ROAD TRIP// Memphis

Memphis was pretty much our last real stop, but we cut it down to just one day because we spent more time in Alabama. You hear a lot of stuff about this city, people warned us about it, said it's not safe for two girls to go there by temselves and all of that. After certain incidents in Texas and elsewhere, we were definitely trying to be "safe" (whatever that means), by driving in daylight, staying away from dodgy alleys and all of that. 

Memphis was beautiful, not at all scary in this beautiful weather but we still just drove around to get a feel for the city. It is a shame we didn't do anything at all and again, you need a lot more time in this city to experience it the right way.

Elvis had his house here, Martin Luther King Jr got shot and died in this city, it is home to the Memphis blues and soul- the city is bursting with charm and character, waiting to be explored.

First we were randomly driving around, but then we just followed this beautiful old car in front of us and it gave us a sightseeing tour around Memphis haha.

the car we followed

the motel where King was shot, it is now the civil rights museum

a glimpse of Beale St, the famous bar/club street

Moving on to Elvis Land

this is the wall in front of his house, full of messages for him

the beautiful house, tucked away behind trees

ROAD TRIP// Nashville

Nashville was the first big city we visited after a whole lot of Alabama countryside. We stayed in a super dodgy motel (again), so we shut the curtains, avoided eye contact with fellow motel mates and got ready for a proper night out. We wanted to go line dancing as a proper cowgirl would do, but of course the dance hall was closed. So we went across the street, hung out at a typical American dive bar-  we made friends with the bartender and everyone around us, had a great night (and a huge bill) that ended with us running from the parking lot straight to the sketchy motel room to avoid unwanted attention.

The next day was slightly corrupted after this extensive night- we still went to the Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame, which was really cool. I wish we could have stayed longer in this great city, but we had to drive to Memphis that same day.
Aw Nashville, you are a babe.

ROAD TRIP// Alligators at a gas station

Imagine this regular super hot day in the middle of Alabama. Denise and I are looking for a lake or really just any sort of WAER to swim in and hang out at. Texas is full of beautiful swimming holes, natural pools and springs and all that. We were a bit disappointed when that was not the case in Alabama, but there is a pretty good explanation for that. Alligators.

Obviously there are not alligators everywhere, but they can be in certain waters and that makes swimming clearly a bit more dangerous.
Now this swimming hole down here in the picture was beautiful and we were SO excited, but it was somehow booked for a private party and we weren't invited >< BUMMER

We then drove somewhere else, and on the way we stopped at a tiny weird gas station to get snacks. And then there was a fenced in area, and people standing around looing at something.

 

It all made sense when I was this sign.

So there it was, just like that. SO WEIRD!!!!!

So there was just this alligator hanging out next to the gas station.
Alright, Alabama.

ROAD TRIP// Little Grand Canyon (+ #lifewithdenise)

 

I was SO stoked when I found out that there was a sort of canyon near Eufaula. We only had to cross over to Georgia (actually enter a whole different time zone, which we didn't even realize) and enter the Providence State Park and there it was. The only picture I saw of it before looked something like this (^^) and I therefore suspected that the canyon is probably really tiny. It really wasn't- it has these amazing shades of red and white and brown and surrounded by all the green, it is super beautiful. The funny thing about this canyon is that, compared to the Grand Canyon, it is not actually made of rocks but sand. This thing developed the way it did because of farmers mistreating the land and not through (millions of) yeeears of erosion etc like the one in Arizona. You can just look at it from these viewing platforms, but there is also a hiking path that leads you down in to the canyon. We did that the next day and it was both scary but also really cool.You are not allowed to scratch off the walls or climb on the little sandy hills because that would eventually destroy it. Weird, isn't it? Looks totally like rocks to me from far away.

The whole area is pretty deserted it seems, but as usual in America, the park was well taken care of, but (we assume) because it was off season, there was not really anyone there. Really cool if you don't like to be bothered, but also a bit creepy. 

So on our hiking day, the info center in the park was closed as was everything else (also no phone reception!) and there were only these maps, so we took one to make sure we are not actually gonna die in that canyon. At the start of the trail there was a guest book where hikers could leave their name and stuff. All these posters at the info center about poisonous snakes and spiders seriously got me a bit scared and so I scribbled (in VERY LARGE LETTERS) our names and phone number and date etc. (In my head I already saw the helicopters coming and saving us after hours in the darkness haha). So then we finally properly started walking down in to the canyon, but still every little noise in the bushes made us jump.

You see, Denise has a lot of special talents and one is definitely that she attracts (like a huge freakin magnet) a little bit of drama and misfortune, to say the least. This was just one of those moments, she takes out the map to make sure we are still going the right way and bam, she just rips it right where the important bit is (by accident, she claims). There is really nothing more fitting (in my opinion) than the hashtag #lifewithdenise. 

This could easily turn in to a TV series, let me tell ya. So far though, only Instagram has been graced with this genius idea.

#lifewithdenise

 Anyway, the hike went well and beside a dead baby boar we didn't find that much scary stuff down there. So enjoy the pictures!

ROAD TRIP// Eufaula, Alabama

Alabama was preeeetty high on our road trip to do list. Nothing specifically I think, but just proper soak in what the state has to offer. In terms of our route, we entered from the south and drove up all the way up to Tennessee (Nashville, to be specific). It was SO beautiful.

I had done a lot of research on like the official tourism websites for Alabama and Eufaula was apparently one of those typical small towns with a lot of charm. Yes it was indeed.

A lot of the pretty houses are actually marked as historic and some of them are museums as well.

We stayed at the 'Quality Inn & Suites Eufaula' and I was so surprised, the rooms look so modern, the pool is great, the breakfast is better than at other hotels... We loved it, so we actually decided to stay longer than planned.

The most beautiful road is Eufaula Avenue, with sooo many amazing houses just right next to each other.

Crazy hills everywhere!