I don't have much to say in this wrap-up.
I had an amazing time. I learned a lot. And I made it home.
Nick and I did an impressive job of not killing each other.
America is gigantic and for the most part, the people are great everywhere you go. They are welcoming, accommodating and eager to show off their cities, towns and homes.
There are places in America where I might be able to live and places where I probably wouldn't want to.
There are numerous places that I will need to visit again and no clear cut best or most enjoyable destination.
I'm going to end my contribution to the blog with a series of top five lists. None of them are in any sort of order nor have they been scientifically chosen.
top 5s
Animal spottings outside of the san diego zoo
Herd of Buffalo in Yellowstone
Elephant seals on the California coast
Thousands of bats flying out from underneath a bridge in Austin
Road Runner In New Mexico
Mountain Goat at the Grand Canyon
Animal Spottings inside the San Diego Zoo
Lion
Panda
Capyberra
Elephant
Rhino
Meals at restaurants
Chicken and Waffles at Rosco's Chicken and Waffles, Los Angeles, California
Tacos at Pico De Gallo, Touscan Arizona
Green Corn Tamales at El Bravo, Phoenix, Arizona
Beef Brisket at Louis Mueller's BBQ in Taylor, Texas
Sandwich at Primanti Brothers, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Hikes
Into the Grand Canyon
Up to that cliff in Yellowstone where you could see all the geysers
Through the Badlands
Canyon trail in the Grand Tetons
Grouse Grind
Celebrity sightings/encounters
Barack Obama at Health Care Rally in Minneapolis Minnesota
Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show in Los Angeles California
Chris Tucker at the Stax Museum of Soul Music
Reba McEntire on the Red Carpet for the CMAs in Nashville
Robert Pattinson staring me down on the street in Vancouver
Most Unique Foods Sampled
Beef Tongue Tacos at Pico De Gallo in Touscan Arizona
Chitlins at Mama Dip's in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Fritos Pie at Beans n' Things Amarillo Texas
Broasted Chicken (50's era cobination pressure cooker deep frier) at Bob's in Sioux Falls South Dakota
New Mexican Chili, numerous establishments, best at Peggy's in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Scenic Drives
Highway 1, The California Coast, especially Big Sur
Up, Through and out of the mountains in Whyoming towards Yellowstone
Highways around Sedona, Arizona
Mississippi River Road in Wisconsin and Minneapolis, (River looks like a lake here)
Roads in Yellowstone
Worst Drives
8 hours on I-95 between D.C. and New York on the day before thanksgiving
People who actually drove the Chevy
Nick
Shannon
Courtney
Lindsay
Steve
Most Random hosts
Anthony in Memphis
Those girls in Austin
Oscar in Nashville
Shannon's buddy Chris at Texas tech in Lubbock
Bars
Che's in Touscan Arizona
That Mexican Wrestling themed joint in Seattle Washington
The Maple Leaf, New Orleans, Louisiana
That Place with 50 cent Wells in Lubbock Texas
That Shack in East Austin where you could bring your own booze but not mixer
Ernestine and Hazel's in Mephis, Tennessee
Nights Out
Saturday Night in New Orleans
That night out in Touscan where Courtney handled herself with admirable self-control and dignity.
The Party Bus in Lubbock which contained not an ounce of either self-control or dignity
Freak-Folk Concert and 6th Street Halloween in Austin, Texas
Steve's Mo-vember Kegger in D.C.
Musical Performances
Monsters of Folk, Phoenix, Arizona
That Albino Blues singer and his band the monday night in Austin
Astral Project at Snug Harbor in New Orleans
Dr. Feel Good Potts in Memphis, Tennessee
The Trio in New Orleans
Honourable Mention: The Backstreet Boys on the Tonight Show
National Parks
Yellowstone, Whyoming
The Grand Canyon, Arizona
Saguaro, Arizona
The Badlands, South Dakota
Grand Tetons, Whyoming
Places that looked and felt the most like Endor, home of the Ewoks as depicted in George Lucas's 1983 classic Return of the Jedi
Avenue of the giants in the redwood forest, Northern California
Nick's Basement, Brooklyn, New York
Hiccups Along the way
Flat Tire near Surgess, South Dakota
Lost Bank Card in Chicago, Illinois
Ongoing License Testers strike in Ontario
That time we followed the GPS onto a dirt road and into someone's backyard on the Navajo Reservation, Arizona
Trying to get from D.C. to NY on the day before thanksgiving
Don't keep it too real,
Chris
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Nick and Chris go to Washington
Hello Friends,
Sorry for this large delay between posts. We are safely home now. We got back to NY in time for Thanksgiving dinner, which was as good as expected. However, We both wanted to tie things together with regards to the blog, which I never got around to doing last year. So im going to write this one about our last stop, Washington, DC, then Chris is going to write his final entry whenever he gets around to it, after which I will write my concluding entry. So for those of you who are still with us, stay tuned...
When we were in touch last, we were hanging out with Shaunee in Chapel Hill, NC. From there we went up the dreaded I-95 to Washington DC. DC was one of the places that we had most been looking forward to visiting the whole trip, so we did not relegate it to lame-duck status, road trip wise. We did up DC like we did up the whole rest of the country, Two Guys and a Chevy style.
We stayed with my cousin, and resident guest blogger, Courtney, for the first night, and went out with her and her roomates. While out, we were followed by a very creepy older man with a moustache, who actually turned out to be one of our best friends, Mr. S.P.F. Winstanley. We hadn't seen him since he started law school, and the reunion was quite heartfelt (mostly because he didnt think wed make it that far). It was great to see him, as he should have been the third guy in the Three Guys and a Chevy family. Next time buddy, next time.
The next night we went out to my Aunt Lisa's house for a great dinner and a meeting of the neighborhood homeowners association, which they very graciously always schedule so that I am able to attend. It was great to see her and my Uncle Clay, who had recovered from the hip pointer that he was struggling with last time I saw them. It was just really nice to spend the last couple of stops of the trip with family, a perfect reintroduction back home.
Even in the face of rain, which usually causes me to pack it in and call it a day, Chris and I were determined to see the sights in DC. We spent a day at the American History Smithsonian, which is really incredible, and free, and then spent the next day checking out all the monuments. The highlight was probably the FDR memorial, which I didnt even know existed before we randomly walked right through it on our way to the Jefferson Memorial. It is really moving and quite idylic, out of the way from the bustle of the mall.
The next day I got to go into Courtney's class and speak to her first graders on life and the way things are. She has the greatest group of kids and has done a fantastic job so far. They were incredibly respectful and had great manners. I read them my favorite children's book, The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Suess, and then told them an even more incredible tail, one of great adventure, about two guys and a chevy traversing the good old US of A. When I was about halfway through the story of our trip, talking about the west coast, a first grader wise beyond his years raised his hand and asked quite sagely, "Why didn't you just take a plane?" They really are making them smarter these days.
After class, Courtney, Steve, Chris and I, braved the largest traffic jam of the year, I-95 between DC and NY on the day before Thanksgiving, to finally make it home. Steve, the naive Canadian that he is, had graciously offered to drive the whole way at the beginning of the trip, thinking it would be a nice 4-hour drive. Well, 8 hours later we were finally there, ready to sit on our throne as the Princes of Just About Everywhere.
Before I finish, I want to thank Courtney for dealing with us road weary travellers yet again, she was quite essential to the road trip. Thanks to Steve for putting us up for a night and for making that drive, which the rest of us barely made it through and we werent even driving. And finally, a big shout out to my Aunt Lisa, who cooked us a great home-cooked meal and didn't even make fun of my unkempt hair, which everyone else in the family did when they first saw me. I love all of you very much!
Keep it real,
Nick
Sorry for this large delay between posts. We are safely home now. We got back to NY in time for Thanksgiving dinner, which was as good as expected. However, We both wanted to tie things together with regards to the blog, which I never got around to doing last year. So im going to write this one about our last stop, Washington, DC, then Chris is going to write his final entry whenever he gets around to it, after which I will write my concluding entry. So for those of you who are still with us, stay tuned...
When we were in touch last, we were hanging out with Shaunee in Chapel Hill, NC. From there we went up the dreaded I-95 to Washington DC. DC was one of the places that we had most been looking forward to visiting the whole trip, so we did not relegate it to lame-duck status, road trip wise. We did up DC like we did up the whole rest of the country, Two Guys and a Chevy style.
We stayed with my cousin, and resident guest blogger, Courtney, for the first night, and went out with her and her roomates. While out, we were followed by a very creepy older man with a moustache, who actually turned out to be one of our best friends, Mr. S.P.F. Winstanley. We hadn't seen him since he started law school, and the reunion was quite heartfelt (mostly because he didnt think wed make it that far). It was great to see him, as he should have been the third guy in the Three Guys and a Chevy family. Next time buddy, next time.
The next night we went out to my Aunt Lisa's house for a great dinner and a meeting of the neighborhood homeowners association, which they very graciously always schedule so that I am able to attend. It was great to see her and my Uncle Clay, who had recovered from the hip pointer that he was struggling with last time I saw them. It was just really nice to spend the last couple of stops of the trip with family, a perfect reintroduction back home.
Even in the face of rain, which usually causes me to pack it in and call it a day, Chris and I were determined to see the sights in DC. We spent a day at the American History Smithsonian, which is really incredible, and free, and then spent the next day checking out all the monuments. The highlight was probably the FDR memorial, which I didnt even know existed before we randomly walked right through it on our way to the Jefferson Memorial. It is really moving and quite idylic, out of the way from the bustle of the mall.
The next day I got to go into Courtney's class and speak to her first graders on life and the way things are. She has the greatest group of kids and has done a fantastic job so far. They were incredibly respectful and had great manners. I read them my favorite children's book, The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Suess, and then told them an even more incredible tail, one of great adventure, about two guys and a chevy traversing the good old US of A. When I was about halfway through the story of our trip, talking about the west coast, a first grader wise beyond his years raised his hand and asked quite sagely, "Why didn't you just take a plane?" They really are making them smarter these days.
After class, Courtney, Steve, Chris and I, braved the largest traffic jam of the year, I-95 between DC and NY on the day before Thanksgiving, to finally make it home. Steve, the naive Canadian that he is, had graciously offered to drive the whole way at the beginning of the trip, thinking it would be a nice 4-hour drive. Well, 8 hours later we were finally there, ready to sit on our throne as the Princes of Just About Everywhere.
Before I finish, I want to thank Courtney for dealing with us road weary travellers yet again, she was quite essential to the road trip. Thanks to Steve for putting us up for a night and for making that drive, which the rest of us barely made it through and we werent even driving. And finally, a big shout out to my Aunt Lisa, who cooked us a great home-cooked meal and didn't even make fun of my unkempt hair, which everyone else in the family did when they first saw me. I love all of you very much!
Keep it real,
Nick
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Low Country
Another Double Post, Read Nick's First Below for any of this to make Sense!
So we're getting tired. We're getting a little lazy. Blog posts may be coming fewer and farther between and we may be up to a little less than we were earlier in the trip. I wouldn't say that either of us are eager to finish but I think that we are both winding down into being ready to finish. Which is great. After 2 and half months on the road, we better be tired. It means we've been doing the trip right. We've left all our energy on the road.
After Memphis and Nashville we headed over to Atlanta, Georgia where we spent a relaxing weekend hanging out with Nick's uncle Keith. Like I said, we're getting a bit tired and we are especially getting tired of sightseeing in every place we go. Walking around a city all day and going out every night takes its toll on you. It's a rough life! We needed to cut something out of the equation. SO we opted out of exploring the city too much during the day. Keith took us on a great driving tour around midtown and downtown but we didn't get out much ourselves during the day, opting instead to relax. We went out at night to a few bars around midtown and even rekindled some love with our favorite culinary combo: Chicken........AND......Waffles. We went to Gladys Knight's restaurant, which specializes in the pairing. On Sunday, Keith took us for a ride in his plane. We had an amazing time flying over the lakes and subdivisions north of the city and then coming back around to get a great view of Atlanta from the west. Then, we hung out near the runway watching a few planes, helicopters, a bi-plane and a jet take-off (not all at the same time). We capped off the relaxing weekend by watching the Sunday night nail biter between the Colts and patriots with Nick's cousin Brett, his friend Jeremy and dog Buddy. Atlanta is a great city with a lot of trees and greenery, a beautiful new up and coming midtown and, of course, chicken and waffles.
Rejuvenated from the Low-key weekend spent watching football and hanging out in Atlanta, we spent the next two days touring around Savannah and Charleston. Both towns have amazing antebellum architecture and are beautiful places to wander around. Which is what we did. In Charleston, we stayed with Katy's friend Wanda who was a great host and was a lot of fun to hang out with.
Leaving Charleston, we drove up the Carolina Coast and through Myrtle Beach, popular tourist destination and mini-putt center of the universe. With nothing to do that day we went from course to course, at last finding one that was open at 10am on a rainy day during the off-season. The guy was so nice, he let us play the pirate-themed course twice. And I only lost one ball in the water trap. Continuing up the coast, we became dead-set on jumping in the Atlantic. I mean you gotta hit both oceans on a coast to coast road trip. So despite cloudy conditions, cooler weather and not a single other brave soul in the water we braved the frigid ocean which we both agreed is much more foreboding than the pacific. We braved the cold water but we didn't spend much time in it. We got back into the car after a few minutes and headed to Chapel Hill, home of the UNC Tar Heels and, more importantly, Nick's sister Shaunee. Last night we had a So You Think You Can Dance marathon (don't look at me). I'll admit it, though. I enjoyed it.
We're still in Chapel Hill. We had an extremely jam-packed day.
A big thank you to our hosts on this leg of trip Keith, Brett, Wanda and Shaunee.
Don't keep it too real,
Chris
So we're getting tired. We're getting a little lazy. Blog posts may be coming fewer and farther between and we may be up to a little less than we were earlier in the trip. I wouldn't say that either of us are eager to finish but I think that we are both winding down into being ready to finish. Which is great. After 2 and half months on the road, we better be tired. It means we've been doing the trip right. We've left all our energy on the road.
After Memphis and Nashville we headed over to Atlanta, Georgia where we spent a relaxing weekend hanging out with Nick's uncle Keith. Like I said, we're getting a bit tired and we are especially getting tired of sightseeing in every place we go. Walking around a city all day and going out every night takes its toll on you. It's a rough life! We needed to cut something out of the equation. SO we opted out of exploring the city too much during the day. Keith took us on a great driving tour around midtown and downtown but we didn't get out much ourselves during the day, opting instead to relax. We went out at night to a few bars around midtown and even rekindled some love with our favorite culinary combo: Chicken........AND......
Rejuvenated from the Low-key weekend spent watching football and hanging out in Atlanta, we spent the next two days touring around Savannah and Charleston. Both towns have amazing antebellum architecture and are beautiful places to wander around. Which is what we did. In Charleston, we stayed with Katy's friend Wanda who was a great host and was a lot of fun to hang out with.
Leaving Charleston, we drove up the Carolina Coast and through Myrtle Beach, popular tourist destination and mini-putt center of the universe. With nothing to do that day we went from course to course, at last finding one that was open at 10am on a rainy day during the off-season. The guy was so nice, he let us play the pirate-themed course twice. And I only lost one ball in the water trap. Continuing up the coast, we became dead-set on jumping in the Atlantic. I mean you gotta hit both oceans on a coast to coast road trip. So despite cloudy conditions, cooler weather and not a single other brave soul in the water we braved the frigid ocean which we both agreed is much more foreboding than the pacific. We braved the cold water but we didn't spend much time in it. We got back into the car after a few minutes and headed to Chapel Hill, home of the UNC Tar Heels and, more importantly, Nick's sister Shaunee. Last night we had a So You Think You Can Dance marathon (don't look at me). I'll admit it, though. I enjoyed it.
We're still in Chapel Hill. We had an extremely jam-packed day.
A big thank you to our hosts on this leg of trip Keith, Brett, Wanda and Shaunee.
Don't keep it too real,
Chris
The Music State
Hello Everyone!!
The last time we saw you, we were in New Orleans. We are now in Chapel Hill, a stones throw away from home (never thought id say that a 10 hour drive was a stones throw, but thats what a three month road trip will do to you). Due to our delayed blogging, I will be blogging on Memphis and Nashville, while Chris will be blogging on Atlanta and Charleston.
After New Orleans, we mosied up the Great River Road/Blues Highway up the Mississippi Delta to Memphis, Tennessee, home of the blues. Going up through the Delta was a very cool experience for me because my senior thesis was written about events of the Civil Rights Movement in the Mississippi. To actually see the terrain and the areas that I wrote about was a very visceral experience. I couldnt help but look back at the events that I wrote about.
Fittingly, our first stop in Memphis was the Civil Rights Museum, which is very well put together and really informative. I was worried that because it is located in the hotel that Martin Luther King was shot that it would just be totally MLK centric, and not give credit where credit is due to other smaller organizations that had as large or larger an impact on the movement. However, this was not the case and the museum really gives a very full treatment to all aspects of the movement. Definitely a must see in Memphis.
However, the big draw to Memphis is the music. We went down to the famed blues clubs on Beale St. both nights, seeing two very good blues acts. We also got great barbecues while we were in Memphis as well. What is it about blues and barbecue that always seem to go together? I dont know, but i sure enjoy the combination (probably up there with chicken and waffles for best combination).
Our second day in town, we went to the Stax Records Studio and Museum, which was heaven for me, a big fan of the whole catolog. There we had our first celebrity experience since Christian Slater followed us around LA. We got to the museum early and were basically the only people there, other than Chris Tucker, the guy from Rush Hour. We struck up a conversation and walked through the museum together for a bit, talking about the music and our road trip. You know that youre doing something cool when you meet a celebrity and hes the one that is impressed. Anyway, Chris Tucker is very chill and cool guy, nothing like his character in the movies.
From Memphis we followed the music highway up to Nashville, home of Country music. We happened to get there the night of the Country Music Awards, and went straight to the red carpet for some stargazing, even though we wouldn't be able to recognize probably 90% of the people there. We did see Reba McEntire though, which was very cool. (No Taylor Swift though, which is what everyone who has asked about it wanted to know) My parents, who came to Nashville a couple of years ago, hooked us up with some great recommendations, including a great songwriters circle the first night and an amazing family style restaurant where we ate soul food to our hearts content on the second night, capping Chris' birthday with a bang.
We also checked out the downtown strip, which was full of honky tonks blaring incredible live country music. My mom told me to expect everyone down there to have incredible voices, and on our first night we were walking down the strip and heard this girl with incredible pipes. Thinking this was a great band, we went in for a closer look, and lo and behold, it was a kareoke bar! What a city!
Thanks to our new friend Anthony for showing us great hospitality in Memphis, and thanks to Megan for letting us stay with her and allowing us to sleep in even though she had to leave at 8 am. Very clutch for some road weary trippers.
Keep it real
Nick
The last time we saw you, we were in New Orleans. We are now in Chapel Hill, a stones throw away from home (never thought id say that a 10 hour drive was a stones throw, but thats what a three month road trip will do to you). Due to our delayed blogging, I will be blogging on Memphis and Nashville, while Chris will be blogging on Atlanta and Charleston.
After New Orleans, we mosied up the Great River Road/Blues Highway up the Mississippi Delta to Memphis, Tennessee, home of the blues. Going up through the Delta was a very cool experience for me because my senior thesis was written about events of the Civil Rights Movement in the Mississippi. To actually see the terrain and the areas that I wrote about was a very visceral experience. I couldnt help but look back at the events that I wrote about.
Fittingly, our first stop in Memphis was the Civil Rights Museum, which is very well put together and really informative. I was worried that because it is located in the hotel that Martin Luther King was shot that it would just be totally MLK centric, and not give credit where credit is due to other smaller organizations that had as large or larger an impact on the movement. However, this was not the case and the museum really gives a very full treatment to all aspects of the movement. Definitely a must see in Memphis.
However, the big draw to Memphis is the music. We went down to the famed blues clubs on Beale St. both nights, seeing two very good blues acts. We also got great barbecues while we were in Memphis as well. What is it about blues and barbecue that always seem to go together? I dont know, but i sure enjoy the combination (probably up there with chicken and waffles for best combination).
Our second day in town, we went to the Stax Records Studio and Museum, which was heaven for me, a big fan of the whole catolog. There we had our first celebrity experience since Christian Slater followed us around LA. We got to the museum early and were basically the only people there, other than Chris Tucker, the guy from Rush Hour. We struck up a conversation and walked through the museum together for a bit, talking about the music and our road trip. You know that youre doing something cool when you meet a celebrity and hes the one that is impressed. Anyway, Chris Tucker is very chill and cool guy, nothing like his character in the movies.
From Memphis we followed the music highway up to Nashville, home of Country music. We happened to get there the night of the Country Music Awards, and went straight to the red carpet for some stargazing, even though we wouldn't be able to recognize probably 90% of the people there. We did see Reba McEntire though, which was very cool. (No Taylor Swift though, which is what everyone who has asked about it wanted to know) My parents, who came to Nashville a couple of years ago, hooked us up with some great recommendations, including a great songwriters circle the first night and an amazing family style restaurant where we ate soul food to our hearts content on the second night, capping Chris' birthday with a bang.
We also checked out the downtown strip, which was full of honky tonks blaring incredible live country music. My mom told me to expect everyone down there to have incredible voices, and on our first night we were walking down the strip and heard this girl with incredible pipes. Thinking this was a great band, we went in for a closer look, and lo and behold, it was a kareoke bar! What a city!
Thanks to our new friend Anthony for showing us great hospitality in Memphis, and thanks to Megan for letting us stay with her and allowing us to sleep in even though she had to leave at 8 am. Very clutch for some road weary trippers.
Keep it real
Nick
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Cajun Style
After leaving austin with our stomachs full of slow smoked beef we stopped over for a night in houston to visit my mom's cousin John and his wife Rose. Thank you very much to them for showing us welcoming texas hospitality and serving a delicious breakfast!
Hopping on out of Texas and over to Louisiana, we stopped at a roadside shack serving cajun specialties such as Boudin (in fact it was called Boudin King) and gumbo. Boudin is a fantastic invention involving the stuffing of chopped meat and rice into a sausage casing filled with cajun spices. You got your grains and you got your protein all rolled into one. Full meal. Delicious.
Our destination in Louisiana was, of course, New Orleans. If any city has a distinct feel the minute you walk in, it must be this one. It could be the smells in the air from the lush vegetation. We're talking scents I've only ever before experienced in air fresheners. Our host for the weekend, Alex Buckner, a friend of Nick's cousin Jimmie hosted us in his fantastic house in the uptown neighbourhood. Beautiful area. The houses, though not the signature french quarter buildings, just scream new orleans. I don't know what it is. Just some intangible swampy kind of vibe.
We had one goal in the city: see some jazz. Luckily Alex is an expert on the local scene. He took us to a musician's hangout the first night, called the maple leaf, where we saw this incredible trio featuring Russell Batiste, a local legend, on drums. The trio had a new-jazz-spacey funk groove. Ivan Neville, another local-well-known was in the crowd and he joined the band on stage for part of the show. It was a lot of fun, there was a lot of dancing, and the bar had a lot of character and characters.
After a lunch of oyster po-boys, we spent the next day doing a bit of driving tour of the city and then walked down to the garden district in uptown, full of old gigantic southern style mansions. We went down to the french quarter to see a more traditional new orleans band play jazz standards at preservation hall. The band played three great sets and was headed by leroy jones on trumpet. (keep name-dropping and name-dropping, just wait for nick's next post!) We also took a walk along the (in)famous burbon street, which really isn't that appealing. I mean it has history and mardi gras and all but it's mostly just filled with drunken tourists. They make for good people watching but not really for hanging out.
Saturday we finally made our way down to the french quarter during the day. The buildings are really cool, unlike any I've seen before. Brightly couloured, old and purty but built for the Louisiana wetness and warmth. We happened to catch the same jazz band from the night before at an NPS site. This time they had a really amazing vocalist, whose name I unfortunately do not know so cannot drop. We also saw the best wedding procession ever. They had this jazz marching band and everybody was waving umbrellas and they were all just marching down the street. Would have been a great time to have a suit handy.
After heading back to Alex's to rest we went back downtown to catch yet another jazz show. Another amazing spacey kind of jazz band as indicated by their name Astral Project. Fantastic. They were followed by an octet from the university of New Orleans playing mostly Thelonius Monk compositions. Also great. We went on to see a great reggae band next door and then a jazz quintet of teenagers out on the street. They were phenomenal. Future legends. Pity I didn't get their names. We punctuated the night with late night beignets at cafe du monde which was unapproachable during the day (too big a line) and a late night schlitz at alex's local dive.
New Orleans is amazing. If you love jazz, partying, unique cities, characters or fun in general, the city is a must visit. Thanks to Alex for showing us an awesome time!
Don't keep it too real,
Chris
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Keeping Austin Weird, Two Guys and a Chevy Style
Hello Everyone!
When we first started the trip, one of the cities I was most excited to visit was Austin, Texas, because I had never been there and Ive constantly been hearing amazing things about it. Well, folks, the hype is real. Austin is a fantastic city. Great music, great nightlife, great barbecue, and great scenery, all with a really chill atmosphere. All in all, we had a fantastic time in Austin.
We got into town on Halloween day, which was quite lucky because we could have ended up in transit on Halloween, but instead we were in Austin. We had decided to dress up as Lewis and Clark for our costume as an ode to our current journey, and we had put the costume together using stuff that we had and a well timed and fortuitous trip to a Goodwill in Albuquerque. The costume ended up coming out great, but because we were in Texas and I had a coon-skin hat on, I kept on getting yells of "Yo Davey Crockett!" We did get one girl who recognized our costume though, which made our night. For Halloween, we went down to the main bar strip in Austin, 6th st., and went to see this bluegrass style swing band who were playing at one of the bars downtown. After the show, we hit up 6th st., which was absolutely packed with people. It was a pretty ridiculous time, tons of drunk people just milling about.
After a very long night, we woke up in the early afternoon and immediately had an achin for some good old Texas barbecue. So we checked out our trusty old Roadfood book, drove out to some random smokehouse in the farm country outside of town and had the best barbecue weve ever had. We repeated this every day we were in town. Simply stupendous food, and a perfect way to start the day. We had brisket, ribs, sausage, and some great chicken fried steak, all of which were mouthwateringly delicious.
While barbecue was our daily routine in Austin, live blues music was our nightly routine. Our second night in town, we just strolled around 6th st doing a little barhopping. As youre walking, you just hear great live music flowing out of bar after bar. We ended up at this great little dive with a great little blues band playing some great blues and soul music. The next night the girls we were staying with brought us to this sweaty hole in the wall place way out on the east side of town. It was this rickety old joint that had live blues music blaring and was packed to the brim with people gettin down to the music. Our last night in town we went to Antone's which is supposedly THE blues club in Austin. We saw a group of local legends who brought the house down. The whole feel to the scene was very cool because you felt like it existed for the locals and the musicians, not the hipsters or tourists. Everywhere we went we felt like we seeing some legendary stuff.
The city itself is very laid back and has a really chill feel. The University of Texas is right in the center of the city and has like 70'000 students, so theres constantly young people around. It really feels up and coming. On our second night we were walking across the main river in town around dusk and saw all these people just sitting around on the riverside. We went down and checked it out, and it turns out that Austin has the biggest urban bat colony in the world, and they all come out from this cave at dusk in this big flock. It was ridiculous to see the bats fly out and literally cover the sky. Definitely adds to the bluesy ambience of the city.
Keep it real,
Nick
When we first started the trip, one of the cities I was most excited to visit was Austin, Texas, because I had never been there and Ive constantly been hearing amazing things about it. Well, folks, the hype is real. Austin is a fantastic city. Great music, great nightlife, great barbecue, and great scenery, all with a really chill atmosphere. All in all, we had a fantastic time in Austin.
We got into town on Halloween day, which was quite lucky because we could have ended up in transit on Halloween, but instead we were in Austin. We had decided to dress up as Lewis and Clark for our costume as an ode to our current journey, and we had put the costume together using stuff that we had and a well timed and fortuitous trip to a Goodwill in Albuquerque. The costume ended up coming out great, but because we were in Texas and I had a coon-skin hat on, I kept on getting yells of "Yo Davey Crockett!" We did get one girl who recognized our costume though, which made our night. For Halloween, we went down to the main bar strip in Austin, 6th st., and went to see this bluegrass style swing band who were playing at one of the bars downtown. After the show, we hit up 6th st., which was absolutely packed with people. It was a pretty ridiculous time, tons of drunk people just milling about.
After a very long night, we woke up in the early afternoon and immediately had an achin for some good old Texas barbecue. So we checked out our trusty old Roadfood book, drove out to some random smokehouse in the farm country outside of town and had the best barbecue weve ever had. We repeated this every day we were in town. Simply stupendous food, and a perfect way to start the day. We had brisket, ribs, sausage, and some great chicken fried steak, all of which were mouthwateringly delicious.
While barbecue was our daily routine in Austin, live blues music was our nightly routine. Our second night in town, we just strolled around 6th st doing a little barhopping. As youre walking, you just hear great live music flowing out of bar after bar. We ended up at this great little dive with a great little blues band playing some great blues and soul music. The next night the girls we were staying with brought us to this sweaty hole in the wall place way out on the east side of town. It was this rickety old joint that had live blues music blaring and was packed to the brim with people gettin down to the music. Our last night in town we went to Antone's which is supposedly THE blues club in Austin. We saw a group of local legends who brought the house down. The whole feel to the scene was very cool because you felt like it existed for the locals and the musicians, not the hipsters or tourists. Everywhere we went we felt like we seeing some legendary stuff.
The city itself is very laid back and has a really chill feel. The University of Texas is right in the center of the city and has like 70'000 students, so theres constantly young people around. It really feels up and coming. On our second night we were walking across the main river in town around dusk and saw all these people just sitting around on the riverside. We went down and checked it out, and it turns out that Austin has the biggest urban bat colony in the world, and they all come out from this cave at dusk in this big flock. It was ridiculous to see the bats fly out and literally cover the sky. Definitely adds to the bluesy ambience of the city.
Keep it real,
Nick
Monday, November 2, 2009
Albufelubland
We're in Texas. And we're stuffed with brisket.
Albuquerque New Mexico is a beautiful medium sized city sitting at the foot of a mountain in central New Mexico. We stayed 3 nights in the city with my aunt and uncle's good friend Peggy, a native of new mexico whom they visit every year. Peggy welcomed us with open arms, tortillas, chile and guac. She sent us out the first night with her niece who showed us the downtown strip, the old town which is made up of traditional southwestern buildings and is only a little spooky at night and the frontier restauraunt, a local hangout for university of new mexico students.
Peggy took us on a driving tour of the city and along the rio grande river. Surprisingly, to us, new mexico had some extremely vibrant fall coulours. Bright golden leaves on every tree. Central New Mexico has a very high elevation (albuqurque is higher than denver) and consequently gets some real fall weather. Heck, we went up the mountain one day and found ourselves in a winter wonderland. We're talking freezing weather and a good 5 inches of snow on the ground. Winter is so beautiful in bite size doses.
New Mexico is particularly known for their chiles which are unlike any I've ever tasted before. They're made primarily from pureed chile peppers which are roasted for different lengths of time in order to create both red and green chiles. This makes for a very vibrant spicy taste on the much lighter side of texas chili. Sits better imho.
After leaving the warm hospitality of Albuqurque, we spent a day in Santa fe where we pretended we were aging yuppies. Beautiful place, a little quiet, looks like a lot of fun twenty years from now. You know, when I can buy stuff at the art galleries that line every street. Santa Fe is the state capitol with the highest elevation and is home to some of the oldest buildings in the united states. The state capitol itself is a beautiful brand new building housing a great collection of local new mexican art. We went to the georgia o'keefe museum, which had a stunning collection and a gene Hackman narrated documentary and visited the supposedly oldest church in the united states. Like I said, it was an aging yuppy day.
After staying a night outside Santa Fe we left New Mexico for Texas. The panhandle of Texas ia the flattest expanse of nothing (narrowly beating out South Dakota) we've hit on this trip so far. We stopped for lunch in Amarillo where I indulged in another ungodly meal: Fritos pie. You take fritos (yes THOSE salty snacks) pour chili on top and melt some cheese (this particular concoction had added chopped brisket). O man this stuff makes you feel warm (and fat) on the inside. The fritos stand up well to the chili mixing crunchiness with heartiness and gooiness from the cheese. The artificial barbecue taste seeps out of the fritos and into the chili and wow. So good. I feel like every meal I have in Texas I find myself thinking "damn, Cam-ron would love this stuff." Bold unrestrained flavours. That's what Cam-ron and Texas are all about.
That night we arrived in Lubbock Texas staying with Shannon's friend Chris. Now we did not expect much from Lubbock, home of texas tech University, but apparently the town expected a lot out of us. One of Chris's friends was having his 21st birthday party and had rented a "party bus" for the night. Said Party bus was a converted old-skool RV (chrome plated all-over) with bench seating for 20 people in the back, ambient red lighting and a banging sound system. The night turned out to be a crazy one, hitting all of Lubbock's hotspots in a bus full of great people happy to take in two weary roadtrippers. Lubbock has never seen a better wednesday night. Heck we had so much fun we decided to stay an extra day! (actually there was a freak sleet storm in texas that kind of forced us to stay but we did have an amazing time)
From Lubbock we crusied down to Midland. West Texas loves their high school football. So much so that they build 15 00 person stadiums for it. This is that Friday Night Lights stuff you see on TV, no joke. We were lucky enought to see a game between the best (Odessa) and third best (Midland) teams in the district. We ended up sitting with Odessa fans who outnumbered the homeside and getting into that game as much as anyone there. High fives and chest bumps as our Odessa Broncos won a nail biting 28-21 game with some trick plays, expert passing and powerful running.
Now we're in Austin and have been for a few days. The drive fom midland brought us to our first authentic barbecue stop: Cooper's Pit BBQ in Mason. A shack with a gigantic bearded pit tender and some darn juicy brisket.
Big thank yous to Peggy for her unsurpassed New mexico hospitality and to Chris and the Lubbock crew for a darn comfy couch and a great night out.
Don't keep it too real,
Chris
Albuquerque New Mexico is a beautiful medium sized city sitting at the foot of a mountain in central New Mexico. We stayed 3 nights in the city with my aunt and uncle's good friend Peggy, a native of new mexico whom they visit every year. Peggy welcomed us with open arms, tortillas, chile and guac. She sent us out the first night with her niece who showed us the downtown strip, the old town which is made up of traditional southwestern buildings and is only a little spooky at night and the frontier restauraunt, a local hangout for university of new mexico students.
Peggy took us on a driving tour of the city and along the rio grande river. Surprisingly, to us, new mexico had some extremely vibrant fall coulours. Bright golden leaves on every tree. Central New Mexico has a very high elevation (albuqurque is higher than denver) and consequently gets some real fall weather. Heck, we went up the mountain one day and found ourselves in a winter wonderland. We're talking freezing weather and a good 5 inches of snow on the ground. Winter is so beautiful in bite size doses.
New Mexico is particularly known for their chiles which are unlike any I've ever tasted before. They're made primarily from pureed chile peppers which are roasted for different lengths of time in order to create both red and green chiles. This makes for a very vibrant spicy taste on the much lighter side of texas chili. Sits better imho.
After leaving the warm hospitality of Albuqurque, we spent a day in Santa fe where we pretended we were aging yuppies. Beautiful place, a little quiet, looks like a lot of fun twenty years from now. You know, when I can buy stuff at the art galleries that line every street. Santa Fe is the state capitol with the highest elevation and is home to some of the oldest buildings in the united states. The state capitol itself is a beautiful brand new building housing a great collection of local new mexican art. We went to the georgia o'keefe museum, which had a stunning collection and a gene Hackman narrated documentary and visited the supposedly oldest church in the united states. Like I said, it was an aging yuppy day.
After staying a night outside Santa Fe we left New Mexico for Texas. The panhandle of Texas ia the flattest expanse of nothing (narrowly beating out South Dakota) we've hit on this trip so far. We stopped for lunch in Amarillo where I indulged in another ungodly meal: Fritos pie. You take fritos (yes THOSE salty snacks) pour chili on top and melt some cheese (this particular concoction had added chopped brisket). O man this stuff makes you feel warm (and fat) on the inside. The fritos stand up well to the chili mixing crunchiness with heartiness and gooiness from the cheese. The artificial barbecue taste seeps out of the fritos and into the chili and wow. So good. I feel like every meal I have in Texas I find myself thinking "damn, Cam-ron would love this stuff." Bold unrestrained flavours. That's what Cam-ron and Texas are all about.
That night we arrived in Lubbock Texas staying with Shannon's friend Chris. Now we did not expect much from Lubbock, home of texas tech University, but apparently the town expected a lot out of us. One of Chris's friends was having his 21st birthday party and had rented a "party bus" for the night. Said Party bus was a converted old-skool RV (chrome plated all-over) with bench seating for 20 people in the back, ambient red lighting and a banging sound system. The night turned out to be a crazy one, hitting all of Lubbock's hotspots in a bus full of great people happy to take in two weary roadtrippers. Lubbock has never seen a better wednesday night. Heck we had so much fun we decided to stay an extra day! (actually there was a freak sleet storm in texas that kind of forced us to stay but we did have an amazing time)
From Lubbock we crusied down to Midland. West Texas loves their high school football. So much so that they build 15 00 person stadiums for it. This is that Friday Night Lights stuff you see on TV, no joke. We were lucky enought to see a game between the best (Odessa) and third best (Midland) teams in the district. We ended up sitting with Odessa fans who outnumbered the homeside and getting into that game as much as anyone there. High fives and chest bumps as our Odessa Broncos won a nail biting 28-21 game with some trick plays, expert passing and powerful running.
Now we're in Austin and have been for a few days. The drive fom midland brought us to our first authentic barbecue stop: Cooper's Pit BBQ in Mason. A shack with a gigantic bearded pit tender and some darn juicy brisket.
Big thank yous to Peggy for her unsurpassed New mexico hospitality and to Chris and the Lubbock crew for a darn comfy couch and a great night out.
Don't keep it too real,
Chris
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