Directions-It’s Next to The Rock House
“You can see it from the Fire Station.” The Host says when I ask him for directions over the phone. “You can’t miss it.”
Once we found the Fire Station, which was on top of a high hill overlooking most of the state, we found that we could in fact see just about every building in the city. We had to asked the Firemen where the building we were looking for was-they were nice enough to point it out. They would spend the rest of the day pointing it out to all the people who had appointments to have their portraits taken and were given the same directions we were.
The first thing you notice as a Traveling Photographer is that most places are really against the use of Addresses, Street Signs, and Numbers of any kind on their buildings. While I am sure this is old news to UPS and FedEd Drivers, it was something of a shock to find that having an address in hand is no guarantee that you will be able to find the building that goes with it. Sometimes the address leads you to a vacant lot, or a new shopping center, or a long abandon building where the Church, Masonic Lodge, Meeting Hall, or School used to be-and they have never gotten around to updating their database. But usually, there is just no outward sign that the address exists.
“It’s right next to The Rock House.” The man on the phone says as if he is explaining that it’s right next to The Vatican or The White House. “Everyone knows where The Rock House is.”
“Well, we don’t.”
“Just ask anyone once you get into town.”
Everyone we ask about The Rock House looked at us as if we had a few rocks loose. We finally did find the place-a small house built out of rocks with an Historical Marker in front of it. It was not exactly an impressive building, nor was it much of a landmark by which to find another building-which was down the road a ways from the Rock House. We had a pretty slow day, as no one else knew where the world famous Rock House was either. This was in the dark days before Google made it a matter of a few seconds search to find The Rock House in Thomson, Georgia.
Printed directions are also a matter of some concern. It’s common to find directions that say things like Turn Right Under Bridge-Building on The Right. Only they don’t tell you that it’s thirty miles down the road on The Right. Mapquest also has the nasty habit of dropping you onto a dirt road if has the chance to do so. I never want to be driving on a dirt road. So I have often had to resort to a real paper map to find my way to where I am going. I don’t have a GPS because I don’t trust them.
Google and Mapquest have put an end to most of my finding the Shoot woes. But they are not perfect either, sometimes the address I am looking for doesn’t exist and I end up with directions to the middle of town or the middle of some wide spot in the middle of nowhere. Finding a Big Box Store is easy, everyone knows where that is. But finding a Church is a bit trickier-even the smallest of towns has a dozen churches that everyone drives by but no one really pays attention to. So asking-Where’s the Glowing Heart United Brethern of Yada Yada Yada Church?-might not get you more than a blank stare.
I don’t get lost as much as I used to, but the times when I do are when I think about quitting and finding something else to do. Nothing pisses me off as much as driving around in circles looking for some place out in the middle of nowhere without any clue as to how close or far I am from my goal. As a general rule, every place is farther away than you think it is. When you think you’ve gone too far, go a little farther and you’ll find the street your looking for.
Driving time is Audio Book time, but it still bugs me when I can’t find what I’m looking for. I am also bothered by people who assume I know all the landmarks in every town, city, and crossroad in America. Pretend I never heard of The Rock House-because I never have.