Chicago to New Orleans

There are several ways to get to New Orleans from Chicago, depending on your time frame and state of mind. The easiest is to take I-57 to Memphis, catch the I-55 a ride it to Louisiana, and then pick up the I-10 or the I-12. These two routes into the city offer different vantage points; the I-10 is the most direct route and runs through the swamp between Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain then enters New Orleans from the west, while I-12 crosses directly over Pontchartrain and comes into the city from the north (see link below for those of you inclined towards maps).

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=new+orleans,+la&ie=UTF8&ll=30.209828,-90.273972&spn=0.842616,1.5065&om=1

Doing things for the sake of ease, of course, has never been an objective of mine. Accordingly, we decided to head due west to Iowa City to see an old friend doing some time at the Writer's Workshop. This stop was made more challenging by our hotel, which had signs posted warning of a $100 fine for keeping pets in the room. I have felt sneakier, but it's been awhile (since I used to pinch quarters from my dad's change jar to play video games when I was 8), and sneaking cats into hotel rooms was not how I envisioned my stay in Iowa City. Nonetheless, we got the feline safely ensconced in our bathroom and enjoyed an evening in town.

The next day, July 31st, 2006, we realized that we were still about 15 driving hours away from our destination. This realization led to several (ie, 30) minutes of frustration and invective, made worse by the midwestern heat, the Iowa City traffic(!), my own less-than-sterling directions, and the discovery that we had left our road food at the hotel (necessitating a stop at the evil empire of Wal-mart). Once out of IC, however, the situation mellowed and we were able to enjoy the back roads of Iowa, on our way to Memphis.

To get to Memphis from Iowa City, one can go back to Illinois to get the I-55 (as Google would have you do) or one can take a more directly southerly route, eventually connecting with 55 outside of St. Louis. This is the option we took, and remarked on the transition from Iowa (midwest) to Missouri (midwest/south) evident in the landscape.

Eventually we got to St. Louis, got some gas, changed drivers, and kept on going. We stopped outside of Memphis on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi, got the cat in the hotel without much fuss, and grabbed a quick barbeque dinner. Let me say to you that when I gazed upon the woman behind the cash register, it dawned on me that we were in Arkansas. Country is really the only way to describe the apparition that appeared before me: all gums, stick-thin, a reedy, twangy accent and a vocabulary that prefaced every sentence with honey-this and sugar-that. But the pork was good, cooked just right with a good sauce not too sweet and not too spicy. Good bedtime food.

We started back up again in the morning, about 6 hours from 4321 Jena Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70125. As we got souther and souther, the land flattened out and we got the subtle feeling we were going downhill. I-55 around Ponchatoula starts getting into the swamp, and then you know you're close: shrimp boats in the water, salt in the air, and Spanish moss in the trees. Riding through the swamp, with a little lake on the right and a big one on the left, brought home how much water there is here where the Mississippi meets the Gulf of Mexico. Then that afternoon rainstorm caught us on the way into the city, and we had to focus on driving.