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Road Trip Halfway Point

4/27/2014

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PictureSiesta Key Beach, Sarasota, FL
Our U.S. road trip is already about halfway done =( At the halfway mark, we have covered: 
-4,500 miles
-13 States
-Spotted 48 state license plates (guess the two we are still missing?  There is a hint at the end of the post)
-Only 5 fast food places (not too bad!)
-Lodging at a potpourri of 2 star motels: Motel 6, Super 8, Red Roof Inn, Microtel, Holiday Inn, Regency Inn and Sleep Inn, to name a few 
-1 Klezmer band

Some people have asked us why our road trip didn't take us out west. We both really wanted to see more of the Western half of the US but ultimately prioritized visiting some friends and family east of the Mississippi.  The Honda also begged us to go easy in its old age.  

Despite all the time in our car,  we are surprisingly not sick of driving. The car has become our new home.  In the beginning, we even had trouble relaxing when we arrived at our destination, especially in Florida where the day's agenda might just be hitting the beach (for about 20 minutes before we burned).  As someone who really values a routine, and when the car is the most routine thing in our lives right now, it is actually somewhat disorienting to be in one place. But as we are spending more time on our trip with friends and family instead of $40 hotels, we are feeling much more at home. 

4 more weeks until we fly out of here and begin our 10+ months as ex-pats!  

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From the Big Easy to Taking it Easy

4/23/2014

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New Orleans
New Orleans is one of those cities whose reputation can be deceiving.  While Bourbon Street often dominates the imagery in my head, I was amazed at how beautiful and enchanting it was.  Maybe it was because it was cool and breezy and everything was in bloom.  

A small deluge was a welcome excuse to duck into a dive bar on Frenchman Street.  The beautiful homes of the Garden District were breathtaking, City Park gave us an unexpected Paddleboating workout and an encounter with a baby gator, and even the infamous Hurricane (very alcoholic drink) was a cheesy treat.  The Free Walking Tour was a great Intro to the city and left me hoping I get back.
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Miami
Another city whose reputation precedes it! Unlike New Orleans, the more soulful and cultural parts are a little harder to discover. Or maybe I should not conflate Miami and South Beach.  South Beach struck me as just about the same as many other tourist traps full of overpriced drinks and gaudy souvenir shops.  At times, it did truly feel like we were in Europe though: strolling the streets at 11 pm on a Wednesday night and everyone was awake, drinking at cafes or bars.  It may take a while to get the character of Miami...perhaps longer than we were there.  One afternoon on Key Biscayne and one night at one of Miami's hottest clubs and we were back on the road. 

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West Palm Beach
After spending time in the party capitals of New Orleans and Miami, it was time to hit the well-known party mecca of the Traditions, a retirement community in West Palm.  In all seriousness, it was great to spend some relaxing time with grandpa and enjoy some of the interesting nightly entertainment.  Being the youngest ones in there by a good 60 years, we got a fair amount of attention even got called out one night by the "Cowboy Cantor", an elderly man who "raps" about jewish culture (I use the term "rap" very, very loosely).  Unfortunately, he does not have the musical ability of jewish rappers Drake or Matisyahu.  See for yourself below:


Shout-out to all of our wonderful hosts and guides we've met up with since Texas: Nichole in NOLA, Mamie J in Ky and the Griffins in TN, Kerry in HOTlanta, Hattie in Ft. Lauderdale, Grandpa K in West Palm Beach and Peter and Andrea in Lakeland, Fl! It was fun to see all of you along the way. And Congrats to Mike and Julia whose wedding was beautiful and joyous!
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I love the smell of brisket in the morning.

4/6/2014

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Howdy from Texas! We’ve been on the road for about 6 days and we already have no idea what day it is.  We’ve said hello and goodbye to old friends as well as made some new ones. Here are some quick and dirty highlights of our first week:

  • Cahokia and Woodhenge (Apparently North America’s version of Stonehenge)…an anthropology student’s dream made real.  Our first World Heritage Site!
  • St. Louis and the Arch: Rainy! Time crunch and a fear of heights prevented us from going up in the Arch but we did get some St. Louis pizza.  Don't think it is going to overthrow Chicago or NY pizza as top pizza city anytime soon.
  • Little Rock: Friend visit #1, fellow Sidley alumni Aaron. No sooner had Aaron educated us about the former “gang activity” in Little Rock when there was a shooting 2 blocks away. Things are getting shady earlier than expected (but continued a few days later when an army full of cops arrived at our Super 8 motel after a reported shooting).

  • Texas! Hosted by the wonderful, talented, dynamic duo Monika and Patrick! Monika and Patrick introduced us to all imaginable TX wonders: kitten nuzzles, Austin, Top Golf, Big Red Margarita and small town TX discos. Seriously, amazing hosts. They showed us the coolest parts of Austin and even cheered on the Badgers at Austin’s Wisconsin bar (this game shall never be spoken of again).

Snow’s BBQ.

Down a winding country road lined with blue bonnets and oil rigs in tiny Lexington, Texas is Snow’s BBQ, which has been ranked the best BBQ in Texas several times over the last few years.  It’s only open for a few hours on Saturday and usually sells out of meat before noon so we hit the road early.  We pulled up and could hear the cow’s mooing next door. (Not creepy at all). Not a meat aficionado myself, the boys ordered and chowed down.  Even though the building and accouterments are pretty simple (to put it mildly), the brisket is not.  Jed was still feeling the effects of a Big Red Margarita the night before, however, Snow’s cured all.

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Other cool things about Texas. 75 mph speed limit, breakfast tacos and amusing bathroom graffiti.
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And We're Off!

4/1/2014

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Hello from Motel 6!   After many months of planning, days spent at REI and hours of questioning our life decisions, we have finally embarked on our journey. Our last few days in Chicago have been spent shoving way overstuffed garbage bags down our garbage shoot, packing the rest of our lives into a 10 X 15 storage unit at a facility that looks like it could be a front for a lab in Breaking Bad and 
knocking off items on our Chicago food "Bucket List" (Weiner Circle, Dimo's Pizza and Do-Rite Donuts).
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We begin our trip with a six week road trip across the southern and eastern parts of the U.S.   With our odometer topping in just under 100,000, we are hoping to make it until mid-May without a call to AAA.  


We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends across the U.S. over the next few weeks, but we 
are already missing all of our Chicago friends. 

Now that we are off, our blog will be continually updated so be sure to check back often. And by the way, Motel 6 is charming!


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Bye Bye Chicago!
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    This is Caitlin and Jed's blog about our adventures.

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