Austin to Boston: Charlottesville VA

Charlottesville, Virginia

2960 miles

77° F

Gas: $2.38

Since our third night of camping was very wet for the tent and bedding supplies, we upgraded to a KOA cabin in Virginia and gave everything a chance to dry. KOA cabins are simple (no private bath or sheet service), but it was a relief. 

Monticello was our next exciting house tour. We studied the architecture of Thomas Jefferson our freshman year of architecture. Our professor (who attended UVA) loved Jefferson so much he dedicates two lectures to these designs. 

Here we are at Monticello:

Stephen standing by Jefferson. We were suspicious of the proportions of this statue but were later informed that Jefferson was in fact 6' 2 1/2" ! To the right is part of the beautiful Monticello gardens. 

The University of Virginia has grown a great deal since Jefferson’s first design, but we eventually found the historical center. This is the Rotunda which looks out on the Lawn. 

Austin to Boston: Charleston SC + Myrtle Beach SC

Charleston, South Carolina

2443 miles

90° F

Gas: $2.42

Here we just walked around and admired the historic homes. Charleston is noteworthy in historic preservation because in 1931 the Charleston Historic Society designated a this large area of homes to be protected. They have a revolving fund for their preservation efforts, by purchasing one home, restoring the façade, and selling it at a profit. Then they have money for the next house. The homeowner can do whatever they want with the interior, but not alter the façade. 

Many belonged to merchants who got their wealth from the seaport. 

(we think this looks like a Mario canon)

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

 2547 miles

73° F

Gas: $2.42

I only have two things to say about Myrtle Beach.

1. Myrtle Beach is not always sunny.

2. Our tent leaks.

Austin to Boston: Savannah GA

Savannah, Georgia

2280 miles

93° F

Gas: $2.44

We loved the city planning here. The historic downtown is a grid with 22 public parks at regular intersections. We took a 90 minute trolley tour. My favorite fact was that when Savannah was founded, there were four prohibitions.

1. No Catholic services (even though early colonies promoted religious freedom, this settlement wanted to avoid any sympathies to the Spanish in the south.)

2. No hard liquor.

3. No slavery! (this only lasted 20 years, sadly. I think the alcohol rule was even shorter.)

4. No lawyers.  (The founder thought lawyers made everything take too long. He said people could represent themselves in court.)

We are camping for four nights in a row. Sunday morning, we attended a Methodist church service that was conveniently right next to the campground.

Austin to Boston: Winter Park FL + St. Augustine FL

Winter Park, Florida

1973 miles

87° F

Gas: $2.53

In Winter Park, we stayed with Mary and her brother Rick. Mary is the mother-in-law of Stephen’s sister Melanie. She is Sophia’s Nona, and loves her very much. Mary has at least ten photos of Sophie in every room of the house. Rick loves to grill and made us great food both nights.

St. Augustine, Florida

2091 miles

79° F

Gas: $2.59

This is the oldest town in the US, once a Spanish fort. We toured Castillo San Marcos, which was exciting for us because we studied it in our graduate architecture history class last fall.

From this part of Florida to Savannah, there is a lot of Spanish Moss on trees. This one also has ferns growing on it.

Austin to Boston: Pass Christian MS + Shalimar FL

Pass Christian, Mississippi

1280 miles

87° F

Gas: $2.51

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina almost destroyed this coastal town. Stephen went with some friends on a spring break relief trip to help the town. They spent most of their time clearing debris in the cemetery.

Stephen wanted to visit here to see how it looked, almost four years later. We actually drove past it at first because he couldn’t recognize it. Many new homes and businesses have been built. The library where the relief teams slept has been torn down, and a new one is being built. 

Stephen took his laptop out at the cemetery to compare with his old photographs.

 Spring 2006

 

Summer 2009

Spring 2006

Summer 2009

The family plots were once surrounded by iron fences, but most were mangled and removed. A few remain.  The grass grew back, gravestones have been set up in place again, and it was a peaceful place. 

Much of the road through Louisiana and Mississippi is through swamp. Interstate 10 is built on pillars for miles.

Shalimar, Florida

1485 miles

87° F

Gas: $2.54

In Shalimar, we stayed with cousin Amanda from Stephen's mom's side of the family. She lives with her husband Jared and their baby Makinley. 

They took us out for dinner to have hibachi and sushi.

Here's Stephen trying sushi for the first time!

Stephen and I spent most of our time at the beach. This area is called the Emerald Coast because of the green hue of the water. It was so clear and beautiful!

Our second day, we went into Destin looking for a beach. It was a little more difficult than expected as all the hotels, resorts, and condos have private beaches. When we saw a sign that said "Public Beach," we went out to investigate. 

The beach was only 30 feet long, both sides with a sign saying, "Private Beach of so & so." We wandered through the a few short private beaches and found an abandonded condo with an unclaimed beach. A few others found it also, but we had plenty of space. 

Here is our giant sandcastle! It was about 6 feet in diameter and had a functioning moat.

Again, we saw some dolphins, close to shore! We sat in our camp chairs and watched them for about 10 minutes. One even poked his face up once. There were also two foxes at night, which apparently are native to Alabama and this part of Florida. 

Amanda and Jared lent us their beach umbrella, boogie board, mats and beach towels. We grilled hot dogs on a tiny grill and stayed until the sun set, and we were the only people left on the beach. It was hard to leave.

Austin to Boston: Galveston TX + Lafayette LA

Galveston, Texas

879 miles

97° F

Gas: $2.59

We drove along the shoreline and through Galveston. First free beach, we jumped in! Stephen also did a photo-shoot with our car, Penelope. (Then he got the first sun burn of the trip.)

We enjoyed shrimp by the beach and took this over-exposed photo of ourselves.

Last event was the ferry-ride, which I had fun photographing birds and took one poor shot of dolphins. We saw about six in the 20 minute ride!

Goodbye, Texas. We just spent 1,000 miles of our 4,000 mile trip through you.

Lafayette, Louisiana

1086 miles

83° F

Gas: $2.46

Stephen’s other aunt Liz lives here. (We didn’t get to see his last aunt, Theresa) Liz has two sons, Taylor (15) and Reece (9).

Louisiana is so tropical. We found a tree frog and put him in a jar for a little while.

Liz lives close to her cousins and extended family. Stephen’s Louisiana grandmother was one of 11 children, and most of them had six children. (and by now, many of those children are grandparents.) 

Stephen tried to find himself on a family reunion photo with over 300 descendents in it. He finally found himself in the far back on his dad’s shoulders. 

We had lunch at Liz' aunt Charleen’s house, one of the youngest of the 11. (Only four  are still alive.) Charleen fed us real Cajun food: pork, sausage, beans, corn, rice and gravy, and potatoes.

Charleen and her husband Uncle Wayne are at far left, Liz, Stephen, Charleen’s daughters Sharon and Pam, and son Squetta with his wife Dawn. Their daughter is the baby Abby, and Pam’s daughters are Casey (in red) and Molly (in orange.) The blond girl is Ruby, daughter of Lisa (not pictured.)

Quotes of the Day:

"Facebook is so hard. It's like math!" -Liz

Austin to Boston: Houston + Angleton TX

Houston, Texas

In Houston, we had lunch with Alex and her husband Allen. Alex was the Best Matron at our wedding. They live near the Medical Center of Houston, where Alex is doing research through her graduate program. The Medical Center is instense: at least a dozen hospitals have their own skyscrapers.

Houston, TX

769 miles

95° F

Gas: $2.49

Also, Alex and Allen have the world’s cutest cat, a ragdoll named Kiki.

Angleton, TX

807 miles

95° F

Gas: $2.47

Stephen’s dad has family in Angleton. He was one of seven children. Four are pictured here:

Marilyn (front in green) Jacqueline (her twin in black behind her), Beeno on the far left, and Stoney in front in the leather vest.  We stayed with Marilyn. Her husband Lee in yellow, son Matt in blue, son Chris in black with his wife Courtney, daughter Cathleen in green, and Cathleen’s son Trevor with his pa-pa. (Stephen is far right in black, of course.)

Stephen’s granddad, San Benito left before the photo. He is the second of five San Benitos (Beano is the third, his son Benny is the forth, and Beano’s daughter’s son is the fifth.) The first San Benito passed away in 2007, a few months shy of 100.

As long as I’m showing cute pets, their dog Spike seems to be a Dachshund/Dalmatian.  He's a fun combo.