Takin' Da Bus Part I
Jun 13th, 2003 | 09:38 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 245
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Takin' Da Bus Part I
Firstly and most importantly, it is good to be home, here in the high green mountains of Western North Carolina, in the exquisite city of Asheville. For the past week I've been in Arkansas visiting friends. To get there I took Greyhound and while there I "did" Little Rock and Hot Springs, and passed through such bustling urban hubs as Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis. Here's how it went...
Greyhound is as bad as you've heard, though for short trips I'd gladly ride again. For 700-mile long-hauls, I'll walk first.
Riding Greyhound wasn't unpleasant at first. Sure, the bus station in Hendersonville, NC, my departure city, is located in the slums, and if these slums are your only glimpse of Hendersonville you will conclude that Hendersonville is a city where hope goes to die. But they're familiar slums all the same, so to me they're benign, plus I'm well-acquainted with Hendersonville's charming, if cutesy, downtown, and pleasant neighborhoods and parks. As a gaggle of German young adults, probably camp counselors for the many summer camps near town, emerged, I boarded the bus and thought it a shame the folks on Greyhound don't get to see the nicer parts of town. And then I was on my way.
The trip to Tennessee was uneventful and the bus stopped briefly in Asheville, then Waynesville, and this was my first indication that one of the reasons you will grow old on the bus is that in any town large enough to have its own post office you will either be forced to get off so they can "service" the bus or will stop to eat, drink, or smoke.
We passed through the mountains, then entered Tennessee. The first stop was Knoxville, home of a dreary bus station that no self-respecting wino would dare pass out in for fear of making contact with that nasty floor. Outside the station, I hope the situation in Knoxville is similar to the situation in Hendersonville in that there are nice things to be seen, but not from the bus. If that isn't the case, then Knoxville is in sad shape.
The bus continued on, stopping in the unutterably depressing towns of Cookeville and Crossville, then stopped in Nashville, which looked interesting and fairly attractive. Might be worth a future visit. In keeping with the rule that no passenger be allowed to remain seated in an incorporated area, everyone was hustled off the bus and told to wait in the Nashville bus station, which was actually quite nice and clean. I noticed now that passengers on particular busses become something of a family and stick together. While we were contentedly milling about, cow-like, the warm experience was marred by a clearly disturbed person with questionable hygeine who was attempting to board busses at random and was finally taken away by the police. Then, after we had milled about long enough to suit the Greyhound officials, we got back on the bus.
The only stop between Nashville and Memphis was Jackson, which was ugly before the tornado hit it and now is ugly and partially in ruins. Then the bus travelled onward to Memphis, which boasts a shocking amount of suburban sprawl and a dingy bus station that I suspect was trucked in from Knoxville because the two looked identical, down to the drug dealers in the bathrooms. It was entirely nifty, though, to head out through downtown Memphis and see those riverboats lined up along the waterfront, then cross the Mississippi River for the first time. I'll remember that.
Tune in tomorrow for the next thrilling installment, in which I tell of my adventures in Little Rock and Hot Springs!
Greyhound is as bad as you've heard, though for short trips I'd gladly ride again. For 700-mile long-hauls, I'll walk first.
Riding Greyhound wasn't unpleasant at first. Sure, the bus station in Hendersonville, NC, my departure city, is located in the slums, and if these slums are your only glimpse of Hendersonville you will conclude that Hendersonville is a city where hope goes to die. But they're familiar slums all the same, so to me they're benign, plus I'm well-acquainted with Hendersonville's charming, if cutesy, downtown, and pleasant neighborhoods and parks. As a gaggle of German young adults, probably camp counselors for the many summer camps near town, emerged, I boarded the bus and thought it a shame the folks on Greyhound don't get to see the nicer parts of town. And then I was on my way.
The trip to Tennessee was uneventful and the bus stopped briefly in Asheville, then Waynesville, and this was my first indication that one of the reasons you will grow old on the bus is that in any town large enough to have its own post office you will either be forced to get off so they can "service" the bus or will stop to eat, drink, or smoke.
We passed through the mountains, then entered Tennessee. The first stop was Knoxville, home of a dreary bus station that no self-respecting wino would dare pass out in for fear of making contact with that nasty floor. Outside the station, I hope the situation in Knoxville is similar to the situation in Hendersonville in that there are nice things to be seen, but not from the bus. If that isn't the case, then Knoxville is in sad shape.
The bus continued on, stopping in the unutterably depressing towns of Cookeville and Crossville, then stopped in Nashville, which looked interesting and fairly attractive. Might be worth a future visit. In keeping with the rule that no passenger be allowed to remain seated in an incorporated area, everyone was hustled off the bus and told to wait in the Nashville bus station, which was actually quite nice and clean. I noticed now that passengers on particular busses become something of a family and stick together. While we were contentedly milling about, cow-like, the warm experience was marred by a clearly disturbed person with questionable hygeine who was attempting to board busses at random and was finally taken away by the police. Then, after we had milled about long enough to suit the Greyhound officials, we got back on the bus.
The only stop between Nashville and Memphis was Jackson, which was ugly before the tornado hit it and now is ugly and partially in ruins. Then the bus travelled onward to Memphis, which boasts a shocking amount of suburban sprawl and a dingy bus station that I suspect was trucked in from Knoxville because the two looked identical, down to the drug dealers in the bathrooms. It was entirely nifty, though, to head out through downtown Memphis and see those riverboats lined up along the waterfront, then cross the Mississippi River for the first time. I'll remember that.
Tune in tomorrow for the next thrilling installment, in which I tell of my adventures in Little Rock and Hot Springs!
Jun 13th, 2003 | 10:00 PM
#2
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 230
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Bus, train, airport etc all seem to be in the least or one of the least desirable parts of town. I cant even think of an exception to this actually... Maybe certain airports fare better in this regard... BWI and Dulles seemed better placed than National(Reagan) for the DC airports.
Denver's airport was in the middle of nowhere, but not slums.
I'll tell you something that shocked me about Little Rock and that was the large population of gangs! I was very surprised, I mean LA quality of gangs.
Unless thats changed recently? Even though I'm not into country music I liked what I saw of Nashville too. I mean how can you not like a city with a highrise that looks like Batman!
Denver's airport was in the middle of nowhere, but not slums.
I'll tell you something that shocked me about Little Rock and that was the large population of gangs! I was very surprised, I mean LA quality of gangs.
Unless thats changed recently? Even though I'm not into country music I liked what I saw of Nashville too. I mean how can you not like a city with a highrise that looks like Batman!
Jun 14th, 2003 | 03:57 PM
#6
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 34,738
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haunted head!!
I am loving your report, as usual.
I was in Crossville once! It was depressing then, my daughter had been in a terrible accident on Rt4 in the Cumberland Mts there, The Cumberland Medical Center is where she ended up, in Crossville. It was some time ago-it was dreary then, but I must say this for them, some of the nicest kindest people I have ever met were in that dinky little town
Can't wait to read more~Scarlett
Jun 14th, 2003 | 04:33 PM
#7
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
hauntedheadnc,
Count me in on enjoying your trip report! You've a great writing style and I can't wait to hear the next installment of this interesting trip. *chuckle*
~ Sheryl... who's never road a Greyhound bus and thinks she may know why now... LOL
Count me in on enjoying your trip report! You've a great writing style and I can't wait to hear the next installment of this interesting trip. *chuckle*
~ Sheryl... who's never road a Greyhound bus and thinks she may know why now... LOL
