SIGNATURES & SOUVENIRS

"Being Southern is a state of mind". Well, I am not from Alabama, but I am from the South. I was born and raised in West Tennessee. I take pride that most people from the South are friendly and hospitable. We make people feel at home. We smile and make eye contact. We even offer up tea and sympathy when needed except in our case it is usually iced tea with a wedge of lemon.

I do get curious from time to time how other people live in big and bustling cities. I wouldn't mind going to explore the Big Apple or even Los Angeles. Once, I was pretty close to Los Angeles when I was visiting family. We took a day trip to San Diego and what a beautiful city. We could have gone into Los Angeles, but we decided to head down to Mexico since their home is only twenty minutes from the Mexican border. I have actually been to Alabama as well. My best friend and I decided to take a road trip to Gulf Shores. We drove for about fourteen hours because it was Map Quest's intent to make us travel around the world before finally taking us to our destination. I have been to Florida twice. Once I went with my dad and my step family to Tampa. We went to Disney World. The second time I went with a friend from high school and her family. I guess you could call it a semi-Senior trip. We also went to Disney World, The Epicot Center, and MGM Studios. The villa that we stayed in was so nice. I remember that it had a gigantic Olympic sized pool. I also remember getting sick from the sun at a place called the "Chicken Biscuit" at Sea World. That wasn't my finest moment.

The trips or vacations that actually mean the most to me are the ones that I have planned on my own. A few years ago, I planned a trip to go see a good friend of mine who at the time was living in North Carolina. I also decided that it was the perfect opportunity to visit Wilmington. For those of you who are unaware, Wilmington, North Carolina is called the "Hollywood of the South". The hit WB show, now in syndication, Dawson's Creek was shot there on a sound stage and on location. The WB drama One Tree Hill is currently shot there. Wilmington is breathtaking. It is a quaint and charming coastal town. I made reservations to stay at this little Bed and Breakfast which was about three blocks from Water Street down on the docks. There are all of those cool little shops like "Poodles" and "Island Passage" located near Water Street along with restaurants such as "Deluxe" and "The Reel Cafe". There was also a shop located on Water Street which had a wall filled with famous signatures like James Earl Jones, and Henry Winkler. Joshua Jackson's name was sandwiched right in between "Darth Vader" and "The Fonz". I took a picture for posterity. I have a few pictures of me standing in front of location shoots like "Leery's Fresh Fish" which is actually called "Roy's Riverboat Landing" and "Karen's Cafe". Everyone was so friendly and welcoming there. I still fantasize about the gorgeous stranger who I encountered in front of the Hilton hotel when I was about to go for a boat ride. When the week was over, I didn't want to leave. I never did make it to Wrightsville Beach. It was one of the main places that I wanted to go. Maybe I can take another trip to North Carolina sometime in the near future.

The next spring I got the opportunity to go with a friend of mine to San Antonio, Texas. It's supposed to be one of the most haunted towns in the United States; however, none of the ghosts decided to visit me. Although our horse and carriage driver told many ghost stories. I wasn't so much interested in that. I enjoyed seeing all the homes inherited from "Old Money" on the tour. I also enjoyed visiting the Alamo paying homage to the brave soldiers who fought so fearlessly. My favorite place is the River Walk. It is absolutely beautiful almost too much scenery for your senses to take in. I was definitely on a sensory overload and a natural high. It's just an amazing merger of nature and man made beauty. It definitely trumped the night life of New Orleans where I had gone the year before. It's a shame that I didn't have a guy with me to share it with besides Ken. Brandy and I meet a guy at the River Court who decided to escort us to this club called Poly Esther's. I think that's the great thing about taking a vacation because you actually have an excuse to be footloose, fancy free, and let your hair down. You can even step into a stripper's cage and pretend your name is "Sunset" while a complete stranger snaps a picture of you and your friend. That was a wild night. Ken was so nice and gentlemanly to walk us back to our hotel. My favorite adventure was taking a ride on a riverboat down the center of the River Walk. It maybe the closest I ever come to riding a gondola. I would like to go to Venice or Tuscany. A girl can dream! I was reluctant to leave San Antonio as well. I thought that we would never make it through the vast "Lone Star" state. It definitely left an impression on me.

Recently, I traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to visit a friend of mine by train. I had never traveled by train and I had never traveled by myself. In a sense, it was an adventure and just another thing to cross off my list. There is this great place called "Raising Canes". They make the best chicken strips and serve the best Texas toast. I got to eat Greek food which consisted of chicken, lamb, white rice, and a great little salad with this very unique cucumber dressing. It was more like sauce than a dressing. I even got a muffeleta while I was there. I requested going to a place that served muffeletas because I had had one in the French Quarter in New Orleans. I love the olive spread. It was so good and more than I could eat. I even got to see LSU while I was there. It's a huge campus. I love the lakes. If I had gone to school there I would have walked around the lakes. It would have been so peaceful. Once again, it was time to come home. I wasn't too happy about boarding the Amtrak again after such a wonderful week, but as they say "all good things must come to an end".

In about a week, I will make another trip. Unfortunately, I have to travel by plane. I have flown before. The first time I had ever flown, I flew out of the country! For some reason I am terrified to fly now. I am going to Arizona once again. I haven't been there in six years. I am going to have to get over my fear of flying if I ever expect to make it to Europe to experience that much anticipated gondola ride. I am excited to be going on this trip. I am grateful for every opportunity to visit new states, new cultures, and even new languages.

I am not well traveled; however I would like to think that when I do go on these trips even if I do like to pretend I am someone else for a little while that I take my southern hospitality with me. That I make an impression on these people in some small way and in the same respect their kindness is not lost on me at all. In fact, their smiles, eye contact, and friendliness are greatly appreciated even if not everywhere that I travel doesn't serve iced tea with a wedge of lemon.

I have had every intention of scrap booking memories of my travels although to some would be considered few and far between. All of these places have left their imprint. Unlike the wall with all the famous visible signatures in Wilmington, North Carolina, mentally I sign my invisible "Jane Hancock" on these places that I visit hopefully having left it a better place. Who knows? My signature maybe worth something someday. I pack up all of my treasures some tangible and some intangible.

I love to travel. I could skip the packing and especially the unpacking. I think that it would be a lot easier to borrow Mary Poppin's magic carpet bag. I always seem to pack to much and leave something behind whether I make a checklist or not, but that's what drugstores are for I suppose. It is still nice to come home. For some reason, it seems to take less time coming home that going on a vacation. I guess it's because all the excitement is gone. I have always liked coming home. There is something very comforting about coming home after you have been gone for while and suddenly being surrounded by your own things, and especially sleeping in your own bed. Then the next morning, waking up to a familiar atmosphere. Ah, there is nothing like it.

If you do happen to visit the Hub City more than likely to tour our main tourist attraction the infamous "Casey Jone's Village" then I hope that I am nice to you if we ever pass by. I hope that I smile, make eye contact, and make you feel at home because I am proud to call Tennessee home. If for some reason, I do make a move to another town or state someday I hope there is something familiar about it. I hope there is something about it that comforts me and reminds me of the place where I laid down roots. I hope there are people there who will smile, make eye contact, and offer up tea and sympathy to me if I should happen to need it. There is this quote from "Sweet Home Alabama" that says "You can't have roots and wings". I disagree. Every tiny little bird must leave the nest eventually, but that doesn't mean that it forgets where the worms are so to speak. I have no reason to leave home right now, but someday I might have to. In the meantime, I will continue to travel to different towns, states, and maybe even countries making mental signatures and collecting souvenirs.

Souvenirs by Mary Beth Maziarz

I could let you slip away,
just wait for rainy days,
Find the perfect coffeehouse and talk for hours,
But wouldn't that be failing us,
letting go too soon,
when everything I am still holds on to you, and

these souvenirs...keep you here
You're really somewhere down the road, I know
But I'm still stranded here, holding all these souvenirs

I could hide all somewhere, pretend I didn't care,
Fill my time with daily things, until I'm numb
But isn't all this feeling why we reach for love at all
Isn't it the reason that we hear the call...for more than all

these souvenirs...keep you here
You're really somewhere down the road, I know
But I'm still stranded here, holding all these souvenirs