Happy Friday Everyone! Not sure why Fridays still excite us, considering the fact that everyday is a weekend, but still... Ya gotta love Fridays!
Today we are writing from South Dakota, a state we never thought about much but has proven to be pretty fun so far, with lots to see.
To update since leaving Chicago on Wednesday, we drove to Buckhorn State Park in Wisonsin first and camped for the night. The. owners of the Powell's Inn (Aaron and Emily) suggested the park to us and raved about it. When we arrived, we could see why. The campground consisted of mostly walk in sites and only had a few that had a travel trailer pull in spot. We found a place where we could pop up Stevie and read some of the state park brochures. The brochures gave information of local wildlife and we laughed when we read the last sentence stating "...the occasional Black Bear". "We have a machete" Matt said, "we'll be fine".
Each campsite had it's own private lake access little beach area. We popped up the camper, propped our chairs, cooler and daisy by the beach and fished while the sun was setting over the lake.
The campground did not have electrical hookups and after the sunset, it was pretty dark. We loved it though... The quiet and peacefullness surrounding us.
While we were sitting around the fire later on, we both started hearing some noises that made both of our skin crawl. We would look at each other and convince each other that we both did not just hear a growl, even though we were thinking in our heads that we did. After about 15 min. and the growl noise getting louder, we both began to panic. Daisy has been trying to eat every wild animal at every campground, and she wasn't acting like there was anything near. Finally we hear a huge growl followed by what sounded like a horse. Ha!! It was an old man snoring in the campground next to us. The loudest snoring we have ever heard. It was embarassing that we let our adrenaline levels rise so high and fear take over our bodies over an old man snoring. This time, we were lucky; Next time it could be a bear and we'll be ready.
We left early Thurs. morning and drove through Southern Minnesota farmland and stopped at Palisades State Park right across the border in South Dakota. We had another peaceful night last night and woke up early again this morning to move on. We are driving to Custer State Park today to stay thru the weekend. We stopped once already to see Devil's Gulch where Jesse James leaped over a ravine to escape the law, and are stopping at The Corn Palace in about 30 miles. A Palace made of corn... Can't wait!!! Custer State park is right neat Mt. Rushmore, Crazyhorse, and so much more to see.
We are hoping for good weather this weekend. The outlook is not so good so we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Last but not least, we have another shout out:
Happy Birthday Colchild!!! Yesterday he turned 24!!! We miss you and love you so much!!! See you in San Fran soon.
One more side note:
Today reminds us how lucky we are to be traveling this great country of ours. Each part has such significance and we are so thankful for the everyday heroes, past and present, who have protected every inch of it. It's so hard to believe that it has been 8 years since 9/11. Everyone needs to take time to be thankful everyday of the week and honor those whose lives have been lost. We do.
See you when we get there!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Veggies, Hot Dogs, and White Castle... Oh My!
Our drive from Cleveland to our next stopping point was easy as pie.
We woke up Saturday morning in Cleveland in a bit of a panic. It was labor day weekend, one of the busiest camping weekends of the year, and we didn't reserve a campsite anywhere. We immediately got on the phone with the state park reservation line in Indiana. After a few "we're completely full" responses, we finally had luck on our side. There was one campsite available at Pokagon State Park near Angola, Indiana. We were on our way.
The highlight of our drive that day was a food stop in Toledo. We couldn't bypass the city without stopping at "Tony Packos Hot Dogs". Anyone who has ever been anyone has eaten one of these amazing hot dogs. The place was originally made known from the TV show M.A.S.H. and now hosts everyone from movie stars, pro athletes, presidents and more. We bought a box of hot dogs, chowed them down and finished our drive.
We camped at the beautiful Pokagon State Park until Monday morning. It was completely packed but it was still beautiful and the park is well taken care of. We bought loads of veggies from local farmland and grilled up some amazing kabobs.
We left Monday morning and headed towards Chicago. The drive was beautful. We drove past loads of amish people driving their buggies around.
We found a place to camp North of Chicago in Zion, Illinois Beach State Park on Lake MIchigan. We set up camp and left to drive through Megan's childhood neighborhood. It was the exact same and Megan was really wierded out, but really enjoyed it. It's such a small community and they were having a Labor Day block party. Megan took some pictures and we had the feeling that people were worried we might be kidnappers or serial killers casing the neighborhood. It was a quick and surreal trip.
Tuesday, we wanted to go into the City and one of our best friends, Jason, from Mckinney, told us we should call his brother and stay with him. We made the call and stayed with Aaron and Emily last night. On the way we stopped at a White Castle and seriously chowed down. We couldn't show up starving to the house afterall!
They showed us to the train which we were able to take into the city. We spent the evening in the city and had a great time. We ate some Chicago Hot Dogs, pizza and spent time in millenium park. This morning we awoke to some biscuits and gravy and the option to do some much needed laundry. Aaron and Emily have been amazing hosts and so nice to let us crash. We have had a great time. Daisy even made some new friends, Niko and Duece.
We are leaving today to go to Wisconsin and camp at Buckhorn State Park ( after the laundry is done of course).
Thank you again to the Powells for your kindness and letting us take over for a night! We will pay it forward!
We woke up Saturday morning in Cleveland in a bit of a panic. It was labor day weekend, one of the busiest camping weekends of the year, and we didn't reserve a campsite anywhere. We immediately got on the phone with the state park reservation line in Indiana. After a few "we're completely full" responses, we finally had luck on our side. There was one campsite available at Pokagon State Park near Angola, Indiana. We were on our way.
The highlight of our drive that day was a food stop in Toledo. We couldn't bypass the city without stopping at "Tony Packos Hot Dogs". Anyone who has ever been anyone has eaten one of these amazing hot dogs. The place was originally made known from the TV show M.A.S.H. and now hosts everyone from movie stars, pro athletes, presidents and more. We bought a box of hot dogs, chowed them down and finished our drive.
We camped at the beautiful Pokagon State Park until Monday morning. It was completely packed but it was still beautiful and the park is well taken care of. We bought loads of veggies from local farmland and grilled up some amazing kabobs.
We left Monday morning and headed towards Chicago. The drive was beautful. We drove past loads of amish people driving their buggies around.
We found a place to camp North of Chicago in Zion, Illinois Beach State Park on Lake MIchigan. We set up camp and left to drive through Megan's childhood neighborhood. It was the exact same and Megan was really wierded out, but really enjoyed it. It's such a small community and they were having a Labor Day block party. Megan took some pictures and we had the feeling that people were worried we might be kidnappers or serial killers casing the neighborhood. It was a quick and surreal trip.
Tuesday, we wanted to go into the City and one of our best friends, Jason, from Mckinney, told us we should call his brother and stay with him. We made the call and stayed with Aaron and Emily last night. On the way we stopped at a White Castle and seriously chowed down. We couldn't show up starving to the house afterall!
They showed us to the train which we were able to take into the city. We spent the evening in the city and had a great time. We ate some Chicago Hot Dogs, pizza and spent time in millenium park. This morning we awoke to some biscuits and gravy and the option to do some much needed laundry. Aaron and Emily have been amazing hosts and so nice to let us crash. We have had a great time. Daisy even made some new friends, Niko and Duece.
We are leaving today to go to Wisconsin and camp at Buckhorn State Park ( after the laundry is done of course).
Thank you again to the Powells for your kindness and letting us take over for a night! We will pay it forward!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Another Week Gone By
Note to self: we must find an Internet connection more often in order to update this blog. Way too much goes on in one day and it is impossible to remember all the craziness that happens.
We left off last week in Boston during cold and rainy weather. Sunday ended up being a gorgeous day, which allowed us to see the sights of Beantown. There is so much history in Boston so it would be impossible to see everything in one day. We narrowed it down. We decided to see one historical and one food landmark. We took a tour of the USS Constitution and the museum. It was pretty amazing to see an old naval ship and see how sailors used to live on the sea for years at a time. We learned all about Scurvy, a disease you get from a vitamin C deficiency, so ever since we have been drinking OJ everyday and concerned that our teeth will fall out if we don't eat veggies.
After the USS Constitution, we were going to drive by some historic landmarks on our way to Fenuil Market for food. Unfortunately we ended up in 3 wrong tunnels, paying an extra toll and getting completely turned around in a city where the roads do not make sense. It was hard for Megan to admit that the Boston city streets had defeated her because she prides herself on her map reading skills and good sense of direction.
We did make it to Fenuil Market where we ate at the "Cheers" replica and enjoyed some relaxing time for about 30 min. Afterward, we both agreed to go back to our safe house, The Holiday Inn Express.
We left Boston Monday morning and headed North on Highway 1A along the coast. We stopped in Salem, MA to see where the Witch Trials took place. We then went through a small portion of New Hampshire and into Maine. Maine was absolutely gorgeous. A lot of the cities we drove through on the coast were a bit run down but once you cross the bridge to Maine, it's a whole new story. We went to eat in Wells Beach at a place called "The Maine Diner". It was a small diner that we had heard had the best food. They have a garden in the back where they grow there own produce to serve. Everything was fresh. We had some She Crab Soup: amazing, and a hot lobster roll with butter. We shared both, got filled up and continued our scenic drive.
We decided to stay in Vermont for the night and drove across New Hampshire. It started to get dark after we crossed the border into Vermont, so our popup Stevie, decided it would be a good time to stop the lights from working again. Fanfreakintastic. We drove up the Green Mountains to Woodford State Park. Relieved we had arrived and we were alive, we were immediately greeted by the scariest, most horror movie looking man on the planet. He greeted us by turning on the light on the building and staring at us from inside. Matt went to talk to him and he simply stated, "we are closed". Matt ran back to the car and we debated. Our lights were out again, we didn't know where else to camp, we had been driving for 9 hours, it was cold, dark and we were on top of a mountain on a curvy road.
Long story short, we went down the mountain, decided to suck it up and drive to a KOA northwest of Albany, NY (2 and a half more hours away). We got pulled over on I-90 and were kept on the freeway for 45 minutes while the cop made jokes about his own state. He then informed us we had to pull over and not move until our lights were working. Great, midnight, on the side of the road, threatened our trailer/home would be towed if we can't fix it.
Luckily, the amazing Matt had bought some magnetic lights at Walmart and wired them to work til we could get to the campsite. Thank the Lord!
The next morning we woke up not knowing where we were and all we could hear were horse shoes on the ground. We walked out to the most amazing view of Amish Country, complete with a horse and buggy passing by. We were in Cooperstown, NY. The campground was so peaceful and all we could see was rolling hills and farmland around us. The campground host/owner, helped us all day fix our trailer lights and after several hours, all lights were working and we didn't have to pay a dime. The nicest man in the world. We stayed for one more night because we needed the rest and it was so peaceful. We got some free Amish Sweet Corn and chowed all night.
The next day we headed to Niagara Falls and stopped on the way at a Cidar Mill for some NY smoked cheese and Apple Wine tastings. Very good! We saw Niagara Falls the next morning and took off for Cleveland where Matt's mom was still waiting for us to arrive.
We stopped in Buffalo, NY at the "Anchor Bar", home of the original Buffalo Wings. We had never tasted wings so good and could probably eat 100 of them at a time. We made it to Cleveland and have been spending the past 2 days here with John and Juanita. Yesterday, we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had a blast. It was amazing and they had some very extensive exhibits. We finished yesterday in Medina County at a "Rally in the Alley" where a Deep Purple Tribute band played all night to middle aged bikers. Very interesting and overall a good time.
Today we are going to Pokana State Park in Indiana to spend 2 nights for the Holiday weekend. We are then heading towards Chicago for a short stay.
Despite all the trials and tribulations thus far, we are having an amazing time and have already learned so much about our Country that we never knew. Daisy is doing great and enjoying herself.
Checking out of Cleveland and moving on!
We left off last week in Boston during cold and rainy weather. Sunday ended up being a gorgeous day, which allowed us to see the sights of Beantown. There is so much history in Boston so it would be impossible to see everything in one day. We narrowed it down. We decided to see one historical and one food landmark. We took a tour of the USS Constitution and the museum. It was pretty amazing to see an old naval ship and see how sailors used to live on the sea for years at a time. We learned all about Scurvy, a disease you get from a vitamin C deficiency, so ever since we have been drinking OJ everyday and concerned that our teeth will fall out if we don't eat veggies.
After the USS Constitution, we were going to drive by some historic landmarks on our way to Fenuil Market for food. Unfortunately we ended up in 3 wrong tunnels, paying an extra toll and getting completely turned around in a city where the roads do not make sense. It was hard for Megan to admit that the Boston city streets had defeated her because she prides herself on her map reading skills and good sense of direction.
We did make it to Fenuil Market where we ate at the "Cheers" replica and enjoyed some relaxing time for about 30 min. Afterward, we both agreed to go back to our safe house, The Holiday Inn Express.
We left Boston Monday morning and headed North on Highway 1A along the coast. We stopped in Salem, MA to see where the Witch Trials took place. We then went through a small portion of New Hampshire and into Maine. Maine was absolutely gorgeous. A lot of the cities we drove through on the coast were a bit run down but once you cross the bridge to Maine, it's a whole new story. We went to eat in Wells Beach at a place called "The Maine Diner". It was a small diner that we had heard had the best food. They have a garden in the back where they grow there own produce to serve. Everything was fresh. We had some She Crab Soup: amazing, and a hot lobster roll with butter. We shared both, got filled up and continued our scenic drive.
We decided to stay in Vermont for the night and drove across New Hampshire. It started to get dark after we crossed the border into Vermont, so our popup Stevie, decided it would be a good time to stop the lights from working again. Fanfreakintastic. We drove up the Green Mountains to Woodford State Park. Relieved we had arrived and we were alive, we were immediately greeted by the scariest, most horror movie looking man on the planet. He greeted us by turning on the light on the building and staring at us from inside. Matt went to talk to him and he simply stated, "we are closed". Matt ran back to the car and we debated. Our lights were out again, we didn't know where else to camp, we had been driving for 9 hours, it was cold, dark and we were on top of a mountain on a curvy road.
Long story short, we went down the mountain, decided to suck it up and drive to a KOA northwest of Albany, NY (2 and a half more hours away). We got pulled over on I-90 and were kept on the freeway for 45 minutes while the cop made jokes about his own state. He then informed us we had to pull over and not move until our lights were working. Great, midnight, on the side of the road, threatened our trailer/home would be towed if we can't fix it.
Luckily, the amazing Matt had bought some magnetic lights at Walmart and wired them to work til we could get to the campsite. Thank the Lord!
The next morning we woke up not knowing where we were and all we could hear were horse shoes on the ground. We walked out to the most amazing view of Amish Country, complete with a horse and buggy passing by. We were in Cooperstown, NY. The campground was so peaceful and all we could see was rolling hills and farmland around us. The campground host/owner, helped us all day fix our trailer lights and after several hours, all lights were working and we didn't have to pay a dime. The nicest man in the world. We stayed for one more night because we needed the rest and it was so peaceful. We got some free Amish Sweet Corn and chowed all night.
The next day we headed to Niagara Falls and stopped on the way at a Cidar Mill for some NY smoked cheese and Apple Wine tastings. Very good! We saw Niagara Falls the next morning and took off for Cleveland where Matt's mom was still waiting for us to arrive.
We stopped in Buffalo, NY at the "Anchor Bar", home of the original Buffalo Wings. We had never tasted wings so good and could probably eat 100 of them at a time. We made it to Cleveland and have been spending the past 2 days here with John and Juanita. Yesterday, we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had a blast. It was amazing and they had some very extensive exhibits. We finished yesterday in Medina County at a "Rally in the Alley" where a Deep Purple Tribute band played all night to middle aged bikers. Very interesting and overall a good time.
Today we are going to Pokana State Park in Indiana to spend 2 nights for the Holiday weekend. We are then heading towards Chicago for a short stay.
Despite all the trials and tribulations thus far, we are having an amazing time and have already learned so much about our Country that we never knew. Daisy is doing great and enjoying herself.
Checking out of Cleveland and moving on!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Cheesesteaks to Lobster
Warning: Our trips seem to have a pattern of finding the best food instead of the best sights. We apologize, but food excites us.
We left Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Aug. 26 headed towards Philadelphia. The drive was fairly easy and we arrived around 5pm. We stayed in a campground in Clarksboro, NJ, Timberlane Campground, about a 15 minute drive to the city. When we arrived we had one thing on our minds... Cheesesteaks! After years of watching the Food Network and the Travel Channel and witnessing every TV show host shoveling massive delicious looking cheesesteaks in their mouth, we had to make a decision for ourselves; Pat's or Geno's. Well folks, for us the winner was Pat's Steaks, hands down. We ordered one wit whiz, cheese fries and a soda at both locations.
Side note: for those not familiar with the philly cheesesteak, Pat's and Geno's are right across the street from each other and supposedly have the best cheesesteaks in philly. There is a process to ordering and you can not mess up or you will pay a penalty filled with dirty looks and large sighs from staff and customers. Imagine the "soup nazi" and you'll understand. Megan ordered at Pat's and Matt at Geno's. After Pat's, Matt was a pro. Yes, Megan struggled a bit.
Anyway, we marked eating Pat's and Geno's off of our bucket list and moved on.
We decided to move on quickly from Philly because the monstrous Hurricane Danny was coming and we wanted to get some more sights in before the rain came down.
Our mission: Cape Cod, MA. According to Google Maps, it was a 6 hour drive. We plugged it into Layla and stepped on the gas. 1 hour later, traffic across the George Washington Bridge in NYC, 3 hours later, traffic, 6 hours later, traffic and 9 hours later, Cape Cod! We found a campground, Shady Knoll in Brewster, MA and settled in for the night. Our camp host was from Dallas! After checking in he informed us that it was nice to speak to people he could understand. Not sure what that meant but heck yeah!
We spent all day Friday in Provincetown, MA. It was great. We ate a lobster roll, chowder, and fried clam strips. Provincetown was a lot of fun and full of friendly people. It is very LGBT friendly and makes everyone feel so welcome. Provincetown is also where the Pilgrims first landed before Plymouth Rock. They were shafted in the history books. We know now though and will spread the word.
After Provincetown, we headed to Boston. Our goal was to continue camping, but we knew the weather would not permit it. Rain was coming and their was no way around it. We found a pet friendly Motel 6 in Danvers to spend the night last night. NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER STAY IN THAT MOTEL. It was rough to say the least. We were frustrated and miserable. We didn't budget having to stay at a hotel near Boston, but we had no choice. We found a local Fridays near by and ate our frustrations away. After a shower with our shoes on this morning, we left to find a better place to stay. It's been pouring rain all day and it is pretty cold out, at least for us. Massachusetts has made it nearly impossible to get on a freeway easily by they way. We are accepting donations now to have permanent ear muffs implanted on Daisy. When Matt drives... Virgin ears beware.
We found a pet friendly Holiday Inn Express in Waltham near Boston and are loving it. We have spent the day indoors because of the horrible weather. We are staying 2 nights here and are going to see the sights of Boston tomorrow "Where everybody knows your name".
Rain Rain Go Away! We are going up through Maine tomorrow and planning on camping in Lake Placid New York. Matt's mom is visiting Cleveland this week so we are making it a goal to get there before she leaves. We miss her and need a free place to stay! We love you Juanita =).
FYI: Our computer is not letting us upload pics for some reason right now. We will get to the bottom of this sooner than later.
We left Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Aug. 26 headed towards Philadelphia. The drive was fairly easy and we arrived around 5pm. We stayed in a campground in Clarksboro, NJ, Timberlane Campground, about a 15 minute drive to the city. When we arrived we had one thing on our minds... Cheesesteaks! After years of watching the Food Network and the Travel Channel and witnessing every TV show host shoveling massive delicious looking cheesesteaks in their mouth, we had to make a decision for ourselves; Pat's or Geno's. Well folks, for us the winner was Pat's Steaks, hands down. We ordered one wit whiz, cheese fries and a soda at both locations.
Side note: for those not familiar with the philly cheesesteak, Pat's and Geno's are right across the street from each other and supposedly have the best cheesesteaks in philly. There is a process to ordering and you can not mess up or you will pay a penalty filled with dirty looks and large sighs from staff and customers. Imagine the "soup nazi" and you'll understand. Megan ordered at Pat's and Matt at Geno's. After Pat's, Matt was a pro. Yes, Megan struggled a bit.
Anyway, we marked eating Pat's and Geno's off of our bucket list and moved on.
We decided to move on quickly from Philly because the monstrous Hurricane Danny was coming and we wanted to get some more sights in before the rain came down.
Our mission: Cape Cod, MA. According to Google Maps, it was a 6 hour drive. We plugged it into Layla and stepped on the gas. 1 hour later, traffic across the George Washington Bridge in NYC, 3 hours later, traffic, 6 hours later, traffic and 9 hours later, Cape Cod! We found a campground, Shady Knoll in Brewster, MA and settled in for the night. Our camp host was from Dallas! After checking in he informed us that it was nice to speak to people he could understand. Not sure what that meant but heck yeah!
We spent all day Friday in Provincetown, MA. It was great. We ate a lobster roll, chowder, and fried clam strips. Provincetown was a lot of fun and full of friendly people. It is very LGBT friendly and makes everyone feel so welcome. Provincetown is also where the Pilgrims first landed before Plymouth Rock. They were shafted in the history books. We know now though and will spread the word.
After Provincetown, we headed to Boston. Our goal was to continue camping, but we knew the weather would not permit it. Rain was coming and their was no way around it. We found a pet friendly Motel 6 in Danvers to spend the night last night. NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER STAY IN THAT MOTEL. It was rough to say the least. We were frustrated and miserable. We didn't budget having to stay at a hotel near Boston, but we had no choice. We found a local Fridays near by and ate our frustrations away. After a shower with our shoes on this morning, we left to find a better place to stay. It's been pouring rain all day and it is pretty cold out, at least for us. Massachusetts has made it nearly impossible to get on a freeway easily by they way. We are accepting donations now to have permanent ear muffs implanted on Daisy. When Matt drives... Virgin ears beware.
We found a pet friendly Holiday Inn Express in Waltham near Boston and are loving it. We have spent the day indoors because of the horrible weather. We are staying 2 nights here and are going to see the sights of Boston tomorrow "Where everybody knows your name".
Rain Rain Go Away! We are going up through Maine tomorrow and planning on camping in Lake Placid New York. Matt's mom is visiting Cleveland this week so we are making it a goal to get there before she leaves. We miss her and need a free place to stay! We love you Juanita =).
FYI: Our computer is not letting us upload pics for some reason right now. We will get to the bottom of this sooner than later.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Was that a dream?
NYC in a little over 24 hours. Wow, what a whirlwind.
8/22, 8:30 AM: Got on the Bolt Bus in China Town in Washington D.C.
1PM: Arrive in NYC and take cab to St. Marks Hotel near Washington Square.
1:30PM: Walk to the Famous Katz's Deli for Pastrami on Rye: Best sandwich in the world
2:30 PM: Walk to Chinatown for some "underground shopping". Somer was able to update her wardrobe with 2 designer bags which she bought from a secret van down an alley street. Very interesting process. She totally paid full price, we promise.
4pm: Walked through Little Italy to find a Happy Hour/rest area. Stopped at Mulberry Street Bar for a beer. Gary swears he saw a rat run across the floor. We didn't care, it had AC and places to sit.
5pm: Matt Bado and Megan grab a slice of pizza from Frankie Cee's on Mulberry Street and Gary bought some handmade cigars.
5:15pm: Walked to Greenwich Village to stop in Peanut Butter & CO. A sandwich shop with only Peanut Butter sandwiches. Ex: PB&J, Fluffernutter and Peanut Butter Pie.
5:30PM: Returned to Wicked Willy's on Bleeker St, a bar we passed on the way to Peanut Butter & CO that said it had $5 pitchers. After ordering 2 pitchers, we discovered the $5 discount ended at 5pm. Oh well, we drank those 2 and moved on.
6pm: walk back to Hotel and on the way stopped at every flea market-esqe place on the way.
6:30-8pm: Cleaned up in Hotel; Pre-gamed for the night out.
8pm: Subway to Times Square. This is when the feeling of NYC really sunk in for us. It was amazing.
8:15: Found Irish place to eat down side street of Times Square.
10pm: Took Subway back to Greenwich Village and walked to The Bitter End where The Honors were playing at midnight. Many performers started their career there including Bob Dylan.
10:15pm: During walk from Subway station to The Bitter End, Somer's toes gave in too some pretty nasty blisters. We stopped at a drug store and dumped peroxide on her feet and taped up her blisters. She made it to the pub, but the tape wasn't working. Drug Store number 2 resulted in 2 pairs of thick house socks that would have to act as shoes until the end of the night. Very Stylish and anything goes in NYC right!?!
11PM: Entered The Bitter End just in time to finish listening to the band before The Honors. Can't remember who it was but they were pretty good. The Honors started around midnight and were fantastic!! The lead singer went to college with Matt Bado. They are unique and extremely talented and entertaining.
1:00am: Finished watching the band and headed back to the Hotel. Hung out at the Hotel and went to bed around 2:30am.
8/23, 9am: Woke up and focused on finding breakfast. Found a small Bagel shop called "Bagel Boss" on 3rd Ave.
11am: Took taxi too "Strawberry Fields" in Central Park. We saw the place where John Lennon was shot and the memorial that is in the park.
12pm: Taxi to Rockefeller Center. We took a tour of NBC studios and got to go into the studios for Brian Williams, Jimmy Fallon's Late Night and SNL. It was pretty incredible to actually be where the shows are filmed.
2pm: Taxi to Bleeker Street to eat at an open aired Italian restaurant called "Ciao". Everyone was satisfied and the food was, once again, amazing.
3:30pm: back to get our luggage at the hotel and taxi cab to Bus stop on 33rd and 7th near Madison Square Garden.
4:30pm: On the Bolt Bus and back to DC.
9pm: arrive in DC and late dinner at Busboys and Poets.
We were all so exhausted after the trip, we passed out when we got back to Matt and Bryan's. Yesterday we all had breakfast at Eggspectations and spent the rest of the afternoon at Fairfax Corner for Shopping and drinks. Several times we would all look at each other and wonder if the NYC trip really happened or if it was just a dream. We all had the best time. We think it was one of the best weekends of our lives.
The Banks and Colin left yesterday at 2:30. It was another emotional goodbye. We are ready to continue our journey now and are thinking of heading to Philly next. We want to see Gettysburg as well. After that we will most likely head up towards Maine before heading west.
Once again, it has been an amazing time so far. We feel like we have been gone forever and are missing everyone.
KATZ'S DELICATESSEN
Somer's Socks she made into shoes
8/22, 8:30 AM: Got on the Bolt Bus in China Town in Washington D.C.
1PM: Arrive in NYC and take cab to St. Marks Hotel near Washington Square.
1:30PM: Walk to the Famous Katz's Deli for Pastrami on Rye: Best sandwich in the world
2:30 PM: Walk to Chinatown for some "underground shopping". Somer was able to update her wardrobe with 2 designer bags which she bought from a secret van down an alley street. Very interesting process. She totally paid full price, we promise.
4pm: Walked through Little Italy to find a Happy Hour/rest area. Stopped at Mulberry Street Bar for a beer. Gary swears he saw a rat run across the floor. We didn't care, it had AC and places to sit.
5pm: Matt Bado and Megan grab a slice of pizza from Frankie Cee's on Mulberry Street and Gary bought some handmade cigars.
5:15pm: Walked to Greenwich Village to stop in Peanut Butter & CO. A sandwich shop with only Peanut Butter sandwiches. Ex: PB&J, Fluffernutter and Peanut Butter Pie.
5:30PM: Returned to Wicked Willy's on Bleeker St, a bar we passed on the way to Peanut Butter & CO that said it had $5 pitchers. After ordering 2 pitchers, we discovered the $5 discount ended at 5pm. Oh well, we drank those 2 and moved on.
6pm: walk back to Hotel and on the way stopped at every flea market-esqe place on the way.
6:30-8pm: Cleaned up in Hotel; Pre-gamed for the night out.
8pm: Subway to Times Square. This is when the feeling of NYC really sunk in for us. It was amazing.
8:15: Found Irish place to eat down side street of Times Square.
10pm: Took Subway back to Greenwich Village and walked to The Bitter End where The Honors were playing at midnight. Many performers started their career there including Bob Dylan.
10:15pm: During walk from Subway station to The Bitter End, Somer's toes gave in too some pretty nasty blisters. We stopped at a drug store and dumped peroxide on her feet and taped up her blisters. She made it to the pub, but the tape wasn't working. Drug Store number 2 resulted in 2 pairs of thick house socks that would have to act as shoes until the end of the night. Very Stylish and anything goes in NYC right!?!
11PM: Entered The Bitter End just in time to finish listening to the band before The Honors. Can't remember who it was but they were pretty good. The Honors started around midnight and were fantastic!! The lead singer went to college with Matt Bado. They are unique and extremely talented and entertaining.
1:00am: Finished watching the band and headed back to the Hotel. Hung out at the Hotel and went to bed around 2:30am.
8/23, 9am: Woke up and focused on finding breakfast. Found a small Bagel shop called "Bagel Boss" on 3rd Ave.
11am: Took taxi too "Strawberry Fields" in Central Park. We saw the place where John Lennon was shot and the memorial that is in the park.
12pm: Taxi to Rockefeller Center. We took a tour of NBC studios and got to go into the studios for Brian Williams, Jimmy Fallon's Late Night and SNL. It was pretty incredible to actually be where the shows are filmed.
2pm: Taxi to Bleeker Street to eat at an open aired Italian restaurant called "Ciao". Everyone was satisfied and the food was, once again, amazing.
3:30pm: back to get our luggage at the hotel and taxi cab to Bus stop on 33rd and 7th near Madison Square Garden.
4:30pm: On the Bolt Bus and back to DC.
9pm: arrive in DC and late dinner at Busboys and Poets.
We were all so exhausted after the trip, we passed out when we got back to Matt and Bryan's. Yesterday we all had breakfast at Eggspectations and spent the rest of the afternoon at Fairfax Corner for Shopping and drinks. Several times we would all look at each other and wonder if the NYC trip really happened or if it was just a dream. We all had the best time. We think it was one of the best weekends of our lives.
The Banks and Colin left yesterday at 2:30. It was another emotional goodbye. We are ready to continue our journey now and are thinking of heading to Philly next. We want to see Gettysburg as well. After that we will most likely head up towards Maine before heading west.
Once again, it has been an amazing time so far. We feel like we have been gone forever and are missing everyone.
Arriving at St. Marks Hotel
KATZ'S DELICATESSEN
FDNY Chinatown
Little Italy
Peanut Butter & CO
Somer's Socks she made into shoes
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Happy Hour and Monument Hopping
Monument Hopping; verb: driving around Washington D.C. at night and stopping to see as many monuments as possible
Last night, Colin, Somer, and Gary arrived in the Nation's Capital! Their flight was delayed a little over an hour so we decided to squeeze in some Happy Hour and Monument Hopping before leaving for NYC this morning. When we got back to Matt and Bryan's from the airport, our generous hosts made the best happy hour spread in the world. Not only were their an abundance of cocktails, but we had 4 different cheeses, crackers, tomato basil and mozzerella, hummus, homemade cheese bread... the works.
After filling up, we all piled into Layla (7 people) and took off to the city laughing the whole way. We have been to D.C. many times and have seen all the monuments, but it was The Banks' first time. We asked them what they wanted to see and Gary replied "man...this is history".
We were able to visit the National Mall, Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam and Jefferson Memorial and even caught some fireworks from the Nationals game. It was a great night and it was amazing to expereince the city with people we love so much.
We woke up this morning at 6am to make the bus to NYC! We are on the bus right now (has wifi!) and almost to East Brunswick, NJ. We are lookiong forward to a crazy 24 hours. We'll update on the bus on the way home tomorrow evening.
We also want to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to one of our Best Friends in the world, Melissa Dennis, soon to be Melissa Eck. Mel is getting married in Kuaui today! We love you so much Mel and wish we could be there. We will celebrate with you both soon.
above: on the Bolt Bus to NYC
Below: We found a great Disc Golf Course in Arlington, VA: FUN!
Last night, Colin, Somer, and Gary arrived in the Nation's Capital! Their flight was delayed a little over an hour so we decided to squeeze in some Happy Hour and Monument Hopping before leaving for NYC this morning. When we got back to Matt and Bryan's from the airport, our generous hosts made the best happy hour spread in the world. Not only were their an abundance of cocktails, but we had 4 different cheeses, crackers, tomato basil and mozzerella, hummus, homemade cheese bread... the works.
After filling up, we all piled into Layla (7 people) and took off to the city laughing the whole way. We have been to D.C. many times and have seen all the monuments, but it was The Banks' first time. We asked them what they wanted to see and Gary replied "man...this is history".
We were able to visit the National Mall, Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam and Jefferson Memorial and even caught some fireworks from the Nationals game. It was a great night and it was amazing to expereince the city with people we love so much.
We woke up this morning at 6am to make the bus to NYC! We are on the bus right now (has wifi!) and almost to East Brunswick, NJ. We are lookiong forward to a crazy 24 hours. We'll update on the bus on the way home tomorrow evening.
We also want to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to one of our Best Friends in the world, Melissa Dennis, soon to be Melissa Eck. Mel is getting married in Kuaui today! We love you so much Mel and wish we could be there. We will celebrate with you both soon.
Happy Hour
above: on the Bolt Bus to NYCBelow: We found a great Disc Golf Course in Arlington, VA: FUN!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
15 hours
We left Memphis on Tuesday around noon. Before we left, we stopped at a Uhaul to try and fix our trailer brake and tail lights. They discovered it was just a fuse that went out (very complicated stuff) and replaced it for free. Another circumstance of meeting a very nice person in that town.
So we were off, lights working, Matt driving, Megan singing and Daisy sleeping. Our plan was to drive to Knoxville, TN to spend the night before completing the drive to D.C. the next day. On our drive we started running into some bad weather and decided to go the long haul. We are on a very strict budget and refused to pay for a another hotel room that soon, and were a bit nervous about setting up the camper in a rain storm. We called Megan's Brother Matt and informed him we would be coming in around 2am. Layla, our Subaru's navigation system, informed us it was a 13 hour drive total. Sure, no problem
Long story short, our drive ended up being 15 hours total. We stopped a few times to let Daisy out and to try and rest. We first pulled in a rest area and all 3 of us laid in the back for about 15 min. until a trucker frightened us and we sped away. 2 hours later we stopped at a Pilot Truck Stop and rested for about 10 min. We noticed our lights on the trailer were out again! We replaced the fuse and the fuse blew immediately. Crap. We were too close to not make it. We drove the rest of the way, about 3 hours, with our flashers on.
We arrived at Matt and Bryan's condo at 5:30am. A bit later than planned. After sleeping for 5 hours, we woke up and decided to make a journey to Wegmans. Wow.. Wegmans is monstrous. Picture a Market Street times 10. Supposedly it is a tourist destination, and now we see why!
We made dinner for the guys last night and finished the night watching The Dark Knight. Today we are taking Layla and Stevie to the local Subaru dealership to see if we can fix the fuse that keeps blowing out. Let's hope it won't cost much to fix or else we will have to get jobs here for 2 weeks before moving on!
It's been a very relaxing 2 days and has been nice to rest a bit. Not too many crazy adventures the past few days, but we needed the break. Our next adventure starts tomorrow. Colin, Megan's Brother and Gary and Somer Banks, some of our best friends are coming into D.C. from Dallas! We are all taking a bus on Saturday morning to NYC to spend 2 days. We can't wait to see what shenanigans will take place. We will have details!
For now, thank you Matt and Bryan for allowing us to take over your beautiful home while you are hard working men during the day!
So we were off, lights working, Matt driving, Megan singing and Daisy sleeping. Our plan was to drive to Knoxville, TN to spend the night before completing the drive to D.C. the next day. On our drive we started running into some bad weather and decided to go the long haul. We are on a very strict budget and refused to pay for a another hotel room that soon, and were a bit nervous about setting up the camper in a rain storm. We called Megan's Brother Matt and informed him we would be coming in around 2am. Layla, our Subaru's navigation system, informed us it was a 13 hour drive total. Sure, no problem
Long story short, our drive ended up being 15 hours total. We stopped a few times to let Daisy out and to try and rest. We first pulled in a rest area and all 3 of us laid in the back for about 15 min. until a trucker frightened us and we sped away. 2 hours later we stopped at a Pilot Truck Stop and rested for about 10 min. We noticed our lights on the trailer were out again! We replaced the fuse and the fuse blew immediately. Crap. We were too close to not make it. We drove the rest of the way, about 3 hours, with our flashers on.
We arrived at Matt and Bryan's condo at 5:30am. A bit later than planned. After sleeping for 5 hours, we woke up and decided to make a journey to Wegmans. Wow.. Wegmans is monstrous. Picture a Market Street times 10. Supposedly it is a tourist destination, and now we see why!
We made dinner for the guys last night and finished the night watching The Dark Knight. Today we are taking Layla and Stevie to the local Subaru dealership to see if we can fix the fuse that keeps blowing out. Let's hope it won't cost much to fix or else we will have to get jobs here for 2 weeks before moving on!
It's been a very relaxing 2 days and has been nice to rest a bit. Not too many crazy adventures the past few days, but we needed the break. Our next adventure starts tomorrow. Colin, Megan's Brother and Gary and Somer Banks, some of our best friends are coming into D.C. from Dallas! We are all taking a bus on Saturday morning to NYC to spend 2 days. We can't wait to see what shenanigans will take place. We will have details!
For now, thank you Matt and Bryan for allowing us to take over your beautiful home while you are hard working men during the day!
Matt and Bryan
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