What was my last post about? Ah, I see, GRACELAND. I still catch myself singing Elvis-songs, even it seems so long ago that I've been there. The mansion is great, I liked the way Elvis decorated it. Later I walked along Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, took a tour through the Gibson-guitarfactory and went to see the SUN-recording studio. It took me a whole day to get to New Orleans, and I have to admit that I didn't like it that much. The french quarter is nice, and so is the garden district, but somehow I've expected more. Maybe because I've been a little sick over there, or maybe because Katrina is still visible and on everybody's mind, but I just didn't fell under N.O.'s "voodoo - spell". I went on to San Antonio,Texas to see the Alamo , "la Villita" and the market square ( which is filled with mexican shops ) . But what I liked most about S.A. was the Riverwalk. Some steps below streetlevel, the San Antonio River flows in a canal, with tree-lined footpaths on each side, really a nice place to relax, but it's even better at night, when all the restaurants and bars are open and the river is reflecting their lights and lot's of people are strolling along the riverwalk. There are a lot of Missions in the south of the city, and I went to see 3 of them. There weren't many people at the hostel over there, so I was happy that it was so easy to talk to people along the way, most of them were mexicans. From San Antonio I went on to Austin, where I'm right now, enjoying the hot Texas-sun on my skin.

Leaving Atlanta behind, I headed up north to see the Smoky Mountains. Not quite sure how to get there, I went to Knoxville first. Fortunally the co-manager of the hostel there turned out to run a minibus-shuttleservice to Gatlinburg, the gateway to the GreatSmokyMountain NationalPark. I stayed at Gatlinburg for a night, so I had almost 2 full days to see the SmokyMountains. I hitchhiked up theNewfoundGapRoad and took a trail up there to see AlumCaveBluff. The next day I hitchhiked around to see Cades Cove. I saw some bears passing along the road and felt so happy that someone had picked me up a minute ago so that I was sitting in a car right then. Met so many nice people over there and finally used my trekking boots!!! Went on to Nashville- MusicCity. Lots of bars with live music, the famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and the Wildhorse Saloon, record studios, the HatchShowPrintShop, dozens of shops where you can buy "cowboy"- hats and boots. Made a tour to Lynchburg to see the JackDanielsDestillery and went to the "Tribute to the king- through the years 1953-1977"-Show. I just arrived in Memphis a few hours ago, and it's not difficult to guess what I'm going to see tomorrow....GRACELAND!

Well, time to keep promisses, right ?
I stayed in Savannah for 1 night. Walked along the streets, many urban squares, green oasis in the middle of the streets, where you can sit among big trees, relax and take in the laid-back athmosphere. Went on to St. Augustine, Florida and just LOVED it!!! Best place within the U.S. so far. It's a small town which was founded by the spanish, and you can still see it in the architecture. There's an old spanish quarter with lots of tiny shops, The Fountain of Youth, and the Flagler College, which used to be an exquisite hotel back in time. They also have nice beaches and a lighthouse over there, so you can almost have the best of Florida in only one town. Anyway, I had to leave my little pirate town and headed back north towards Atlanta. I've been to the CocaColaMuseum, drank as much Coke as I could and tried all the different CocaCola-products (as it was for free) to make sure that it was worth spending 8 Dollars to get in. I went to StoneMountainPark the next day, took the Walk-up trail to the Top and went down with the Skyride to take some pics of the picture carved in the mountain.

Nach Philadelphia ging es weiter nach Washington D.C., um das Weisse Haus, Capitol, Surpreme Court, FBI Building, Pentagon und vieles mehr zu erkunden( ja, auch ein Stueck moon rock ).Kaum in der Naehe des Weissen Haus angekommen, landen 2 grosse Hubschrauber auf dem Gelaende, aber das ist wohl keine Option fuer mich, da rein zu kommen. Am letzten Tag in D.C., der auch mein letzter Tag mit Chiho war, fuhren wir nach Lancaster, um in Lancaster Country die Amish-people zu sehen, und wir hatten wirklich Glueck gerade einen Downtown Trolley zu erwischen, dessen Busfahrer uns sagte, wo wir hingehen sollten und welchen weiteren Bus wir dafuer nehmen mussten, sodass wir rechtzeitig zu einer Amish-Country-Tour ( wenn auch etwas touristisch ) kamen und so viel von den Amish schools, houses, farms und natuerlich buggies+ people zu sehen, da wir nur den Nachmittag dort hatten. Nach einer letzten Nacht in Washington D.C. ging es weiter nach Charleston, SC. Neben Charleston Downtown mit vielen historic houses & seefood restaurants wollte ich natuerlich auch eine plantation sehen. Da weniger manchmal mehr ist, entschied ich mich, statt der 3 plantations und houses westlich von Charleston nur eine zu sehen und fuhr mit dem Bus Richtung Osten zur Boone Hall Plantation, wo ich an der Hauptstrasse ausgesetzt wurde und den Rest des Weges zu Fuss zuruecklegte. Das Highlight der Plantation war fuer mich die Avenue of oaks, die zum Haupthaus fuehrte und fast schon eine Art Tunnel bildet. Da ich wohl der einzige pedestrian weit und breit war, hatte ich, abgesehen von einem Auto ab und zu, das den Weg entlang kam, die Allee fuer mich. Aber natuerlich habe ich auch das plantation house, das dock house und die slave cabins gesehen, begleitet von verschiedenen kleinen Theaterperformances. Heute geht es weiter nach Savannah,Georgia.