I quit my job. Matt graduated. So we decided to do ourselves a favor and go for a drive. A long drive. The American road trip is much different than when our parents did it. Gas isn't nickels and dimes anymore. The internet was born and now the country is at our fingertips. We have lots of gizmos - GPS, a laptop, the almighty I-Phone, a 39 megapixel camera, walkie talkies, assorted flash drives, and even a wireless nose hair trimmer. We're hungry for wi-fi, and more importantly, hungry for your suggestions. We will be scouring our country's staple tourist attractions as well as the well-tucked-but-not-completely-hidden spots. We have an ambitious schedule and an odd-ball list of things to do in each city. Here's our loose tentative schedule:9.8.08 Atlanta, GA
9.9.08 Oxford, MS
9.10.08 New Orleans, LA
9.11.08 New Orleans, LA
9.12.08 Austin, TX
9.13.08 Austin, TX
9.14.08 Austin, TX
9.15.08 Marfa, TX
9.16.08 Carlsbad Caverns, NM
9.17.08 White Sands, NM
Roswell, NM
Santa Fe, NM
9.18.08 Santa Fe, NM
9.19.08 Santa Fe, NM
9.20.08 Gallup, NM
Grand Canyon
9.21.08 Grand Canyon
9.22.08 Hoover Dam
Las Vegas, NV
9.23.08 Los Angeles, CA
9.24.08 Los Angeles, CA
9.25.08 Taft, CA
San Francisco, CA
9.26.08 San Francisco, CA
9.27.08 San Francisco, CA
9.28.08 Yosemite National Park, CA
9.29.08 Yosemite National Park, CA
9.30.08 Salt Flats, UT
10.1.08 Aspen or Yellowstone
10.2.08 Aspen or Yellowstone
10.3.08 Badlands, SD
10.4.08 Badlands, SD
10.5.08 Chicago, IL
10.6.08 Chicago, IL
10.7.08 Chicago, IL
10.8.08 Chicago, IL
10.9.08 - 10.30.08 TBD
10 comments:
OH MY GOD AWESOME
First, San Francisco is a gem. spend as much time there as you can. Eat at the Blue Plate in the Mission (http://www.blueplatesf.com/). Go to the Muir Woods in Marin County and check out some amazing trees.
Second, GO TO COLORADO. You can experience every season in a single day in my home state. Go see some Rocky f*in Mountains.
Third, come visit me in Philly for god sakes! I'm SERIOUS. You'd both love it here, I'm sure of it.
Holler back!
Katie
Hey Adam, it's me, the Aussie girl that used to work at The South magazine : )
Here are my immediate recommendations (based on my 2005 road trip across the States):
In Las Vegas, go to the shops around Caesar's Palace to see the insane fire-breathing animatronic fountain, and do not miss the Bellagio Fountain.
Go to Death Valley, CA if you get a chance - hopefully it will be more deathly than the time I went there & it was chock-full of wildflowers & spring grasses. The salt flats are pretty awesome.
Do the coastal highway scenic drive on the way to San Francisco, it is lovely and no doubt *you* will be able to get some awesome photos.
AUSTIN-
They're showing Mad Max in a park the night you guys get there, the 12th:
http://www.originalalamo.com/Show.aspx?id=5698
Other than that the draft house looks kinda vanilla that weekend. I recommend picking an afternoon and catching a movie for lunch. They have a couple locations-
http://www.originalalamo.com/
"6th street" - you go drink here. They block it off to traffic Friday and Saturday nights. Be sure to check out bars The Jackalope and Casino el Camino both on 6th. Also, The Gingermann on 4th. It's a few blocks out of the way but has incredible beers on tap. Next to Gingermann is a good coffe shop called Halcyon.
Kerbey Lane - all night diner with several locations. Get the kerbey queso or pancakes or both.
You may as well visit the capitol. It's free to wander around and pretty impressive. arthouse (free, usually has funky installations) and other museums are within walking distance.
Spider House is a huge awesome coffee shop/cafe near downtown.
If it's too hot go to Barton Springs in Zilker Park. The water is from natural ground springs and stays 68 degrees year round. There's usually a lot of hot/different people there especially on weekends. Zilker park is fun too.
Dieter lives about 40 minutes away, I'll see if he's playing a show or knows of more events. I'll think of more stuff later too.
visit the Ave Maria Groto in Cullman, AL - this Catholic monk spent his entire life building miniature replicas of cathedrals and temples out of cold cream jars and bottle caps. There are hillsides covered with these little buildings - the nuns used to charge $5 to get in, but that was 20 years ago.
So many great photos to be had!
Re: Wi-Fi
If you are a badass:
# Jailbreak your iPhone 3G
# Install 3Proxy and Terminal
# Create an ad-hoc Wi-fi network using your laptop (tether that shit)
or, buy the Ultra GT Option Express Card from AT&T here:
http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/gtultraexpress/index.jsp
and expect to sign a contract, pay an additional $60/mnth, and still be limited to ATT network (although the 30 day return policy might benefit you here...)
Keep on Keepin' On
If you go to Kansas City at all (you'd be surprised, it's a really awesome city) go to Pot Pie. It's a little restaurant but the food is phenomenal!
Also be sure to check out the Nelson Art Museum. The building is on this huge piece of property and there's a giant shuttle cock on the lawn. I really think you would find that amusing.
Good luck!
Can't wait for you to get to San Fran!
Whoa, where's nyc? How come you guys left out one of the best cities????
... must be the "tbd"- surprise!
When in Austin you have to hit up El Arroyo...killer Mexican food and great Margaritas..a UT and Texas country favorite...tell 'em JRo sent you..and they'll ask who the hell JRo is.
Cali -
When leaving LA to go North, take the PCH...Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Monica to Santa Barbara...this is where they film every car commercial on the planet...you'll also get to experience Malibu..the only place I've seen a Rolls Royce parked on the side of the road because the Range Rover and Porche were in the covered garage.
Stop in Santa Barbara for a day and enjoy the beautiful people and a cool ritzy art town..everything is really expensive so I suggest stopping at any gas station to enjoy the affordable food and drink.
JRo
If you go to NYC or Boston, I'll meet up with you guys for some shenanz. NYC - well you probably know the drill. I do know a place where you can get the best corned beef sandwich around though.
However, if you go to Boston, I'll recommend the Museum of Science. Hell yeah. That place is packed with ultimate science stuff and you can touch a lot of it and it has really cool lighting. In addition, it has the mugar omni theater where they show crazy shit that takes up your entire field of view. Panoramic HD sensory input.
Then of course there is Faneuil Hall for all your shopping/eating necessities. There are also lots of Ben Franklin impersonators who tell you the history of spectacles and pennies or something.
There are some cool harbors, like that tea tariff scuffle stuff they had that you learned about in high school history class, cool places where some movie stuff was filmed. Fenway park, if you're into that kind of thing. Awesome bars, too.
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