USA A-OK

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The 3 weeks between the time I left my job and got on that flight to America went unbelievably fast. It was almost a job in itself, preparing and planning my trip and getting my affairs in order. Let alone having enough time catching up with friends and family. Hopefully I had done enough!

The flight itself was thankfully uneventful. The flight was jam packed but I had forgotten what it was like to take a non-budget flight (QANTAS) as we got served with constant food and drink. The entertainment system was impressive. I re-watched a number of episodes of 'Life's Too Short'. I'm not usually one to brag, but I put up the highest score on Yahtzee on the flight - 277. Just sayin'.

My travel companion for the first 2 weeks, Jamie and I cleared customs hassle-free apart from the lengthy lineup. We then took a flight from LA to Phoenix where we'd spend our first night.

Phoenix is kind of a strange city. It's a city in the middle of the desert, and has the looks of a new, or planned city. Wide-open streets, modern buildings, a bit of a concrete jungle. Not much character. We were staying downtown, and on a weekend the place is a ghost town. At night, it definitely brought back memories of my first trip to the US. Downtown is not a place you want to be after dark. It's not dangerous, but just a lot of shady-looking characters. Everyone else lives in the nicer suburbs. It's not like say Sydney or Melbourne where there are lots of restaurants, bars and nightlife in the city. Here, downtown is mostly business only so there's no reason to be here after hours.

Now I'm a bit of a fan of a tv show called Man vs Food. The host travels around America looking for the best eating places and attempting many artery-clogging challenges. One place I wanted to go was Alice Cooperstown, a place owned by Alice Cooper of course. One item on the menu is called 'The Big Unit', a 22 inch hot dog with ALL the trimmings.

After some hesitation, Jamie and I decided (naively) we would order one each, but the waitress must have misunderstood us, because she assumed we wanted one to share and brought 'just' one. On reflection, this must be the norm as there was no way either of us could have eaten one on our own. Just half of one was something to brag about to the future grandkids. Check out the photos below, and have a look at the youtube video. It was very tasty I must say. No Alice Cooper sightings though.

That night I dragged Jamie along to see one of my favourite bands - the Melvins. You've probably never heard of them but they've been around a while, originating in the early 80's. They're a pretty big musical influence to many bands.

The venue was pretty small, I'd say there were around 100 people there. But this made the gig feel pretty intimate and we were close to the stage. The Melvins were at the end of their tour, touring all 51 US states in 51 days. Apparently this has never been done before, though George Thorogood once attempted it (and failed).

The gig was great, but I was a little upset that they had no merchandise for sale. We hung around for a beer after the show before heading home. Our path home passed by the rear entrance to the bar and we just happened to spot the guys loading into the back of their van. I was a little hesitant to run over as they were just getting ready to leave, but Jamie encouraged me, so run over I did. Luckily I was sufficiently intoxicated enough to boldly run up to Buzz Osborne, the lead singer/guitarist and say hello. It was a cool 2 minute chat and something I'll rememember forever. Jamie grabbed a quick snap on my phone but unfortunately I had the flash turned off from when I was taking photos during the show. No matter.

The next day we would begin our road trip. 3000 km's in 2 weeks. It's been a good start!

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Photos

Dan Majerle's menu
We had lunch at Dan Majerle's bar. I order the Jared Dudley burger. I thought it may have been a fairly prestigious honour to have your own menu item until I saw the Joe Kleine Cordon Bleu.

The Big Unit
Jamie and I managed to conquer this monolithic hot dog. It would take an impressive human to down one themselves

The Big Unit
We weren't as high on life after stuffing so much hot dog into our stomach's.

Comments

[Garry]

Dibs on first Comment !!
Good start Mate, well done on getting through half a 22" hot dog.

[Chris Feld]

The Joe Kleine Cordon Bleu? Apparently not many people want it, it is very undercooked, has lots of fat, but goes well as a chick'n roll (pick 'n roll).

[Chris Feld]

Classic Matt Feld photo pose. Look forward to seeing many more of them.

[Blake]

Glad to hear its going well so far Matt and can't believe u both ate half that freakin hotdog, its huge!