After 26 months in Livermore, California, my companion and I spend Valentine’s Day squeezing our belongings into the truck earlier than locking up our dwelling. For the primary time, we now have the privilege of cushion between strikes. With eight unplanned days to achieve Mississippi, we use our data from journey exhibits and analysis to map locations alongside the Southern route. A highway journey lets us ease into our new lives—one bookish landmark, mile, metropolis, and state at a time.
Monterey, California
In John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, the opening sentence states the titular place “is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a high quality of sunshine, a tone, a behavior, a nostalgia, a dream.” At Steinbeck Plaza in Monterey, the solar shines. We gaze via a viewfinder, scanning for the splash of sea otters and dolphins. Behind us, the bronze Cannery Row Monument options 9 influential figures, together with Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck, Flora Woods, and business staff like fishermen.
Massive Sur, California
South on Freeway One, we go the Henry Miller Memorial Library. I crane my neck. My love asks if I wish to cease. I say no, having fun with the sights. Though, I wish to pause for Anaïs Nin and for Henry and June, an early literary love of mine. In a letter to Nin, Miller, earlier than escaping to Massive Sur, gushes about how the closest shops are “35 miles away.” He writes, “I’ve a lot work to complete and am in search of peace and isolation.” I sense we’ll return to this place that jogs my memory of Maui’s surreal magnificence. Plus, dinner awaits in Ventura.
Redondo Seashore, California
For the work week, we room in Redondo Seashore. As a result of I’ve tagged alongside just a few instances, it feels acquainted. I’ve favorites and a soul sister close by. In Manhattan Seashore, I go to , the place I purchase Morgan Parker’s Magical Negro, and nosh on gluten-free ramen at Rice as “Candy Love” by Luiza Fernandes performs. On our final day, my husband jogs and I, too caffeinated for cardio, stroll to Redondo Seashore Pier, the place we marvel at sea lions diving for chum.
Marfa, Texas
In Phoenix and El Paso, we sleep, wanting Route 90 East. In Valentine, we cease at Prada Marfa for Beyoncé-inspired leaps in entrance of the notorious artwork set up. In Marfa, we spend the evening at Lodge Saint George. I browse the cabinets and tables at Marfa Ebook Firm and ponder purchases. Impressed by Kelly Jensen’s margarita tour, I head to the foyer, then to the Lodge Paisano. The location, simply down the road, served because the headquarters of Large, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. There, I drink a Bloody Mary in honor of Hudson and Taylor, who ran round with buckets throughout a storm to catch hail to ice their drinks with. Because the solar units, I purchase Chelsea Ladies by Eileen Myles, who splits time between Marfa and New York Metropolis.
Austin, Texas
In Austin, we keep two nights. Whereas roving the traditional literature part of BookPeople, I overhear a younger man inform a lady he learn Catcher within the Rye 4 instances. She remembers not connecting with the narrator however gives, Perhaps I ought to revisit it. I wish to peek across the nook and whisper, Belief your self, pricey, however don’t. I hope—with out luck—that the man stops speaking, as a result of I wish to know her rereads. At Daruma Ramen on Sixth Avenue, I slurp shoyu ramen. The noodles style like Hawai‘i, my dwelling of houses.
In Louisiana, we crash into mattress, a state away from Mississippi. Once we attain our new metropolis, we unpack the baggage, crates, and vegetation, and transfer into a short lived seaside cottage, questioning what is going to bloom right here. Satiated by the calm of empty highways, infinite horizon, and new books, we settle in.
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