On the Road for SOLINET

Posted by Rob on 18 December, 2007 in Communications

Traveling around the region as I do, I find that there’s a real pleasure in getting to see the South in a way that is more than just interstates and football games. Meeting members at conferences and user groups, but especially visiting members at their own libraries, conveys a sense of physical and personal place that makes a mockery of conference calls and webcams. My trips have provided some truly memorable experiences.

For example, there was the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s answer to the hundred acre wood. It’s also a hundred acres, but of black water complete with cypress trees, alligators, raccoons, owls, snakes, and even bobcats. I didn’t see much wildlife while I was there, but I’ll never forget the entrance. Driving through a strip mall, I was suddenly aware of giant trees towering over me. Looking across the parking lot, I saw a chain-link fence, a gate, a gravel road, and a large mailbox with the word “SWAMP” prominently painted on it. No street numbers and no sign, but you can’t miss it.

Then there was the sudden and strong feeling of kinship with the residents of Lexington that I got when I discovered Versailles Road on my first trip there. Visitors to Atlanta often remark on our native pronunciation of Ponce de Leon Avenue, which is usually rendered as “Ponse duh Lee-on.” Well, we’re not the only ones. Upon arriving at the Lexington airport, I was told the bus would take me to pick up my rental car on “Vur Sally’s Road.” OK, fine. Looking out the bus window, I idly wondered what Sally had done to have a road named after her. It wasn’t until I had seen several signs referring to a Versailles Road that I made the phonetic connection and realized it really was “Vur Sally’s” Road!

I’ve gotten to drive down the beautiful Natchez Trace, to walk around historic Charleston, to see the Mississippi River turn at Vicksburg and flow by Baton Rouge, to drive along Lake Pontchartrain, to admire the magnificent oak trees on the LSU campus, and to be delighted by the deer on the campus of Berry College near Rome, GA. I was amazed to discover the unique Christmas lights depicting horses jumping fences at the Kentucky Horse Park. I’ve marveled at the many pieces of Old Florida thriving within a few miles of Disney World. And I can’t say that I saw seven states from the top of Lookout Mountain, TN, but the view was still breathtaking.

When you travel around the South these days, there are vastly more food options than just the Waffle House and Krystal: traditional shrimp po’ boys and jambalaya in New Orleans; astounding seafood in Baton Rouge and Charleston; a truly classic Southern meat-and-3 in Starkville, MS; and utterly different concepts of BBQ in Jekyll Island, GA, Vicksburg, MS, and Louisville, KY. I also need to sing the praises of the many idiosyncratic coffee shops that are springing up in the most unexpected places.

My travels around the SOLINET region have given me rewards I would have never expected. I’ve also learned how to pack a mean suitcase.