Julia and Gina Raddatz were warned by many not to go to Mississippi, but the two students from Germany bicycling across the United States have discovered the perceptions of others to be wrong.
“The people have been great,” Gina said. “We’re having a wonderful time.”
Their travels brought them into Vardaman last Friday where they were offered shelter at the Vardaman UMC parsonage. Mayor James Casey took them on a tour of the Sweet Potato Capital of the World and they’ve been enjoying local hospitality from Bro. Harold Robinson and many others the past several days.
“It’s so much fun to meet people and learn about the local communities,” Julia said.
Gina and Julia Raddatz, from Munich, Germany, are pictured with Vardaman UMC Pastor Harold Robinson and Mayor James Casey. Photo by Joel McNeece
The 23 and 25-year-old sisters are students at the University of Munich that are exploring America by bike.
“It’s a great way to travel because you literally get to see every inch of America,” Julia said. “It gives us more opportunity to interact with people than if we were riding in a car.”
Their adventure started in California where they biked across the desert Southwest through lots of heat. Now that they’ve entered the Southeast as cooler temperatures move in, they are venturing south toward Florida.
They spent last week sleeping outside an Episcopalian church in Downtown Memphis.
“We were just sleeping in our sleeping bags,” Gina said. “We camp most of the time on our trip.”
The Memphis stop was planned because they wanted to see Graceland.
“Our parents didn’t really like the idea of this trip. Our mom is a worrier, but they do love our pictures,” Gina said. “Our parents love Elvis, so for us to go see Graceland was exciting for them.”
They left Memphis and rode to Tupelo to visit Elvis’ birthplace and then hopped on the Tanglefoot Trail and road to Houston and across to Vardaman.
“We’re going to head down to the Coast now and then over to Florida where we will fly back to Munich,” Julia said.
Their travels have also included stops at the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, The Alamo, and the Fort Worth stockyards. They previously visited Mount Vernon, Pa.; Washington D.C. and Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell in their quest to learn all they can about the United States.
“We love traveling across America because there is such a variety from state to state,” Gina said. “There is so much to see here and so many people along the way have been so good to us.”
“It’s been a great experience,” Julia said. “It’s a blessing to meet the different people we’ve met from different religions and walks of life. We have a good impression of America, and the landscape is beautiful.”