Crellim Creative

US Road Trip

Utah !?! – This isn’t the end ;)

Crellim November 12, 2014

Dusk, we cross the final state line for the cross-country adventure. We aren’t quite done yet, but Utah has welcomed us in 🙂

Originally, I was planning to cross Colorado towards the southwest, so Dad and I could visit the four corners, Mesa Verde, and the Grand Canyon. However, just the drive to the four corners was 10 hours. So I made the choice to go to Moab to see Arches, Canyonlands, and Goblin Valley instead, since I had seen these parks before. Dad and I plan to go to the Grand Canyon and check out the sites missed on a trip in the future.

I have been to Moab twice before, once to go an a river trip and another time on a drive to Texas when Dad was super grumpy. So honestly, I never really had a chance to check out Moab. We head in and Dad can’t believe how big of town Moab actually is. But it’s dark and cold so we head straight to dinner at Twisted Sista Tapas. The baked brie and garlic flatbread is so tasty we order seconds.

After dinner, we head out to find camping. My guess is Moab is the camping capitol of the United States. Camping is pretty much available everywhere. We decide on Sandflat Recreation Area just on the outskirts of town. Since it was well after dark, Dad and I couldn’t get a good look at the surrounding areas, but we were definitely pleased when we woke up in the morning. The campground was surrounded by beautiful red-rock formations and sagebrush. So we hiked around on the rocks for a bit before returning into town to get the day started.

First stop in Moab was the Moab Roasting Company. The coffee was good. The service was honest, dry-humored, and a bit in your face – very not Utah, but absolutely perfect! We then headed across the street to Lovin’ Muffin Cafe to get some breakfast. This cafe was totally my kind of place. Graffiti on the walls, good music, super tasty breakfast burrito, and fun people. We could already tell that Moab is not like the rest of Utah.

Finally, we get ourselves out of Moab and make it into Arches. I’ve always seen pictures of the rock formations and arches that make up the park, but to see it in person was amazing. The sky was crystal blue and even though the temperature was only in the up 40s and low 50s the desert sun made it feel very warm. Dad and I drove past balance rock and through the Windows section of the park. But we parked and did the 3 mile loop hike to Delicate Arch. No wonder this formation is used in all of Utah’s advertising, my mind was blown by the beauty. The hardest part of the hike, but probably the most fun was walking up the slick rock face before getting to the canyon that leads to the arch. Finally, we made it and I sat up on a sunny rock to warm myself and rest. Dad who is more daring than I walked around the slick rock bowl to stand under the arch, so I got a picture of him posing under it.

We return back to the car and then headed south to Canyonlands. I had been planning to do Arches and Canyonlands on separate days of the journey, but Dad really wanted to checkout the Green River for fishing. So we sped up these adventures so we could see both in one day. I even added the extra challenge that we were exploring the Needles area of Canyonlands which is more remote than the northern section of the park.

We made it to Canyonlands right after the visitor center had closed. Luckily, a ranger came out and gave us advice on where to go check out with our hour and half of sunlight left. Since we wanted to cover as much territory as possible, we were exploring by car and not by foot. We headed down a dirt road to get a better view of the needles and then went down a rougher dirt road towards the Colorado River lookout. The second dirt road was so rough that I made Dad turn around and head back once it started to get dark. I didn’t want to get stuck high-centered on rock in the middle of no where that night. The moon was just a few days from full and huge on the horizon which did give us extra light, but I was definitely for taking the safer views than risk it.

As it was getting really dark, we made it out of Canyonlands and returned north towards Moab. Dinner was at the Moab Brewing Company. Dad and I shared a fantastic meal of beer-cheese soup and pesto pasta. I had the Tripel beer from their roster of excellent brews and it was an excellent Belgian-style beer. Then our waiter gave us one of the best tips of our trip. He said that since it was almost a full moon, Goblin Valley is extra special. Dad and I decided to make the two hour drive to Goblin that night 🙂

We didn’t end up hiking through the goblins that night, but the moon lit up the path as we drove far into the Utah landscape. The mountains had an eerie glow that lead the way. We could see strange formations in the dark, but nothing really stood out. However, I could see how incredible it would be to go down to the goblins and run around at night.

But the next morning, we finally got to go exploring. I’ve wanted to go to Goblin Valley since I learned about it in high school. To finally get to see the goblins and walk around the rock formations was awesome. If Dad and I had brought a pack with food and more water, I could have played out there all day. But after a couple of hours of play, my stomach started to growl and we continued on our journey.

I set the GPS on my phone to take us to Vernal so Dad could see the Green River. The route took us through the valley that runs between the southern Wasatch and the Book Cliff Mountains. It was a very beautiful drive. When we made it to Duchesne, Dad had second thoughts about heading all the way to Vernal. We didn’t have to be home until the next day so we could have made it there that late afternoon and spent the morning fishing. But Dad decided he wanted to have a longer trip to fish the Green River and to get more information first, so we turned towards my parents house.

We did take the longer scenic route back home through Heber, Kamas, Coalville, Morgan, and finally Huntsville. When we pulled into Ogden, I made Dad drive past the Ogden sign to prove that we had completed the journey!

Mom was not expecting that we were going to be home that night, so she was very surprised when we pulled into the driveway. Dad and I had been away for 60 days, and she was super glad to see us. I was super tired when we made it home so I just showered and went to sleep.

It was the next day I started to think about what we just did, and finally I could relax for a moment. But honestly all I wanted to do was drive on. Luckily, for me, this was just round 1 of the journey. I had promised to take Mom to explore the Northwest after I was done. So I spent a few more days hanging out in Ogden visiting with friends, catching up on my writing, and getting all my travel supplies reorganized.

I’m now ready for Round Two, we are facing a winter storm before we head out. I also have to wait for my Mom to get ready. She is not a low maintenance as Dad or I, so this next part of the journey will be more plush. But the journey does continue!

US Road Trip

Colorado – Family and Friends and good, good beer!

Crellim November 9, 2014

Dad and I continued north into Colorado with our first stop at my cousins house in Colorado Springs. We got to enjoy one of the last weekends that Richard and Nicole will have in Colorado Springs before they move to Fort Collins by the end of the year.

I’d only met Nicole at their wedding, and I had not met any of the kids, so this was a fantastic visit. I enjoyed getting to know everyone and playing with Richard and Nicole’s incredible kids – Ethan, Ellie, and Claire. We also managed to time the visit on Halloween which added a special layer of fun!

But before the trick or treating started Nicole took Dad and I up to the Garden of the Gods so we could see the balance rock. The red rocks where just amazing. The youngest of the kids, Claire, favorite activity on the plant is to hike! She is such a Colorado girl. We played on the rocks for a bit before heading to Manitou Springs.

Manitou Springs is a super cute town on the eastern face of the Rockies. It’s famous for its 7 springs of healing water where people with TB would come to drink. I did try two of the springs and the water tastes like salty soda water. We went to a brand new cafe that had just opened that day. The we wandered around the town a bit. They have an old school arcade with old quarter rides for kids. They also had skeeball for me. (yes, I know, addiction). It was a super fun afternoon, but we had to head back to get ready for Halloween!

I love Halloween and always want to dress up. However, since Dad and I had been on this road trip, I didn’t really have supplies for a costume. Luckily, I saw an idea to paint my face as a doggie online and I found a super cheap face paint kit. I was all set. Dad was very resistant to dressing up. I did make him wear the alien glasses for a bit.

Of course all the kids loved dressing up. We had a storm trooper (Ethan), Bo on the Go (Claire), and a good witch (Ellie). Nicole dressed up as a renaissance woman. The men avoided dressing up because they are party poopers.

We had a fantastic chili and cornbread dinner to get the kids ready for their trick or treating adventure. And the adults all enjoyed some of Richard’s fantastic home brew. He had a super tasty milk stout on tap.

All the kids and parents headed out to trick or treat, and Dad and I stayed back to give out candy. This was nice because it was a bit colder than I wanted to be out walking in and both Richard and Nicole got to enjoy their kids trick or treating. The kids all came back completely loaded down with candy!

A house in the neighborhood had build their own haunted house in their garage. We went over to check it out to close out the night. For a home grown haunted house, it was fantastic! Lots of effects and definitely spooky for the kids. What a creative treat to experience.

The next day, I went with Nicole and the girls to check out Rainbow Falls and Dad went with Richard and Ethan to watch Ethan’s soccer game. Rainbow Falls is a water drainage carrying the drinking water for Colorado Springs and it comes out under an overpass bridge. The waterfall is very pretty, and the bridge structure and surrounding rocks are all covered with street art and graffiti. It was a very cool place to check out.

Then we headed back to the Garden of the Gods to hike around on the rocks again. This place is so beautiful I could enjoy hiking there constantly. Ellie and Claire also had fun playing on the rocks.

We then met back up with the boys for lunch at Colorado Mountain Brewery. The pizza and burgers were tasty and the beer was fantastic. I enjoyed the Brewery’s Amber Ale, Old 59er. After eating, we drove up a canyon to see Helen Hunt Falls which were super lovely. However, Dad did manage to fall and land right on top of Ethan when they were goofing around on the rocks. Dad can really forget that he’s a golden geeser at times!

I like good beer. My cousin Richard loves good beer! So we were definitely in good company. After the falls we hit up a taproom to try some local beer. Green Man Taproom is built in a beautiful old church that had been the first African-American church in Colorado Springs. They only served draft beer and the selection was fantastic.

After a fun day exploring, we closed out the night playing xbox connect games. What a great family game. It was fun to watch Dad play and get completely into into it. Dad and I boxed and I got my butt kicked by him. But it was super fun and I couldn’t stop laughing.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes to continue north to Fort Collins. We did make a quick stop in Denver to check out a cafe that is rated as one of the best in the country. Little Owl does not disappoint. The cafe is beautiful, super modern decorated in glass, chrome, and white. Dad loved his coffee and my cappuccino was excellent. It was definitely a fantastic treat to make that detour into Denver.

Fort Collins was a must stop on the journey because my college roommate Emily lives there, and I’ve been out to visit in 6 years so I was overdue! I finally got to see Emily’s beautiful house and meet Tahoe and Seymour. More animals for me to love is always a good thing!

We headed out to explore the area and check out a few of the many breweries in Fort Collins. Fort Collins is a super cute town and I would definitely say one of the beer places I’ve ever been. We tried Odell’s, Fort Collins, and Coopersmith. All of them were fantastic. It was also great to catch up with Emily and just get to hangout for a while. Foodwise, the highlight was the bacon wrapped pretzels that Dad enjoyed so much he ordered a second helping!

The next morning before we continued on we fueled up at Lucil’s Creole Cafe. The brunch was excellent. Some of the best grits I’ve had on the trip. Plus, the restaurant was built in an old home so it was super quaint.

It was time to head west across Colorado. We had planned on going through Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, but there was a big storm that came through overnight. We were even woken up in the car by hail. Unfortunately, that also meant the mountain pass through Rocky Mountain National Park was closed due to snow. It was also still pouring rain when we started out, so Dad and I figured we couldn’t see anything if we went to Estes and I was worried about snow on the passes on I70 so we just head south through Boulder to I70.

Driving through the Colorado Rockies was incredible. The mountains are breathtaking, and the tunnels add to the adventure. We did hit snow over the Vail Pass so Dad slowed down a tiny bit. He only spooked me badly once when things got really slushy. But we did the drive across Colorado with only one stop for fuel in Grand Junction, so we didn’t stop to see any of the mountain towns. I guess I was in a hurry to make it across the next state line 🙂

US Road Trip

New Mexico

Crellim November 7, 2014

It’s a long drive to make to New Mexico from southeastern Texas. I’ve decided to skip Austin and any other sites in Texas so I can get to New Mexico. Dad just doesn’t like cities and I would like to spend some time in Austin, so we do the 10 hour drive to get to Carlsbad in one day. I think Dad was getting tired of driving and wanted to skip Carlsbad to head to Colorado as quickly as possible, but we stuck to my original plan.

We camped in Carlsbad and grabbed some grub in a tiny dinner called Happy’s on the main strip through town. It was a total dive, but the food was very good and the decoration very kitschy.

Then we headed south towards the caves. Along the way, we found some long-horn cows which we had to stop and bother.

I am so happy I put my foot down and told Dad that we could not skip Carlsbad Caverns National Park. I love caves and this cave is huge, open, and incredibly beautiful. We did the self-guided tours through the caverns, starting at the natural entrance and wandering down and through the big room. The hike through the caverns took us about 2.5 hours and it was worth every moment.

WE also learned that Carlsbad Caverns is a bat cave. When we went through the natural entrance, we passed all the sleeping bats. However, there were not any bats deeper into the caves. Most of the area they sleep is well away from where the humans explore, but they do come out of the cave at night to hunt. Dad however kept looking and hoping to see the bats.

After the cave exploration, we still had time left in the day so we headed 30 miles south to Guadalupe National Park. This park is all about exploring desert flora and fauna. We only had an hour and half of daylight left so we did a nature hike rather than explore one of the canyons. The trail was lined with yucca, sage, prickly pear cactus, and desert grasses. The trail was overgrown, so we carried sticks in front so if there were rattlesnakes the sticks would be bit and not us. It was extremely beautiful to get that close of view of the desert. But there was only one issue. I’m highly allergic to grass, so the desert grass was sticking through my leggings and skirt and burning my legs. By the time I was done, I was completely covered in grass and stickers. I ended up throwing away the skirt because I couldn’t get all the stickers out. So I recommend to wear pants that resist stickers and letting the grass poke through.

We finished the hike and still had some daylight left, so we decided to drive back to Carlsbad to see the Bat flight that happens at sunset. This was probably one of the best decisions of the trip. The cave is home to 300,000-400,000 resident bats during the summer. In the fall, they migrate south to Mexico. In addition, in the autumn other bats who are migrating also stop at the Caverns on there way south. So we had the chance to see the full residency of bats and few guest if they hadn’t already started to migrate which would happen any day. Luckily, for us, we hear a rush of water sound coming out of the cave which is the flapping of bat wings and the bats hitting each other. Slowly, they emerge into the twilight sky and head out to their evening hunt. We watch the large stream of bats flow out of the cave for an hour. It was so cool to just watch the bats keep coming and coming. I don’t have any pictures of the flight because even having my phone on would have disturbed the bats. So it was just an incredible mental picture I got to take of the experience. However, watching the bats is a must do part of a stop to Carlsbad.

After the Bat flight, we head to Roswell to sleep for the night. I had promised my roommate Pepe that I would visit Roswell on the journey. For those of you who have not met Pepe, he was brought to life by my dear friend Marc who worked magic with paper and paste. Watch how close Pepe and Marc are!

So visiting Roswell, I spent the time trying to find any relatives of Pepe’s who still lived there and luckily I found a few.

After Roswell, we continued north to Santa Fe. When I was younger and looking at grad schools, I had wanted to check out Santa Fe. My family had driven through on a return trip from Texas. However, Dad had been grumpy at that time and didn’t want to stop so we really didn’t get to see the town at all. However, this time it’s my trip and we wandered around the old section of town.

I spent the most time in the Basilica which is a magnificent church. The art and stained glass was just beautiful. Although, I no longer practice any religion, my Grandma and Grandpa Corra were devout Catholics. When I travel and visit churches around the world, I light candles in honor of them. I had to do the same here in Santa Fe.

After visiting the Basilica, Dad and I did explore a few of the stores. We haven’t really shopped in any of the other locations on the journey. I was trying to avoid shopping especially here since I loved the art work and jewelry. But the shops were just to great not to take a peak.

We closed out the night by going to a fantastic little restaurant, Elevation Bistro, just off the main square. They had the World Series finals playing, which I had to watch and cheer for my beloved Giants. Dinner was also fantastic and consisted of corn and chili chowder, lamb achiote tostada, and pull-pork sandwich with mango coleslaw. Yummy!

We camped the night in Santa Fe, and fueled up at the Holy Trinity Cafe. This is a tiny hole in the wall coffee stand that makes some of the best coffee in the city. I don’t recommend the cappuccino but the coffee was excellent.

We then continued north to Taos. We stopped for lunch at the Taos Inn, which in past days was an adobe set of homes where Doc Martin lived in the largest house. It now houses a nice bar and restaurant, as well as the oldest water well in town. We visited on October 30, and the hotel had a Dias del Muertos alter set up for anyone to add their prayers. I added the names of the three people this year that left this world way to soon. I hope that Pat, Daniel, and Angel are in peace.

Dad and I were tempted to hang out longer in the bar for lunch than normal because of the super cheesy horror movies played on the tv. But they were so bad we finally motivated ourselves to move on after a great elk burger lunch. We wandered around the town for a moment, where I met Rocky Raccoon in the Kit Carsen gift shop. I knew he had to join our journey as a talisman to protect the Rav 4 from anymore animals trying to sneak in. He’s been a great companion since.

The next and last stop in New Mexico for us was the Taos Pueblo Indian Reservation. The Pueblo dwellings are still occupied and functioning after 2000 years. It was beautiful to see the church and all the buildings. Plus, it was autumn so the trees where all a magnificent yellow color.

Dad and I also shopped, since many of the residents had little stands for Indian art and food. Dad bought a handmade bow and got a new pair of turquoise earrings. We then headed out of the heat of the New Mexico sun and continued our journey north into Colorado.

US Road Trip

Texas = Family Time

Crellim November 7, 2014

Texas, ah Texas. I had not been to Texas in 7 years. Dad spent his formidable middle school and high schools growing up in Texas. He still claims to be from Texas even though he lived more time as a child in California and an adult in Utah. However, he is the only one in his family to leave Texas so I guess that’s why it feels like home.

So even though this road trip is about exploring the US, I couldn’t go to Texas without visiting my family. And the drive from New Orleans to Huntsville, Texas, I could tell by Dad’s driving he was about to explode with excitement to get there. (Yes, that drive was a bit frightening)

A bit about my family, so you understand why we had to visit and stay as long as we did. My dad is the third out of 11. He has 4 brothers and 6 sisters. I have over 30 first cousins, and when everyone gets together with spouses and the next generations there are well over 100 people. Originally, we had only planned to stay for 5 days, but quickly it turned into a week. We stayed at my Uncle Greg and Aunt Sharlene’s house for the visit, which is super comfortable and very welcoming.

Like Dad, Greg is also a mechanic. Dad would say he has a natural ability which makes him great. When we arrived, Greg heard the care and instantly new something was wrong. Dad and I had heard the rattling noise, but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. However, it was getting steadily worse as we continued out the journey. Dad and Greg tore into the engine to find the serpentine belt with two rips. They hoped that was the issue, but it ended up being the entire water pump tearing apart from the inside. Dad just bought this car in March and luckily it was still under the manufacturing warranty, so they had to take the care 30 minutes north to the Toyota dealership to be fixed. They had the car for three days, so I’m grateful we were with family when the car broke that badly.

So back to the Texas visit, Dad losses any ability to focus when he is around his siblings, which makes planning very difficult. But when you have that many brothers and sisters, organizing to meet up with them all is super important. I would have to walk Dad aside and ask him if he called his sister or if he finalized when we would visit with a brother. Luckily, we did manage to see all of his brother and sisters. I did not see all of my first cousins, but did get to see a good portion of them.

On Saturday, they had a family party with all the brothers and sisters. It was a loud, crazy, and fun time. There is a lot of energy in my Dad’s family, and most only know how to use their outside voices 😉 So it’s super fun but also more action than I am used to.

The family!

The Party

It does take a megaphone to organize the family. This is Aunt Sharlene, the hostess with the mostest!

Even though I had a great time at the party, I liked the time I got to spend with smaller groups of cousins and family better. There was lots of laughing and great conversation when I got to hang out with my cousins. The highlight was getting pedicures with Stacy, Vicki, and Kelly. Then Shelly joined us for dinner. What a great night of fun with my cousins.

I’m the only one of the first generation of cousins who doesn’t have kids. But I loved playing with my second cousins. The biggest issue is that names beginning with C or K are super popular in the second generation, so I had a hard time remembering names. But one of my little cousins, Kyli, brought tears to my eyes, when she gave me her princess ring so I would remember her when I left. So sweet!

I am missing so many pictures of my family, so don’t think I’ve got everyone. Plus, this is an active family, I could only capture the ones who would slow down for a moment and let me get a picture.

I’ve definitely gotten overwhelmed when I’ve visited Texas in the past, but I was able to relax and enjoy the visit. I definitely had a great time, and I know Dad was beside himself with all the fun he had!

US Road Trip

New Orleans

Crellim October 24, 2014

We head out of Memphis with a long 5 hour drive ahead of us to make it to New Orleans. We pretty much drive it straight and only stop for gas. We finally pull into New Orleans around 8 pm and I already have a list of things that I want to do during our stay. I program our first stop into the GPS which drives us right through the heart of the French Quarter including driving across Bourbon Street. I don’t think Dad enjoyed being thrown right into the middle of New Orleans’ madness while driving. Finally, we find a parking lot so we could go explore.

We wandered a few blocks to our first stop, Hotel Monteleone, to have a Sazerac at the Carousal Bar. Check one – go to classic New Orleans hotel in the French Quarter and have a Sazerac! Perfect way to start the visit. Plus, we meet up with another young woman who is visiting New Orleans with her parents, but she’s done a similar cross-country adventure with her boyfriend. It was definitely fun to trade adventure stories.

Then we head out to explore the streets. I have no real intention of going to Bourbon Street, that is not my kind of party. But it was only a block away, so we walked it for two blocks just to see. There were plenty of super drunk people. It was super loud so I couldn’t hear an of the music coming out of the bars. Plus, the smell was horrendous; stale beer, urine, BO, throw up, and who knows what other smells do not combine together to make anything pleasant. We had one lady nail Dad in the head with beads when he wasn’t even looking. It was completely overwhelming, and far from my idea from fun.

Luckily, as soon as we step off Bourbon Street things improve. We find a fantastic bar, 21st Amendment, that had a 3-piece Dixieland Jazz ensemble playing exceptional well. Plus, the bar specialized in old school cocktails. The drink menu looked fantastic, but it’s Sazerac for me while in New Orleans. We hangout in the bar for an hour listening to the music and then return to the car to camp for the night. Those two Sazerac cocktails kicked my ass, but I did sleep well that night.

The next morning, we drive into New Orleans and the sky is crystal blue for a great view of the skyline.

We headed straight to Cafe du Monde to get there before the long Saturday lines get started. I know that Dad will not tolerate a long line, even if this place is a New Orleans institution. Luckily, the line moves quickly and we are at our table. The beignets are just as good as everyone has ever said, with mounds of powdered sugar. My dad is a total neat freak, so this powder sugar is his worst nightmare. He tries to shake it off and tell him he can’t because that’s not the proper way to eat them. Unfortunately, neither Dad or I liked the chicory coffee from Cafe du Monde. It was super bitter and tasted burnt 😦

It was still early in the day when we left to start exploring. My recommendation for my next visit to New Orleans – Don’t start early and take it easy during the day. We wander around Jackson Square to see the art, which is such high quality. I’ve been to street markets in other cities but this art was gallery quality. Then we headed down Royal Street to check out the architecture of the French Quarters. Street musicians were already setting up to play for the day. The French Quarter architecture is even more beautiful than what I’ve seen in pictures and movies. And the street musicians create the soundtrack for Dad and I’s New Orleans adventure.

The absolute best part of wandering around was when Dad had a street performer show him how to do his gig. The man would stand perfectly still mid-stride walking his dog. What was amazing, the street act was Uncle Louie and Lil Willie. How perfect is it that my dad’s name is Louie too! It was so much fun to watch I could barely stop laughing enough to get these pictures!

Dad is not as found as I am for wandering around exploring architecture and looking at the shops. I had checked off two other items on my New Orleans list – beignets and explore the French Quarter. I have ghost tour and drink a hurricane at Pat O’Briens left. So I decide to take the swamp tour which I had been planning for the next day in the afternoon and to do the ghost tour that night. We head back towards the car and ate at a great little bar, Backspace Bar & Kitchen. This was one of the best burgers we’ve had on the journey. We were fueled up and ready to head out to the swamp.

I think that a Swamp Tour is a must do activity for a trip to New Orleans. I read the reviews and we go with Cajun Pride Tours. Cajun Pride owns a 25-acre swamp sanctuary that there is no hunting or fishing and only their tours are allowed. Our tour guide Brandon is fantastic. He tells us about the ecology of the swamp that we are boating through. He also brings aboard a few of the animals that make this swamp home. We get to hold baby turtles, a snake, and a baby alligator with it’s mouth taped shut. There were several people who were scared to scared the animals, the only one I was nervous about was the tiny baby turtle. I was afraid I would hurt it picking it up. Dad wasn’t so worried so he scoped it up and put it in my hands. Our guide also stopped and called over the alligators and fed them some chicken. He fed them straight from his hand. Brandon admitted getting bit was sometimes and occupational hazard, but he loved what he was doing.

Being on the swamp was super nice. It wasn’t that hot and the boat provided plenty of shade. There weren’t even mosquitos around to suck out more of my blood. Finally, when the tour was over our guide brought us over to see his pet Louisiana alligator snapping turtle that was 40 years old. He brought his pet turtle to the tour because he knew everyone would love to see it, and his boss then built a nice tank for the turtle. He was huge and definitely snapped when he’d rub the neck of the turtle to show how the turtle hunted.

I definitely loved the swamp tour. It was one of the best tours I’ve ever been on. The bummer after the tour was I ended up with a horrendous headache which colored the rest of my experience. I fought hard to ignore the pain and to enjoy, but I was bummed I wasn’t feeling 100%. Dad thinks I was allergic to something in the swamp which gave me the headache, and that is probably true.

We headed back into the French Quarter to be back for our Ghost Tour. A Ghost Tour is another requirement for visiting New Orleans. This place is haunted! We went with the Walking Phantom’s Tour, and our guide Luke was excellent. New Orleans has some grizzly history and horrifying residents in it’s past. Dad was daring to walk under the balcony of the lalaurie mansion and opened up the mailboxes and such to try to find some ghosts. I stayed across the street sending him blessings of protection.

The tour did get interrupted twice by a second line parade for weddings. The entire wedding party would march through the streets of the French Quarter lead by the first line made up of a marching band. I really loved this New Orleans tradition.

I still wasn’t feeling better after the tour, so we headed to get dinner. I found another great restaurant off the beaten path. Mojo Lounge was a total dive with fantastic food. We had toasted brie with apples and chicken cordon bleu. It was perfect. I swore I saw Dad lick the plate. After, we walked right past Pat O’Briens but there would be no hurricanes for me this visit. I wasn’t even up to listening to more jazz. We just headed back to the car to get some sleep and hopefully I would feel better in the morning. Luckily, I did, but I still have a few items left on my checklist, so I will just need to visit New Orleans again!

US Road Trip

Tennessee

Crellim October 24, 2014

From Savannah, we head north through Augusta, western South Carolina, and then Ashville, North Carolina. The whole drive has been rainy, but as we go through the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Asheville, the clouds get darker and thicker. We are driving into a thunderstorm. It’s also sunset across the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’ve never see sky and clouds turn such an orangish pink color. It was as if the clouds stole the light of the sunset and pulled it into the thunderstorm. It was incredibly beautiful.

Finally, we make it into Asheville, and it is still pouring. Wanting to park right next to where we were eating took for ever, and Dad was getting super frustrated. But no one wanted to walk and get soaked. Dad wanted me to find a different restaurant, but I had already done a lot of research to pick out the one we were going to, so I was pretty set on going. Luckily, a parking spot finally opened up and we made it in just as the lightning started crashing over head.

So I was being stubborn about the restaurant because I knew it was going to be special. The Admiral, from the outside looks like you are going into the sketchiest old pool dive bar. It’s super square one story architecture that had red and orange diamonds painted on the walls. With it dark and stormy it made it even more divey. But you go inside to find a fantastic dark wood and warm restaurant and bar. Plus the food was fabulous! Never, judge a restaurant by its cover. We had butternut squash soup, fried gnocchi, and rib eye steak. Dad finally said that the dinner did make up for the search for parking. We then headed further northwest to camp at a Walmart in Waynesville outside of the Smoky Mountains.

It was still raining when we woke up in the morning. We’d read that there is fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains, so Dad was really only thinking about fishing and wanting to get up to the Mountains. However, we were driving the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway first. The Blue Ridge Mount scenic highway is the most famous scenic drive in the US. It is over 450 miles long from Virginia in the north down to the Great Smoky Mountains. I had planned to drive a 50 mile section that headed over to Asheville. However, as we get started Dad keeps wanting to head back on go to the Smokies. Even with the rain, the rolling ridges coated with deep rust orange and muted yellows were absolutely incredible. The drive was so beautiful. I did not want to turn around, but 30 miles in, I agreed.

We finally make it into Great Smoky National Park. Dad gets details on where the best fishing in the park is. He also learns they’ve just had a very unusual storm for this time of the year, and they’ve received 4 inches of rain over the last two days. It’s still raining and all the rivers are blown out. As we drive through the main road in the park, he quickly realizes fishing won’t be an option for him.

We drive down the main road through the park and the rivers are twice the size of normal. Everything is wet and at times we have to drive through the clouds without much visibility. The autumn colors are touching most of the deciduous trees with pines sprinkled throughout. We take on more scenic loop through the park to see the trees and the ridges. The rain is starting to lighten but everything is muddy, so we aren’t going to hike. Plus it was darn cold. So we head out of the park.

Originally, I had planned on going to Dollywood on this road trip. Unfortunately, the timing just didn’t work out. If we had stayed so we could go to Dollywood the next day, the park was closed and I wasn’t going to stay for two nights. Plus, the rain wasn’t predicted to end until the weekend. So we continued into Tennessee.

Dinner was in Knoxville at KnoxMason. They had a super unique menu which is why I picked the place out. We had pork rinds, duck wings, mac and cheese, and banana pudding for desert. Everything was so tasty. Plus, they had a Tennessee Sazerac which was awesome.

We left Knoxville with hopes of making it to Chattanooga, but it was raining again and Dad was tired of driving. We stopped in the middle of nowhere to rest for the night (apologies to the people of nowhere, I know that’s not what you call it).

The morning we drive on into the middle of Tennessee to the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg. I was never a fan of Jack, but Maria told me this was one of the best tours in the US. The property of the distillery is gorgeous. In the back is a large limestone cave where the spring water used to make Jack Daniels flows. They have the spring flowing throughout the property including into the buildings where the whiskey is made. We had a fantastic local guide, whose accent was so thick I didn’t understand half of what he was saying. Yet, that just added to the ambience of the tour.

One of the best moments of the tour was outside the cave, were we could already smell the breadiness of fermentation. A woman asked what the smell was, she was not a fan. Dad responded, “oh that’s us. We haven’t showered in a week.” The look of disgust across her face was priceless.

I developed my liking for whiskey long after I had tried Jack and had never given it another shot. I’m also not a fan of alcohol combined with brown cola, so there won’t be a jack and coke for me. However, after learning about the process of how Jack Daniels uses to make their whiskey, I was a fan of the story. I was also impressed that they only produce 1% waste on there entire business process. So I went for their best stuff, and got a liter of Single Barrel Jack Daniels. I still haven’t tried it yet, I might wait until I get home. So I can’t tell you what I thought.

Westward we headed, but honestly there is not a straight freeway from Knoxville or Chattanooga to Memphis, our next destination. We either had to head north towards Nashville to cut back over to Memphis or to head south through Birmingham, Alabama. The northern route was the shortest. But it was very difficult to get my Dad to understand there was no straight shot to Memphis, and that even though we weren’t going to Nashville we had to head 30 miles south of it to make it to Memphis.

Also, the drive to Memphis was more West than South, so the sun was nasty as it was setting. Again, we were in the middle of nowhere as I was looking for a place to stop for dinner so we could wait for the sun to go do. However, by the time we made it to the restaurant I was able to find, the sun had already set. Luckily, the great BBQ at Reggie’s made it worth stop, and gave our eyes a chance to recover.

We make it into Memphis and go to a fantastic beer bar, Flying Saucer, just outside the city. It has a huge selection of beers on top and even more by bottle. I try a local Octoberfest beer that was super tasty. The have the Giants and Cardinals game on tv at the bar; in the right is a St. Louis fan and on the left is a Giants fan – perfect company. I enjoy the beer and watch the game.

It’s getting late, so we head out. I twist Dad’s arm to drive down to Beale Street so I can see all the lights and crowds. There’s no parking and Dad is tired and grumpy so we don’t stop. We head out to the KOA which is across the Mississippi River in Arkansas. So sleeping one night in Arkansas counts as visiting even though we saw nothing :). The KOA was right on the freeway, so Dad was complaining about the noise. Sometimes I have to remind him not to whine and be grateful for the adventure we are on.

The next morning we drive over to Graceland. I understand the impact Elvis had on music and respect that contribution, but I am not a fan. I wanted to drive by to see how the lines are to see if I was motivated enough to check out Graceland. I’ve heard it’s a pretty amazing tour, but honestly there are other things I want to see so we continued on. Maybe if I spend a weekend in Memphis, I’ll take the time to visit Graceland.

We returned back to Beale Street to wander around. First stop was the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks swimming in the lobby fountain. Each day the ducks come down the elevator from the roof and hang out int the lobby, and then return to the roof at 5 pm. They roll out a red carpet to guide the ducks to the elevator. We definitely weren’t early enough to see the ducks coming down from the roof and weren’t going to stay until 5 pm to see them go back up. But swimming ducks in a fountain was good enough for me.

We then walked down to Beale Street to check out the shops and signs. It’s definitely a hot day, so staying in the shade is a priority. Music is already starting to drift out of the bars and a few street performers are setting up. Dad wanted to go into BB Kings Blues Bar for lunch, but I told him the best restaurant was across the street at the Blues Street Cafe. We had the baby back meal, and it was so yummy. That full rack of ribs did not last long.

We left the restaurant and then hit the road again. I could definitely see enjoying a Memphis weekend of great music at night and reading by the pool during the day. I do enjoy the blues, but my music heart lies south in New Orleans. So I didn’t feel like hanging out to wait until night to check out the music. Like Yoda said, continue on, we did.

US Road Trip

The Southern Atlantic Coast

Crellim October 22, 2014

I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about the southern coastal areas. I had heard the coast was beautiful, but I hadn’t heard much about the attractions or what to go see. So this is how we head into the south.

We drive through Virginia without stopping aiming straight for North Carolina. Originally, I had planned not to go to the coast until after Raleigh but decided to head straight to the coast and stay in Wilmington for the night. We headed out to the Carolina Beach Boardwalk to walk around. It had been raining again that night and the clouds hadn’t broken. The boardwalk ended up being very short and the rest is just beach lined by hotels and condos. If you want to sit on the beach and have a hotel room close by, this is the place for you. But I like my Santa Cruz Boardwalk much better with a lot more room to walk and rides and games awaiting me.

We then drove down to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, which was about the same. Beaches and golf courses without much else to do. So we continue on to Charleston, South Caroline. Our first stop is the Tattooed Moose for dinner. I was hoping to eat dinner at a music venue, which was how Tattooed Moose was listed, but it was jukebox only with sports on the TV. Even so, this bar was great. A dive bar with a nice beer list. I did ask if we could watch the Giants play the Cardinals in the NLCS series. They had no clue I was asking for baseball and put on the football game. I guess baseball is not big in this area of the country!

After scrubbing ourselves up at the KOA, we went scrambling for coffee. Black Tap Coffee was ranked as the best coffee in Charleston and I can see why. The ambiance was warm wood with green succulent plants. They had single origin pour over coffee from Coffee Culture. But I enjoyed Black Tap’s specialty, the Mint Julep Cocktail. This drink was made with sweetened espresso poured over ice and then shaken with cream and mint. The drink was divine. It reminded me of the Unsinkable Molly, that Molly would make us at Contraband but the mint was a very special treat!

We then walked back to the car past a historic old jail that nature was starting to take over and some cool old alleys. Then, we came across the old Unitarian Church with had this gorgeous overgrown cemetery which I had to explore. Flowers, shrubs, bushes, grass, and trees all come to life in this southern humidity. I’ll be honest, it was the cliche picture I had of an old cemetery in the south, but even more so.

The heat and humidity were definitely already strong in Charleston, and my California ass is a wimp. But the good news is, I was not whining about the heat any where as badly as Dad was. However, when he said let’s go tour around from the car, there was no objection for me 🙂

We then went to another section of Charleston to grab lunch before we continued. The Glass Onion was a perfect stop. We had a super tasty Po’ Boy sandwich and sweet tea. After I watched Dad down 3 glasses of sweet tea, I could tell he really enjoyed it. I’ve been drinking it in the south, but it is really way too sweet for my taste.

Onward to Savannah we go, and head straight to our campground which is out in a marsh land outside of Savannah. The trees are absolutely stunning, huge oak with spanish moss. Plus, since it was a marsh there was water, a beautiful place to camp.

We head into old town Savannah to rest a bit. The Sentient Bean had lots of tables and excellent ice tea. I take the moment to work on publishing a blog. I also book tickets for Dad and I to take a ghost tour by carriage ride.

After resting up at the cafe, we go to City Market which is the super touristy part of town, but where our tour will start. Both Dad and I are hungry, and there is a great pizza place, Vinnie
Van Go-Go’s on the corner that serves New York style. We sneak right up to the bar and skip the line waiting for the tables and order two slices. It was absolutely perfect and didn’t take up too much time so we could make it to our tour.

The ghost tour was fantastic. Our carriage was pulled by Guinness and Jim. I’ve never been on a horse carriage before so this was a special treat. Plus, to learn the urban legends and ghost tales of Savannah in October was fantastic. I see a few orbs floating in my pictures, but Dad thinks I’m full of it. I’ll let you decide!

We head back to our campground on the marsh to get some sleep. We are definitely in the South and it is still in the 70s with 90% humidity. So the Rav 4 windows are rolled down, and Dad is sleeping with his door open. We had already been warned that the campground was having a raccoon issue. But dad didn’t care. About 12:30 a.m. I hear the rustling outside Dad’s door and I ask him if he can hear it. He’s grabs for his light and I try to grab my glasses. We see the raccoon scurry into the bushes.

I ask dad to close his door. I really don’t want to end up with a raccoon in the car with us. So even though it’s hot, I fall asleep. But I’m woken up again at 6 am and I wake up dad because it sounds like the raccoon is in the car behind the seat. He gets up and the raccoon scurries away again. This time Dad’s tea box is on the ground. The raccoon was trying to pull everything out so he could get to the food bag in the middle of the car.

I’m not super nervous of raccoons, but I really don’t want to be trapped in a small space like the back of the Rav 4. Raccoons do have sharp teeth and claws.

We finally get a little bit of sleep and start functioning enough to head back into Savannah to explore more. I do enjoy checking out cemeteries. They show so much about an area, and the cemeteries in Savannah are no exceptions. These cemeteries are not over grown like we saw in Charleston, but this is the first time the gravesides have sculptures of angels and become a lot more ornate. Also, the cemetery in the old section of town is segregated. The South Cemetery was for slaves and free Blacks. This cemetery was no where near as grand as the White Cemetery.

To finish the tour of these coastal southern cities, we drove through the historic victorian section of Savannah. The houses were beautiful and immaculately maintained. Savannah is just as beautiful as I imagined with the huge old homes, grand live oak trees covered in spanish moss, and ghost wandering the streets.

US Road Trip

Washington DC

Crellim October 21, 2014

We head out of Gettysburg and down into Maryland. For DC, we are camping in Greenbelt National Park, which is 15 miles out of DC in Maryland. There is a Metro stop within 5 minutes of the park, so it is super convenient for traveling. We head straight to the campground so we can get checked in.

It is after rush hour when we finally make it to the campground, so I convince Dad to drive into DC for dinner and to go see some monuments. Our first stop is a burger joint called Orange and Black. Since I’m a huge Giants fan and they had just won the wildcard game, I thought this place was very fitting even if they weren’t actually Giants fans. The good news is the hamburger and onion rings were fantastic.

Then we drove over to the Mall to see some memorials. However, finding parking was not easy. We drove around the Mall for a long time until we parked at Potomac Park. Dad was pretty irritated trying to find parking by the time we got there and I was mad because he wasn’t trusting me on figuring out where to go. But as soon as we saw the Lincoln Memorial, all that grumpy went away. Lincoln Memorial will always be one of my favorites especially at night. But this was even more perfect for us since we had just visited Gettysburg earlier in the day.

We then walked past the reflecting pool for the Washington Monument and over to the Korean Memorial. This memorial is very eerie to see at night as the statues just appear out of the dark. Although I’ve never been to war, it seemed to capture the feeling of the soldiers walking through the wilderness at night. This is a must see memorial to visit at night as well. Little did I know this was going to be the last of the memorials we were going to see on the trip. Rain was on its way.

The next morning we hop on the subway and head to the National Museum of the American Indian. The architecture of the museum is my favorite of all the museums of the Mall. The rest is too much marble and masculinity. This is the only building that honors and connects to nature, which was very intentioned on the design. For lunch, we ate in the cafeteria in the Museum. If you visit, DC this cafeteria is a must visit. It is the only green cafe on the Mall, but that’s not what makes it really amazing. The food are different stations that feature cuisine from several of the native nations across the Americas. Dad and I had pulled buffalo on flatbread from the Plains Indians. It was fantastic.

After lunch, we met Heather for coffee. Heather just recently married Jim who I know from TechEd. Since we went through Gettysburg, we didn’t drive through Baltimore to be able to visit both Heather and Jim who have been huge supporters of the journey. However, Heather was in DC for the day and we were able to meet at the museum which was fantastic. Even though it was a quick visit it was a great conversation and wonderful to meet Heather. Plus I got to wish her congrats on their recent wedding.

Then I headed up to watch a movie introducing the museum and the native nations of the Americas. This is the best way to start the exploration of the museum. I spent almost the rest of the afternoon exploring one exhibit – Nation to Nation, the history of treaties of the US with the American Indians. This exhibit was super educational and really filled in what I was missing to slight understand the relationship of the US with the Native Nations. The Native Nations are not fighting for their civil rights like other groups have done throughout US history. Rather, they are fighting for their sovern rights – Nation to Nation. This is a must visit exhibit in DC.

We then head back to the Mall and go over to the Air and Space Museum. Dad is wearing my backpack and they stop him for having a knife. He said, I thought you took your knife out. I did take out my small knife, but completely forgot I had my large swiss army knife in there. So I grabbed the bag and waited outside since I’d been to the Museum before. Later, I told dad, “What do expect, I’m a west coaster who likes to be outdoors.” But since we spent the whole afternoon in the Museum of the American Indian, Dad only has 30 minutes to explore the Air and Space Museum.

We leave the Mall in search of power to charge my phone. I’m meeting friends for dinner and running out of juice on my phone would not be good. Unfortunately, the museums and the area around the mall really don’t have a lot of options for charging. After wandering around for an hour we make it to a Starbucks and I get to charge for 30 minutes. They really need to add chargers to the museums. Keeping my phone charged was a major issue for me in DC.

So dinner with friends – we all meet at one place that is way to busy and head over to Stoney’s on L which was perfect for conversation. David, who was far from home was in DC area for training. Normally, I only get to see David in Washington state. So this was a huge treat. Janel, who I went to high school with has been living in the DC since she graduated college. It was so great to have dinner with both and be able to chat up. Plus, they both signed my travel journal 🙂 It also got my mind thinking that I’m going to need a vacation after this road trip, and I would really love to visit David and Jeremy for that vacation. Their home is the most relaxing place on the planet. We say our goodbyes and head back to the campground for the night.

The next morning, we repeated our routine to hop on the subway and exit at the Mall. We start our Smithsonian exploration at the Museum of Natural History. The rain has already set in as we are walking over to the museum, so we stop to snack at the Sculpture Garden.

So we have our treat and make it over to the Natural History Museum. This is one of the most popular museums on the mall so it’s super crowded. I have one exhibit that I really want to explore – the gems, minerals, and rocks. For awhile in college I studied environmental earth science, and if they would have had just a geology degree I would have stayed in that major. I love rocks. The gems were very impressive with the Hope Diamond, huge topaz crystals, and amethyst geodes. The minerals were also fantastic. I could have spent a lot more time in this exhibit, but it was so crowded with kids it wasn’t easy to relax and enjoy it. I think Dad was also getting antsy from the crowd.

We did sneak into the bone area before heading out, but again it was so crowded we just rushed through.

Next, we went over to the Museum of American History. As we entered, there was a singer who was gathering a crowd to come learn about the sit-ins of the civil rights era. This was the first museum that had that level of interaction with the public. There were three exhibits I wanted to check out in this museum. First, we went to see the dresses of the First Ladies. My favorite dress was from Mary Todd Lincoln. It was the same dress that I had seen her photographed in.

Then we went through the exhibit on American culture and how it had changed through the years. The exhibit included Mohammad Ali’s gloves from his match in 1974 and the ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz.

Next was an exhibit on how America’s relationship with food and cooking had changed since the 1950s. The exhibit highlighted the move from canned and froze food movement into the eat local and sustainable food movement of today. However, my favorite was the tribute to Julia Childs and her impact on food in America. She really created the foodie movement of this country. They had her home kitchen on display as well as all of her pots and pans.

But we were delayed from heading out of the Museum when we discovered the transportation exhibit the next hall over. This exhibit documented the move from horse powered transportation, to steam driven trains and cars, up to the modern era of transportation. The exhibit included the first Ford Mustang debuted at the 1964 Worlds Fair in New York City. The classic cars and trains were fantastic to look at.

The rain had turned into a very light mist, so we headed out towards the White House. We walked around White House and saw it from the front and the back. Unfortunately, no sightings of President Obama or his family or Bo. President Obama was in San Francisco at the time.

The rain started to pick up again, my phone was completely dead, and both Dad and I were getting hungry. As we are walking we pass Old Ebbitt’s Grill, and head in. They find a table that has a plug for me to charge my phone, which was fantastic. In addition to tacos and clam chowder that Dad and I shared, I got Oysters from Maine. They were so much bigger than the west coast oysters I normally eat and super yummy. Dad did not dare to try the oysters since he’s a big chicken, but that meant I got to enjoy the half dozen on my own 🙂

To close out are exploring for the day we went to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. These museums are open later than rest of the mall so we had two full hours left to explore. Honestly, that still was not enough time. The art and sculptures in these museums were fantastic. We tried to make it through all the exhibits in both museums. The champions exhibit in the Portrait Gallery had paintings of Joe Lewis and Mohammad Ali, which I had to get Dad with.

The museum closes so we continue on, but it is still raining and after this much exploring I’m tired. All I want is a beer and to rest a bit. Dad asks if we should head over to the other monuments, and I say we can but we’ve gotta grab a taxi. He said never mind and we headed to a packed beer bar to relax. It was so loud in the bar, we couldn’t really relax so we returned to the subway to head back to camp luckily subway stop was only a block away. But this meant we were missing many of the monuments and memorials including the Vietnam Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. That just means Dad and I both have a reason to return in the future.

The next morning we drive out of camp to go to the National Air and Space Museum out by Dulles Airport. Looking at the old air planes was super awesome and reminded of my Grandpa who would have loved to see this museum. My favorite planes were the Spirit of Tuskegee and the Concord.

After going through the airplane hanger, we turned into the exhibit I was most excited to see, the Space Hall. The centerpiece of this exhibit is the Discovery Shuttle. Growing up, I had dreamed of being an astronaut. It was why I studied science for so long. Unfortunately, you have to be 5 feet tall to be an astronaut so this dream was never going to be a reality for me. Yet, I still have a total love of space.

We finish the Air and Space museum and continue our drive south. We’re now headed into the southern coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

US Road Trip

Pennsylvania

Crellim October 19, 2014

So we head out of Brooklyn after rush hour has died down and head to Philadelphia. We drive straight through New Jersey; unfortunately, passing a few friends along the way. We pulled into Philly around early afternoon and went straight to Art Museum. As we are walking around, I ask Dad if he can figure out where we are at and if he can figure out the cultural significance of the location. He is absolutely clueless. So I ask him to watch the people running up the stairs in front of the museum to see if he could figure it out, but no such luck. Finally, I have to tell him we are standing in front of the Rocky Stairs. He just laughs and says, I did really like Rocky! I was definitely surprised by this answer since he is obsessed with boxing. We both run up the stairs and do our best Rocky poses at the top.

We walk down to go check out the Rocky statue, but this was the first time in the US I’ve seen a group trying to hustle tourists. I’ve definitely seen this move in Europe. A group of 3 very large men were hanging around encouraging people to take their pictures in front of the statue. Then they wanted to be paid for taking the picture. Even if you didn’t let them take your picture, they were there to muscle you into paying. Dad hadn’t really noticed what was going on, and asked if I wanted to go take a picture. I said nope and then the group of men were being pushy about coming to get a picture, and again I said no. I just walked on by. Dad asked why I didn’t want a picture when we got to the car, and I told him about the hustle that was going on at the statue. He was definitely surprised that he missed it and surprised it would happen. I told him happens in tourist destinations all over the world.

We headed over to the Love Park in downtown Philadelphia, and grabbed a couple of photos of the Love sculpture. There was definitely a line of people waiting around to take their picture including some very handsome brothers who I got to take their picture for them. Too bad I was to shy to talk to them more, even after my dad had been talking to them for a while.

I did not tell dad what we were planning to visit in Philadelphia, since he wasn’t remembering the historical significance. So we walked into the old section of the city and into the national park. Finally, he figures out we are standing in front of the Liberty Bell.

We head into the visitor center to get tickets to visit Independence Hall and go over for our tour. The Ranger leading the tour is born and raised Philadelphian and I can tell he loves his job. He gives the tour just like I would expect an army drill sergeant would give the tour, but it is absolutely fantastic.

Why was George Washington such a bad ass? He wasn’t the greatest, smartest, or best general out there. He was just the one who kicked the British’s ass. That would be like Peru defeating Russia in today’s world.

Then we head into the state house which the Deceleration of Independence was debated and signed. As well as, the constitution argued and worked out by the founding fathers of this country. The writing of both of these documents were well contested and each word fought over. It was definitely amazing to see the desk the Thomas Jefferson worked from and Benjamin Franklin provided his thoughts into the creation of these documents. This tour definitely got me thinking about the US and was my favorite US history tour so far, even though it only lasted 30 minutes.

We then walk back towards the shopping and restaurant area of Philly in search of coffee. As we are wandering I find this incredible Kenny Scharf mural above a bar called Graffiti. I thought wow, this must be the perfect place for me. So we went into the bar which required walking down a very thin dark alley to get to it. The wall had a large piece of graffiti but it wasn’t signed. I headed straight to the bar to ask about the Kenny Scharf mural to learn more about it. However, the bartenders new nothing about it. They looked at me like I was crazy and seemed like they had never seen the mural. They definitely did not know who Kenny Scharf was. Considering this bar was named Graffiti, I thought this was unacceptable. If you are going to be called graffiti, you’re employees should know a little bit about graffiti at least about the mural painted on the wall above bar. So we left. (Yes, I’m a street art snob.)

We continue on the coffee hunt and head to Elixr cafe. This was a great little cafe that made fantastic espresso. I had a super tasty cortado. The staff was friendly and the atmosphere of the cafe was very relaxed.

We then headed over to meet Maria for dinner at Village Whiskey. You definitely cannot go wrong with a restaurant that has Whiskey in the name. We had the pulled pork sandwich with duck fat fries, and it was fantastic. The whiskey cocktail menu was great as well. I had my favorite, a whiskey mule. Dinner with Maria was fantastic. It was great to catch up and see how she was doing, especially with TechEd only a few weeks away. After dinner we headed out of the city and down towards Valley Forge.

After walking around Boston, New York, and Philly both Dad and I had sore feet and needed more of a day of rest. So we went and wandered around Valley Forge for a couple of hours and then headed over to the closest KOA to get cleaned up and do laundry.

We did make it over to WAWA for coffee and tasty cakes for breakfast. We’ve had Dunkin Doughnuts and Krispy Creme along the journey. So the adventure would not be complete without a visit to WAWA.

For dinner, we went to Teresa’s Next Door in Wayne. I had been there before on my last visit to the area, but I wasn’t able to try any of the great beer selection. I was able to fix that issue this time. I had the farmhouse ale Bam Biere from Jolly Pumpkin. It was excellent. Andreas joined us for dinner. Andreas is a former colleague that I had met at a leadership class last year. He’s been following the cross-country adventure on Facebook. It was great to have him come be part of the journey and join us for dinner.

We headed back to the KOA to get some good rest before we headed to Washington D.C. This is the incredible view we woke up to in the morning.

In the morning we are taking the long route to DC so we can go though Amish country and visit Gettysburg. WE stay off the main highway route and take the backroads into the Amish country. Very quickly, I see a man reaping his corn using mules. We have to pass horse drawn buggies as we travel down the roads. But those horses do pull those buggies faster than I thought they would. All of the homes had their laundry hanging out to dry. I absolutely loved the farms and fields that stretched across the horizon.

We reach Lancaster and stop there for lunch at Cafe One Eight. We had a tasty breakfast burrito and coffee to get us fueled for the rest of the day’s adventure. Then we headed on to Gettysburg.

Neither Dad or I are huge history buffs so we didn’t want to see every monument or battle marker in Gettysburg. We went straight over to the Soldier’s National Cemetery to see the mass grave markers and the site of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. In the cemetery, there are markers for each state and it list the number buried their for that state. Pennsylvania had over 500 people buried in it’s mass grave. There were over 51,000 soldiers killed here which is the worst death toll for a battle in US history. At the center of the cemetery is an incredible monument with Lady Liberty at the top surrounded by War, Peace, Plenty, and History. Though my feelings about this country and it’s history are complicated, this cemetery is hallowed ground for this country.

US Road Trip

New York City!

Crellim October 17, 2014

New York, I was so excited to get there, but also nervous about how my dad would react. I knew that Dad would not tolerate driving around the city and camping was not really an option within any of the boroughs. So New York was our only hotel stay on the visit. I found a few apps that have made this journey simpler, and Hotels Tonight is a great example. We found the Fairfield Inn in downtown Brooklyn for a fantastic price that included breakfast and they had onsite parking for a nominal fee. For future visits, I would definitely stay at this hotel again.

We made it into Brooklyn missing a lot of the bad traffic since we were heading into the city and got to the hotel around 3 pm. I’ve been to NYC a few times, so I was trying to do more road trip style things that Dad might enjoy. Friday night we headed over to Coney Island. I had thought the boardwalk would still be open since it said it was open on Weekends, but nope everything was closed up on Friday night. Luckily, Nathan’s was still open so we could eat a dog from the place they originated. I’ll be honest, definitely not my favorite dogs. They were super thin and only six inches long (shame on you for what you are thinking!), I like my dogs a bit meatier.

Even though the rides were closed, the sun was setting on the boardwalk, so we took a short stroll. The entire wooden walk is brand new since the original was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Dad was having a bad OCD moment, because he couldn’t handle all the bolts weren’t screwed in a straight line down the boardwalk. The clouds were breaking up from an earlier storm so the skies were lovely. A great time for photos even if they rides aren’t going.

As we were wandering around, we found one open arcade. There were two reasons for me to go to Coney Island, one – Nathan’s; and two – skeeball. I really wasn’t bothered the rides were closed once I found some skeeball to play. Dad was laughing at me as I hurled the small balls up the skeeball ramp to earn my points. There was no resting between balls or games. My style is just to throw, throw, throw, down the middle. I rushed through $5.00 dollars and got my skeeball fix. As we headed to the subway to return to downtown Brooklyn, I gave the tickets I won to a young boy also enjoying the games in the arcade.

We got off the subway in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. First stop was a fantastic beer bar, Owl Farm. It was dark and warm with hand-drawn owls on the walls. I wish I could have grabbed a picture, but it was too dark. The beer list was long, and I tried a local Saison and a Belgian style. The bar was also loud and crowded even though we were able to find a seat. I enjoyed the beers, but dad was completely out of place. Considering is mostly deaf in one ear and half in another, he couldn’t hear anything in the bar. So he hurried me out of the bar. As we walked around the corner, there was the perfect old man bar for dad. We walked in, football was on tv, and it was quite enough to have a conversation. I tell dad we can go hang out in the old man bar, but as I go to sit down he says to continue on. We continue down the block, and across the street is Ginger’s Bar. I do think that all Ginger’s should support other Gingers so we head over for a drink. Immediately, I know this is the first gay bar I’ve taken dad too. It was interesting to watch the bartender flirt with dad and touch his arm, and dad’s arm would slow move back towards himself. I finish my beer (I wanted a whiskey and ginger, but this Ginger bar didn’t have ginger beer 😦 ) and we head back out into the neighborhood. After the tinny hot dog at Nathan’s, I realize I’m still hungry so we go to Juventino across the street. The food is fantastic and extremely well priced. We had the butternut squash soup and roasted quail. After so many pubs, it was a good reminder of what great food is. Finally, we head back to the hotel.

The next morning we wake up to rain, rain, rain! Neither of us a ready for rain, and the ponchos we bought in Salem stink. I grab a trash bag from the hotel and head out where that to keep dry. We get on the subway to head out to the Natural History Museum. But with the rain, that was everyone else’s idea too. The line to get in was all the way back out to the subway entrance. With not much time, I’m not big on waiting in lines so we head out into the rain. We are walking along the outer edge of Central Park heading to Columbus Circle when a Big Bus arrives. We both hop on. As a continuation of the road trip, dealing with the rain, and just a great way to see all the skyscrapers in the city, taking the big bus tour was perfect. We had crashed the Uptown tour which headed around Central Park, Harlem, and 5th Ave. We dried off and enjoyed the sites. Dad did ask the tour guide questions every two minutes, but she didn’t mind even though he was the only one asking.

Then we made it over to Time Square and finally the rain had broke. It was still overcast but the skies were getting lighter. We decide to take the downtown tour as well to see all the large skyscrapers. Since the rain had stopped, we could now sit on top of the tour bus which gives a great view of the Manhattan skyline. This tour took us past the Empire State Building, Flat Iron Building, NYU, SOHO, Battery Park, World Trade Center Tower One, and back up the Westside Highway.

After the tours, I’m ready for some good beer. We go to my favorite bar in the city, Cannibal. I have a local Octoberfest beer which was super tasty. Dad had coffee and we had a charcuterie plate for a snack. For a Saturday afternoon, the bar was mellow and relaxing. Then we head out exploring, and walk down through Union Square and into the Eastside Village along Bowery. I keep looking for a reasonably priced place for dinner that was still super tasty. Finally, I find an Italian restaurant that seems like it will fit the bill.

Cafe Bianca had a 45 minute wait, but it was next to a cafe so we decided to stay. This was the place my dad was going to get his true NYC experience. First, the host treated everyone like they were his best friend. He kept telling dad, “Just a few more minutes, Lou Miller”. Then we watched a doggie birthday party leave the bar next door. There are 6 people and 6 dogs as they leave. I was already surprised that you could go to a bar and have a party for the dogs, but that wasn’t even the interesting part. Three people in the party ended up owning all 6 of those dogs. The first gentleman flagged a cab and got in with his Boston Terrier, but his two friends then jump in with a Scottie, Yorkie, Chihuahua, and another in a bag. The taxi driver then asks them to get out of the car because he can only have 4 passengers including the dogs. This argument goes on for 15 minutes before the taxi finally drives away with the pack.

Finally, we get seated in the restaurant, which lively and full. However, we get seated next to the drunk lady fighting with her friend. I don’t think the restaurant would have been anywhere as loud if everyone wasn’t trying to talk over and ignore her screaming. It was two couples dining in the front window. All I know was that the woman was offended because her friend, the guy in the other couple, did not like her new boyfriend. She was also upset because he told her how to act. I can understand being upset, but drunk makes you forget that you should go outside to have the fight and not disrupt the entire restaurant. Dad ended up talking to the other woman at the table who was visiting from Venezuela. She seemed relieved to be able to have a normal conversation with someone.

We then headed back to the subway to return to Brooklyn. Along the way, we found some fantastic street art on Houston. A mural from Brazilian Brothers Osgemeos and an abstract man from Fumero.

The next morning, I was hoping we could hop on the Brooklyn tour bus and have that take us over to Manhattan. So we walk over to Prospect Park through rows of incredible Brownstones that have been restored and beautifully maintained. The grand circle has a incredible fountain in the center and the outskirts are surrounded by food trucks. We head over to where I hope the bus will stop and I realized they only come once every hour. So we head back to get on the subway.

Dad and I have been really good about taking the subway, which has allowed us to see the wonderful mosaic art in the subway stations. For another trip, it would be so cool to photograph the murals in each of the stations. That would be such an fantastic way to experience the city with all the people I’d see, learn the subway intimately, and discover all the murals that hide underground!

Straight into Greenwich Village we rise onto the Manhattan streets. I’ve only seen Washington Square Park in the winter when there is not many people and the water was not flowing in the fountain. It was the opposite this day! Street performers, families playing, musicians sending their melodies into the air. I could have sat there all afternoon and watched all the activity, but with this being our last day in NYC I knew I had to move on.

So we walked over into Little Italy to look for pizza. On a Sunday afternoon, a search for pizza in Little Italy is not the brightest idea. The place I was hoping for had over an hour wait to get a slice of pizza. So we crossed the street into a great little coffee shop, Little Fox Cafe. I had a tasty cappuccino and a sandwich with peppers. Damn, those peppers were hot.

Even though I didn’t get my slice of pizza, I found some of my favorite street art in that area. Ever since the Bean in Chicago I’ve been thinking about the power of art that makes people interact with it and bring joy. I found this incredible angel wings mural, which had a line of people wanting to wear the wings in the mural. I didn’t wait in line to grab my own picture, but I snagged one of young woman who looked really happy. As I practice and study more about art, I really think this is where I want to go – art that brings joy.

We the head down the Bowery past Canal Street into Chinatown. Even though we stayed out of the heart of Chinatown it was still easy to look down each street and see the bubbling life overwhelming the area. We continue down towards the water and over to Pier 15.

One of the tours included in our package was a one hour boar tour to see the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. It was sunny, but the wind was crisp on the boat. However, the sky was perfectly clear, so the views of the skyline were amazing. Dad was also enjoying the boat trip. As we were walking away, he said damn that was amazing. I’m really enjoying this city. Yes, I about fell over in shock when I heard that!

We are cold and need to use the bathroom after the East River voyage, and Dad finds an old Irish Pub to walk into. Irish Pubs all over the world always look old, so I didn’t expect to find an Irish Pub that was actually old in the Financial district. Ended up, Beekman Pub was built in 1931. They served local beer from Brooklyn Brewery, and fantastic buffalo wings. Dad and I scarfed the food down. Then we decided to head back to Time Square to take the Night Lights tour of Manhattan.

I loved the Night Lights Tour. Our tour guide, Abraham, was wonderful. First, we learned that when we see the NYPD a Dunken Doughnut would not be far. Usually, it was less than block. We also learned that there are 7 Starbucks in the Empire State Building. Speaking of the Empire State Building, did you know that those 103 floors make up one zip code in NYC! With all the traffic and all the lights, the city seemed even more alive at night. This tour was definitely a great way to close out our NYC visit. In the morning, the journey would continue south into Philadelphia as soon as rush hour would let us escape.

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