Every few years, we need a road trip but I'm not sure driving two-thirds of the way across the country in November was the best choice. Still, any road trip where we are still married at the end can be considered a success, right?
You may know that Mark and I just returned from an adventure the likes of which we haven't seen in YEARS. After seemingly searching to the ends of the internet, he finally found the ultimate, the PERFECT, the OPTIMUM, the just right recreational vehicle he has been seeking. A "super C"garage hauler; like a class-C but bigger and with cargo hauling capacity that allows you to carry motorcycles to races. This has a Freightliner chassis, a motorhome with sleeping for six (five comfortably). And a garage big enough to carry a full-size vehicle. While I was thrilled he found it, deals must be acted upon and this one was in in Ohio. And it's November.
You may know that Mark and I just returned from an adventure the likes of which we haven't seen in YEARS. After seemingly searching to the ends of the internet, he finally found the ultimate, the PERFECT, the OPTIMUM, the just right recreational vehicle he has been seeking. A "super C"garage hauler; like a class-C but bigger and with cargo hauling capacity that allows you to carry motorcycles to races. This has a Freightliner chassis, a motorhome with sleeping for six (five comfortably). And a garage big enough to carry a full-size vehicle. While I was thrilled he found it, deals must be acted upon and this one was in in Ohio. And it's November.
The opportunity had to be seized so off we went, driving to Ohio in four days, picked up the great white beast, parked my car in the back, then headed home. We had a "bucket list" of 15 states we had not yet visited and six were picked off on the way to Ohio. Because of Winter Storm Avery's trajectory, we took a more southerly route home to miss the snow, knocking out three more states before connecting to Interstate 40 which we had taken across country when we were first married in 1975. I hope to cover the trip in topics in a revival of my Beachcomber's Blog and I would be remiss if I didn't start with the food...or, more accurately, the brews that accompany so many of our meals when we travel.
Often people remark on the fact that so many of our photos include (or are exclusively) beer. Good microbrews from Humboldt and afar. "Hmmm. Do you guys ALWAYS drink? Are you some kind of BEER connoisseurs?" No (well, kinda) and no. What we like is good food and almost without fail, we find it at breweries.
Why would we travel two-thirds of the way across the country to eat at Denny's? Or Applebees? No offense to either but, we did that in 1975 when we drove to South Carolina soon after we married. McDonald's ALL the way across Interstate 40 then coming home on "Eye One Oh" (Interstate 10 in CB lingo), it was Denny's. We had the "Superbird" (sliced turkey and some sort of white cheese on grilled sourdough) in every state we touched. We like to think we have evolved in the past forty some years and seek to enjoy more of the culture in the places we travel.
TRAVEL=CULTURE=FOOD=PEOPLE. While we may not travel as well as Anthony Bourdain, he once quoted Mark Twain, saying that "travel is fatal to prejudice". Traveling opens your mind and hearts to different ways of living and makes it a little harder to judge folks. Don't get me wrong, there are assholes everywhere but, walking into a diner in Indianapolis or a donut shop in Canada to be greeted by a local asking "where y'all from?" never gets old. Out of state plates are a good conversation starter. And food options make life interesting.
On the road early one morning after "boondockin" at a truck stop in Kentucky, we searched the food options on the highway signs and spotted "Rodney's Southern Style Home Cookin". Mark is more of a breakfast foodie than I am but, while traveling on two good meals a day, breakfast has to be more substantial than my normal yogurt and granola. We checked out the specials and, while I was tempted by chicken and waffles, I spotted chicken livers on the lunch menu and asked if that was an option early in the day. "Oh, sure, honey, we can fix up a breakfast if you want". Really? "You want eggs?" "Yes, two, over medium."Hash browns?" "Yes". "I'll go get that. You two are gonna be fuller `an a tick after this". And she wasn't wrong. Super yummy. Filling. Learned about her brother Rodney. And her mama. Honestly you can't have more fun than that early in the morning.
Just like our local, west coast breweries have fish and chips, local food offerings in land-locked states have other options. I asked our waiter at the Rebel Kettle Brewery in Little Rock what was good; how was the crawfish po-boy? He said it was one of his favorites (you can usually tell if a waiter is fibbing and why would they? Bullshit does not make for good tips.) It WAS yummy, crawfish overflowing from the bun that were added to my side salad so the little "bugs" were enjoyed two ways in one meal. Chicken tenders are prepared differently in different regions. Grits come as a breakfast side as often as hash browns. Or chicken livers. Even cole slaw is different as you travel across the country. These are things you won't find if you don't venture beyond the chain restaurant menu. Oh, you know what you're going to GET when you stick to a chain you're familiar with but, what fun is that?!
We like our dark beer - porters, stouts, dark ales. And we've tried them everywhere. Well, not everywhere but everywhere we've been. So far. There are places we missed in the states we've seen and states we haven't even set foot in. So many breweries, so little time.
