We went through Texas and drove up to Austin, Texas, where we hung out and visited a Lomography store, a cool cafe owned by Sandra Bullock, and a great Mexican restaurant bar with a really good happy hour and a cool bartender. I discovered that I liked beers from the Texas brewery Shiner, particularly their Shiner Bock.
After Austin, we drove all the way down to the border to Amistad Recreational Area, which is a recreational lake that sits on both sides of the border. (Amistad is Spanish for friendship, for those interested). It was while camping at this site that we experienced one of our weirder, creepier nights. Out in the darkness and in the middle of nowhere like we were, I was a little unnerved when we heard a cat meowing pathetically outside of our tents. After hearing it go on for a little bit, I heard Ashley venture out of their tent and look for it with a flashlight. She didn't see it, and I hunkered down praying that there were no crazy masked murderers out in the brush. She repeated her search a couple times, because each time she went back in her tent, the cat started meowing again. Finally she opened a can of tuna and left it out on a picnic table. Soon we heard the animal eating, but when Ashley looked out with the flashlight it ran and she only got a glimpse of its striped tail. Again she turned off the light and kept quiet. I was trying to go to sleep. But probably five minutes better the thing was back and knocking over a trashcan. I hear the tent flap open and the click of a flashlight and -"It's a huge raccoon!" I was a little shocked, and impressed. "Smart raccoon!" Smart raccoon that had figured out that cat noises could make humans give it food, haha.
The next day we drove though Marfa, Texas, an artsy little town that had been used as a set for the movie Giant, which was James Dean's last film, and for No Country for Old Men. The town became famous due to the presence of artist Donald Judd and his creation of the Chinati Foundation. It is an artist residence meant for large-scale projects, and showcases some of his works, which were originally founded with the help of the Dia Foundation. (This was interesting to me because just south of my hometown is the Dia headquarters).
The rest of our trip is mostly filled with bragging material. The southwest has a large number of National Parks and Forests, and it was our goal to see as many as possible. With that, I'll just say that we go to camp in the Guadalupe Mountains, descend into Carlsbad Caverns, walk the White Sands National Monument, and spend our last night surrounded by giant saguaro cacti at Saguaro National Forest. The thrill of our last week of site-seeing was accentuated by coyotes, hawks, and people with interesting stories to tell.
I forgot to mention Lafayette, Louisiana, didn't I? I forgot about much of Lousiana. Every state that we visited has its own character and many of its own stories. On our way to Lafayette we visited an old Creole plantation. The tour guide there told us about their way of life, about the importance of the Spanish moss and cypress trees for the colonists and later the Americans living there. We also watched a film on the family history of the place, which we found a little over dramatic and annoying as it tried to make us sympathize with the rich owners who lost everything in the Civil War. For us the most interesting history lesson was about the Acadians. Remember Acadia National Park? Well the Acadians were the French who got kicked out of Nova Scotia by the British. Most of them were farmers who got along with the native Americans there. They were forced into boats and a lot of them settled in Louisiana, where they were seen as a lower class in comparison with the Creoles, who were, ironically I think, also originally French colonists. The word Cajun comes from Acadian. So it was cool for David, Ashley, and I, to have followed their path a little bit.
In Lafayette we happily stumbled upon an Art Walk and strolled through the galleries of this pretty, relaxed town. As we were walking we watched a literal "Party Bus" go by, filled with partying college students. Quite amusing. We also went into an artists' market, where local craftsmen and women, most of them close to us in age, were selling handmade jewelry, shirts, books, glassware, etc. It was really fun.
At the end of this, Ashley felt sick so she went to lie down in the car, but I decided to explore a little more...
It was probably homesickness. At the end of Texas, we high-tailed it to Chula Vista...
(Sorry, apparently I never finished this post!)
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
N'Awlins to Austin
Internet access was spotty after Asheville. Here's what I wrote for December 13.
December 13, 2011
We're in Austin, Texas now. Even though we've been on the road for a month and a half, we're technically in the middle of the continental U.S. We spent a week in New Orleans, which was amazing and definitely lived up to all of the hype that is given to it. Before getting there we had made a slight detour to Memphis, Tennessee. Unfortunately, even though I could have sworn we had made our way south for the winter, the cold and the snow actually followed us. It struck in Boone, North Carolina and followed us all the way to Memphis. So Memphis was a bit of a ghost town when we got there, it being the off season anyway, and only fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Still, while not as exciting as it must be in the summer, we did get to hear some good live music. We also visited the Lafayette Motel, now the Civil Rights Museum, and saw the balcony where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was shot and killed. Also in Memphis was Slavehaven, a house that was part of the Underground Railroad. We took a tour of the house, and it was pretty incredible to learn about how it was started by man who came from Germany as immigrant to escape an oppressive culture. Upon his arrival this man found another kind of oppression, and had Slavehaven built and to help escaped slaves, and it helped an untold number. Our tour guide chatted with us at the end and had a great story about a tall British man visiting one day. The next day, when she was getting ready and had the Today Show on, she saw Sting come on and realized it was the same person. How cool is that??
We went from Memphis to the Natchez Trace Parkway, catching all the color that we had missed on the Blue Ridge. None of us even realized before that the leaves change color and fall off the trees in the south. We drove past cypresses and oaks draped with Spanish moss, fields of deer and even some cotton, and made a couple of stops along the way. The first place we stopped at at was called Sunken Trace, which is a section of the original Natchez Trace and was so heavily used from foot and carriage traffic that it is thirty feet deep. It was incredible. After that we continued on to an old cotton plantation home. We walked around the grounds and took pecans and cotton from the remnants of the old groves and gardens. Following that, we went down to Emerald Mound, which was an 8-acre raised mound with a flattened top and smaller mounds atop that, once used by native Americans in the area for ceremonial and possibly recreational purposes. Ashley and I rolled down the hills in a most sacrilegious fashion. At this point, David made it known that he couldn't find his wallet, and in fact had noticed it was missing when we were at the plantation. We ended up having to drive all the way back to Sunken Trace. I find this funny because I remember that before, as I was carefully inching my way down into the ravine, David loudly proclaimed that it was necessary to slide down on your derrière. So of course we went back to where he had slid down, and fortunately Ashley found the wallet within about five minutes. Crisis averted.
We were urged to stop in Natchez to see the beautiful plantations. Unfortunately it was late in the day so we didn't really make any visits. Instead we visited the house of a freed slave, who interestingly enough acquired slaves, and also ran three barber shops and was rather wealthy for the times. After this we drove on to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where we caved and got a cheap motel for the night. It was cool because when we first got into the city there were fireworks as part of a Festival of Lights. We missed the party but the fireworks were good.
We walked around Baton Rouge the next day, visiting the beautiful Capitol building, trying some tasty Louisiana comfort food, before continuing on to a campground outside of New Orleans. There we were greeted by a nine-banded armadillo at our campsite. It was awesome. We were endlessly amused by the armadillos that hung out in the swampy and rural areas of Louisiana, although I was a little saddened to learn that they, along with a large rodent called a nuvia, are not actually native to the area and are a little bit of a nuisance. (Similarly, now we're in Texas and learned about the black buck antelope, brought here by hunters wanting to hunt an exotic animal and now taking over the territory of the white tailed deer and creating a problem for cattle rancher).
We spent about five days exploring New Orleans, checking out its art and music scene, meeting a lot of locals and falling in love with the city. We spent the first three nights at the campground, and the next three at Occupy New Orleans, who were originally getting kicked out but fortunately for us were allowed to stay at the park for seven more days. The first day in New Orleans we basically got tourist information and decided to go to a restaurant called the Green Goddess, where we got an amazing lunch, and then walked up and down Royal and Bourbon Streets. We also went to Louis Armstrong Park, and on our way back from that we got ushered in by a crowd at an artist's residence. The artist was basically doing a little gallery show in her house, so we checked it out, David got some art, and we made contributions to an art project the woman was working on. The woman also gave us home-made fortune cookies, with cute little fortunes inside and little "learn French" lessons.
While in New Orleans went to see the Preservation Jazz Band at Preservation Hall, which was one of the best experiences we had on the trip. They played real, original jazz music in a small, old hall. The whole thing was like a big party.
New Orleans is simply full of art, music, and history. We heard from several people that if you stay there for six months you never leave. We went into a shop with beautiful masks, and the shopkeeper showed us a book that had been made by his photographer friend. It was all these photographs that he had done, all having funny titles and explanations. The photographer had passed away so the shopkeeper kept the book in his shop and told people the man's story. The French Quarter in New Orleans is all about stories like this, but once outside the Quarter you can see the disparity. There is definitely a poorer population in the city that can't be ignored.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Rest of D.C., Thanksgiving in Baltimore, and the Blue Ridge Parkway
So because it's rainy and cold outside, we broke and found a Best Western in Asheville, North Carolina, and now we're watching Ray. It seems we go through alternating periods of activity versus vegging out. We continued biking around D.C. and visiting the museums, meeting and making friends, and eating fantastic food. The trend continued when we got back to Baltimore, minus the biking, so I'm relatively certain that we've gained some pounds in the past couple weeks. That's okay. For thanksgiving Katie and Jacob bumped their celebrations up a day so that we could stay with them and feast. They smoked a turkey. We all prepared sides, desserts, breads... And drank wine out of a re-purposed paint can. We ended the night yelling at each other over games of Taboo and Cranium, and watching A Fish Called Wanda.
Next up on our itinerary was the Blue Ridge Parkway. We managed to find a campsite, run by a lady who was getting ready to shut down for the weekend. I think she was a little confused about our presence on Thanksgiving Day. She asked for a last name in case anyone called asking for us... Maybe she thought we were runaways? After a night there, during which I did not sleep well because the ground was really hard and rocky, we went to Shenandoah National Park and drove the whole Skyline Ride, the first 105 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The views were beautiful, and I'm counting down until June as I've pretty much made up my mind to come back and see it with the flowers in bloom and the leaves on the trees.
That intention has remained steady as we've continued along the Parkway, passing rhododendron and laurels. We stopped in Boone to visit a friend of mine and see the town, which is beautiful and full of hippie shops and eateries. We made a rather poor decision this evening to take the Parkway from there to Asheville. The fog got so thick we could hardly see the lines, there were no views of the valleys, but after three hours of perseverance and David's careful driving, we finally got to Asheville. What we do next depends on the weather. Originally we wanted to see the Smoky Mountains, but there's snow in the forecast. The weather stations are making a big deal of it here, but after the past winter that New York had I don't think any of us are that scared of it. We shall see. :) It's a shorter post because I'm overwhelmed at the thought of everything we saw in the past week and a half, hope y'all don't mind.
~Alicia
Next up on our itinerary was the Blue Ridge Parkway. We managed to find a campsite, run by a lady who was getting ready to shut down for the weekend. I think she was a little confused about our presence on Thanksgiving Day. She asked for a last name in case anyone called asking for us... Maybe she thought we were runaways? After a night there, during which I did not sleep well because the ground was really hard and rocky, we went to Shenandoah National Park and drove the whole Skyline Ride, the first 105 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The views were beautiful, and I'm counting down until June as I've pretty much made up my mind to come back and see it with the flowers in bloom and the leaves on the trees.
That intention has remained steady as we've continued along the Parkway, passing rhododendron and laurels. We stopped in Boone to visit a friend of mine and see the town, which is beautiful and full of hippie shops and eateries. We made a rather poor decision this evening to take the Parkway from there to Asheville. The fog got so thick we could hardly see the lines, there were no views of the valleys, but after three hours of perseverance and David's careful driving, we finally got to Asheville. What we do next depends on the weather. Originally we wanted to see the Smoky Mountains, but there's snow in the forecast. The weather stations are making a big deal of it here, but after the past winter that New York had I don't think any of us are that scared of it. We shall see. :) It's a shorter post because I'm overwhelmed at the thought of everything we saw in the past week and a half, hope y'all don't mind.
~Alicia
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Down in D.C.
The days of this trip really do meld together. Yesterday morning we got up pretty early and drove down to the Capitol from Baltimore, arriving at about 10:40am at Josephine's house. It was exciting just driving through D.C. and passing by all of the embassies and schools. We got our things situated and then cycled to the Lincoln Memorial. We locked up our bicycles and walked around the area, making sure to visit the Vietnam memorial, the Washington Monument (which was closed for structural testing because of the earthquake on August 23), the Jefferson and George Mason memorials, the FDR memorial, and the new Martin Luther King Jr memorial. It was a long day, but it was definitely really interesting. The Vietnam memorial is haunting, both because of its set up and also because the three of us couldn't help thinking about the large numbers of Vietnamese people who died for every United Statesien soldier. In my mind was also the environmental impacts and the use of Agent Orange. Another thing I couldn't keep separate was my memory of meeting a student at Soochow University who was there studying Chinese, and she was from Vietnam. She was really nice, and such a tiny person. I sometimes felt a little sad and undeserving of her friendship, knowing what had happened in the past, about the horrors that took place in her country, even if it was before she was born. I'd like to be able to travel anywhere in the world without having to feel this distance that is somehow always there in some form, that sets us apart because of the roles we have played in the world. Does anyone else ever think this way?
Anyway, sorry for the diversion.
Last night we met up with Josephine and got Ethiopian food, which was incredible. Today I got to sit in on a class with Josephine, let by her professor Judith Shapiro. I was really excited for this because I had read and used Shapiro's book for a project at Binghamton. The class was a discussion of environmental justice and human rights, and I learned a good amount from it about electronic waste disposal and about battles that native Americans are still facing fighting.
After the class I cycled to the Smithsonian museums, pausing at a few statues and monuments along the way. I met up with Ashley and David at the Race exhibit at the Natural History museum. After we finished that we saw the Hope diamond and the Butterfly tent, then left the museums and biked over to the Kennedy Center to see a Jazz concert at the Millennium Hall. And we kept going. Right after it was over we biked all the way to the northeast quadrant to see an indie rock concert with Josephine.
Tomorrow... the Holocaust museum? And a potluck. Probably the Renwick Gallery as well.
All in all, despite feeling exhausted, I really love this city and so far there's an infinite amount of things to do and really interesting people all around. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to living in NYC, even Queens, after having experienced DC. But that might have to do with the help we've gotten from Josephine, who is really outgoing and always on the look-out for free or cheap food and stuff to do, and interesting things to see, so she has set us up. But in NYC you can't live close enough to the most interesting places for it to be worthwhile, not unless you're rich, whereas in DC everything is within easy biking distance, and it's lively and worldly and pretty much everything I love. However accurate our perception, (for Ashley, David and I have all got the same feeling), it doesn't matter now since we're only here for the honeymoon phase, haha, and then we'll be pushing southward along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Good night,
Alicia
Anyway, sorry for the diversion.
Last night we met up with Josephine and got Ethiopian food, which was incredible. Today I got to sit in on a class with Josephine, let by her professor Judith Shapiro. I was really excited for this because I had read and used Shapiro's book for a project at Binghamton. The class was a discussion of environmental justice and human rights, and I learned a good amount from it about electronic waste disposal and about battles that native Americans are still facing fighting.
After the class I cycled to the Smithsonian museums, pausing at a few statues and monuments along the way. I met up with Ashley and David at the Race exhibit at the Natural History museum. After we finished that we saw the Hope diamond and the Butterfly tent, then left the museums and biked over to the Kennedy Center to see a Jazz concert at the Millennium Hall. And we kept going. Right after it was over we biked all the way to the northeast quadrant to see an indie rock concert with Josephine.
Tomorrow... the Holocaust museum? And a potluck. Probably the Renwick Gallery as well.
All in all, despite feeling exhausted, I really love this city and so far there's an infinite amount of things to do and really interesting people all around. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to living in NYC, even Queens, after having experienced DC. But that might have to do with the help we've gotten from Josephine, who is really outgoing and always on the look-out for free or cheap food and stuff to do, and interesting things to see, so she has set us up. But in NYC you can't live close enough to the most interesting places for it to be worthwhile, not unless you're rich, whereas in DC everything is within easy biking distance, and it's lively and worldly and pretty much everything I love. However accurate our perception, (for Ashley, David and I have all got the same feeling), it doesn't matter now since we're only here for the honeymoon phase, haha, and then we'll be pushing southward along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Good night,
Alicia
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Friends in Philly
When I left off it was Monday of last week and we were deciding what to do. That actually feels like a long time ago now. I'm pretty sure that on that day we walked around some more and probably got a late start. We went to meet up with Jason as he got out of work and once again headed to Chinatown to go to a really good Malaysian restaurant. I followed Jason's recommendation and got the Penang Pad Thai, which was delicious. David got a vegetable dish served in a taro shell, which was also really good, and Ashley got a dish with okra and chicken. After eating we went to the New England Conservatory for a free concert of Mahler and Bach music, then went home.
On Tuesday, Ashley, David, and I went to check out the Freedom Trail, but we got side-tracked and ended up going on the African American Heritage Trail instead. If you ever get the chance, I definitely recommend this one. We got learn a lot of interesting stories about the Underground Railroad in Boston and about African American presence in Boston from the Revolutionary War period on. Boston was apparently a good stop because of all of the little alleyways that were originally built as a way to deal will the steep hills. One alley led to a yellow house where the woman who lived there during the time of the Underground Railroad would leave a door unlocked for fugitives to hide. She reportedly saved 22 fugitives.
On Wednesday we did a little more touring of Boston, finishing the Freedom Trail and stopping by the Equal Exchange Cafe. Everywhere we go we stop in at thrift stores and bookstores, which all have the power to attract our attention for at least an hour.
In the afternoon and into the evening we headed to New York and my house to spend the night. The next day we visited some of my family in Westchester, then powered on to New Jersey to do the same for David, and quite a bit later found ourselves a campsite somewhere outside of Philadelphia. The next day was a bit rough. Our only real reason for going to Philadelphia was for a Moroccan restaurant, Marrakesh. So when we go to Philly we wandered around a little bit but we were pretty tired. Fortunately, the dinner was worth the trip and then some. The restaurant emphasized that they serve its customers as if we were guests in a Moroccan home. We got a 7-course meal for $25, and they even catered to David's vegetarian palate for no extra charge, meaning that we got a lot of really good, really fresh food for a very good price. The atmosphere was homey, and near the end of our meal we got into conversation with two locals seated next to us. Although it may seem a little odd, they ended up offering up their apartment for us to stay in that night, even though their roommates were already having a party and the place was going to be a bit crowded. So we exchanged information, and while David, Ashley, and I really did try hard to look for a hostel, motel, Best Western, etc, it turned out that there was a convention going on in the city and everywhere was booked. We were too tired to go back to the campsite, so we let them know of our troubles and they repeated their offer. It was a bit crazy, even once we got to their apartment, because parking turned out to be a hassle, but in the end we got to walk in on a hilarious '90s dance hour, make some new friends, and sleep on mattresses as opposed to the cold ground. The next morning our new friends invited us with them to the Down Home Diner at Reading Terminal Market. Breakfast was good and fun, and it was unfortunate that we had to leave without exploring the rest of the Market.
After breakfast we headed back to gather up our things and headed to the car. We stopped along the way at a hat shop. We must have passed three hat shops during the 20-minute walk to the garage where we'd left the van. David found a hat for himself first, and then Ashley got one. The shopkeeper was smooth. As we were walking out he goes, "Oh, none for you?" Meaning me. This normally would not have had an effect, but I really like hats, and it's been a few years since I bought one for myself. So I turned around and everyone helped me to decide on a hat as well. I'm making it a part of my basic wardrobe, so doubtless any of you who know me will see it in the future.
We really wanted to see Lancaster. We left in what should have been plenty of time to see Lancaster during the day, but at some point traffic hit a standstill on the highway, and we had to find a detour. We found out that a truck had caught fire and a section of I-76 was completely shut down. But we still made it to Lancaster and walked around it for an hour. The town is really cute and had a lot of nice shops that emphasized local artisans' work and repurposed materials.
After Lancaster we continued on to Baltimore to visit my friend. That was last night, wasn't it? My, my, but time passes quickly, and yet, it was only two weeks ago that we were in Burlington, Vermont.
Anyway, Katie and Jacob are really good hosts, and they have fluffy, lovable kitties. Today our hosts recommended that we bike to historic Ellicott City, so we did that. It turned out to be this adorable town at the bottom of a huge hill, but kind of built into the rocks so that it felt like a mountain village. It was so cool. We met some characters. One was in the antique shop that greeted us upon our arrival. Another was the owner of a wine shop. I was drawn into the shop by the cat in the window, but as soon as we stepped in the man began to warn us of his cat Mrs. Claws. She appeared unassuming but would apparently viciously attack any hand that went near her. Pretty funny.
It was getting dark by the time we were about to leave town, and fortunately Katie called and said that she and Jacob could drive and come get us. We were really relieved. The hills we would've had to go up were incredibly long, steep and winding - not something I like to do normally, let alone in the dark. When they got to where we were, Katie made sure to point out the bridge where record flood levels were marked. The worst was when the stream flooded by 27.5 feet (!) in 1868. At those levels the town must have literally been swept away. It was hard to believe, though from the rest of the numbers it looked as if flooding of some sort was relatively common in the town. I would be wary of trying to live and or run a business so close to the stream, knowing its history.
So now, I'll head to bed, a little later than is healthy considering we want to be up and running early tomorrow.
I'll have some more stories in a few days. D.C. should be pretty cool. Neither Ashley nor myself have ever been, and there's a lot to do there.
Have a good one, everybody.
G'night
~Alicia
On Tuesday, Ashley, David, and I went to check out the Freedom Trail, but we got side-tracked and ended up going on the African American Heritage Trail instead. If you ever get the chance, I definitely recommend this one. We got learn a lot of interesting stories about the Underground Railroad in Boston and about African American presence in Boston from the Revolutionary War period on. Boston was apparently a good stop because of all of the little alleyways that were originally built as a way to deal will the steep hills. One alley led to a yellow house where the woman who lived there during the time of the Underground Railroad would leave a door unlocked for fugitives to hide. She reportedly saved 22 fugitives.
On Wednesday we did a little more touring of Boston, finishing the Freedom Trail and stopping by the Equal Exchange Cafe. Everywhere we go we stop in at thrift stores and bookstores, which all have the power to attract our attention for at least an hour.
In the afternoon and into the evening we headed to New York and my house to spend the night. The next day we visited some of my family in Westchester, then powered on to New Jersey to do the same for David, and quite a bit later found ourselves a campsite somewhere outside of Philadelphia. The next day was a bit rough. Our only real reason for going to Philadelphia was for a Moroccan restaurant, Marrakesh. So when we go to Philly we wandered around a little bit but we were pretty tired. Fortunately, the dinner was worth the trip and then some. The restaurant emphasized that they serve its customers as if we were guests in a Moroccan home. We got a 7-course meal for $25, and they even catered to David's vegetarian palate for no extra charge, meaning that we got a lot of really good, really fresh food for a very good price. The atmosphere was homey, and near the end of our meal we got into conversation with two locals seated next to us. Although it may seem a little odd, they ended up offering up their apartment for us to stay in that night, even though their roommates were already having a party and the place was going to be a bit crowded. So we exchanged information, and while David, Ashley, and I really did try hard to look for a hostel, motel, Best Western, etc, it turned out that there was a convention going on in the city and everywhere was booked. We were too tired to go back to the campsite, so we let them know of our troubles and they repeated their offer. It was a bit crazy, even once we got to their apartment, because parking turned out to be a hassle, but in the end we got to walk in on a hilarious '90s dance hour, make some new friends, and sleep on mattresses as opposed to the cold ground. The next morning our new friends invited us with them to the Down Home Diner at Reading Terminal Market. Breakfast was good and fun, and it was unfortunate that we had to leave without exploring the rest of the Market.
After breakfast we headed back to gather up our things and headed to the car. We stopped along the way at a hat shop. We must have passed three hat shops during the 20-minute walk to the garage where we'd left the van. David found a hat for himself first, and then Ashley got one. The shopkeeper was smooth. As we were walking out he goes, "Oh, none for you?" Meaning me. This normally would not have had an effect, but I really like hats, and it's been a few years since I bought one for myself. So I turned around and everyone helped me to decide on a hat as well. I'm making it a part of my basic wardrobe, so doubtless any of you who know me will see it in the future.
We really wanted to see Lancaster. We left in what should have been plenty of time to see Lancaster during the day, but at some point traffic hit a standstill on the highway, and we had to find a detour. We found out that a truck had caught fire and a section of I-76 was completely shut down. But we still made it to Lancaster and walked around it for an hour. The town is really cute and had a lot of nice shops that emphasized local artisans' work and repurposed materials.
After Lancaster we continued on to Baltimore to visit my friend. That was last night, wasn't it? My, my, but time passes quickly, and yet, it was only two weeks ago that we were in Burlington, Vermont.
Anyway, Katie and Jacob are really good hosts, and they have fluffy, lovable kitties. Today our hosts recommended that we bike to historic Ellicott City, so we did that. It turned out to be this adorable town at the bottom of a huge hill, but kind of built into the rocks so that it felt like a mountain village. It was so cool. We met some characters. One was in the antique shop that greeted us upon our arrival. Another was the owner of a wine shop. I was drawn into the shop by the cat in the window, but as soon as we stepped in the man began to warn us of his cat Mrs. Claws. She appeared unassuming but would apparently viciously attack any hand that went near her. Pretty funny.
It was getting dark by the time we were about to leave town, and fortunately Katie called and said that she and Jacob could drive and come get us. We were really relieved. The hills we would've had to go up were incredibly long, steep and winding - not something I like to do normally, let alone in the dark. When they got to where we were, Katie made sure to point out the bridge where record flood levels were marked. The worst was when the stream flooded by 27.5 feet (!) in 1868. At those levels the town must have literally been swept away. It was hard to believe, though from the rest of the numbers it looked as if flooding of some sort was relatively common in the town. I would be wary of trying to live and or run a business so close to the stream, knowing its history.
So now, I'll head to bed, a little later than is healthy considering we want to be up and running early tomorrow.
I'll have some more stories in a few days. D.C. should be pretty cool. Neither Ashley nor myself have ever been, and there's a lot to do there.
Have a good one, everybody.
G'night
~Alicia
Monday, November 7, 2011
From A to B
After Burlington we made the 8-hour drive across New England to the coast of Maine. Of course, we stopped on the way at the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory for a tour and free sample, and ended up arriving in Bar Harbor, Maine at around 6:30, when it was already pretty dark. We debated on whether to stay at the Black Friar inn, but instead opted for the lower budget option of camping at the Blackwoods site. We found the inn while walking around town a couple days later, and I feel like we would not have found it if we tried in the dark. The Blackwoods campground was aptly named. We had to drive through a forest, with tall imposing trees bearing down on us along the way. I remarked that I had had a dream like it once, and it didn't end well. But there was no incident for us, except that after we chose a site and set up camp we couldn't quite get a fire started. So we asked our neighbors if we could use their fire to cook our dinner, and they turned out to be just ending a long camping trip and had no problem sharing a portable stove and giving us grains to cook. They told us that they had all been in the Adirondacks doing trail building with the SCA, and to celebrate the end they camped around for 6 weeks. The next day when we came back from hiking, we found that they'd left us a can of chickpeas and half a bottle of bourbon.
Acadia National Park is beautiful. When we got into the park we parked the car and split up, each of us curious to see something different. Ashley and David climbed the Beehive, which had innovative trails that required you to scale rock faces by climbing up metal bars, and is one of the trail systems that gets closed down for part of the year so that peregrine falcons can breed there. I just strolled along the coast, walking over the rocks and visiting Thunder Hole, where the waves crash into a small inlet and sometimes with such force and in such a way that it sounds like a big clap of thunder. We decided to meet back on Sand Beach (Maine is very creative with their names of places), and so I got there early and climbed another small trail that led up from the beach. Along the way for all of us we faced chattering, self-righteous red squirrels. To me, even the crows in Maine were wilder than those at home. At around three o'clock we were all back on the beach and ready to go back to Bar Harbor for some lobster. We went to a restaurant called Gailan's and the waitress, Ginger, tied on our bibs for us and instructed us newbies on how to open up the crustacean. It was pretty tasty, but the best part of the meal was dessert. We ordered an ice cream cappuccino, which was delicious, and indian pudding, which tasted like pumpkin pie on steroids, it had so much flavor (from the molasses).
The following day we went to the other end of Acadia, West End, so that we could hike a trail that one of Ashley's and my friends from NYRP had worked on as an Americorps. It was called Flying Mountain, and it was beautiful. There were ferns and mosses and lichens surrounding us as we climbed, and we crossed the paths of more squirrels and even a couple of garter snakes. At the top of the mountain we had a view that could have been a Thomas Cole painting, and I learned later that he had visited this area and painted there. The trail took us over a landslide, where trailworkers had simply marked tested paths with blue painted lines, and a rather steep rock face with a path laid out in rocks that were held in place by big iron pins. It was pretty cool.
After hiking this area, we drove around West End admiring the scenery and stopping to visit a lighthouse, then drove back to Bar Harbor. We tried Harbor Bars at West End Drugs. Harbor Bars are chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches dipped in chocolate, and they were really good and really rich. We finished up the night in town by doing a bit of food shopping and then going to a bar for some beers. Back at the campsite we succeeded in cooking dinner over a fire and went to bed.
As you might except, it was pretty cold this whole time, but we managed. However, after three nights we happily drove down the coast and made our way to Boston. David and Ashley have a close friend working here and we have been staying with him for the past few days. During the drive down we stopped in Portland, Maine, which was a really cool town that reminded my friends of San Francisco.
In Boston we've been seeing some of the sites and just taking it easy. Yesterday we started walking the Freedom Trail, but ironically didn't get very far because we got distracted by one of the re-enactment tours in the cemetery. The man doing the re-enactment was simply very good-looking, and he was also really lively with a great booming voice. As a result, we just hung around his tour group for a bit, learning the juicy details of the American Revolution, including John Hancock's missing right hand, and how Dr Prescott happened to be the one to bring the news to Lexington of the redcoats movements.
As we followed the tour group on and off, we saw a little more of Boston, stumbling into a used book store (we seem to find one of those everywhere we go), and eventually getting to Quincy Maw-ket for some New England clam chowder.
We also visited Jason's place of work and then the Occupy Boston site at Dewey Squares. David and I participated in some Theatre of the Oppressed. It wasn't really my thing, but it was kind of fun to play the games. Two of them did get the intended point across very well. One showed how difficult it is to follow one lead while trying to lead or protect others at the same time,. It also looked into the psychology of someone being forced to follow a power, then in turn being given power over that person, and how different people might react in a situation like that. The other allowed for a visual representation of something that bothered us. I thought it was a little silly, but I volunteered the idea of mountaintop removal. A couple of us were the mountain. A couple were in charge of hypothetical dynamite. So one group pushed the dynamite and the others collapsed, and David pointed out afterwards his feelings about seeing something that seemed eternal being suddenly reduced to nothing through such little effort on man's part. As we ended that scene, a man got up in front of the group and grabbed a microphone, but we went to look for Ashley, and Jason was just getting out of work, so we left Dewey Square and went in search of $3 Vietnamese sandwiches. We searched, we found, we ate. And it was good. Boston is pretty small, so this did not take that much time.
We headed back to Jason's place and relaxed for the evening.
What shall we do today? Ashley and I are tempted to look for the tour guide, haha, but we may just find another tour and explore the city some more.
By the way, the cannolis at Mike's Pastry on the north end are fantastically delicious, particularly the florentine.
That's all for now,
~Alicia
P.S. pictures soon, hopefully
Acadia National Park is beautiful. When we got into the park we parked the car and split up, each of us curious to see something different. Ashley and David climbed the Beehive, which had innovative trails that required you to scale rock faces by climbing up metal bars, and is one of the trail systems that gets closed down for part of the year so that peregrine falcons can breed there. I just strolled along the coast, walking over the rocks and visiting Thunder Hole, where the waves crash into a small inlet and sometimes with such force and in such a way that it sounds like a big clap of thunder. We decided to meet back on Sand Beach (Maine is very creative with their names of places), and so I got there early and climbed another small trail that led up from the beach. Along the way for all of us we faced chattering, self-righteous red squirrels. To me, even the crows in Maine were wilder than those at home. At around three o'clock we were all back on the beach and ready to go back to Bar Harbor for some lobster. We went to a restaurant called Gailan's and the waitress, Ginger, tied on our bibs for us and instructed us newbies on how to open up the crustacean. It was pretty tasty, but the best part of the meal was dessert. We ordered an ice cream cappuccino, which was delicious, and indian pudding, which tasted like pumpkin pie on steroids, it had so much flavor (from the molasses).
The following day we went to the other end of Acadia, West End, so that we could hike a trail that one of Ashley's and my friends from NYRP had worked on as an Americorps. It was called Flying Mountain, and it was beautiful. There were ferns and mosses and lichens surrounding us as we climbed, and we crossed the paths of more squirrels and even a couple of garter snakes. At the top of the mountain we had a view that could have been a Thomas Cole painting, and I learned later that he had visited this area and painted there. The trail took us over a landslide, where trailworkers had simply marked tested paths with blue painted lines, and a rather steep rock face with a path laid out in rocks that were held in place by big iron pins. It was pretty cool.
After hiking this area, we drove around West End admiring the scenery and stopping to visit a lighthouse, then drove back to Bar Harbor. We tried Harbor Bars at West End Drugs. Harbor Bars are chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches dipped in chocolate, and they were really good and really rich. We finished up the night in town by doing a bit of food shopping and then going to a bar for some beers. Back at the campsite we succeeded in cooking dinner over a fire and went to bed.
As you might except, it was pretty cold this whole time, but we managed. However, after three nights we happily drove down the coast and made our way to Boston. David and Ashley have a close friend working here and we have been staying with him for the past few days. During the drive down we stopped in Portland, Maine, which was a really cool town that reminded my friends of San Francisco.
In Boston we've been seeing some of the sites and just taking it easy. Yesterday we started walking the Freedom Trail, but ironically didn't get very far because we got distracted by one of the re-enactment tours in the cemetery. The man doing the re-enactment was simply very good-looking, and he was also really lively with a great booming voice. As a result, we just hung around his tour group for a bit, learning the juicy details of the American Revolution, including John Hancock's missing right hand, and how Dr Prescott happened to be the one to bring the news to Lexington of the redcoats movements.
As we followed the tour group on and off, we saw a little more of Boston, stumbling into a used book store (we seem to find one of those everywhere we go), and eventually getting to Quincy Maw-ket for some New England clam chowder.
We also visited Jason's place of work and then the Occupy Boston site at Dewey Squares. David and I participated in some Theatre of the Oppressed. It wasn't really my thing, but it was kind of fun to play the games. Two of them did get the intended point across very well. One showed how difficult it is to follow one lead while trying to lead or protect others at the same time,. It also looked into the psychology of someone being forced to follow a power, then in turn being given power over that person, and how different people might react in a situation like that. The other allowed for a visual representation of something that bothered us. I thought it was a little silly, but I volunteered the idea of mountaintop removal. A couple of us were the mountain. A couple were in charge of hypothetical dynamite. So one group pushed the dynamite and the others collapsed, and David pointed out afterwards his feelings about seeing something that seemed eternal being suddenly reduced to nothing through such little effort on man's part. As we ended that scene, a man got up in front of the group and grabbed a microphone, but we went to look for Ashley, and Jason was just getting out of work, so we left Dewey Square and went in search of $3 Vietnamese sandwiches. We searched, we found, we ate. And it was good. Boston is pretty small, so this did not take that much time.
We headed back to Jason's place and relaxed for the evening.
What shall we do today? Ashley and I are tempted to look for the tour guide, haha, but we may just find another tour and explore the city some more.
By the way, the cannolis at Mike's Pastry on the north end are fantastically delicious, particularly the florentine.
That's all for now,
~Alicia
P.S. pictures soon, hopefully
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