A Pop Culture Pilgrimage in the American South
- Lucy and the lens
- Sep 17, 2018
- 2 min read
This is the third part of my diary of our three-week road trip around America's Deep South. For Part 2, click here! I want to focus on one very memorable day of our trip - two pop culture pilgrimages to the homes of Harper Lee and The Walking Dead!
Day 1 and 2: Nashville, Tennessee
Day 3 and 4: Memphis, Tennessee
Day 5: Tupelo, then drive the Natchez Trace Parkway to Natchez
Day 6: Natchez, Mississippi
Day 7, 8 and 9: New Orleans, Louisiana
Day 10: Monroeville, Alabama and Senoia, Georgia
Day 11 and 12: Savannah, Georgia
Day 13 and 14: Charleston, South Carolina
Day 15 and 16: Washington DC
Day 10: Monroeville, Alabama, and Senoia, Georgia
The first half of this day was for me: a literary pilgrimage to Harper Lee's hometown and the inspiration for To Kill a Mockingbird's Maycomb. Although we could only afford to stop for a couple of hours, it was a bookworm's dream come true to wander around the town, taking in the Mockingbird mural, the Scout bench, and the courthouse where Harper Lee imagined Tom Robinson's fate being sealed. Devastatingly, we were just a couple of days too early for the annual live performance of the novel, which is performed both outside and inside the famous courthouse. We even saw the audience seats being put out as we explored! Gutted!
The next part of the day was for Patrick (but also secretly for me): Senoia, Georgia, the filming location of The Walking Dead. Senoia plays the part of the fortified town of Alexandria, and we were once again visiting just a week before filming was due to begin! We still enjoyed a Walking Dead walking tour of the town, and our hosts happened to own the Official Walking Dead Store and Museum and sent us away with an interesting Christmas ornament of a gun-toting Rick Grimes. He has replaced the star on top of our Christmas tree ever since! The Museum features real set pieces and costumes used in the series.
We also couldn't resist eating at Nic and Norman's, the restaurant opened by actor Norman Reedus and special effects makeup director Greg Nicotero, because they fell in love with Senoia during their long stretches of filming and wanted to give something back to the community. Far from being irritated by its claim to fame, the people of Senoia all seemed really appreciative of the business The Walking Dead has brought to the town. Every store had some kind of tribute to the show - whether obvious or subtle!
And, do you know what? The food was really, really good!
So if we learned anything from this experience, it's that going out of your way to visit that place with ties to something you really love is always a good idea, no matter how much of a detour! We did it on this trip, and we've done it again since, and we've never regretted it!
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