tennessee and virginia: bristol

My friend Nancye used to live in Utah, but during the past year she had moved to Bristol, Tennessee. I had never heard of the town, but if you are into car racing, you probably know the name. I drove from the north side of Chicago to Bristol in one day. Not a fun drive, but not awful either. The worst traffic was when I crossed the river from Indiana to Kentucky, as they are building a new bridge. All the rerouting is really confusing. Note to google maps: fix your directions to nancye's house, you had me turn the wrong way onto her street!
The first night we stayed up chatting and catching up. She was a year ahead of me in high school, but we have a lot of friends in common and still keep in touch with many of the same people. She also suggested a place to meet for lunch the next day, and told me some places I could visit in town.

I had good intentions. I intended to get up a few hours earlier than lunch, explore a little, then meet Nancye for lunch. Instead, I slept a lot later than I expected, and barely made it to lunch. 7 minutes late. Argh. A lovely sandwich place. We sat outside, it was nice. Her office wouldn't mind working with this restaurant for some events, so she chatted briefly with the manager.
Then she went back to work and I walked around for a bit. Bristol is not a big town. I'm not sure how it works, because the town is located in two states, Tennessee and Virginia. State street, basically in the middle of town, is the border between the two states. There are boundary markers all the way down the street. Pretty nifty. Apparently there are two high schools, both named Bristol. Sales tax is higher in one state, income tax is higher in the other. At one end of the street there is a big sign over the whole street: Bristol TN VA, a good place to live. The sign has been there since the 1920s if I remember correctly.

While walking around I found the chamber of commerce, which has postcards. 50 cents for each. That's crazy! But seeing the photos showed me the existence of the boundary markers on the street, which of course made me want to take my own photo. In addition to these markers up and down the street, there are state flags down each side of the street. Tennessee on one side, Virginia on the other. During this short visit I wasn't able to figure out if people from each side have a strong sense of state pride. Hmmm, things to wonder.
I also found a fudgery. I don't know if that's a real word, but they had a lot of fudge, so I was happy. There should be more fudgeries around the world.
I saw the old train station, it's still quite pretty. I don't know if trains till come through the area?
In Cumberland square park I saw a couple memorials. I think one was WW2, the other was a big plane.

This park was across the street from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Apparently, back in 1927, a guy working for a record company came through the area and recorded a number of groups. These recordings are considered the birth of country music, as the style of music was different from what was heard around the rest of the country. There is an entire museum built around these recordings. You can listen to several of the recordings, watch a video explaining what happened, see some of the equipment used back then, etc... It's a small museum that can take quite a lot of time if you want. I didn't rush through, but I  didn't dawdle either.
Twice during my walk I ended up talking to people on the street because they started the conversation. You've probably heard something about friendly southern folks. One guy was rather impressed with himself, I found out (without asking) that he did high level security clearances for the government. 

Two ladies in an olive oil shop were quite passionate about olive oil.
Nancye arrived home not long after I did. We picked up subs from a place called Zero's and went back downtown for some live music. Bristol is the birthplace of country music, but is no longer the center of the industry, which is Nashville, TN. Howeva, people in Bristol still love live music, and there are plenty of ways to hear it. We took our subs, and a blanket, and went to a small park in town to listen to a band. Apparently this happens several nights a week, and plenty of townfolk show up to listen.
The next morning Nancye went to work again, and I did a much better job of getting out of bed at a reasonable hour. Why is this so hard to do when I go to sleep at a normal hour? 

My first stop was Bristol motor speedway. If you're into car racing, this is a well known place. (I'm not, so I'd never heard of it, but I figured I should visit a place so well known in the life of some people.) Twice a year a whole lot of people come to Bristol to watch cars race in circles around a half mile track. I don't get it. The ends of the track are very steeply banked. You can see how steep it is when workers are on the track, they can't stand up straight. I think I read that a car has to be going at least 80miles per hour in order to make the turns! I think you can take yours which involved going around the track in a car, I had no desire.
As the track is only half a mile, it's not big. So the stands around it go up more than out. I imagine it gets very loud during the races. I was excited when I saw one of the grandstands is named after me: Johnson grandstand (and terrace too!)

I hopped in my car (the same fabulous Prius) and drove to another area of town: to Steele creek park. Along the way I stopped at a hole in the wall for lunch, grilled cheese. Yum. Also on the menu was a bologna sandwich. I had no idea anyone would order that, let alone eat it!
Steele creek park isn't huge, but I liked it. The entry fee was $2, not bad. I'd looked online, and it seemed that I could find trails going around a small lake. It took me a minute, but I found what I wanted. The trails on one side of the lake were steeper than I expected, but well done. They were mulched, and easy to follow, but I still felt I was getting a physical challenge of sorts. Very pretty, except for the bugs. I hate bugs.
The other side of the lake trail was very flat, made of cement in some places. Due to the time of day I was there, this side was also very sunny. I didn't have much water with me, I wasn't feeling so great when I finished. 

Thank goodness for the water and Gatorade in the car :)
After I got home, Nancye picked me up and we went to a short yoga class at her gym. Nice way to stretch into the weekend.
The weekend we filled up with two day trips. (Read the other posts.)
The following Monday Nancye went to work and I went into town again. I mostly walked the streets just to see what I could see. I made another visit to a bakery I already loved. There is no such thing as too many brownies.
I had lunch at a place called Manna, a bagel sandwich and soup. In hot and humid weather I never want heavy food. They had plenty of yummy sounding items on the menu. Nancye tells me it's a great place to go on sunday mornings, when everything else in town is closed.

In the afternoon I met Nancye on her campus, she gave me a tour. King university is a Presbyterian school. There are approximately 1000 students on campus, half of which are athletes. There are another 2000 students online. Tuition is not cheap, but the campus is beautiful. Some of the athletic teams are national champions! She introduced me to one of the coaches, who happens to be Ukrainian. Awesome. At the bookstore I loaded up on postcards, much more affordable there.
After the tour we left campus and drove to yet another area of town. We visited the south holston dam. It's very different from any dam I've seen before, I liked it. I don't know how much water the area holds, or what happens when the rain is strong. There are flat trails around the area, we went for a stroll. There weren't too many people out there, it would be a great place to go running.

The next morning I packed up, and met Nancye on campus one more time. She gave me a King University swimming t-shirt, and we said our goodbyes.
Then I got 'on the road again.'

newport news/williamsburg

the advantage of keeping in touch with people from different times/places in my life is in experiencing relationships that grow and change...i love it...
my train arrived in newport news, VA, over an hour late...since kelley had loaned me an ipod touch for the summer, i was able to take advantage of the free wifi on the train to email my host and let him know i'd be late...unfortunately, he didn't check his email, and didn't get my message...so he was at the train station, just waiting and waiting and waiting...august in this part of the country is hot and humid, so he was sweating...on the train, the aircon was turned up (or down, as i feel is more accurate) big time, i was nearly frozen...

by the time i got off the train, i felt like an ice cube...i wasn't hungry, even though i hadn't eaten since lunch, and it was already after 8pm...don (a friend from my years in high school) got dinner for himself on the way home, while i held on to his dog in the car...gypsy is a jack russell terrier, one of the awesomest dogs ever...she loves to make friends and chase squirrels...
after a quick tour of the flat, i went to sleep...
the next day don went to work, i hung out with gypsy in the flat...she loves when people come to visit, because she doesn't have to stay in his kitchen all day...i played on the computer, napped, did laundry, and was generally useless most of the day...except for taking gypsy out for a couple long walks...we had dinner delivered that night...
the next day was pretty much the same...for dinner we walked to a takeaway place in don's neighbourhood, gypsy loved the walk...she loves any chance to be outside as long as it isn't raining...if it's raining, she resists, to say the least...

saturday don and i did something touristy...we went to visit colonial williamsburg...the area is really close to the campus of william and mary, it is set up as towns were during colonial times...every day in colonial wiliamsburg is the same, the date is always a date when virginia was technically still a colony of the british empire...it's need to see everyone dressed in the clothing of the times, speaking the way they did back then...you get to see the governors house, shoppes and an inn, houses of 'regular' people, the post office, etc..the jail was particularly small, the lady running that said it was more of a temporary place, rather than a place people were jailed for long periods of time...i loved seeing all the different levels of society..

we spent about three hours wandering around, which felt like enough...the lady who sold us the tickets said half a day wasn't nearly enough, we thought it was plenty...i suppose one could explore every building, take all the tours, read all the signs, in which case half a day definitely wouldn't be enough..there are evening programs from time to time, i suppose we could've stuck around for one of those...i don't know how often they take place.. my favourite place was the blacksmith shop...the men working in their must've been HOT, because they were working with open fires! we also particularly enjoyed the building in which all the guns were kept..one 'employee' in there talks about how the militia worked, how each different type of gun worked, etc..i wonder what it would be like today to have such a building in each town..
after walking around for a while, we drove to krista's house...krista is another friend from my hometown...we used to swim together, and we've kept in touch ever since...i visited her in 2009, though she and her husband now have two children, and live in a house they own...krista had made arrangements for a babysitter so the three of us could go out to dinner...good food, good conversation...before leaving, we made plans to get together again before i left town...

we started driving again sometime sunday morning...there are heaps of historical sights in the area, but you have to drive to all of them..thank goodness for GPS:)...first we headed to a former army post called ft monroe...it was decommissioned in 2011 (i think?) and is now open to the public, you can even live in one of the historically designated housing units on post...general lee once lived there, and there is a museum...the post was built way back when, complete with walls all the way around...the best part of visiting ft monroe is the chance to walk around/on the walls...there are also nifty maps showing how the fort fit into the surrounding geography, you can see why the spot was chosen in the first place...we decided first to walk the walls, then check out the museum...

after walking just a short way, we found a distance marker, which made me wonder if there was/is a race run on the walls...a mile long race, something like that?
when the post was active, there was a tradition of burying deceased pets on the outer walls of the post...even though the post is no longer active, you can still see all the grave markers...i think we found them from as far back as the 1930s?  interesting to see how the names of dogs and cats have changed over the years...with all the people who lived on and around the post, i wonder if there was some sort of qualification necessary to be eligible to bury your pet on top of the fort walls?
unfortunately, the wind picked up, and before we knew it, there was rain...ugh...I HATE RAIN...to me, rain is far worse than any other type of weather...
we went through the museum, though neither of us was really in the mood for it...the museum is in the old fort walls, so the rooms have low ceilings, and everything seems a bit dark/dank...the museum has displays about battles in which the fort was important, changing uniforms over the years, the changing military over the years, etc...

hopping back in the car, our next destination was the chesapeake bay bridge tunnel...a model of modern engineering...it wasn't clear enough to see very far, (hence my total lack of photos,) but it was still awesome...it's both a bridge and a tunnel, i don't think i've had that experience before...as you are driving along you can see the bridge go down, and the tunnel come up..it's hard to describe, but it really is rather neat.. on the other side (in maryland) we got lunch at some random roadside place...fried diner food, yum...(yes, i realize it wasn't AT ALL healthy...i almost always love such food, but don't eat it often)..there isn't much in the way of civilization when you first get back to land, which surprised me..somehow i expected there were be a town or city right up to the edge of the land..

after the bridge tunnel, we continued driving to virginia beach...not too long ago, my cousin moved there with his wife and two kids...i thought the kids were 4 and 2, though i'd never met either one of them...the last time i saw my cousin and his wife, she was 3 months pregnant with the first child...my cousin wasn't home, so we didn't get to see, but it was nice to see his wife...and i learned that the kids are 6 and 2...ooops...kathy's dad was visiting, making it even more of a family visit...to say that don felt awkward is putting it mildly...he was social though, and having gypsy with us made for some entertainment...how often do you meet extended family of someone you're not even dating?!?! hee hee...

we expected bad traffic on the way back to newport news, but it wasn't bad at all...the whole area is a peninsula, with very few roads to get around...traffic from virginia beach going back inland is often bad, i'm glad we didn't have to deal with it...
i don't know why, but i had it in my head that i was leaving tuesday morning, but don thought it was monday morning...it's a good thing i checked my email, it turned out he was right...i had to call krista to tell her i was an idiot and we wouldn't be able to get together again...argh...my flight left super early the next morning, so i went to bed super early...all in all, a good visit:)

later in the summer i visited the area again...it was a shorter visit, we didn't do much, at least not in the touristy sense...we got together with krista again, don and i even babysat one night...kids are fun:)...
one day we again drove to virginia beach, the weather was fabulous...we all (don, me, gypsy) enjoyed the walk on the beach...mid september is past tourist season, so it wasn't crowded at all...if it had been a little warmer i would've wanted to wear a bikini, and lay out to soak up sun...i'm sure don wouldn't have had the patience to do that for long, but i am the queen of laying out:)

visiting the states

arriving in the states took a couple days..i first flew from munich to london's gatwick airport..spent the night there, then flew from gatwick to charlotte, NC..then from there to washington DC..my flight leaving charlotte was late, but that didn't matter since no one was meeting me in DC..after finally arriving at national airport i took the metro to union station, which is the central station in the city..then i spent the night..needless to say, i didn't sleep well, especially considering i was woken every hour or so by security people checking to see that i had a train ticket..(i understand why they do that, but it would've been really nice to get some sleep!)..i'm getting way too used to spending the night in public transportation areas...lol...
the next morning my train left on time for newport news, VA...the train arrived slightly earlier than it was supposed to, but krista was already there waiting for me..she brought fiona with her, fiona was 7 weeks old!!! sooooo cute, and so small!!! i know i've seen babies that young, but i don't think i'd ever held one, or spent more than a couple minutes with one..fiona is a perfect baby..well, almost perfect..she had no problem accepting me, a total stranger..she doesn't mind being naked when it comes to diaper changing time, she likes baths, the dog doesn't usually bother her, etc..

spending the week with krista and her husband rob was great..previously i hadn't spent much time with rob, it was really good to get a chance to know him..and i hadn't had much time with krista in years..while i was there i also started playing a lot on web pages, looking for job adverts for korea..
my next visit was to another high school friend..i've known don since my last year of high school, we've been through a lot..days hanging out with him and his dog gypsy were fun..he has found a number of great restaurants, yay:)..he was kind enough to drive me all the way up to indiana as each of us were going to spend the holidays in bloomington..it's an 11 hour drive, and gypsy rode on my lap most of the time..she's a happy dog, full of energy, and always willing to give you kisses..(even if you don't want them, lol)..
we arrived in bloomington the evening of 21 december, my first time in my hometown in about a year and a half..i ended up with the house to myself for a few days, as well as having a car to run around doing a few errands..i spent christmas eve and christmas day with mom, awesome to hang out with her again..during the time i was in bloomington we had several opportunities for real quality time, which we both appreciated..new years was quiet for me, which is generally the way i prefer it..i was asleep by 2130, woken up at 2230 by a phone call, then back to sleep by 2300..the next morning i woke up, and bobs your uncle, 2010 had arrived..just before the new year i had interviewed with several schools in korea, received offers from all of them, and accepted one of the offers..since then, i'd been working on what has turned out to be a really long visa process..i got myself fingerprinted, and sent the prints into the indiana state police..somehow, it took them two weeks to get back to me and tell me that i had to do it again, as they hadn't been able to read my prints..ugh..anywho, i finally got things all figured out, and have been sending paperwork every which where, just waiting for each step to be completed..it's more complicated and time consuming this time around..
among the people i got to see while in town were several adults who mean the world to me..(i'll always think of them as "adults" and somehow different from me, even though i know i'm one of them now!)...my old swim coach, (along with her ridiculously hot husband...don't worry, this is a joke that's been going on for yeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaars).. two old bosses, one of whom now lives on 12 acres connecting to a state park, so we hiked for a few hours...one of the chicks i saw in germany..a guy with whom i went to primary school..i didn't get close to seeing everyone i should've, and i was disappointed when i didn't hear back from the girl who had been my best friend in high school..(despite a couple emails and a couple phone calls)...i got to go to indiana university mens and womens basketball games, all of which i loved..i grew up going to those games, and, like all hoosier fans, miss the days when we were really good..so much tradition, so much school pride..anyone who has ever been to an IU game knows what i'm talking about.. ...one of the best games was the day i got to see my old flattie from uni, i hadn't seen her since uni..she has since married, so it was great to finally meet her husband..that day i also got to see my friend scott, i knew him when we both lived in germany..his brother lives in indianapolis, and that weekend his family all got together in indiana, they came down to bloomington to see the game..(he didn't even know it was an IU basketball game, he referred to it as "some sporting event" which made me laugh..i love him anywho)..
one weekend i got to spend with my friend (from uni) kelley, and her boyfriend jon..i hadn't met him previously, but it was easy to see how happy they are together, and that made me happy for her..she hates the town in which they live, and i don't blame her..he's super super smart, so as soon as he finishes school, they plan to move somewhere much cooler..we had tons to catch up on, and i got to meet their new dog..
another fantastic aspect to being in bloomington for a little while was the chance for quality time with my sister..when we were growing up, we didn't get along particularly well..we both recall hitting, slapping, pulling hair, kicking, yelling, crying, etc..since i moved out for uni, we've become close, we've become real friends..i treasure her..one day while we were at a local bakery, having hot chocolate and yummy desserts, the guy working there asked if we were sisters..then he asked if hana was older!!! i don't think that's ever happened..both of us are often told we look younger than we are, but hana is almost always assumed to be quite young..he thought she was 25, people usually guess 21 or so..so how old did he think i am? (we never found out, but the whole episode is still a source of humour:)...since hana and i are rarely in the same place, we don't often get chances to spend time together..
i left bloomington 5 february, and spent the night in a hotel in indianapolis, as a major snowstorm was coming through and no one was sure what the morning would bring..my flight out of indy was over an hour late, due to how long de-icing and whateva else took, which meant i missed the connection in atlanta by just 10 minutes..so i got to hang out for 6 hours..ugh..grandma picked me up when i finally landed in california..the last time i saw grandma in california was 2001, which seems like yonks ago..this visit was fantastic..absolutely fantastic..i got to meet a number of her friends, most of whom are aging more than gracefully.. one of her friends is 95 and still works full time!! grandma and i went to a couple beaches, enjoyed quiet reading time, ate good food, watched the super bowl, watched the bachelor (thanks hana and ann!) and talked about family and travels..all over her house she has family photos, it was neat to see what all of us looked like while growing up..i can't wait to go back and visit her again:)
my next visit was to a friend in clarksville, TN..thankfully, this time my flights were fine, i was on time..he picked me up at the airport in nashville (TN, not IN) and before going back to clarksville we walked through downtown nashville..as many of you know, nashville is known for country music, and on the main downtown street there are lots of country bars..there is a lot going on in nashville, and tons of stuff in the area..i would probably really enjoy living in that area..(though i'm not so sure about how conservative the area is)..i got to meet some of erik's friends and his sister, and had a lot of fun..a great visit, though because it was generally cold we didn't get outside nearly as much as either of us would've liked..i want to go back..i was supposed to leave on an early flight out of nashville on a friday morning, so we got up really early and drove to nashville, only to get there and find out that my flights had been cancelled..due to a forecasted snowstorm, delta had decided to be proactive and cancel a bunch of flights in and out of atlanta..nevermind that there wasn't actually any snow yet..i was supposed to arrive in augusta at 1030, it didn't even start snowing until 1500, there was no need for cancelling me!..so we drove back to clarksville, i checked my email, and found that i had been rebooked for the next day, same times..the extra day in clarksville meant i got to go to a work dinner with erik..it ended up being really long, considerably longer than either of us had expected..the guy being honored was a good speaker, but he did go on and on..(and on and on and on and on)..anywho, the next morning when i woke up, i had another email..yet again, delta had rebooked me..but instead of just going the next day at the same time, they had rebooked me during the afternoon and evening of the next day..that wasn't really acceptable..erik, being the totally awesome guy that he is, volunteered to drive me part of the way, if don would meet up..so that's what we did..drive..thanks to both of them for driving so much for me..
my last days in the states (during this visit anywho) were in augusta, just hanging out with don..finding good restaurants, catching up on this blog, laughing at his ridiculously cute dog, etc..cleaning too! believe it or not, i was a bit of a domestic goddess:)..most nights we stayed in and cooked, which was fun..while home in bloomington i learned a few good salads from my sister, and don's pretty good with meat..i gave serious consideration to dognapping gypsy, but her cage wouldn't fit into my pack..