The Blogitects Do America

Thorsten and I just returned to Joburg after a long trip to the U.S. – I was there for a month and Thorsten joined me for three weeks. We had a fun, emotional, hilarious, exciting, and utterly exhausting time.

The Blogitects do Washington DC — The tired but happy Blogitects (one architect, one blogger) at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on a mercifully warm day just after New Years.

I slept in nine different beds on this trip, and switched beds on 11 occasions. We traveled across the ocean and up and down the East Coast on multiple planes, trains, and automobiles. Not only did I see my American loved ones for the first time in 18 months, but I introduced them to my South African partner of two years, which was exciting for everyone involved.

Thorsten and Mom — A very large Thorsten and my very tiny mom, Jeanie, on a day trip in Savannah, Georgia.

It was Christmas – my first time home for the holidays since 2009. It was winter and we survived one of the worst Christmas cold fronts in decades. Thorsten and I were both sick (#NotCovid) for a good portion of the trip, which was no surprise. I get sick every time I go home.

I had so many wild and wonderful experiences in America, both before Thorsten arrived and once he got there. It would be impossible to summarize or even list them all in a single blog post, and I didn’t do the best job of capturing all the magical moments in photos. (At the same time I took far too many photos to include, as illustrated below.)

A chilly walk through Rockwood Hall, New York, with my dad, Tenney, my sister, Susanna, my nephew, Jack, my aunt, Jinx, my dad’s partner, Debbie, and Jinx’s dogs, Ranger and Jack. I was really lucky to spend the first week of the trip relaxing at Jinx’s house in Sleepy Hollow, New York (Dad, Debbie, Susanna, and Jack came to visit for the weekend while I was there); it was a great way to ease into a month of crazy travel.

Heather and Sunday — Selfie with my aunt’s elderly love bird, Sunday.

Snow in New York — It briefly snowed in New York! Sadly this happened before Thorsten arrived.

Dad in his African vest — Dad wearing his spectacular African-wax-print vest, which Debbie special-ordered from Joburg tailor Pape Sidebè. Pape, you may remember, recently made Thorsten’s "Real Disco Super Java" tuxedo, which was the inspiration behind Dad’s vest.

Thorsten’s sketch of TwoStep, Dad and Debbie’s dog. (As always, see more of Thorsten’s sketches at @theThinking_Hand.)

But even if I can’t recount the whole story, I want to document at least some of the trip so I can look back and remember how amazing it was. I loved seeing my version of America through Thorsten’s eyes. His architecture work had brought him to the U.S. a few times already – New York, L.A., and a few other big cities – but I’m pretty sure he’d never experienced America quite like this before. So pardon me while I ramble a bit, focusing on just a few of our adventures.

The Blogitects in New York

Thorsten and I started off with a few days visiting my friend Martha Cooper in her apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Martha has been asking me to visit her for years and I’m so glad I finally did.

I already knew Martha was a legendary photographer – I’ve been following her work since spotting an exhibition of hers in Joburg in 2012 – but my respect turned to awe during this visit. (For a taste of how awe-inspiring Martha is, watch this short film about her work in Berlin with one of the world’s most notorious graffiti crews. To check out more of her current work. follow her on Instagram.) Martha is also incredibly nice, down-to-earth, and so much fun to hang out with. Basically I’m obsessed with Martha, and also with her cat, Lego.

Martha Cooper and Lego — Martha and Lego.

Thorsten sketching in New York — Thorsten sketching furiously on the window seat in Martha’s apartment, which is on Riverside Drive overlooking the Hudson River.

Riverside Drive, Manhattan — Martha’s beautiful building, where she’s lived since the 1980s.

View from Martha Cooper’s building — View of chilly Manhattan from an upper floor of Martha’s building.

Thorsten and I spent three action-packed days in Manhattan, which coincided with Thorsten’s birthday. We went to a famous street artist’s holiday party in a Brooklyn studio (where I experienced my greatest moment of blogger fame ever, when a hip photographer spotted me, asked if I live in South Africa, and said: “I follow you!”), caught up with old friends, ate pizza and bagels and udon noodles, visited the Guggenheim, walked the High Line, and ogled the crazy architecture at the Oculus.

Inside the Guggenhein — Inside the Guggenheim, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Thorsten at the Oculus — A slightly awed, slightly freezing Thorsten outside the Oculus, next to the World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial.

On the Road

Thorsten and I spent a lot of time on the open road during this trip, driving a borrowed pickup truck through the American South between Sykesville, Maryland, where Dad and Debbie live, Hilton Head, South Carolina, where Mom lives, and Charlottesville, Virginia, where my friends Bob and Tim live. We stayed off the big highways and cruised along back roads, listening to “Outlaw Country” on satellite radio, driving over rivers and swamps, crossing the Appalachians, and gazing at mobile homes, ice-coated pine trees, country churches, falling-down barns, Confederate flags, and Jesus Saves billboards.

I took virtually no pictures on the road, as I was driving most of the time. But Thorsten made some great charcoal sketches from the passenger seat.

Thorsten sketch of the road — Sketched somewhere in southern Virginia.

Weird beach in Hilton Head — Susanna, Jack, and Thorsten on "the Weird Beach" in Hilton Head, so named by Susanna and Jack because of the strange, tube-like organisms that stick up out of the sand when the tide goes out.

Thorsten with Bob and Tim in Charlottesville — I’m including this picture of Thorsten with Tim and Bob at their house in Charlottesville as a placeholder. I have to save the Charlottesville visit for a post of its own. I’ve never properly blogged about Charlottesville before and there’s too much to say.

The Blogitects in Washington, D.C.

Thorsten had never been to D.C., and I had thought we would miss it this trip due to time constraints. But ultimately we found ourselves in the nation’s capital for two nights and one fabulous day. We took a whirlwind tour of two Smithsonian museums and all the big monuments, visiting several places that I hadn’t seen myself in 35 years of living in the area. I think D.C. deserves some extra attention in this post.