Across the U.S., Day 20 - Greenville (SC) to Columbia (SC)

During breakfast I had an interesting conversation with an elderly couple about school nutrition programs in the south-eastern states. In the early 80s, he had served for a school district in Georgia to grow and promote healthier meal supplies for the kids. He mentioned that he was pretty successful in growing the program but quit this field when the schools started to introduce an increasing range of soda beverages and other junk food. From then to now, things had been changing again. One encouraging initiative is certainly Let's Move, launched by Michelle Obama in 2010.

We also discussed marketing of healthy food, e.g., promoting 'fancy content' such as antioxidants in blueberries to increase their consumption.

Before I could get back on the road today, I had to take care of one more thing:

This nail had been the culprit for yesterday's tire pressure warning. Son of a biscuit! The service center was able to fix the tire and hopefully this was it in terms of obstacles.

I took the scenic route to Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. Along Hwy US-25 I came by a noticeable number of abandoned houses.

For Sale by Owner

Ok, this one is obviously not abandoned!

Each time I came by a small town on my way to Columbia, I was greeted by one of the "Dollar General" stores along the road. In Nebraska, I had noticed the first one of these stores and was not really satisfied with their food selection.

Food? No.

Not food either!

Really? Not sure.

Ok, to be fair, they also have a small selection of 100% apple and grape juice, next to juice cocktails and such. And a few dairy products that I consider edible. Again, it goes back to reading the labels. Oh, I found another market chain that is more to my gusto: Bi-Lo. The one in Greenville had a good variety of fresh and healthy produce, even organic. I finally also found my Swedish crisp bread Wasa, which is excellent for traveling (and also perfect as last resort snack at work!). Stores are mainly prominent in the south-eastern states. According to online information, this branch was specifically designed to attract high-end customers and its stores are located in affluent neighborhoods. Well, there we go. ...

More to come.

Across the U.S., Day 19 - Knoxville (TN) to Asheville (NC) and Greenville (SC)

In preparation for the ~ 320 km ride across the Great Smoky Mountains Nationalpark to Greenville (South Carolina) today, I prepared one of those breakfast packages I had brought with me from Sunnyvale: oats mixed with nuts, raisins, dried cranberries, flax & chia seeds and milk power. Mixed with water, fresh fruit and yogurt if available, this gives an easy, healthy meal that brings me through the morning.

Oatmeal, milk (in lieu of coffee) and water to start the day

On my way to the Smoky Mountains I passed by Pigeon Forge. Wow, what a terrifying mix of plasticky, touristy "attractions", everything from the "largest christmas store of the South" to fake castle style buildings. The wax museum and many fast food chains (and certainly what they serve) fit right into all of these artificial stuff. Traffic was heavy and lots of red lights slowed down my escape from there even more.

Once I reached the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I was rewarded by Mother Nature and all of her magnificence.

Big Witch Overlook

It was a mild, sunny day with temperatures in the low 60th F (~ 17 C), no wind and actually perfect for motorcycling. Well, next time!

One of the many creeks in the Smokies.

Fall foliage

I took a tiny stretch on the Blue Ridge Parkway, ~ 45 km out of this over 750 km long scenic road which connects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina with the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

These guys had a very smart idea:

"Most photographed view in the Smokies"

By saying so, they probably made it true. They charge 50 ct. for access to the tower. Of course I had to check out the view, too. And once up there, why not take a picture. ...

Before I reached my next stop (Asheville), my little Volkswagen Golf TDI, who had done an amazing job so far, surprised me with a "Check tire pressure" warning. Oh, oh! Really not what I needed! And indeed, the pressure of the right rear tire was significantly lower than of the other three. Luckily, a gas station wasn't far. I corrected the pressure and made it safely into Asheville and will keep checking from now on.

Asheville, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, is a vibrant city with many art galleries and lots of outdoorsy folks.

On a busy day like today, the best is to get straight to the Visitor Center. Not only do they have good suggestions on how to explore the city, but they also offer free parking on their lower level lot. The Asheville Urban Trail, a 1.7 mile loop (2.7 km), is a great way to some of the many sculptures and art works that a placed all over downtown. It felt like a treasure hunt to me. :-)

"Curtain Calls" - Asheville's vibrant
theatrical presence and human struggle

Novelist Thomas Wolfe's size 13 shoes.
(He was born 1900 in Asheville.)

"Past and Promise"

I also tried some street photography today. Certainly, Asheville is ideal for this.

The women's museum aSHEville is also located here. Their mission is to - quote - "contribute to the creation of a more just and equitable world by sharing engaging stories, facts and visual imagery of the richly varied achievements, experiences and challenges of women and girls throughout the world" - end quote. They have some neat photography exhibits. (Katja, I'm sure you would love that place!)

Yeah! I made my way into South Carolina without another tire pressure warning (fingers crossed!!).

More to come.

Across the U.S., Day 18 - Knoxville (TN)

Because the current hotel does not provide complimentary breakfast, although advertised as such by hotels.com, I went for an authentic American breakfast place in Knoxville: Rankin Restaurant. They are a typical good ol' greasy spoon and claim to be the oldest restaurant in Knoxville, which I actually do not doubt. When I got there at 10 am (Don't blame me. I lost another hour on the road when crossing the EST border last night!), the place was packed and from what I saw and heard (!) most of the folks seem to be local.

Indeed authentic and tasted good.

After such hardy meal I had to work off some calories and went to the Beardsley Community Farm in central Knoxville for volunteering. This urban demonstration garden is in place since 1998 and sits on the ground of the former Beardsley Junior High School. The farm's goal is to promote food security and sustainable urban agriculture. They grow lots of different sorts of kale, carrots, herbs and also have berry plants, few fruit trees, bees and 5 chicken. Here are the names of the hens: Martha, Eleanor, Jacky, Hillary and Michelle. Sound familiar? Yep, they are named after the First Ladies.

The food grown on this farm is given to 5 community projects to serve low-income families. They also offer varies workshops on veggie gardening, beekeeping and worm composting. Further, local residents can get their own plots for gardening.

Today, the team was preparing for their upcoming Harvest Festival on Sunday and to celebrate Food Week - educational food-specific events this week throughout the country. Have you noticed anything in your area?

I wanted to chip in my share, did some weeding of the plots and helped to built this "photo booth" where on Sunday families can get their picture taken together with the straw man.

Another neat place in Knoxville is the former Howell nursery and now Botanical Garden.

Not surprisingly by this time of the year many plants had already died down and turned brown. Nevertheless, it was nice to visit. When I talked to one of the gardeners, he told me that Knoxville gets an average of 70" of rain/year. And when it rains, it usually rains hard, but only for a short time. Not like Seattle - the biggest car wash of the world - where constant drizzle is very common.

May I introduce you to Sage, the Botanical Garden cat?

Knoxville was occupied by both Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War. The Marby-Hazen House served as headquarter for both sides during that time. (But no, not at once. ...)

Mabry-Hazen House

There is much more to visit in Knoxville: several museums (art, history), zoo, historical sites and of course cemeteries.

Old Gray Cemetery

More to come.

Across the U.S., Day 17 - Nashville (TN) to Knoxville (TN)

As the Civil War (1861 - 1865) plays a significant role in the history of the United States, I decided to learn some more about it. Several battle fields are located in Tennessee. On my way to Knoxville (TN) I stopped by the Carnton Plantation, located in the small community of Franklin, south of Nashville.

This area is known today for the Battle of Franklin, which took place Nov 30, 1864. Confederate General John Bell Hood launched a massive assault on the Federal troops, commanded by General John Schofield. The combat went on for five hours and left ~ 10,000 dead, wounded or missing. The above plantation, inhabited by John and Carrie McGavock and their children at that time, was turned into a devision field hospital after the battle. It sheltered up to 300 Confederate soldiers who were brought to the house for surgeries and medical care.

About 48 km east of Franklin is the city of Murfreesboro, site of the battle of Stones River. Union troops under General Rosecrans claimed victory in this battle, which cost the life of more than 23,000 soldiers.

After reading and hearing about all these depressing facts on the Civil War, I needed to stick my head out into the sun again. The countryside of eastern Tennessee is very beautiful. I came by lots of large mansions surrounded by acres and acres of land. (If I had such a property, I would grow a whole lot of veggies!!)

Got mail?

People driving past me probably wonder what the heck is so fascinating about such an ordinary farm in the middle of nowhere. :-)

Here is a funny thing I noticed since I got to the central states: Whenever people ask me where I am from, I tell them "California." Someone had even asked, which part of Canada I am from after he saw the Canadian tag attached to my backpack. Trust me, I have spoken to many people and given them all the same answer and none of them has ever queried it so far! Are people too polite to scrutinize my answer or is it lack of interest? Or does my English sound just so different from theirs, that "California" seems close enough?

More to come.

Across the U.S., Day 16 - One more day in Nashville (TN)

I kicked off another day in Honky-Tonk town with a visit to the farmers' market. It has been operating since the early 1800's, is located close to downtown and open 7 days/week, 362 days/year. The market re-opened in August 2010, after being closed for four months due to the severe flood that had hit Nashville that year.

The gentleman from "Smiley's Farm", 30 km north of Nashville, mentioned that not surprisingly, the busiest days are Sat/Sun and Fri. They are slowing down for the year now. The tomatoes in those buckets were picked green (but will ripe within 5 days), before the killing frost, which the farmers expect by the end of the month. They usually close down by Thanksgiving, maybe earlier, depending on the weather.

I selected some Arkansas Blacks, the apples from the buckets on the far left. They come from a 180-acre (~ 0.73 km2) farm that grows 30 different apple varieties. According to the farmer I talked to, the farm is not certified organic because of all the costs and bureaucracy that come with achieving and also maintaining the certificate. But they apply organic farming methods as much as they can. For example, they have many bird houses around the apple trees to encourage birds to nest nearby. The birds help with pest control and limit the needs for pesticides. He also mentioned the bird droppings as helpful fertilizer.

This market is a really neat place. Every 3rd Friday of the month they have a night market to "Shop and sip under the stars", with live music and wine.

In addition to the sheds, there is the Market House - home of varies restaurants, anything from the usual BBQ to Chicago-style gyros, Indian, Sushi, Cajun, Italian and Jamaican. I decided for the latter and had some tofu curry with kale and rice.

It looks like many people who are working in the office buildings nearby come here for lunch.

Guess who the kid in the middle is!

You might rather recognize him here:

Yep, Johnny Cash (1932 - 2003), a.k.a. the Man in Black. Nashville has a very impressive Johnny Cash museum, initiated by one of his longtime friends. It's the largest in the world. (Well, are there others?) I spent several hours browsing through this archive, listened to many of his songs (which I actually really like, especially the ones later in his career) and learned that Cash even was guest star in one of the "Columbo" episodes and "Little house in the prairie" series.

I also explored the Tennessee State Museum, which is free and was on my way back to the car. To refer to Sonja's comment on my Oct 20th post: When 2,800 volunteers were called from Tennessee for the 1812 war, over 30,000 responded. Well, one could say these were patriots fighting for freedom and liberation from the British Kingdom. Or were these simply a bunch of desperate hill billies, looking for an adventure and who could not wait to rush into death. Maybe a bit of both?

Wrapping up the day with greetings from the "Batman Building":

Well, it's simply the at&t office but everyone here calls it otherwise. ;-)

More to come.