This morning I got an early start on my way out to Pittsburgh. After the 10 hour drive, I arrived at 6:00 pm and met up with Renee, who had just moved home to Pittsburgh from New York City. The drive out was uneventful, as I mostly covered flat farmlands in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Then it was through the Appalachians in West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh was not pleased with me being there. It must have taken offense to my berating its sports teams and decided to treat me with equal contempt. When I approached Pittsburgh, it started to [View Full Entry]

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Today was my last touring day on this leg and it went out with a bang. This morning I went to the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, which replaced the original Cathedral over 100 years ago. The Basilica is located in an older part of town with tree lined streets, large brick and stone homes and countless churches. The structure didn’t appear particularly large from the exterior - I drove past one side and didn’t realize I was there - but the architecture is grand. The real treat was going inside where I was overwhelmed by its size and grandeur. The in [View Full Entry]

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The trip up to St. Louis today was about as uneventful as they come. It was only a few hours plus a quick stop at Fort Campbell on the Tennessee/Kentucky border. I didn’t realize that I’d be driving by Fort Campbell, home of the Screaming Eagles. There’s supposed to be a museum that I tried to find but never did. So it became a brief detour. Along the way I got to thinking how peaceful it’s been driving in these parts of the country. I’ve heard less horn honking in the last three weeks than I would in any given hour [View Full Entry]

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After sleeping off yesterday’s fun, I took a walk around parts of Vanderbilt University, which is just blocks from the hostel. I wondered around aimlessly and eventually came across a place called Calypso that Falkenberg recommended for food. The rotisserie chicken’s not bad. After lunch, I took a drive out to see the Grand Ole Opry house. There wasn’t a whole lot to see there other than the grounds (which are huge) and the Opry museum. The museum was entertaining but would be more exciting to a long time country music fan. I didn’t recognize most of the artists that [View Full Entry]

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He's a six pack up when he walks in, Tells the band crank it up to 10, Then he's up dancin on his seat, Well he's a big mouth Yellin' hey play some free bird, Says give me three steps and nobody gets hurt, Then he takes off his shirt There's one in every crowd, Brings the party in us out, Good time charley with a harley, whiskey bent and hellbound, He's got the next round, but he always drinks for free, There's one in every crowd, and it's usually me. Today started out with a nice peaceful drive out to [View Full Entry]

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I left Sulphur Springs this morning after a brief overnight stay. It served its purpose as I could spend some time in Memphis en route to Nashville. When I got to Memphis around 3:00 pm, I went straight to Beale Street, Memphis’s Bourbon Street. At this time of day, things were just starting to see some action. Happy hours were just beginning, although for some places happy hour was “all day, every day”. I ate lunch at a place called Superior, which had beer specials and some “kick-ass Memphis BBQ", according to its spokesman out front. Anything would have tasted [View Full Entry]

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My last day in Texas. It started out in the Austin hostel, where I went to tour the State Capitol Building. The building is enormous. I think Texas is secretly trying to move the US government here. The building is a monster and looks similar to the US Capitol. Later in the morning, I headed out through the “hill country” to Driftwood, about a half an hour away. What’s in Driftwood? Not much besides some tasty Texas BBQ. When I arrived at The Salt Lick in the late morning, the unmistakable smell of fire smoke filled the air. Upon entering, I [View Full Entry]

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“The heat! My God, the heat!” - Elaine Benes from Seinfeld “Oh it’s too hot today.” - Cayman Islands Guy from The Simpsons “It’s hot in here. Does anyone else think it’s hot in here? It's sooooooo hoooooot.” - Megan (Hurst) Wolfinger at Metro Wine Bar (following a few drinks) This morning I went to Enchanted Springs Ranch, which is about 25 miles outside of San Antonio. The ranch features a replica of a western town and hundreds of acres of land on which numerous wild an [View Full Entry]

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After a good night’s rest I left for San Antonio at 6:00 am. I got there just in time for a guided walking tour at 10:00. The tour is normally a group tour but since no one else was there it became my own private tour. The one I did was called San Antonio Walks. It is more history based, which I liked as I didn’t really know much about the history of The Alamo or much of Texas’s history. As an aside, in Texas, the schools teach Texas history first then US and world history second and last. The tour [View Full Entry]

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Today I left Finn to go visit my relatives that live in Houston. I had been here in the end of April and seen everyone so it wasn’t much of a grand affair. But it was fun. My mom’s uncle John (my great uncle), her cousin John Ross, a friend of theirs, Gary, and I played golf near Ellington Air Force Base in the morning. My golf game was lousy except the last five holes (+2) when I remembered how to play. But we had a lot of fun regardless of the scoring. That’s what good company and some beer will [View Full Entry]

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