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What better sign that summer is upon us than a road trip across America? Jay Miriam-White, who paints evocative figurative paintings from her studio in Brooklyn, told me she’ll be driving to her solo show, “From the Mouths of Babes,” at the Wolfgang Gallery in Atlanta. . d ask to come by way of disposable camera. We’ll take a look…
Tim and I stayed up until 1am and woke up at 4am. We decided to make sandwiches, like we did with our parents when we were kids.
At 5:57 a.m., our minibus was packed and we were crossing the Williamsburg Bridge, connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan. The sky was calm and gray.
Five hours after leaving Brooklyn, we stopped at a rest stop in Delaware. We already feel like we’ve been driving for endless hours, and according to the GPS, we have 700 miles to go.
The sun will start to set soon, and I haven’t heard too much from the road. We drove about nine hours and are halfway to Atlanta. Listen to a podcast called Radio rental. None of us have good cell service here and we think we may have arrived on a local non-highway road. This road has a local speed limit and occasional traffic lights.
At an unspecified time, we stopped at a Gretna Virginia hotel. The following exchange occurred via text message: Tim: Did you bring bath soap?
Jay: No.
At 7:29 p.m. we had fries for dinner.
At 8:42 the next day, we decided to explore the free breakfast buffet. We both had black coffees and I tried the potatoes but they were undercooked. I have seasonal allergies which also seem to be getting worse.
We stopped at a gas station somewhere outside of Charlotte, NC. The gas station had a typical front area with snacks, and after walking down a long wood-paneled hallway, I found myself in this room with what looks like pizza tables from the 70s. It’s about 11:50 and we’re still 322 miles to go.
We arrived in SC and stopped again for more gas. We listened to the podcast Radio rental and are almost in Atlanta.
I’m getting ready for the opening. The weather in Atlanta was really hot, much hotter than NY at the time. Tim took this picture of me at the hotel just before we left.
This is the entrance to the Wolfgang Gallery. The gallery is located in a quiet street. There was a wonderful energy to the area, and the gallery has a charming charm and presence.
After the opening Tim and I went with Benjamin and Wolfgang’s team to a late night dinner at a restaurant called Barcelona. I had an arugula salad; there was sangria and amazing conversations, ranging from art to the existence of UFOs.
The following day, the Wolfgang Gallery organized a conference with the Georgian Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. I had the chance to talk about my work with an audience of accomplished and inspiring women. After everyone left, Benjamin, gallery manager Anna and I posed for a photo.
I walked to a nearby gas station and picked up some pretzels while waiting for an Uber.
It was our last night in Atlanta and we needed to leave as early as possible the next day. We felt like seashells washed up on the shore, embraced the night slowly, had fun packing our bags.
On the road again, this time leaving Atlanta and returning to Brooklyn. We had about 861 miles left and I told Tim to stand in front of that wall because I liked the sign and the color scheme. We grabbed two coffees and continued driving.
After about six hours of pretty bad traffic, we decided to stop at another rest area. It’s always interesting to visit rest stops across America. Each state has its own approach to design, and some look like full stops.
Driving for so long, we learned, causes intense headaches. Tim traveled all the way alone, while I was a passenger. We both agreed that depth perception feels bad, near and far objects start to feel equally distant.
About two hours from Brooklyn, the rest area had a large food court and a mall feel. The colors were very earthy, lots of browns and greens. We stopped for drinks.
It was so nice to see the pure joy on Mars’ face when she saw us again. We finished our road trip and left Atlanta feeling thankful, inspired and thankful for Wolfgang’s team and all they did to make our trip a wonderful memory.
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