Month: August 2017

Nearly twelve years ago the most devastating hurricane in my lifetime to hit the U.S. happened in the 4th week of August, 2005 . I drove through there this morning to see what had become of The lower Ninth Ward.  You  can still see the water marks on a few of the houses. There are still buildings that haven’t been touched since the water receded. People have obviously moved away never to return. Who would want to. In some areas all you see are the foundations left. There has been an effort to clean up some of it for sure, but not nearly enough. I think people are afraid to try and rebuild. It could happen again for sure. When I say the water was over 10 feet in some areas that would not be an exaggeration.  Some estimates said over 12 feet.  It is hard to imagine what those people went through.  Just 5 1/2 miles from downtown New Orleans.  Now the weeds, trees and brush have taken over the vacant lots.   I came back to my hotel room and watched footage of old news reports that had taken place shortly after the devastation. YouTube  and PBS Videos as well.

Now its back out into the New Orleans evening for another walk down the famous “Canal St” . The same one that was flooded over 3 feet deep on August 29th 2005.

Thanks.

-John Kelly

After spending last night in Winona, Mississippi (about 100 miles south of Memphis) it was on to New Orleans.  If  there was one regret I might have it would be that I didn’t spend the night in Memphis when I had the chance. I got there and couldn’t find a decent hotel room that was reasonably priced. Its almost comical at times when you call some of these Hotels and ask for a rate. They will give you a price quote of say $449 + tax.(that’s obviously an extreme example). That being said, its happened more than a couple times. The flip side to that story is, three different occasions I have asked to see the hotel room before I decided to stay there because It looked like the room might have some issues.  Two of those times I decided against getting the room. The most recent was Saturday night in  Memphis. $129 + tax.  Thank you Lord for giving me the wisdom to ask to see the room.  LOL.  So what did I do?  I decided to drive to Winona,  Mississippi.  There was a single room available, I was tired, It was getting dark. You know how this story ends right?… Yes I got the room”.  $49.  Not a good room(understatement).  They were not even worthy of a “1 star”. Do you know how bad you have to be to not even get a freekin star!!!  If you get a Star on Hollywood Blvd. that’s a big deal. If you get one in the hotel business its time to consider shutting your doors.  I’m just saying. 🙂   That being said I felt lucky to have a place to lay my head down for the night.  You can’t put a price on seeing some of these small towns.

Tomorrow I’m going to The Ninth ward, described as the easternmost downriver portion of the city. That should say everything(remember Hurricane Katrina). I was told not to go there.

A word about Bourbon St.  After doing The River Walk, I made my way over to the Famous Street(or streets as it were).  It has a similar feeling to Broadway St. in Nashville in that  all of these bars with live music are fighting for your business. The music coming out is loud. If its not your thing just keep moving. Eventually you’ll hear what you want to hear.  Kinda like life in some ways I guess.

I’ll probably stay in New Orleans another day and then off to Texas.

Thanks -John Kelly

Arrived in Nashville  yesterday. Had to see the famous Broadway area. Its something you should do if you ever make it here. Pretty famous six blocks. Think of the history.  The list is long of the people who got there start there. My favorite place was “The Stage” As good of artists as you will ever see anywhere. I could have stood there all night long and listened. It just gets so crowded that you eventually want to move on. The night air felt good. I like that they have the same sidewalks that were there so many years ago. Old school for sure.  Holding onto history. They do put out barriers to accommodate for the extra people though. You have to. Those little sidewalks can only accommodate so many people.  An interesting side note. Word is Nashville is the biggest place in the country for bachelorette parties (bigger than Las Vegas) Really?  It looked like that could be a possibility last night for sure.

Now its on to Memphis.

-John Kelly

Its a brand new stadium and its fantastic! Nice job Atlanta. I went to the game last night at Sun Trust Park. The best team in Major League Baseball, The Los Angeles Dodgers were in town. A rain delay in the 3rd inning wasn’t enough to stop the game. Dodgers win 7-4.  Before I forget I wanted to mention something that always appeals to me. Most of the Parks-stadiums  have a single store located somewhere on the ground level that sell Game used jerseys or bats or in most cases the actual bases as well from certain games. Pretty cool! The jerseys can go for upwards of $850.00 for a single actual Game worn Jersey(I used to think I would never get tired of looking at that kind of stuff).  Autographed Pictures and a whole lot of “autographed baseballs”. They Jerseys are unwashed and clearly authentic. The dirt and in some cases pine tar still on them. When I was a kid that would have seemed unimaginable at the time. The game has changed so much. Can you imagine having an Authentic Game worn Jersey from Joe DiMaggio?  Me neither. When I was in Pittsburgh I saw a autographed Picture of both Bo Jackson and Dion Sanders stand together. I thought that was probably priceless… Nope… $385.00.   Cincinnati a few games later, same exact picture $375.00.  I guess the market wasn’t as big for that Picture in Cincinnati. LOL.  I kept wondering how many of those pictures did the 2 of them sit down and sign, and what was their “take-$$” .  Some guy has that picture in his law firm office and people are amazed when they see it. If people only knew.  It will be are little secret. Ha Ha Ha.

Back to the New Baseball Park, 12.7 miles from downtown Atlanta. They did everything right(unlike Miami). beautiful restaurants and bars and a whole lot of good stuff.  Maybe even an All-Star Game is in there future in the next 4 or 5 years. That’s how those things work. Best price for a hotdog. Best price for a large Coke.  One more thing, every game I have gone to so far it is a little difficult to get an actual ticket. All those computer generated tickets being sold. Yuck!  Its made it a little less appealing when you just want to have the actual ticket in your hand. Not in Atlanta though.  Every ticket I saw was an actual ticket. Just like in the old days. What a breath of fresh air that was to see.

Until next time.

-John Kelly

P.S. Go to INSTAGRAM if you would like to see all the places the car I’m driving has been. #thats1luckycar

#theultimateyear.com

Arrived in Atlanta and the game between the Atlanta Braves and The Los Angeles Dodgers had just started 10 minutes earlier,  so no interest in trying to make it to that game tonight but knew I would be ready for the game tomorrow(Thursday), starting at 7:35 p.m.  Its always a good thing when you have time to appreciate the city you’ve just driven 460 miles to see. That’s what I did tonight. I walked as much around the city as I could. The CNN Headquarters, Centennial Park, and The Big Beautiful Ferris wheel. The Philips Arena where The Atlanta Hawks play there home games at. Big cities are always impressive. I went into “Teds Montana Grill”.  Id like to say that I had planned that earlier but that just wasn’t the case. Truth is It was right outside my door from the hotel I’m  staying at. No kidding! I walked out, walked 100 yards and there it was. Life’s crazy that way. I walked in and had a beer, looked around and appreciated the open kitchen and the way you could watch the cooks less than 8 feet away preparing the meals and sending them out in a way that had to be precise or it could go bad. They were impressive to watch.

In talking with my dad earlier tonight the conversation (among other things) is always about where I may head next.  Its never definite. Its always a matter of looking at the map and deciding what do I want to see and is it logical and reasonable to think I can get there.  Here’s one example: Do I go to Nashville and then on to Memphis, or Birmingham and then on to Memphis, or Mobile AL. and then on to New Orleans. Its not a bad problem to have.  Most likely it will be Nashville then to Memphis and then New Orleans. I guess . LOL. Then obviously Houston then on to San Antonio and then Dallas. I think.  LOL…. So its decided then. It should be Nashville. 249 miles away. I think. LOL.

Stay tuned. -John Kelly

So its not that I couldn’t have stayed in Key West for another day. It would have been much to easy. My best recommendation (if you ever make it to Key West) is to rent some form of transportation and see The Island that way. For me it was a bike. Excellent idea. Bikes and mopeds everywhere. reasonably priced for sure. Nothing like seeing a 14 story cruise ship from 50 feet away. Something else that I had always wanted to see were original gold and silver coins from lost ships back in the 1700’s and the 1800’s. Very cool! You can actually purchase some or even just one if you like. I thought they were priced fair. A few hundred dollars or $1000’s. For me I just wanted to see and feel what they felt like. The shop was very accommodating. You could tell the person liked there job. Isn’t that life though. People who like what they do for a living seem to be happier.

Tuesday morning it was back on the road again. Many miles to travel.  435 miles later I arrived in Tampa Bay FL. The long drive through “Alligator Alley” pulling over twice for very heavy down pours of rain coupled with winds that made it difficult to stay on a strait line. Sometimes REST AREAS can look so inviting LOL! We were all sitting there for the same reason. No where to run. No where to hide. The storms coming through Florida this time of year are pretty unique. Cars in the ditch more than a few times. They say its coming up on hurricane season here in the next few weeks. I’m sorry I wont be here for that. NOT!!  I would like to experience a hurricane but it would have to be on my terms, not while I was driving 80 miles an hour in blinding rain. I’m just saying.   So its off to Atlanta here in the next few hours I think, (wait while I check my weather APP.) LOL.  First a stop at Tropicana Field (home of the Rays) and then Raymond James Stadium(home of the Buccaneers).  452 miles to Atlanta and a Braves Game either tonight or tomorrow night. they are hosting The Los Angeles Dodgers who are the best team in baseball and have won 9 of their last 10 games. Atlanta on the other hand has gone 1-9 in their last ten games.

That’s all for now.

-John Kelly