Thursday April 24th I had a morning of emails and calls. Richard Gordon is a consultant in Westport CT and he is doing everything he can to support the charity ride. I was blown away as invited me to visit him and watch a Regatta in Westport which he pointed out is Paul Newman's hometown and very close to the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang offices and camp. I should get up there on Friday May 16th so stay tuned.
I left New Orleans about 1:30pm. The city is very quiet and traffic is slight. I whizzed about the streets looking for the US90 East. Why do convention Centre designers all assume that all humans only ever want to end up at their ugly buildings for conferences? Eedjuts. I gave up and hit the I10 East towards Mobile Alabama. I stopped for petrol and a lad with the most stunning Yamaha R6 (600cc) in the same red as mine was tanking up. He gave me directions to the 90. Here's where the subject line plays in. As I turned south to take the 90 along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico it said "SCENIC ROUTE". I was pleased. A photo of the scenery is attached. Miles of strip malls and gigantic signs and billboards for such stunningly attractive establishments as transmission repair shops and "Payday Check cashing". Impetuously I began my own in-hemet rant against the ugliness of commercial America. Then I swung east and there was the sea. White, soft, sand beaches stretched for miles. My head swivelled like a kid with $100 in Toys-R-Us. Crack the neck right to see the beach, crack it left to see the huge beach-front houses, most in a faux Plantation/Colonial/Cape Cod style. Odd ones were turn-of-the-century turrets/Victoriana or even that clunky-chunky, shingled front porch 1920's style. Some sported the lacy New Orleans french balcony cast iron that smacks of Caribbean. I really enjoyed that ride. Except for the road. The whole stretch is under construction so it was rough and a bit slow. I spotted a beach-front bar at Pass Christian called Shaggy's. (Brits refrain from comments!) I had a salad and met some locals who all rode Harleys and showed off their tattoos. Arthur was from Scotland and had to drive 2000 miles for a funeral. But he was glad to be back with friends. The barmaid Veronica told me about the Floribama festival so I'll go there tonight. Thousands of bikers and bands too! Wahooo! Biloxy looked nice. I think the giant gutar was in Pascagoula...
I was riding along when a car in front suddenly braked and swerved in the middle of nowhere. I saw a turtle hunched down on the road. The little plonker was crossing the road at the pace of a slug in molasses. How he survived I do not know. I stopped and moved him to the grass verge. As I waited for him to poke his head out and thank me a big bloke on a Suzuki Hayabusa stopped to see if I was OK. That's the sportbike community I love. Passionate, helpful and more concerned with biking than posing. He asked about the charity and said he'd ask his boss if the company can make a donation. He turned around and I realised he had ridden beyond his turning just to check on my welfare. I rode with a setting sun on my back into Mobile and again fell for the old houses along Government Drive. Through to Spanish Fort and down to Daphne. At a big junction at 7:30pm I knew I could ride no further and lo and behold there was a motel. A tad pricey but I couldn't care less at that point. Louisian, Mississippi and Alabama in one day.
Shower, shave, crisp, white, cool shirt and soft jeans and I hit the steakhouse. 3 chaps were chatting and one spoke to me. We chatted. It turns out that Web MacCartee and Josh Todd are planning to produce a product called Peanuts & Crackers for children. It's designed to get kids writing about their experiences and drawing a moral from those experiences. They plan to then get these distributed. The idea is to improve communication skills and relationships within the family and at school. I was impressed as they really seemed to care about the future of kids. Webb worked in Nascar so my ears picked up! Anyway, I'll keep in touch and find out more. Miss Zzimmermmann will test the idea with the local gang of kids that beat down her door every day for sweets.
I updated things until very late, overslept and am now drinking my 10th coffee in a Comfort Suites lounge. I need more time for emails than riding but the interest in helping the kids is very gratifying.
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