(West Palm Beach, FL)
We thought Nashville, with its abundance of boot boutiques and country twang, was a decent introduction to the south, but we really dove in during the drive to Florida. In Grundy County, Tennessee, Katie picked up a county newspaper. The headline stories: one meth lab bust, and a prison revival where 21 inmates were “saved,” and the jail experienced a shift to a Christian atmosphere. The sports section highlighted a “fishing rodeo” event where essentially some local kids got together and some fished, and some didn’t, and they all had fun. A fascinating article. We spent no more than an hour driving through this county, but just reading the news made me feel like I knew what it might be like to live there. Slow and simple, but not without troubles.
Georgia treated us well – we did not sample peaches or pecans, but we did camp in a cute little RV park. We broke out the camping stove and MacGyver-ed a lovely pasta dinner for two by Coleman lamplight. We are so cute. Only problem was we had no utensils to eat with except plastic knives. Good thing I spent so many years eating Sunday night spaghetti dinners at Camp Lakewood, when we weren’t allowed to use silverware. My skills at eating pasta with my face and fingers are expertly honed.
The next day, we made it to West Palm Beach, where we found Josh and Kristina (friends from AU) sipping Coronas on Josh’s front porch. It took no time at all to feel like we were back in DC, hanging out at someone’s place with some beer, a little music, and a deck of cards, figuring out our plans for the night. Except here there’s a view of palm trees and the noise of Josh’s parrots yelling “Hello” from his sunroom. I felt immediately at home.
We went out that night to a strip of bars by the pier, listened to some live reggae and later walked down by the water, stopping a few times to swing on park swings. We stayed out late, but it was a calm night. We were saving ourselves for Miami…
… to be continued… =)
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