Thom & Sean’s Postcard Visits The Deep South

Just as Easter weekend was starting we found a little visitor all the way from London sitting at the table. This little guy was none other than a vintage postcard that Thom & Sean, from thomandsean.com, had sent us. Thom and Sean are currently packing up and getting ready as they head out on their ‘around the world’ trip this summer.



Here we are with our new little buddy as we welcome this Brit chap to South Alabama. Southern hospitality rules in this region and we did our best to meet this high standard. Here’s Mr. Postcard on his first day in town.

A Bit Of A Brit In Alabama

Rocking With Sweet Tea

It was such a lovely southern spring day that we ended up sitting on the back porch sipping on sweet tea out of a mason’s jar and watching the humming birds fly around.

Thanks for Thom and Sean for such a fun gift! Check out their blog as they get ready to hit the road and backpack around the world for a year!

The Backyard Zoo: Mobile, Alabama

Roadside attractions and road-trips in America. The concept alone fills one’s imagination with nostalgic images of family road trips in station wagons, Route 66, and a whole assortment of 50s era postcards. I even get this image, and I really can’t be that nostalgic for an era that I was never alive in. But the icons and myths of America’s favorite pass-time is still alive and strong today, even if we mostly just drive on the interstate. John loves the idea of a road-trip, for him a dream trip would involve a classic car, a tear-drop camper and driving across the States stopping at all the classic spots. I love the image of such a trip, especially if we actually had a classic car or a cool camper, but the truth is I hate sitting in the car for more than an hour or two at a time. I don’t know if I’ve just become jaded from seeing so many places but for me the scene out of the car looks the same 99% of the time. Luckily I don’t get car sick so I always try to bring some “toys” with me to keep me occupied. If it’s a long trip my side of the car would feature books, sketch pads, camera, phone, and anything else that might distract me for a period of time.

However, since we are back in the USA for a period of time, I have decided to learn to love the road-trip. Specially since driving is still one of the easiest ways to maneuver around this giant country. In order to have a road-trip you really need a destination. But to have an even better road-trip you need some awesomely corny road-side attractions. These are harder to come by, so a little planning and research will go a long way to making your next road-trip a postcard worthy one. Check this website out for weird and bizarre things to see in your area: Roadside America. This is the site where I learned that in Gibsland LA, there is a museum and marker for where Bonnie and Clyde got ambushed and that in Fort Worth there is a tree full of Bicycles. Random? Yes, but the fun of looking for these odd-ball attractions can keep your road-trip entertaining and comment worthy!

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How to Tell Which is a Witch

La mesa de la bruja

While living in a new place its important to learn more about the local culture and history.  For this museums are just great, and Cartagena offers several beautiful buildings outfitted with a variety of historical artifacts and relevant information.  Recently, we visited the Palace of the Inquisition which is considered one the most significant constructinos of civil architecture in Colombia.  Built around 1770 this building was the center for the Spanish Inquisition in Cartagena, where witches, heretics, and other ‘sinners’ met the infamous torture devices hidden away in the dungeoun cellars. Over 600 of the accused met their end inside those walls. Today it is a museum with some of the torture devices on display, and the building itself is an amazing piece of work but knowing what happened there gives you a bit of a chill. 

Palace of the Inquisition, Cartagena

No One Escapes the Spanish Inquisition

Interior courtyard of the palace

So during their reign of terror the Spanish Inquisition used a variety of twisted and sadistic tools to convert protestants, slaughter indigenious indians, and interrogate witches about the details of their craft.

 As you will see from the following photos, they were some pretty sick bastards.

The twisted things people do for politics and religion.

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The Last Month of Sanity

Hi!
Well after a few weeks of pulling my hair out trying to figure out coding I have finally gotten a working blog up!! It will still be going through some changes over the next few weeks but it’ll do for now!

The reason for this blog is pretty simple, John and I are headed out on a “jaunt”. We are quitting our jobs, packing our bags, and leaving. For where? We haven’t gotten that far yet!! But we do know when we are starting.

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