Day 24: Mat goes home! (sniff!)

Well, readers, it was a bittersweet day indeed! It has been 24 days since we left Tacoma, WA, drove across our fair country, and delivered Mat safely into the arms of his Creator, Clark Whittington, in Winston-Salem, NC.  I can't believe it is all over and that this is our last blog post! It was a beautiful spring day and before we got to Clark's place we stopped (and made one last new friend for Mat) at a pre-fab home design center,Topsider Homes, that happened to be in the neighborhood.  Victoria is thinking about building a house and wanted to take a quick tour of the facilities.  One look at our cool Art*o*mat® sweatshirt "uniforms" got the associate from Topsider interested in Mat and our quest and he happily posed for one last on-the-road photo.

The associate from Topsider Homes loved meeting Mat and receiving some art samples

It was great to finally see Clark's home and art studio and we were greeted by his friendly pooches, Jethro and Ellie May, (and his cool human wife, Julie, too) and treated to a tour of "where the Art*o*mat® machines are born." We saw at least a dozen machines in various states of artistic rehab including the very first machine he created back in 1997.

Mat is happy to be home with his Creator, Clark Whittington

The Original Art*o*mat® from 1997 in Clark's studio

Ahhh, the room where ALL the Art*o*mat® art is sorted and stored!

Mat at home in the studio with his "brothers"

Clark treated us to a delightful lunch at a restaurant that hosts an Art*o*mat® machine called Mary's where we dined al fresco. It was nearly 80 degrees today! Then we took a tour of a few more local joints that hosted machines (there are 8 or 9 machines at various venues scattered throughout town) including a co-op gallery and an über hip coffee shop, called Krankie's Coffee, where the iced decaf americano totally hit the spot!  Our visit with Clark was short and sweet and it softened the blow of finally letting Mat go... hopefully to a good new host-home someday soon!

Checking out another machine in Winston-Salem: Krankie's Coffee

Our drive back out west begins tomorrow and it just won't be the same without the metallic bangs and clangs of Mat coming from the back of the minivan.  It truly is the end of an Epic Art*o*mat® Road Trip and we appreciate you, readers, for taking the trip with us. THANK YOU!!!!!

The End.

Day 23: Atlanta White House, Smoking Gun BBQ, Giant Peach Watertower

We left Alabammy this morning and made it to North Carolina by evening but we're still a ways away from Winston-Salem so we will be delivering Mat to his home tomorrow.  I can't believe Our Epic Art*o*mat® Road Trip is nearly over!!! The weather cooperated for three photo shoots with some great roadside attractions today.  In Georgia, we stopped at The Atlanta White House Replica and the "Smoking Gun BBQ" at The Rusty Nail Pub.  Then we pushed on through South Carolina but had to stop at the breathtaking giant Peach Water Tower in Gaffney.  The sunlight was just right and the pink blossoms on the trees made for a springy photo with Mat (with a gigantic peach coming out of his head!).  We hope you enjoy:

Mat wonders if any "Real Housewives of Atlanta" live in this White House replica!

The White House is 1/3 scale of the real thing and the hedge reads "God (hearts) You." Gardeners busy as we took this.

Mat with the Smoking Gun BBQ at The Rusty Nail Pub in Atlanta, GA.  The gun really smokes while the BBQ is lit!

Corky and Mat are impressed with the Smoking Gun BBQ. Too bad we didn't get to see smoke come out of the barrel.

It's a giant peach water tower! Gaffney, SC

Mat and the Giant Peach (on his head).  Gaffney, SC

Day 22: Heading East, World's Largest Rocking Chair, El Camino Chicken

We left New Orleans literally running from the rain in Louisiana.  They had 15 inches in one day and flooding in towns like Lafayette, where we'd been just two days ago. The skies were threatening through Mississippi and Alabama but we lucked out, grabbing a photo with Mat here and there, moments before the raindrops came down.  Spring has definitely sprung here in the south and we enjoyed views of dogwood blossoms, some funky pink thistles, and white, purple, and pink flowering trees along the highway.  Azaleas are also out in full force.

Mat says "Hi, Y'all!" from the "World's Largest Rocking Chair" in Gulfport, MS

Our first stop was the "World's Largest Rocking Chair" at the Dedeaux Furniture Factory in Gulfport, Mississippi. It seems that about 4-5 states claim to host the world's largest, but we didn't mind.  It's really big! And they had a very official looking sign. The giant rocker is actually stationary so it lost some coolness points for me.  I suppose it has to be hurricane proof or something..

Hungry for some gas station fried chicken? This rooster is fairly tempting.

Mat poses next to the famed El Camino Chicken (we think it still runs) at the gas station in Irvington, Alabama

Another off-the-beaten-path find from Corky's roadside attractions app was the El Camino Chicken in Irvington Alabama.  It's a big old chicken in a red old El Camino sitting there on the corner of the highway advertising gas station deli fried chicken.  It smelled really good (and fried chickeny) in there but we pushed on to a seaside restaurant to have lunch. Up on stilts on the beach at Mobile Bay is Felix's Fish Camp Grill.  Totally campy and totally cool.  We had some "key lime pah"after a delicious fish lunch (again with the Gulf seafood!) and chuckled because of the cuteness of the 3 year old at the table next to us who held up her drawn-on paper place mat and exclaimed, "Look! I'm finished, y'all!"

Lunch at the Fish Camp. Mobile, Alabama

Day 21: Still in the Big Easy: Bourbon St, Garden District

Corky was absolutely brilliant when she suggested we get up at the crack of dawn, before the drunks, and get a photo of Mat partying on Bourbon Street. It was just us and the beer trucks on the just-rained-on street. Some Mardi Gras beads on Mat made him look just like one of the revelers we'd seen the night before! Even though Mardi Gras was so last month we saw tourists everywhere clad in pounds of cheap plastic beads. There were broken strands of beads in the street, beads in trees, beads on people's doors...

"Throw me somethin, Mistah!" Mat's been partying on Bourbon Street, New Orleans

Mardi Gras beads in trees: tossed there by accident during the parade? Or a decorative statement?

Mardi Gras beads everywhere!

Safely back in the parking garage, Mat waited as Corky and I had yet another "Human Day" in New Orleans.  This time we were dying to try riding a real New Orleans Streetcar out to the famed Garden District to see some amazing homes.  It was only $1.25 each way and the weather was perfect! The rest of this post is about houses of the rich and famous and more New Orleans food so if you only want to see Mat photos, please skip to the next post -thanks, y'all!

Day 20: The Big Easy (Human Day) French Quarter: Beignets, Po' Boys

I've labeled today's blog post "Human Day" since it is just about us humans.  Mat is safely tucked away in the hotel parking garage where only valets dare to tread.  We "did the French Quarter" today (a place much too crowded and anxiety inducing to roll Mat around in) and the photos we have to show for it are about food and architecture so we don't blame you if you skip by this Mat-less blog post. Take it easy, y'all! :)

Victoria enjoys some iron work balconies in the French Quarter, New Orleans

The horse-drawn carriages were all mule-drawn (we don't know why). New Orleans

What we ate: One simply cannot miss the following when eating one's way though the French Quarter: powdered sugar-coated fried bread called beignets and chickory flavored cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde for breakfast and an oyster Po' boy for lunch.

Delicious powdered sugar coated beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde

We lucked out when a stroll down Bourbon Street led us right into NOLA's annual Oyster Jubilee where a collection of NOLA restaurant chefs got together to create the Longest Po' Boy in the World. We were an hour or so shy of when they actually assembled and cut the city block long sandwich (and gave it away for free) so we bought one for lunch a few blocks away.  Fried oysters, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mustard on a fluffy white roll.  A thing of beauty!

The table is set for the World's Longest Po'Boy! Bourbon St.

A celebrity chef demonstrates how to dress a perfect Po' Boy sandwich.

We wandered around and ran into an employee of a (rich!!!) homeowner in the French Quarter and as we were admiring the house and grounds, he was lovely enough to volunteer that it was the home of a wealthy chef and oh, by the way, the house across the street belongs to Francis Ford Coppola and the one further down was Nicolas Cage's for a while, and that many people mistake this (the house we were admiring) house for Brangelina's but that one is actually two blocks down.  Did we go look for it? Of course!

The French Quarter house we THINK is Brad and Angie's

Day 19: Louisiana: Tabasco Factory, Avery Island, LA

Ah, the Mother Land! It is hot pepper sauce Mecca! If you are a serious Tabasco Sauce fan like I am, then it's no surprise that before we headed into the Big Easy we took a detour to Avery Island to tour the factory and load up on Tabasco flavored goodies.  A special thanks to Keena from the Tabasco Country Store who allowed us to borrow the giant sauce bottle to take pictures with.  Mat really appreciated it! And it wasn't that heavy -just awkward to carry (see the video).

At the Tabasco factory on Avery Island, Louisiana

He's just a machine after all, but if he were to enjoy hot sauce, this would be the choice for Mat!

Mat cozies up to his saucy new friend at the Tabasco Country Store. Avery Island, LA

Day 19: Louisiana! Crawfish Fun

First of all, we owe an apology to our blogviewers who are wondering what happened to Day 18: More Texas.  The truth is that it rained BUCKETS all the way from Sweetwater TX, where we stayed the night, through the rest of the Lonestar State and into Shreveport LA, where we slept last night in thunder and lightning.  I mean it was A LOT of rain! Corky was white-knuckling-it on the highway and we were very upset that there wasn't an opportunity to let Mat out to see the sights.  No matter... The morning was dry enough and we'd heard about a GIANT Crawfish to stop and see at a seafood boil joint in Alexandria, LA:

Mat is dwarfed by the giant crawfish at Swamp Daddy's in Alexandria, LA

Jeremy, the manager of Swamp Daddy's Crawfish, was just arriving for the day when he happened upon us unloading Mat in front of the giant crustacean and he was more than surprised to see us (doing God knows what) before opening hours. After a little explaining on our part he happily posed with Mat, accepted some Art*o*mat® art samples, and sold us a tee-shirt before we got out of his hair.  I'm sure he's still shaking his head about us!

Jeremy, manager of Swamp Daddy's, was a good sport to allow us to take his photo with Mat first thing in the morning.

Since it was still hours before Swamp Daddy's served the crawfish, we headed east and stopped for an amazing Cajun lunch (a huge "thank you" to the nice manager of the Shreveport Holiday Inn Express who recommended the restaurant in Lafayette) at Pre Jean's Award Winning Cajun Cuisine.  Since it's all about food down here, we thought a few photos of the stuffed gator tail and blackened catfish etouffé might be fun.  We had a blast waving to the restaurant's web cam as we texted to family back home watching us during lunch.  The food was rich and spicy and we think that we've eaten all the gator and frog legs we can handle (it's kind of a one-timer type of thing).