On the road
Mar. 27th, 2002 10:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twicketfaceWednesday, March 20th
After a slight inconvenience with Enterprise (we ended up with a 2 door full size, instead of the 4 door we requested), I made my way over to the apartment to pick up Brian and Terry. Got packed up and on the road by 8:45. Reset the trip-ometer and prepared to eat up some road.
Made it to Indiana with no problems and had a quick lunch of pre-made sandwiches and snacks. I then took over the wheel and safely guided us to Cleveland and to our hotel, a run-down skanky looking Days Inn. We checked in and I was overjoyed to discover I that the ceilings were a staggering 6 feet, 8 inches from the floor in the bathroom. This gave me a whole two inches of unused space between my crusty head and the crusty ceiling.
We headed back out for some dinner and came to a Bob Evans restaurant, with three porno establishments (videos, dancers or otherwise) within a stone's throw. Our meal was filling and tasty, despite the waitress-in-training sticking her finger into my barbeque sauce accidentially. She forgot my garlic toast, Brian's tobasco sauce and raw onions, and generally avoided us for the duration of our mastication.
Upon returning to the hotel, Terry and I slapped (ouch) on our bathing suits and made our way up to the pool, which was pleasantly empty. We alternated between the whirlpool and regular pool until another hotel patron came in and proclaimed "They finally got the whirlpool temperature right. It wasn't this warm last week!". This frightened us enough to retreat back to our room. We spent the rest of the night watching teevee and talking. Good bonding moments that I'm more in need of.
Thursday, March 21st
Woke up bright and early, got ready and checked out. Brian took the wheel and we made our way to the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame. It didn't open until 10:00, so we had about 45 minutes to wander around, look at the Browns stadium and generally freeze our asses off. It was about 25-30 degrees and windy. We headed into the HOF when the doors were opened and got our tickets. Spent the next 3 hours on the various floors and was generally amazed at all of the swag they had. Not many artists that I listen too, but still loads of stuff to see and experience. I got the shivers when standing a foot away from Jimi Hendrix's Butterfly outfit, knowing that I was close to greatness. There was also a pretty big John Lennon exhibit on one of the floors that was very moving. Sad to see the bag containing the clothes he was wearing when he got shot and his bloody eyeglasses, though.
After a run back to the parking ramp and some lunch in the car, Brian charioted us most of the way to Pennsylvania. We switched drivers after stopping for some dinner and Terry took the wheel. We stopped at a travel plaza and had some supper before Terry took the wheel and drove us the rest of the way into Philly. At the toll booth, there was a car in the lane to the right of us, with the driver looking at me and mouthing words to me. I rolled down my window and was greeted with a "You gotta problem?". Keep in mind this guy looked to be in his early 30s and looked like an accountant. I replied "No" and he said, "Then just go where you are going". I rolled up the window and we continued on our way. Brian, being a people watcher, was looking at him a little more than he probably should have, hence his reaction. Still, I was a little disheartened that this exchange takes place in 2002. Was he expecting a fist fight at the nearest gas station? Was he trying to prove he was more of a man than I was? Was he just having a bad day and didn't know how to express his anger in a healthy way? Questions still remain.
Anywho, Terry got us to our hotel with no problems. It was a pretty nice Holiday Inn, we had a 6th floor room of an 11th floor building. We unloaded the car and got settled into our room. I filled out some post cards and did a little reading. We watched a disgusting episode of "Real Sex" on HBO, just so we could live up to our 'Boobies and Fucking' mission. It was rather boring and forced. We drifted off to sleep after another good talk and laughter.
Friday, March 22nd
We got up ready to take on Philadelphia. We got directions from the hotel lobby to the subway station. We got our tokens and made our way onto public transportation. The ride was fun and we ended up near City Hall. It was about a 20 minute walk to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the subway told us to take the bus, but I think walking is so much more interesting). While the weather was cold and windy, it was still fun. We passed the Roddin (sp?) museum, they guy who sculpted "The Thinker". I took a few pictures of Brian out front, since we didn't have the time to go in.
Finally, we made it to the Museum of Art and hauled our tired asses up the Rocky steps. We spent the next three hours or so soaking up the art and evesdropping on the elementary school-aged kids on their field trips with informative tour guides. My favorite part was the armor and arms section. Lost of cool swords and weaponry. Seems like 'back then', war meant something. You have to be a skilled fighter and truly risk your life in battle. Nowadays, it seems so clincial and more a game that the rich play with each other.
After getting our art on, we stopped by a diner and had some great pepper cheese steak sandwiches. I broke my red meat rule, but figured I was there for the experience and truth be told, it was better than I thought it would be. After lunch, we headed to the Mutter museum of physical oddities. It was attached to a medical college. The 'museum' itself was interesting, but it was a little small. Mostly skin disorders and different skulls. I'm glad we went, but a little expensive for what was there.
Terry's dad served in the Navy in Vietnam and wanted to see the Battleship New Jersey since we were so close. We took a different subway to get to New Jersey and got into some trouble trying to leave. For the Philly subway, we got tokens but for the Jersey stop, we needed to buy tickets (laminated cards) to feed into the turnstyle to gain entrance. After using our one-way tickets to get into the station, Terry and I threw ours away. When we got to the Jersey side, we realized we needed them to get out of the station. Brian, who wisely kept his and was able to get through the turnstyle, told us to just jump over since all we were doing was getting out. We made our way over the turnstyle when I heard from behind me:
"Excuse me, can you two step over here for a minute?"
I turned around and saw four New Jersey cops. Terry and I went into this little room and explained our situation. Some cackling sea hag in the corner said "Stupid Wisconsin people who don't understand public transportation!" It was, to be blunt, not hot. After a short explaination, I think they realized we were harmless and let us go. The one officer was pretty nice and gave us directions to the Battleship.
The Battleship was incredible huge and unfortunately, closed by the time we got there. We still took some pictures and talked about Burt Reynolds. We hopped the subway back (keeping our tickets this time) and went back to the hotel. Since it was dinner time, we decided to try Ron Jaworski's Steak and Seafood restaurant, which was in the hotel. They had an all you can eat pasta bar, which was really good. The chef cooked up vegetables and pasta and sauces.
Unfortunately, it must have been his first day, because he gave me about a liter and a half of alfredo sauce, causing it to spill all over the floor when he transfered it from pan to plate. He remedied this by dumping some of it into the garbage can and then sheepishly handing me the plate. It was the best meal of the whole trip, albeit a little rich.
A waiter came to clear some of our plates and then our waitress came to fill up our waters. Brian had his back to her and assumed it was the waiter, so he said "Thank you, sir" when she filled up his glass. It was priceless.
Spent the rest of the night in the hotel, playing some cribbage, watching parts of Castaway and inhaling each other's farts.
Saturday, March 23rd
Woke up and got our stuff packed up for the trip to Gettysburg. About a two hour drive to get there. The visitor's center was very nice and helpful. It had a free museum, which was quite interesting. We saw Brian's twin and wanted to get a picture of the two of them together, but he disappeared before we saw him again.
We got a car map and went on the first leg of the Gettysburg tour. It consisted of plaques and markers every 50 feet or so, detailing battles and struggles of the armies. It was, simply, boring. Brian wanted to check it out, but once we got near the highway to take us home, Brian said "Let's get out of here". So, we cut our Gettysburg tour short and headed back home. I took the wheel and got us to Cleveland. We stopped for dinner at a plaza, where I had a fantastic chicken salad sandwich and broccoli cheese soup. I called Marie and told her we were coming straight home, she seemed quite relieved.
Brian took the wheel and brought us all the way back to Oshkosh, safe and sound. I really just wanted to be home by the time we hit Chicago, and dozed off a few times on the way home. In review, it was a great trip. The only thing I would have changed would've been the weather. Since I haven't honed my Mother Nature skills yet, I really can't complain. It would have been nice to go some place a little closer and spend two full days seeing the sights, but for the time and money we had, it worked out just swell.
After a slight inconvenience with Enterprise (we ended up with a 2 door full size, instead of the 4 door we requested), I made my way over to the apartment to pick up Brian and Terry. Got packed up and on the road by 8:45. Reset the trip-ometer and prepared to eat up some road.
Made it to Indiana with no problems and had a quick lunch of pre-made sandwiches and snacks. I then took over the wheel and safely guided us to Cleveland and to our hotel, a run-down skanky looking Days Inn. We checked in and I was overjoyed to discover I that the ceilings were a staggering 6 feet, 8 inches from the floor in the bathroom. This gave me a whole two inches of unused space between my crusty head and the crusty ceiling.
We headed back out for some dinner and came to a Bob Evans restaurant, with three porno establishments (videos, dancers or otherwise) within a stone's throw. Our meal was filling and tasty, despite the waitress-in-training sticking her finger into my barbeque sauce accidentially. She forgot my garlic toast, Brian's tobasco sauce and raw onions, and generally avoided us for the duration of our mastication.
Upon returning to the hotel, Terry and I slapped (ouch) on our bathing suits and made our way up to the pool, which was pleasantly empty. We alternated between the whirlpool and regular pool until another hotel patron came in and proclaimed "They finally got the whirlpool temperature right. It wasn't this warm last week!". This frightened us enough to retreat back to our room. We spent the rest of the night watching teevee and talking. Good bonding moments that I'm more in need of.
Thursday, March 21st
Woke up bright and early, got ready and checked out. Brian took the wheel and we made our way to the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame. It didn't open until 10:00, so we had about 45 minutes to wander around, look at the Browns stadium and generally freeze our asses off. It was about 25-30 degrees and windy. We headed into the HOF when the doors were opened and got our tickets. Spent the next 3 hours on the various floors and was generally amazed at all of the swag they had. Not many artists that I listen too, but still loads of stuff to see and experience. I got the shivers when standing a foot away from Jimi Hendrix's Butterfly outfit, knowing that I was close to greatness. There was also a pretty big John Lennon exhibit on one of the floors that was very moving. Sad to see the bag containing the clothes he was wearing when he got shot and his bloody eyeglasses, though.
After a run back to the parking ramp and some lunch in the car, Brian charioted us most of the way to Pennsylvania. We switched drivers after stopping for some dinner and Terry took the wheel. We stopped at a travel plaza and had some supper before Terry took the wheel and drove us the rest of the way into Philly. At the toll booth, there was a car in the lane to the right of us, with the driver looking at me and mouthing words to me. I rolled down my window and was greeted with a "You gotta problem?". Keep in mind this guy looked to be in his early 30s and looked like an accountant. I replied "No" and he said, "Then just go where you are going". I rolled up the window and we continued on our way. Brian, being a people watcher, was looking at him a little more than he probably should have, hence his reaction. Still, I was a little disheartened that this exchange takes place in 2002. Was he expecting a fist fight at the nearest gas station? Was he trying to prove he was more of a man than I was? Was he just having a bad day and didn't know how to express his anger in a healthy way? Questions still remain.
Anywho, Terry got us to our hotel with no problems. It was a pretty nice Holiday Inn, we had a 6th floor room of an 11th floor building. We unloaded the car and got settled into our room. I filled out some post cards and did a little reading. We watched a disgusting episode of "Real Sex" on HBO, just so we could live up to our 'Boobies and Fucking' mission. It was rather boring and forced. We drifted off to sleep after another good talk and laughter.
Friday, March 22nd
We got up ready to take on Philadelphia. We got directions from the hotel lobby to the subway station. We got our tokens and made our way onto public transportation. The ride was fun and we ended up near City Hall. It was about a 20 minute walk to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the subway told us to take the bus, but I think walking is so much more interesting). While the weather was cold and windy, it was still fun. We passed the Roddin (sp?) museum, they guy who sculpted "The Thinker". I took a few pictures of Brian out front, since we didn't have the time to go in.
Finally, we made it to the Museum of Art and hauled our tired asses up the Rocky steps. We spent the next three hours or so soaking up the art and evesdropping on the elementary school-aged kids on their field trips with informative tour guides. My favorite part was the armor and arms section. Lost of cool swords and weaponry. Seems like 'back then', war meant something. You have to be a skilled fighter and truly risk your life in battle. Nowadays, it seems so clincial and more a game that the rich play with each other.
After getting our art on, we stopped by a diner and had some great pepper cheese steak sandwiches. I broke my red meat rule, but figured I was there for the experience and truth be told, it was better than I thought it would be. After lunch, we headed to the Mutter museum of physical oddities. It was attached to a medical college. The 'museum' itself was interesting, but it was a little small. Mostly skin disorders and different skulls. I'm glad we went, but a little expensive for what was there.
Terry's dad served in the Navy in Vietnam and wanted to see the Battleship New Jersey since we were so close. We took a different subway to get to New Jersey and got into some trouble trying to leave. For the Philly subway, we got tokens but for the Jersey stop, we needed to buy tickets (laminated cards) to feed into the turnstyle to gain entrance. After using our one-way tickets to get into the station, Terry and I threw ours away. When we got to the Jersey side, we realized we needed them to get out of the station. Brian, who wisely kept his and was able to get through the turnstyle, told us to just jump over since all we were doing was getting out. We made our way over the turnstyle when I heard from behind me:
"Excuse me, can you two step over here for a minute?"
I turned around and saw four New Jersey cops. Terry and I went into this little room and explained our situation. Some cackling sea hag in the corner said "Stupid Wisconsin people who don't understand public transportation!" It was, to be blunt, not hot. After a short explaination, I think they realized we were harmless and let us go. The one officer was pretty nice and gave us directions to the Battleship.
The Battleship was incredible huge and unfortunately, closed by the time we got there. We still took some pictures and talked about Burt Reynolds. We hopped the subway back (keeping our tickets this time) and went back to the hotel. Since it was dinner time, we decided to try Ron Jaworski's Steak and Seafood restaurant, which was in the hotel. They had an all you can eat pasta bar, which was really good. The chef cooked up vegetables and pasta and sauces.
Unfortunately, it must have been his first day, because he gave me about a liter and a half of alfredo sauce, causing it to spill all over the floor when he transfered it from pan to plate. He remedied this by dumping some of it into the garbage can and then sheepishly handing me the plate. It was the best meal of the whole trip, albeit a little rich.
A waiter came to clear some of our plates and then our waitress came to fill up our waters. Brian had his back to her and assumed it was the waiter, so he said "Thank you, sir" when she filled up his glass. It was priceless.
Spent the rest of the night in the hotel, playing some cribbage, watching parts of Castaway and inhaling each other's farts.
Saturday, March 23rd
Woke up and got our stuff packed up for the trip to Gettysburg. About a two hour drive to get there. The visitor's center was very nice and helpful. It had a free museum, which was quite interesting. We saw Brian's twin and wanted to get a picture of the two of them together, but he disappeared before we saw him again.
We got a car map and went on the first leg of the Gettysburg tour. It consisted of plaques and markers every 50 feet or so, detailing battles and struggles of the armies. It was, simply, boring. Brian wanted to check it out, but once we got near the highway to take us home, Brian said "Let's get out of here". So, we cut our Gettysburg tour short and headed back home. I took the wheel and got us to Cleveland. We stopped for dinner at a plaza, where I had a fantastic chicken salad sandwich and broccoli cheese soup. I called Marie and told her we were coming straight home, she seemed quite relieved.
Brian took the wheel and brought us all the way back to Oshkosh, safe and sound. I really just wanted to be home by the time we hit Chicago, and dozed off a few times on the way home. In review, it was a great trip. The only thing I would have changed would've been the weather. Since I haven't honed my Mother Nature skills yet, I really can't complain. It would have been nice to go some place a little closer and spend two full days seeing the sights, but for the time and money we had, it worked out just swell.
