In 2003, singer, Andre 3000 and OutKast asked the question, “What’s cooler than being cool?” And today I’m asking you “What’s more secret than ‘Most Secret’?”

No, it’s not Top Secret, it’s actually Ultra Secret. A phrase commissioned during the Second World War for a facility that’s activities were so secret, so important to global wartime intelligence, that even married couples didn’t find out for decades that they’d both worked in the same facility… true story. It wasn’t until the mid 1970’s that the work of the men and women of Bletchley Park was finally publicly revealed.

Ever since the 31st President of the United States, Herbert Hoover, through to the 44th, Barack Obama, there’s been an historical record keeping operation called the Presidential Library system. There’s currently 15 presidential libraries (I understand the 45th president is opening a Burger King instead, possibly in San Quentin…), and their purpose is to hold the official historical records of that presidency (as opposed to you know, just keeping them under a bed in your golf resort… sorry, sorry, this is too easy, I’ll stop now) . The records, papers, footage and files of that presidency are eventually available to research and study. Most of the libraries are also museums for the general public to visit and learn about that presidents life, before, during and after their time in office.

In an unremarkable building, on a nondescript pavement, sits a premises with links to not one, but at least three of history’s most defining periods and peoples. At 54 Hilliard St, Atlanta, sits The Madam CJ Walker Beauty Shoppe & Museum, incorporating WERD radio station.

Driving directly, Nashville to Atlanta is approximately four and a half hours. But who wants to drive four and a half hours with no stop offs en route? Luckily a little place called Lynchburg is along the route and anyone who’s been in a pub or walked along a liquor aisle in the supermarket will have seen the name Lynchburg many a time. It’s the home of Jack Daniel’s distillery, and the contents of every bottle, in every part of the world is still made in this little Tennessee town.

From around 10am onwards, the sounds of different performers, on a plethora of stages, in a multitude of bars, waft onto the ever filling sidewalks of lower broadway. I’m going to be honest here, there’s also varying talent levels too. Trust me, I’m all for getting up there and giving it your best shot if that’s what’s calling you. However, a slow drawling version of Achey Breakey Heart, at 11am on a clear and sunny day, is never going to sound great… Not before several numbing alcoholic beverages anyway…

What’s in Louisville (pronounced Loo-uh-vil) you may ask? Riverside parks, humongous bridges, a cosmopolitan cityscape and museums to sate any taste.

I was particularly looking forward to visiting two museums. As a baseball fan, I had to visit the Louisville Slugger museum and factory. The very place they make the iconic bats used by professional and amateurs alike.

Once in a while, you have to do something to disrupt the humdrum. Remind yourself that life is for living.

That may be something as simple as finding an isolated waterfall and pool and go for a skinny dip, it might be daring to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, preferably with a parachute strapped to your back.

For me, I love driving. Driving to new places on different continents. It gets those creative juices flowing again that may have gone a little stale. The chance to see different scenery and meet new people is a very enticing prospect as a lone traveller. And obviously I’m incredibly fortunate and grateful to be able to record those scenes and encounters with my camera.

The other reason I was glad to be able to make the trip, was because it’s actually lucky that Jennifer is still fully with us at all.

Whilst painting one of her building murals in downtown St Pete’s over a year ago, Jennifer’s ladder slipped. Crashing down and catching her head on a post, splitting it open, Jennifer was lucky to only walk away (figuratively speaking. She was carted away in an ambulance) with a concussion and now almost vanished scar. In fact, that mural remains unfinished. The unfinished work is now included on St Pete’s popular mural walking tours, and Jennifer’s story is going into tour folklore.

Not only does mark serve excellent food in a welcoming manner, but go there enough times and you’ll more than likely end up meeting most of his family. It wasn’t long ago that you’d sit in Swn Y Mor, and multiple generations of Mark’s family would be at a table or two, enjoying the atmosphere and each others company