Vicksburg to New Orleans
First order of business this morning was to get some underwear laundered. Although our room had no phone, it did have a phone book, and the phone book said there was a laundrette on "Hwy 61 South" -- no more detail was given.
That was on our way, so we bowled down Route 61, which soon became a four lane highway with little in the way of businesses, and nothing in the way of laundies.
When it became clear we'd either missed the laundry or it wasn't there, we stopped briefly to apply some sunblock, then carried on our way, looking out for food and washing machines.
We hit our 1000th mile in the car at around this point.
We found outselves on the outskirts of Port Gibson, where Grant's Restaurant ("down home cooking") was right next to a laundrette, so we put our smalls in a machine, then went in to eat.
This place was more of a transport caff than a tourist trap, and I enjoyed what I assume to be authentic red beans and rice, with a bit of fried chicken on the side, just so that something could be deep fried. Debbie had a cheeseburger.
After we'd eaten, we dried our clothes.
Port Gibson itself had some pretty period houses, but its main draw is the church spire with the pointy hand. It points to heaven, in case you'd forgotten that heaven was up and hell is down.
After Port Gibson it was a long drive on samey roads -- Highway 61 is being converted to a four lane highway, so we alternated between two-way traffic on one carriageway (while the other was built), and 4 lane traffic. Either way, there was little to see except trees to both sides.
Near Natchez, we stopped for the restrooms at Mammy's Restaurant, with it's charming racial stereotyping.
Similar roads took us into Louisiana and through St. Francisville. Here, we could have chosen to continue on Route 61, but instead we took Route 10, which involves a ferry across the Mississippi River. Without the benefit of movement, the heat while waiting for the ferry was hard to bear, but once we were on the ferry a pleasant breeze kept us cool. Unable to leave the car, we didn't get great views of the river, but we did see a biker with a "You'll get my gun when you pry it from my cold dead hands" T-shirt.
At a Tourist Welcome Centre, some very friendly women helped us book a hotel room in New Orleans. That was our end destination for the day decided, then.
On the West side of the river, Road Trip USA told us to "stay within the shadow of the levee". That would have put us in the river, so instead we stayed where the shadow would have been first thing in the morning. These were beautiful roads through lush rural scenery. Only the occasional small industrial building scarred the landscape. In places the road used the same red slab construction we'd become familiar with on Route 66 -- in places we even had railway at the side of the road, completing the Route 66 reminders.
These country roads carried us into Port Allen, where Debbie carefully planned a campaign to take us to a mall. It went like this: as we approached Interstate 10 (which leads to New Orleans), she suggested we swap driving duties (she's better than me in towns and on busy roads). She also expressed a wish for some restrooms. Then we hit the Interstate, and she suggested there would be exits marked with facilities. Then she said "if all else fails, the Mall of Louisiana is bound to have toilets". So that's where we ended up.
... and that's how we ended up in CompUSA, buying an iPod. I'm pleased with it so far, but I feel a bit dirty for giving Apple our money. We looked at the alternatives, but what swung it for us was the iTrip FM transmitter, for using the iPod in the car. Non iPod-specific alternatives to the iTrip exist, but none seem to be as neat.
For her efforts, Debbie got half an iPod, and some stuff from Clinique. And a bag. And half some Gamecube games....
From there, it was a little under 2 hours on I-10 into New Orleans. As Interstates go, it's a fantastic road, with many miles supported on concrete stilts through the swamp. As we got into New Orelans things slowed to a crawl, thanks to some nasty merging and a minor pile-up, but we found our way to the hotel -- right in the middle of the French Quarter -- with few problems.
I fiddled with the iPod for a while, then we went out to look for food. I ate jambalaya, Debbie ate blackened chicken with carpelli (seafood in white sauce on spaghetti), and we both drank beer until we were too bloated to do anything but roll back to the room.
Apple have wrecked my PC. If I try dialup networking while the iPod is connected, I get a blue screen of death. Gah.