the last few nights in austin continued to prove our already positive perspective on the city as a whole--we went out with Dave to a bar on the east side called the long branch and finally got to meet evan's friend andina at her friends' (but not without an elaborately constructed introduction that had us cracking up within 2 minutes of meeting her. awesome girl) and then soon after met up with some of evan's other friends, phil and jake who bought us a pitcher and showed us a great time, even when it began raining at 2am. The next day we poked around the art museum, checked out a cafe, picked up our newly fixed car and got free bread at whole foods from phil. We also got the chance to see "the discreet charm of the bourgeois" a luis bunel film at the paramount, a gorgeous old theatre downtown and then attend metal night at the peacock (where we were immediately told there was black&white face paint for us at the bar. fuck yes)
After hearing stories of san antonio and the previous night from brigham and zack, we left for Baton Rouge and arrived a mere 8 hours later. andy and fletcher greeted us warmly and immediately took us on a bike tour of the downtown area and we hung out on the levy of the mississippi. after purchasing food at the local winn-dixie, we realized we were locked out of the house and hung out on the porch with root beer floats and lonestar. a friend of andy and fletcher stopped to chat, telling us stories about the night of katrina and the history of baton rouge. the only downside to the night was fletcher returning home with blood on his left temple and shoulder from a bicycle accident he experienced on the way home. luckily he seemed to be okay, but was too sore in the morning to take us out on the canoe to see alligators. we wouldn't have all fit anyhow.
porch in baton rouge
the next morning was ushered in with rain, collard greens and feral kittens on the porch, which we soon left for new orleans. After driving through miles of swamp and landscape unlike any i have ever experienced before, we reached new orleans. Biking around was quite the experience, especially in the french quarter, but we soon explored a cemetery, ate many free benigets and enjoyed drinks on the porch of a fancy hotel. After these adventures, night began to fall and the place we were to stay fell through. Andy pulled through again though, and the predicament was soon resolved by his friend rachel and a certain place to stay. soon enough we were drinking on the stoop and hearing stories about the double homicide that happened earlier on her block (and the immense amount of 70s porn her friend had unearthed at his new place--but that's another story) she was just moving into a new apartment so while the place was completely unfurnished and lacked running water, it was a roof with good people and even cuter dogs.
the next day we ventured into the 9th ward, the poorest area still largely abandoned since the hurricane; it still possessed a ghost town feel and after taking a few pictures decided to venture back into downtown. We left for athens in late afternoon and after an oversight on my part that placed us in south carolina instead of east georgia, we decided the budget inn was the best option and at 1:30am posted up for a night in a town we didn't even know the name of.
this morning we came into asheville and wandered around the town, getting a very SLO/santa cruz vibe from it and lo and behold, we shortly ran into justin, lane, miriam and more santa cruz kids at a cafe chris had recommended. small world man, small world.
next on the agenda: swimming holes tomorrow and richmond on tuesday. indeed.
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