The Journey Continues...

I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport right now while en route to New York City. I am going to be in NY for nearly two weeks visiting with friends and family and hopefully having a blast. Who knew... but the cheapest way to get to NY from Chicago runs through ATL. I have time, but no money, so I have to do everything the cheapest even if it takes longer... (I'm sure you are all feeling sorry for me at home, huh? HA!)
I am actually flying into the Newark, New Jersey airport and I am going to have to take some trains and make some transfers to get to my final destination in the city tonight. Through the course of the trip I will have been in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York. I don't have the mileage added up just yet, but I am definitely racking up the miles.
The truck is running great, but I left it with my aunt in a Chicago Suburb. When I return from NY in 13 days I will pick it back up and hit the road again. Before I roll out of Chicago I believe my cousin Chas and I are gonna go to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. When I finally leave Chicago I am gonna head straight to Des Moines, Iowa. As far as I can tell there doesn't seem to be too much to do in between Chicago and Des Moines. Just head straight down Interstate 80 past the world's largest truck stop. Anybody have any ideas about things I definitely should do over the next few weeks? In New York I plan to go to Ellis Island, the Immigration Museum, the Frick Collection, a Yankees game, just got tickets to a live taping of David Letterman, MOMA, The MET, and a few other odds and ends... Hit me back with some suggestions!!!

Uploaded ALOT today!

Hey, I made a ton of updates today. More updates than will even fit on the first screen. If you have time scroll down to the bottom of the web page and hit the "older posts" button to view some more updates that have recently been put on the blog. Hit me up if you have any questions and please add comments to the entries. Take care everybody!

-Matt

Horse Racing!

The other day my cousin Chas, my uncle Chuck, and I went to the horse track for some wagering. My uncle has quite the system down, but I don't know anything about betting on the horses. The track gives you a program, but the information is super detailed and very confusing. I didn't win anything until the final races and ended the day down about $60 bucks. Not too bad! I certainly learned a lot and maybe next time I will come out ahead. Its a short video, but we were there for several hours. They run 10 races and in between each race is a 23 minute break.

I also went to the Polish Museum of America. It was a pretty decent but small museum. From the looks of the place, the placards, and the posters, the museum acquired everything in a single purchase. Everything on display came from the Polish Exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair in New York! I got a few postcards but I still didn't learn enough about Casimir Pulaski... he has a whole day dedicated to his memory here in the city of Chicago (which has over a million Pols and is the largest concentration of Pols on Earth outside of Poland). Anyone out there ever heard of him? Let me know what you know about Ol' Pulaski!

The Art Institute of Chicago

If you want you can quickly check out many of the masterpieces currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. In this video I fade out the background noise and instead play a Flamenco guitar cover of Led Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven... Skip this video if you don't care about art!

Video Montage!

If you want to see what Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has to offer check out this video.

It's time for a montage!

I've been going to this aquarium since I was a little kid!

Cairo!

Cairo, Illinois is a weird place... Today, this city- pivotal in American History- resembles a ghost town. There was so much beauty in the sadness of this town... Its people all know the town is dying, but seem to hold on to their rose tinted dreams of yesteryear. And it is a desitnation that any wayward wanderer should visit...

Here is the History (thanks Wikipedia)Cairo was founded by the Cairo City & Canal Company in 1837, and incorporated as a city in 1858. For 15 years the town grew slowly, but the sale of lots and the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad, attracted settlers. By 1860, the population exceeded 2,000. It was an important steamboat port in the 19th century, with its own Customs House. It has since been converted into a museum.

During the Civil War, Cairo was a strategically important supply base and training center for the Union army. For several months both General Grant and Admiral Foote had headquarters here. The town has numerous fine examples of prosperous 19th and early 20th architecture, including the Italianate Magnolia Manor and Second Empire Riverlore Mansion. Much of the city, even in some areas of decay, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

With the decline in river trade, like many other river cities, the population of Cairo has declined from a 1914 high of 16,000 to 3,632 in 2000. There is a movement to stop this gradual abandonment, restore Cairo's architectural landmarks, develop tourism focusing on its history, and bring new opportunities back to the community.

Cairo, a former slave trading hub, was the scene of the circus-like lynching of the black resident Will James in front of a crowd of hundreds in 1909. In 1969, Cairo was the site of an intense civil rights struggle to end segregation and create job opportunities. The threat of violence resulted in the National Guard being called in to restore order. The United Front civil rights organization led a decade-long boycott of white-owned businesses -- meaning all of them. Its economy crippled, Cairo has emerged slowly from the contention.

The city today faces many significant socio-economic challenges for the remaining population, including poverty, issues in education, employment and rebuilding its tax base. Historical populations

CensusPop.

1850242

18602,188

190012,566

192015,203

194014,407

19609,348

19805,931

20003,632

At one time Cairo was the largest city in the region but the population has been steadily declining. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,632 people, 1,561 households, and 900 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 35.93% White, 61.70% Black.The median income for a household in the city was $21,607, and the median income for a family was $28,242. Males had a median income of $28,798 versus $18,125 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,220. Of the population as a whole, 33.5% lives below the poverty line, as compared with 27.1% of families. Out of the total population, 47.0% of those under the age of 18 and 20.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Check out this link to learn about Cairo... Strangest City on the River
Here is an NPR story on the town... Lessons from Cairo, Illinois

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods - You are Here!

(Be careful with the sound volume... it's quiet, then loud).

After leaving St. Louis and Gorham, Illinois I headed to the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois and camped at the Garden of the Gods State Park. I camped for 3 nights in was a very secluded campground on a high, windy bluff. It got very cold while camping, but I slept pretty comfortably in the back of my truck. The hiking was great and I never even saw anyone else while out on the trails. This whole region of the state is pretty sparsely populated. I wanted to buy a bag of ice, but that would have required a 32 mile round-trip in the truck so needless to say, I didn't have ice with my Coke. In summary, I thought this was a very nice park with some very cool geology and interesting archeology. The whole southern half of the state is strewn with relics from American and Native American History....

MOBOT- Missouri Botanical Gardens

The Missouri Botanical Gardens were hands down the best botanical gardens I have ever been too (however, I am not claiming to be a huge gardening person or an expert in these affairs). This is also America's oldest botanical gardens and has North America's largest Traditional Japanese Garden. The MOBOT also offers gardening lessons and tips in the teaching gardens where participants learn techniques for gardening at home, using environmentally friendly pesticides and fertilizers, and how to compost among a ton of other green themed activities.

The day was grey and rainy, but the gardens were very nice and relaxing. Even though it was wintry, there were tons of blossoming flowers. If I lived in St. Louis I would probably buy a season pass to this place and go there when I got too stressed out.

Link to the MOBOT's webpage HERE

Also.... The geodesic dome of the Climatron was designed by the Buckminster Fuller, whose life works I viewed while visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Gorham, Illinois

Hello All!

I shot this quick video while in the town of Gorham, Illinois. For those of you who don't know Gorham is my middle name and is also my mother's maiden name. This is a very small town in the Southern tip of Illinois not far from the Mississippi River. There isn't much of anything in the town- the school has been boarded up, the post office has closed, and there are absolutely no stores.

Today, the population in Gorham is only 300. The town has been shrinking for many years. My Uncle told me a story about that population sign... its a little bit of family history. Something like 30 years ago my parents were dating in nearby Carbondale and attending Southern Illinois University. My dad owned a crappy old van and it just happened to break down in Peoria, Illinois. My uncle, who worked in outdoor construction, was laid off for the snowy winter and didn't have much going on. So my grandfather told my uncle to drive down there, pick my parents up, and drive them back to Carbondale so they could go back to school. A week later they would all return to Peoria to pick up the fixed van and then part ways. As the story goes, my grandfather told my uncle to stop by Gorham and steal that sign. After a few nights of drinking and partying in Carbondale, my uncle got directions to the tiny town and drove out there with a few tools and returned with the sign. It's been part of the family decor ever since. Right now it hangs in my cousin's house... the population on the original reads 400.

If I grew up in Gorham today, I would jump on one of those trains just to see where it goes. There isn't much opportunity or vitality in this small town. On a final note, my cousin Jane who has done extensive research into our family's genealogy believes that one of my American ancestors settled near the town in the old pioneering days and that it is likely that the town is directly related to my family's bloodline.

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis

While in St. Louis I visited the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, commonly known as the Saint Louis Cathedral, or colloquially as the New Cathedral, in Saint Louis. It was a nice building and I pulled the rest of this post right off of wikipedia. Skip it if you don't care about cathedrals or architecture...

"The Cathedral was constructed in the early 20th century in the Central West End of the city, as the archdiocesan replacement for the Church of St. Louis IX, King of France (colloquially the Old Cathedral) on the historic St. Louis riverfront since 1770. The cathedral was consecrated on June 29, 1926. The Cathedral of St. Louis was designated a basilica by Pope John Paul II on April 4, 1997, and on October 19, 1997, the 150th anniversary of the elevation of the Diocese of St. Louis to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Louis, the Cathedral was elevated to a minor basilica, receiving the name it now bears. In 1912, installation of mosaics in the interior began. Completed in 1988, it contains 41.5 million glass tesserae pieces applying over 7,000 colors. Covering 83,000 square feet (7,700 m2), it is the largest mosaic collection in the world. It was created by 20 different artists including Hildreth Meiere. The church basement contains a museum dedicated to the mosaics in the church as well as some of the other artifacts found within the Cathedral. Also in the church basement is a mortuary chapel with a number of crypts for former leaders of the Archdiocese. Currently, Cardinals John J. Glennon, Joseph Ritter, and John J. Carberry, as well as Archbishop John L. May are buried in the Cathedral's crypt. Luke E. Hart is also buried there." [Source: Wikipedia, 2009]

Here is more on the history... (skip it if you don't care about Cathedrals!)

History of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
Even before Archbishop John J. Glennon announced "I propose to build a temple in the name of the Lord my God," in February of 1905, plans for a new Cathedral for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis were already underway. Archbishop Glennon's predecessor, Archbishop John J. Kain had already purchased the property at Lindell and Newstead. However, his plans were set back by a devastating tornado that drained the Archdiocesan treasury and his own ill health. He remained steadfast in his desire to see the Cathedral built, and when he died, he designated his entire personal estate to the Cathedral building fund.

The undertaking would require a $1,000,000 - a monumental sum in the currency of the time. (and by no means reflective of the actual cost of the completed building). The design of George Barnett of the firm of Barnett, Haynes and Barnett of St. Louis, a synthesis of Byzantine and Romanesque design, was chosen by a selection committee.
On May 1, 1907, ground was broken, and construction began. Work on the Cathedral would continue for another 80 years.

Apostolic Delegate Archbishop Diomede Falconio laid the cornerstone on October 18, 1908, dedicated to the Victorious Christ and Saint Louis IX, King of France, patron saint of the city. The ceremony was observed by members of all 77 Saint Louis parishes, who joined in procession to the site.
As the structure rose out of the ground, Tiffany Studio of New York began work on the two chapels on the west side of the building. The construction of the High Altar began. The altar was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Cullen McBride, whose daughter Kathleen would become the new Cathedral's first bride.

That first wedding happened in 1914 just two days after the first Holy Mass was celebrated in the new and far-from-completed building. The first Mass was celebrated six years to the day after the laying of the cornerstone.

One milestone followed another: In 1915, the new Kilgen organ (now displayed in the Cathedral Basilica's Mosaic Museum) was dedicated. The Archbishop presided over the first Solemn Mass celebrated at the new High Altar on All Souls Day of 1916, and in 1917, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was used for the first time. Its bronze gates had graced the Austrian exhibit at the Saint Louis 1904 World's Fair.

The German firm of August Wagner was contracted to install the mosaics. The company set up shop in St. Louis, becoming the Ravenna Mosaic Company. Paul Heuduck undertook the red and gold designs of the transept galleries, then completed the Arch of Triumph and the Arch of Creation, followed by the pendentives underscoring the main dome and the Doctors of the Church pendentives surrounding the Sanctuary Dome.

The Cathedral was ready for consecration. It was an unforgettable occasion for all of Saint Louis. June 29, 1926, the Centennial of the creation of the Diocese of Saint Louis, saw 59 archbishops and priests gather for the ceremonies, including John Cardinal Bonzano, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. More than 100,000 people gathered along Lindell Boulevard to witness the procession of the Blessed Sacrament that evening.

Still there was much to be done. In 1930, the mosaics depicting the life of Saint Louis were completed in the Cathedral's narthex, visually preparing the visitor for the growing grandeur inside.

Shortly after World War II, a sacristy was added to the north end of the structure. The Kilgen organ was replaced, and work on the mosaics continued. It was not to be completed until 1988, when the final two areas - the east and west transepts - were completed.

In 1997, the Cathedral was designated as a Cathedral Basilica by Pope John Paul II, who honored the Cathedral Basilica with a visit on his history-making visit to the United States in October of 1999.

The symbols of its status - the tintinnabulum (bell) and the ombrellino (umbrella) - flank the High Altar reminding one and all of the special status as a Cathedral Basilica.

Even though the Cathedral Basilica is technically completed, there will be changes and additions as each generation adds its imprint to this very special sacred space.

City Museum of St. Louis

Well, I've been quite the bum lately. I finally got to a library today and was able to make some new posts. I filmed this stuff several days ago while I was in St. Louis. I was actually staying with my psuedo-aunt and uncle in the little farming community of Mascoutah, Illinois which is only a half hour drive out of the city. I was in St. Louis for the Easter weekend and it was sure nice to get a warm shower and a home cooked meal. I didn't stay put long and after about 3 days I was back on the road and headed to Southern Illinois. I've been to St. Louis many, many times on family vacations over the years, but I still managed to hit a few new places on this most recent trip. The City Museum of St. Louis was very cool, albeit a place entirely designed for kids. The entire museum is built into an old abandoned warehouse downtown. The designers have used as much natural and recycled material as possible to construct this giant playpen for kids. From the exterior, to the roof, to the insides- everywhere you look are hands on play activities for the children. If you have a family and you visit St. Louis you must go to this museum. Skip the Arch, it's overrated! Overall, this museum is unique and can be really fun if you let yourself act like a kid again. Check out the footage!

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Eureka Springs is a weird little bohemian village situated in Northern Arkansas. This town has a lot of history with many, many historic buildings and sites. Southern hippies are the main residents of the town (not the west-coast latte sipping hybrid driving types, but the teeth-missing, creek-bathing, bearded, off-the-grid variety).



The entire town is built into the side of two opposing hills and it is a very vertical city. In this town of about 3000 there must be 2500 hotel and bed and breakfast rooms available. It is definitely a tourist spot, but fortunately I hit the city before the height of the travel season. Many of the buildings date back to the turn of the century and a very lively and robust historic society has painstakingly preserved many sites and buildings.



There are numerous stores and art galleries in the towns vibrant shopping district. You can buy one of a kind fine art, Harley-Davidson Leathers, hand-made chocolates, organic clothing, fine jewelry, rare minerals, cheap t-shirts, Native American wares, and confederate memorabilia all on bustling and vertical Spring Street.



The town is bursting at the seams with gardens, grottos, springs, and flowers right now. The many, many tulip gardens were very nice and the quaint, Victorian style homes add a very romantic touch to the city. There are numerous wedding chapels and I think it must be the place to elope for many a Oklahoman, Arkansan, or Missourite. Check out the video to see some of Eureka Springs' many attractions.

All in all, Eureka Springs is a jewel of a town and definitely worth a visit if you are nearby.

Hailstorm!

I drove through some bad weather in between the Ozarks where I had been camping and Eureka Springs, Ark. where I was going to spend the next couple of days. Check the video out... it explains it all.

Fortunately, the hail wasn't large enough to damage the truck. Three people were killed by a tornado that was spun off by the same storm system that was hitting me. I was a little worried about the weather, but I came through ok.

Caves of the Ozarks...

In the Ozarks there are a lot of limestone caves that have beautiful formations. The caves are created when acid in the rainwater dissolves the rocks along the many cracks, crevices, and fissures in the layers of rock. Over thousands of years this continual process of dissolving can cause huge caves or sink holes to be formed. The dissolved minerals are in turn re-deposited to make the cave formations such as stalagmites and stalactites. Blanchard Cave was pretty impressive... the Cathedral Room was huge! I had a lot of questions for the tour guide. I kind of want to spend a night or a weekend in a cave to see how my body reacts to the sensory deprivations and lack of sunlight. Anyone ever camp in a cave? Let me know!

Ozark National Forest Day 8 Mile 887

After leaving Memphis I drove a few hours to the west into Northern Arkansas. I passed through many small towns and pretty vast stretches of rural lands. A lot of these towns look pretty beat down and there haven't been any upgrades to the cities or buildings in decades. These are hill towns and they are full of hill people... the kind of people that never leave the county where they were born.

Either way, I stayed in a nice campground in the Ozark National Forrest. The campground was called Blanchard Springs and was very quiet and secluded. In some of my previous posts I talked about how small the town was and how I was having such a hard time getting Internet access out in the woods.

Check out the video to see all that the campgrounds had to offer. I also went on a nice long half-day horse ride in the hills. It was pretty cool and for a while we ever rode the horse right down the middle of a pretty big creek. It was cool, but the weather was bad that day so no photos. : (

Beale Street - Memphis Tennessee- Day 6 Mile 658

Here is a short video of Beale Street. It was a lot of fun and there was live music everywhere. I wish I would have had more time to explore Memphis, but the road was calling my name...

My directorial debut...

I am starting to get better making the videos and I have started to figure out a system to consistently make updates to the website. Check out the video below... I was out in the woods in some hill billy country...

Anyone ever seen Deliverance with Burt Reynolds? It's a pretty good flick and if you haven't seen it in the past ten years you should check it out... You definitely won't feel the same about sleeping in the woods after you watch Deliverance!

Well, I finally got reconnected with the outside world and got some high speed Internet. Sign of the times... but I am pretty much addicted to computers and the world wide web. I just feel better when I have the Internet readily at my disposal. I made this video several days back while I was in Tennessee camping on the Mississippi River. It was a very nice campground; quiet and secluded. The name of the park was Meeman Shelby State Park and I would recommend it to anybody who wanted to do a little camping in this part of Tennessee while still enjoying the amenities of big city Memphis.

Anyone have any stories from Tennessee they want to tell me?

Well Damn!

Ha! I was half way through the upload when some guy came outside and asked why I was parked in front of his house. I was stealing his Internet, but I told him I was just passing through and had to find a place where my cell phone worked... he went back inside and turned off his wireless router! Damn! No videos today... maybe tomorrow or the next day. Sorry folks.

Tennessee!

Well, I apologize for taking a little while to get this stuff posted. I have several videos to show you below. Beale Street in Memphis was really great. It is like a mini Bourbon Street- wall to wall with live music and culture crammed in with plenty of bars, restaurants, and unique shops and historic sites. It is all packed in to about 5 blocks and sits in the shadow of the Memphis Red Bird's Baseball Stadium. I guess they are a farm team for the St. Louis Cardinals, but they had a game earlier in the evening so there were a lot of fans in red out and about. There were some cool little voodoo shops on Beale Street so I stopped in and picked up some mojo in the form of crude stickers and a money drawing good-luck candle. Lets hope it works! I ate an awesome cheesburger at Dyer's on Beale which has been there around 80 years. After you have a bite of that cheesburger you know why they are still in business!!! I caught some great live music on Beale Street and Memphis is just brimming with musical talent. Apparently, a lot of the New Orleans jazz and music scene relocated up here after Katrina. I had some of that good ol Memphis dry rub barbeque while in town too. The ribs from Central BBQ were delicious and I was tempted to go back and order more! Anyone have any good stories from Memphis they want to share? Post away, my friends! Grrr... well I couldn't get the videos to upload today on the weak internet connection. I am gonna try something else. More to come soon!

Quick Update

Hello! I've been in the woods for the last few days so I have been pretty out of touch. Right now I am sitting in front of Sam's House, pirating Sam's unsecured wireless Internet. Hope he doesn't mind! I have some videos and some stories, but they will have to wait until i get a little more time. I have about a 4 pr 5 hour drive over to the Ozarks in Western Arkansas to reach the campground for tonite and the next few days. I've just spent three days camping in the woods north of Memphis. I will be in Mascoutah Illinois just outside of St. Louis by Saturday of this week. OK i"m starving some I am gonna go and get a big ol pile of Memphis BBQ and then hit the open road. I will get some more posts up as soon as possible. Take care and I will talk to you soon!

My Friend's Trip to Israel!

I just wanted to include this pic on the blog. It is from my friend Paige who I am staying with in Mississippi. She recently had the opportunity to travel to Israel. The views are magnificent. Check her out...

Day One - Mile 0

Hello All!

Welcome Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmQ7VCBG9iY

Well, it's no April Fool's Joke. I am on the road and outta town. It was a relatively simple travel day. I drove a little over 300 miles today and am staying in the town of Saltillo, Mississppi. It's just outside of Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley. I am staying with an old friend, a brilliant and aspiring young professional from Milton.

The poor girl came down with the flu today : ( but hopefully she will be feeling much better tomorrow. I ate some of her pasta salad- I sincerely hope it doesn't kill me!!! All is well and I feel a little relief now that I have finally gotten underway. I always get a little anxious before a trip. It's just a general feeling of unease about the unknown future possibilities that stretch out before me.

All in all it was a very good day. I had lunch with my mother and her boyfriend Bill at a little catfish house in Milton and then left around noon. I drove through some drenched parts of rural Alabama... hell it was all rural today. Not too many metropolises between Lower Alabama and Northern Mississippi. Saw some quaint towns. The south sure has a lot of little towns and communities with strange names... Delma, Reform, Coal Fire, Buh, Elrod, and Gordo to name just a few.

The weather man says hail is likely tomorrow... lets just hope it isn't too big!