'Who you gonna call when your belly hurts, y'all? Egg Busters!'

This is a real quote from a real sign outside Waffle House somewhere in Tennessee.
The last few days have been quite unreal. We're now officially in the South. People's accents have thickened and they call each other 'y'all' like we're in a very big TV show.

While eating bananas around milepost 250 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we had a quick chat with a middle-aged man. He heard our accents and said 'Doesn't it look like the hills of Scotland?'. We replied 'Yes. But bigger' and he replied with what has become the motto of our trip: 'Ain't nothing bigger than America!'

Reflecting on his comment, we pulled out at a café.

Bluff's café is not especially nice-looking but the waitresses are worth the trip. I won't describe them. All I will say is that they started working there between the café's opening in 1949 and 1952.

We got off the parkway after spending the night in what could possibly be called 'The best friggin' hotel in the world'. All the cabins had balconies with the most amazing view onto the widest sunset I have ever seen. The fact that we made the manager let us have the room for half the price helped too. We got up at sunrise and drank coffee on the balcony, waiting for the sun to come out to play.

Stumbling upon a Palin lookalike competition on TV, we realised it was Halloween and thought that visiting Ghost Town in the Sky would be an excellent thing to do. It wasn't. Well I guess it made us glad that we could now say we had been to the worst theme park in the whole wide world. If you drive past Maggie Valley, North Carolina, do not go to Ghost Town in the Sky. It sounds like the best place on Planet Earth (a theme park atop a mountain) but it is crappy and a little depressing. The only good good thing about it is that you have to get onto a chairlift to get there.

I have to stop typing. I feel ill from eating too much really really good fried catfish from Swamp John's in Muscle Schoal, Alabama.

Roadside attractions.

We've left New York. We went to pick up the car at Newark Airport. It's a red Dodge Avenger. It has a drink cooler above the glove box, several cup holders and hidden compartments.

We got out of the car hire and had a look in an excellent book for ideas on where to go. We decided to head to Roadside America. Here's what the website says:

ROADSIDE AMERICA is an unforgettable panorama of life in rural United States. The exhibit spans more than two hundred years in time and lets you see, in exquisite miniature, how people lived and worked in pioneer days … through the years since then … right up to the present.

In newspapers and magazines, ROADSIDE AMERICA has been acclaimed as the
greatest known miniature village—the most unique and detailed masterpiece of its kind in the world. Actually, it is not one village, but many—really the American countryside as it might be seen by a giant so huge that he could see from coast to coast.

It's one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. You pay for your ticket in a roadside gift shop, an old lady shows you to a tiny door, you push the door and enter a gym-sized room entirely filled with models of American villages throughout the ages. There are buttons to push (we chuckled at the inuendos) and a show every half hour. For the show, a man in a box dims the lights. A slide show about America and Jesus Christ plays and "God Bless America" comes out of the speakers. It is magical and Roadtrip USA weren't wrong when they said we'd find it hard not to shed a tear (well, I did).








This morning, we visited Dinosaur Land. Another roadside wonder. It's again, hidden behind a door in a souvenir shop. The whole backyard if filled with very old and tatty paper-maché dinosaurs. The epic battle was the best bit.

My amazing steak.

On our last night in New York, the girls invited us for some steak. We suggested Strip House on E12th. I had walked past Strip House almost everyday on my way to Jason's and it look real good. First, you can't see the inside from the outside. There are heavy curtains blocking the view and I'm a sucker for secret places. Secondly, it's called Strip House.

We ordered the porterhouse for two. The first bite was unbelievable. The best meat.

Strip House
13 E 12th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 328-0000

Here is a quick list of some of the places we enjoyed eating and drinking the most in New York:

Dirty Bird – Posh fried chicken.
204 W 14th St
New York, NY 10011
(212) 620-4836

Westville East – Niman Ranch hotdogs rule.
173 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009
(212) 677-2033

Lombardi's – Pizza pizza pizza. Hardly needs toppings, the tomato sauce is something else so nice.
32 Spring St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 941-7994

Blue 9 – late night filthy burgers. The heart-burning Firecracker burger is really tasty.
92 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 979-0053

99 miles to Philly – disgusting Philly Cheese steak, but Ollie liked it. Eat one and hate yourself.
94 3rd Ave
(Between 12th and 13th st)

Liquiteria – Terribly overpriced disgustingly addictive juices
170 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 358-0300

Lil' Frankie's – Bring your ragu to my house now!
21 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10003
(212) 420-4900

My amazing leaving week

A couple of people who still work at Albion and myself have decided that I officially had the best leaving week in the history of Albion. Some people even mentioned the fact that I could probably compete for Best Leaving Week in the History of Work.

Each day came with its own treat. There was a budget put aside for my leaving festival and tasks were distributed.

On Monday, I had a tea party with expensive chocolates.
On Tuesday, I was treated to the ultimate complimentary plate of spaghetti arrabiata from Franco's in Rivington street (the best in town) by Teddy and Jonny.
On Wednesday, I was taken for another complimentary lunch; this time at the much more exclusive Rivington Bar and Grill.
On Thursday, I had a mani. And a children's party. With cheap pop, sweets and a piñata!

Have a look at the very nice post on the Albion blog.

Now all I have to do is find another job.

Camille Bozzini

This post should help google find my website when people type my name, Camille Bozzini. My name's Camille Bozzini and my website is http://www.therealcamille.com

Let me notify the internet once again that Camille Bozzini's website can be found at the address above.

Camille Bozzini