Howdy from Childress, Texas.

I am currently lying cozy in the back of the car, lounging, stealing WiFi from Starbucks. It’s been a great long weekend, where I put about 2k on the car. I am deeply looking forward to taking it more slowly the following ~two months (ha).

I had such a nice experience driving down the East Coast, which I never do (I miss you Skyline Chili and you aren’t forgotten!) — the stop nearest to home I made was in Charlotte, NC, where I visited a homebrew perfumer I am obsessed with. Unfortunately, over the past two years I got really into indie perfume, when I decided 1. I want to smell the desert if I can’t be there, and 2. Smelling stuff is like the same joy as eating stuff but without getting full. Who needs money?? Anyways, what a blast, I went in and yapped for two hours with the owner/chemist about all her scents and tried everything out. I made a bunch of purchases and got a sleighful of samples to gift to the homies. Everything smells great. I smell tolerable, considering.

Upon the glowing recommendation from Sorce’s owner, and figuring that a person who likes smells might also like tastes, I drove another half hour south to The Dixie Pig, a BBQ eatery. I got dark meat chicken with Alabama white sauce (like a tangy or more vinegary ranch?), collard greens, baked beans, and then a peach cobbler. And it was $15?? I was literally shoveling the food into my mouth like it was the air I was breathing.

I drove some more, slept, woke up, and went to go slam some more Southern food. Got some trash biscuits and gravy, onion sausage, eggs, and hash browns at the Lizard’s Thicket. A++

That morning, I arrived at Congaree National Park in central South Carolina. I never really cared for the NPs east of the Mississippi, because I’m pretty tired of the East coast. But, I was glad that I had stopped, knowing nothing about the park, as I had a good time. Congaree is apparently one of the only preserved hardwood groves on the East coast. Much of the park is walking through and learning more about the woods there.

The big sellers, tree-wise, of this area are the bald cypress trees. They knee out and make all these crazy growths on the forest floor to give them stability during times of floods and harsh weather, and they don’t rot. When you enter the park, pamphlets are there waiting to inform you of the 8ft deep mud in the park and the lightning strike-survivor trees. Pretty neat.

It wasn’t too much to look at absent of the Spring blush that’s right around the corner but it was a bird watcher’s wettest dream. The NP webpage touts biodiversity as a major seller of the park and I found that to be absolutely true. I walked the boardwalks and found it so pleasant to do so listening to the haunting calls and incessant chatter of birds all around.

The following day I spent the morning in Tallahassee on the panhandle. I dropped by a local park and hung out while this local woman fed the ducks with her son. She was warm and welcoming and encouraged me to feed the ducks with them, and we were all laughing and she was yapping hard about how much she cares about the birds. I had such a great time.

After that, it was a short hop over to Wakulla Springs, a beautiful state park set on a natural spring that attracts another zillion birds, along with manatees and alligators, many of which I saw. There’s swimming there but I gladly declined in favor of a hokey and magnificent boat tour.

I kept at it, cranking West, hitting up the Biloxi Mississippi area. I had promised myself I would go here for the gulfside Waffle House, which did not disappoint. I also gleefully ate a huge platter of fall-off-the-bones smoked wings while listening to some blues music; Jesus H Christ take me back to The Shed.

Is all I do on this trip eat and drive?

Yes.

Well, I’m also listening to some sick audiobooks and the same old emo jams I have been listening to since I was 13.

My next stop was in Shreveport where I hit up Crawdaddy’s kitchen and ate a bunch of Louisiana fare including gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, and crawfish etoufeé. It was great, loved the crawfish over the rice the most, but holy fuck was it all salty as hell. It was also just a bunch of different versions of slop which was pretty funny but I ate every bit of it.

Some guy sat next to me at the bar and we got to talking (the first thing he did was apologize to me which is literally my favorite interaction to have with men so we were off to a great start, anyways–) and he’s from Philly! Small world.

Also, I love that there’s a store called Piggly Wiggly. Also, like every gas station has a casino? Report over.

Anyways, I’m getting through the work week! I am having a grand old time chilling in the car and getting stuff done. Childress is cute and the streets are made out of bricks.

The thing I am most looking forward to is the feeling I will have when I return home. I am so looking forward to getting back to my 105 houseplants (I counted before I left), my kitchen(!!!), work, rotting on the couch, and I guess my friends.

For now, I’m chilling with my soulmate (car) and watching Severance on an iphone hiding in the back of the car.

<3