We woke up, got ready, and didn't even leave the hotel until after noon.
Today's blog is gonna be kinda short. We didn't do that much and what we did do I didn't get many pictures of. I really regret not getting any pictures of my nieces. I meant to... but was so busy visiting with them when I was with them that I didn't get pictures!! What kind of shit bag photographer doesn't get pictures of something so meaningful to him?!?
Anyway.. we left the hotel and headed for downtown Cape Girardeau. Cape, as it is lovingly referred to, is the "city" that I lived in right before moving to Phoenix, AZ. Right before we lived in Cape we lived in Patton (see yesterdays blog entry).
Cape is situated in Southeastern Missouri right on the Mississippi River. It has grown considerably since I lived here as a kid. It is now home to various meth addicted white trash tire center workers, gangs (really? these must be gangs that were not quite bad ass enough to make it in Memphis - 150 miles south or St; Louis - 120 miles north), and a bunch of right-to-lifer-church-attending-do-gooders-with-too-many-kids-and-no-desire-to-know-anything-about-anything-except-what-the-church-tells-them-to-know. In other words, it's a sad little place but it is rich with history and beauty.
Our first stop was for some food at Port Cape Girardeau. It was too late for our typical first meal of the day regardless of the time, breakfast. So instead I had Catfish, Fried Okra, and Mac-n-Cheese. Willow had a Po Boy bursting with catfish and calamari. We had an appetizer of southern nachos. Crispy homemade tortilla chips smothered in pork rib meat, baked beans, tomatoes, onion, and barbecue sauce. Some of you are thinking "gross", but let me tell ya... this was some good shit!
Cape is geographically weird. It is in Missouri so people automatically think "Midwest", but it really isn't. It was a French settlement and was incorporated as a city in the late 1700's. It's on the edge of the Ozarks and it's heart is buried deep in the south. In Cape, you eat crawdads, you eat oysters, you eat po boys and beans and rice. Black-eyed peas, Hominy, and greens are always on the menu. The best ribs in the country live here. They are smoked. They fall off the bone. They don't do barbecue sauce. They dry rub their ribs and if you are so inclined to put sauce on those ribs, you can put it on yourself after they bring em to the table. They like their hot sauce unlike those in the midwest who replaced hot sauce with mild creams - like cream of mushroom soup. They eat seafood and they cook like their French and African American ancestors. So we ate.
We spent the afternoon walking around Cape taking in the sights, popping into one antique store after another. Walking along and sticking our feet in the muddy Mississippi. Watching trains roll by, climbing up the steps to the courthouse and looking out over downtown and the river.
We head back to the hotel to wash some of the humidity drenched sweat off of us. Emily and her sweet man meet us there. We hang out, look at too many pictures, and talk some more. We decide on Broussards for dinner. We meet Sarah, Leelah, and Michael there. I order a dozen oysters for Willow and I to share. Emily's fiance, Justin tries them and didn't mind them too bad. We waited a little over an hour for Sarah and her family to arrive. I cleverly planted myself next to Leelah. Frickin Hell that is one cute little girl!!! For dinner I have boiled crab legs and a huge plate of whole crawdads. Encouraged to 'suck dai hedz', I opted instead to eat them like a dignified Oregonian... just the tails peeled and dipped in garlic butter.
We spent 2 1/2 hours at Broussards. Sarah worked 13 hours this day before meeting us... she and Leelah were tired. Emily, Justin, Willow and I walked around Cape a little before parting ways.
Pretty uneventful... but every moment I got to spend with either of those girls was amazing. I love them both with all of my heart and I will not let so much time pass before seeing them again! Before this trip I had no connection to family... now all I want is to be around my family. I want to be a part of my heritage. I want the connection to both my genes and the land and language and food that made me who I am. I'll be back soon and often and I will be an Uncle and a friend to these girls who need family also.
Tomorrow we are off to Chicago. The emotional middle of this trip is over. It's back to bars and restaurants and just Willow and I. We hope to meet Chicago's inhabitants and eat it's food and see breathtaking sights. We hope to be buried in it's architecture and it's history.
Until then... goodnight!
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