whatever jesus."

cave.

cave!

foamhenge created entirely from you guessed it - foam. built to scale.

my armspan equals my height.

north carolina

our mountain cabins!

we got into town so late that everything was closed.  asheville is kind of way too hippy even for me.  im talking teva sandals, wool socks, weird smelly hippys playing guitar in the streets. eww.

but we ate some good food thats for sure.

the cabins were built in the 1930's and used in a robert mitchum movie. wow.

the dogwood flower.  my new favorite.  and a tiny sliver of my creepy eye.

fact 1: pioneer men used to chew on the dogwood bark to clean their teeth.

fact 2: in the wind a dogwood plants branches rub together often sounding like a dog barking.

also a state flower that i infact picked. oops.

south carolina

one store. 

grandmas and jams.

explosives!

seriously this is all in one store.  what else could someone need. oh i dont know useful things.

somewhere on the road

what you cant see from this magnificent iphone photo is that there is a cat sitting on the lap of the driver looking out the window.  i thought it was so crazy i actually saw this until i realized oh wait ive driven on the freeway with my cat plenty of times, and yes he has sat on my lap while ive done this.  so this photo op isnt so rare.  am i a crazy person most likely. 

south carolina

pee break.  photo op.

savannah

hello my glasses are bigger than my face.

come on :)

i seriously think this is my dream house. im pretty sure someone already lives here and im also pretty sure the ivy is taking over. oh my i want it!

the trees are so beautiful!

look at them.  

its unreal.

magical.

this picture is for you jeff gros.  it was prom night in savannah ga.

all the ladies were out and all the parents were taking their photos.  

so i decided id take them too. 

atlanta

atlanta is so incredibly cool but we only spent like 2 hours there so this is what youve got.  

boiled peanuts straight up from the best shack ever painted.

thats right 8 bananas for $1. 

alabama!

at one point in time my dad lived here. wow.

p.s. this sign is totally real and they were infact for sale inside.

new orleans

if you could take away all the cheesy tourists and add like 15 more places i can actually eat at i would seriously move here.  oh and youd have to get me a job here too.  other than that sold.  such an amazingly beautiful city. so much history.

yuuuuummmmmm.

chicory coffee and beignets. even doughnuts are better in french.

magical.

can you imagine.  "oh this - its my parents house"

this may have actually been a highlight of the walking tour i took that day.  you get such a positive feeling while walking through the cemetery's in new orleans.  maybe its because living people are in them all day long, or maybe its because they used to require people to come to the funerals by luring them in with free alcohol? you decide. 

wait they have ginger mint julips even better!

oh wait this isnt actually sold here or anywhere else.

tennessee williams

this is entirely dedicated to tennessee williams.  i dont really know much about him and have only read a few of his stories but imagining him writing them in new orleans definitely makes them seem that much cooler.  

obviously streetcar named desire came from here. 

the st. charles line streetcars.  they are all in amazing original condition with wooden bench seats and windows.  im actually pretty sure everything in the interior is just as it would have looked when they were first put on the tracks in the late 1800's.

the passengers are a mix of tourists and locals.

the townhouse that he lived in for the last twenty years of his life.  i stood on the front steps and then walked down the street just like he would have.  

the lovely house next door.  seriously you can see the side of mr. williams house on the right.

lively libations in n'awlins

the old absinthe house used to host the likes of oscar wilde, my favorite mark twain, and walt whitman, but now its more like a bourbon st jerk magnet.  the bar and woodwork is still original though.  im pretty sure that hot dog guy is new.

i had absinthe there because hello i had to.  apparently its legal now in 8 states here.  when did that happen? and what states are these?  it was good.  but the company around me was really the best part.  a bunch of fraternity like dudes and "dale" an oil rigger turning 50 next week that hunts alligator in the off season and doesnt like the taste of racoon. what.

the napoleon house was so beautiful. 

 it was built in 1814 by the mayor as a house of refuge for the lovely napoleon bonaparte. 

the pimms cup is the drink of choice there.  i must say it was really good.  not sweet at all and totally refreshing.  that cucumber slice worked perfectly floating on top.  our server was totally crazy.  he had pink drink dribbles down the neck of his shirt.  

i think he had a few pimms cups himself.

fun.

i was on a search for a mint julep the whole time i was in new orleans.  apparently no one serves them there.  i was told to try the carousel bar at the hotel monteleone.  little did i know the carousel bar actually has a moving carousel positioned around the bar! holy moly.  

tennessee williams used to love this place.  i like to think he thought up the glass menagerie during a visit.  truman capote and william faulkner were known to hang out here too.  can you imagine this spinning bar filled with those guys?  i bet some good stories were told that night.

of course they didnt have any mint so no mint julep once again but the bartender put together this lil' number that was really pretty good.  it was spiced rum with muddled lemon/orange and sugar.  i asked about 4 times what the drink was called and all i could really understand was "capri sun".  each time i thought no that cant be what its called thats a juice box. nope im pretty sure thats the name.  classy.