We Made It

Five thousand, four hundred and twenty-six miles later, we made it to New York! We've just been busy exploring the city, buying kitchen supplies and other crap, moving me into my new place and seeing the sights. We will definitely have our final Chadam Does America blog post before the weekend is over, but we wanted to get some more pics of my new apartment, etc before we posted anything. More soon!!!

Cleveland Rocks

"For God’s sakes Lemon, we’d all like to flee to the Cleve and club up at the Flats and have lunch with Little Richard, but we fight those urges."

-Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock

Adam and I pulled into Cleveland yesterday afternoon in the midst of another torrential downpour. The inclement weather has certainly made many appearances on this trip.  But the rains parted after we arrived at Christine and Mike's house and they took us to the cute park by Case Western Reserve University for music, beer and a snocone!

Then we took a walk to the local lagoon that sits in front of the enormous art museum. Christine convinced me that if you swing your arms while taking a picture, it makes it look like you're having infinitely more fun. 

Now for a history lesson:

Many former oil and steel barons like John D. Rockefeller founded companies in Cleveland in the mid-19th Century, such that Cleveland was the fifth largest city in the United States by 1920. Now, it's the 43rd largest city in the United States due to an almost 50% reduction in its population from its peak of 914,000 in 1950. From its heyday, most of the rich families in Cleveland had their homes in Cleveland and their summer homes in Cleveland Heights, about 8 miles in an automobile, about 6 days in a horse and buggy (possible exaggeration). The plus side, though, was that many of the old mansions had ridiculous animals out front keeping guard. Like this crazy gryphon. Bih-GAW!

And, of course, the food. We ate a local "hipster" joint called Melt, aptly named because they serve pretty much only sandwiches with melted cheese in some form. Although not documented in a picture, their beer list was inCREDible. We had a beer that was stored in old bourbon barrels, a perfect complement to our earlier Kentucky stop. Below, you see a delicious spinach, roasted red pepper, grilled onion and feta cheese sandwich with slaw, fries and tomato soup. On the right you see a jalapeño pepper, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and mixed berry preserve (hey, don't knock it till you try it) sandwich with the same accoutrements. They were unreasonably delicious. If you're in Cleveland, go to Melt.

Finally, despite a paucity of time, we woke up early to trek west to Tremont in Cleveland for breakfast with Virginia, a dear friend of mine from high school. We had to catch her before she left for work which is why she looks nice and I look tired. 

All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised by Cleveland, and it helps to have local friends who love it show you around. As I write this blog, we have just pulled into New Jersey and I'm going to bring us on into NYC so I'm signing off for now, but more about the Big Lights and the Big Apple later tonight!!!

-Chadé

Pure Michigan

We realize we've still been slow on the posting, but we're still recovering from the humidity of the South and the alcohol of Kentucky. 

We made it to Michigan on Monday afternoon, stopped quickly at Adam's alma mater Kalamazoo College, and headed north for Rockford, MI, hometown of Mr. Adam Granger. We accomplished very little Monday night aside from eating steak salad, playing with Adam's dog Abby and Christie and Mike's dog Oliver and hitting the sack.

Upon waking up on Tuesday, first thing's first: introducing Chadé to Meijer, the Michigan-bred store that spawned the likes of Walmart and Target. That's right, Meijer was the original. Get three people from Western Michigan together and within 5 minutes, Meijer is bound to come up in conversation. [Kinda sad how true this was for the trip - it's just a big store - Adam].

Adam and I bought a few pounds of cherries and went home to make a cherry pie! (Little known fact: Michigan exports about 75% of the nation's tart cherries). 

In the picture on the left, Adam is working a cherry pitter which pits the cherries faster than you could any other way. And, to the right, obviously, are the finished products. They were delicious.

After making pies, Adam and I stopped by the beach of his neighborhood Lake Bella Vista where he used to go wakeboarding during the summers. Then we headed into Grand Rapids to celebrate his sister Beth's final exam of college. We ate at the delicious Bistro Bella Vita (sorry, no pictures) then hit the bars, then hit Yesterdog, a local favorite open until 3am where hot dogs are $1.80 and Obama made a stop on his campaign trail. 

Needless to say, Michigan was a re-fueling stop towards the end of our journey. The night of beers and hot dogs with Beth and Adam's friend Christie resulting in so many points awarded and deducted that neither of us can remember the ending score from that night, so we'll call it a wash. Adam does get a point for giving his sister her favorite bottle of wine for her graduation and I get a point for suggesting the cherry pies.

Score: Chadé: 8, Adam: 7.

Stats:

2 cherry pies baked

3 dogs played with

16 states visited

4500 total miles driven

More about Cleveland this afternoon (we are currently in Cleveland but don't have time to blog about it quite yet!)

- Chadé

Kentucky Bourbon

Sunday morning, we took off from the hotel we were staying at just north of Knoxville, TN, headed for Kentucky Bourbon country. The night before, I drove through South and North Carolina, convinced that we had discovered the country's worst highway drivers. Indiana, it would turn out a day later, showed us that we had no idea what bad highway drivers really were. 

Our one and only stop on the Kentucky Bourbon trail was the Woodford Reserve Distillery, which was awesome. We heard many superlative facts and tidbits, (Woodford is the only bourbon triple distilled. Only bourbon distilled in copper pots. Only official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby. The initial mash uses 72% corn, 18% rye, 10 % malted barley), but the best was just seeing how bourbon is made. I was pleased to learn it is essentially the same as making beer, with distillation and some time to age (well, 6-9 years) in oak barrels. Moonshine, anyone? Also, the distillery turned out to be highly photogenic:

Here is a 7500 gallon fermentation vat, where the yeast are working hard enough to produce a constant bubble and surprising amount of heat.

Ok, not everything in the distillery was photogenic

Chadé found a barrel with a tattoo almost identical to her own.

But most of it was

After the tour, a fifth of Woodford Reserve in hand, we drove north to Newport, Kentucky to visit my friend Justin and family. We started our visit with mint jelups and a nice afternoon chat. 18 hours, many beers, and 3/4 of a fifth of whiskey later, our visit ended with a vicious, well-earned hang over.

After enjoying our mint juleps, we walked three blocks to the Hofbrauhaus-Newport, one of the two Haufbrauhaus beer gardens in the US. There we enjoyed accordion music, chicken dances, German drinking songs, and steins of beer the size of your head. The beer comes in liter-sized steins, which seem daunting when you first are given one, but you quickly discover are as easy to drink as any other. 2 liters seems like a lot to drink in a short sitting, but hey, it's only 2 glasses. 

Justin and nephew Ashton

Following the Hofbrauhaus, we went to the Montgomery Inn, which overlooked the Ohio River. It was only a short walk away, but Chadé's knee was acting up, so we decided to take a cab. This short distance clearly baffle our cab driver, as he tried to drive us to a town called Montgomery that was 30 miles away. Ribs, pork chops, and wings accompanied a couple more beers, and whiskey ginger ales for Chadé. Our last stop was another bar back across the river, where I will admit to hardly drinking the beer that I ordered, for which the waitress, Chadé, and Justin all joined in ridicule. Minus a point, I guess.

A sample memory from our night out

This would have been a perfect time for our night to end. The wonderful and cruel thing about alcohol though, is that the more you drink, the more you want to drink. After going back to Justin's house (well, his parent's house. He lives with his parents. Sorry, Justin...), Chadé went to the bedroom to change into pajamas and fell asleep soon after. I almost followed suit, but got way to excited when I realized Justin had a full glas of whiskey, and that one was waiting for me also if I only wanted it. One more glass of whiskey turned into several more, and Justin and I enjoyed a late-night drunken heart-to-heart. 

The following morning we awoke early to head to Michigan, surprised to find most of the whiskey vanished. 

The Competition:

1 point to Justin for admirable fortitude and sunny disposition in facing a "purgatory year" in Newport, KY, following unjust deportation from Canada. Another point for playing hosting duties and ensuring that our visit to Kentucky was the most debaucherous and rowdy of the trip. 1 point each also to the rest of the Lawrences, Jum, Susan, Jilly, and Ashton, for being gracious hosts.

1 point to this guy, who was clearly having the most fun at the Hofbrau Haus: 

Chadé earns a point from Justin for proper use of the word "clutch." I lose a point for beer wastefulness. I know many more points were awarded and deducted through-out our stay in Kentucky, but memory and booze interacting the way the do, I have no idea what they are. So, 1 point to the each of us for doing Kentucky right. 

Current Score: Chadé 7, Adam 6

Next Post: Hangovers in Indiana, and family and friends in Michigan

Blog Hiatus

So we haven't posted anything in a while - Due to temporary laziness, a night of entirely too much drinking, and because the last two days are bereft of pictures, with the exception of a trip we took to the Woodford Reserve Distillery. We've come as far as Rockford, MI, which is my hometown, and are currently visiting with some of my friends and family. We'll have a full post up tonight. We're still having a ton of fun, but taking full advantage of being home to re-charge and re-boot.

- Adam

You Lie

I'm going to just cut to the chase: I was arguably the most excited about visiting Charleston and so far it's been the biggest disappointment of the trip.

Feeling slightly more rested than the day before, we left Savannah yesterday morning around 10am to drive the two hours to South Carolina. When we pulled into Charleston we did get to stop at a nice farmers market, eat some $1.30 peaches and buy some souvenirs. Then I took Adam on a tortuous stroll down the main shopping street as I was under the impression that Charleston had excellent shopping but I may have missed it. My knee was not happy about it.

Feeling evermore sleepy, we drove to the Old Slave Mart in the city down a cobblestone street where the stones were originally from 17th Century England. Adam visited the Old Slave Mart Museum while I dozed in the car. This is where they actually sold slaves in the city of Charleston up until 1863.

Then, feeling tired and unmotivated but still wanting to absorb some more of the city's history, I spotted this horse and carriage passing in front of our car and I turned to Adam: "Hey! Let's go for a horse and carriage ride!" I'm going to ruin the suspense for you: I lose a point for this suggestion.

We drive into the parking lot of the carriage company and immediately spot some gamecocks running around. (I don't think they're actually called gamecocks, but that's the mascot of the University of South Carolina, so hereafter that's what they will be called).

Then we boarded the carriage with about 7.000 other sweaty persons, two mules named Dylan and Guthrie and a guide who must have been the president of the world's worst jokes club. Here are some of his comedic gems:

While telling us that we were using mules not horses and that mules are a cross between a horse and a donkey: "They give us a tax break for using hybrids."

When describing the seige on Fort Sumter and saying that a donkey was the only fatality: "Some people say that Yankee jackass got what he deserved."

When pointing out the marble stairs on some of the city's old houses: "You know what they say about marble; you can't take it for granite."

And when showing us that the main Episcopal steeple in the city leans slightly to the right after the Earthquake of 1885: "Everything in South Carolina leans slightly to the right."

Wan-wah.

I had many more pictures of the actually beautiful houses of Charleston, but my computer refuses to load them, probably because it's as disappointed as I was.

Immediately after we freed ourselves from the carriage and the tour and the memory of both, we filled up with gas and hit the road. The real highlight of the day came about 100 miles northwest of Charleston in West Columbia where we stopped for dinner right across the street from Joe Wilson's re-election headquarters. It was an unbelievably appropriate epilogue to a highly-anticipated day, as I have been told from many-a source that Charleston is a city worth seeing and South Carolina is a state with its own charm. In the spirit of Joe Wilson and as we drove into the South Carolina sunset and the North Carolina mountains, I really just wanted to scream: "You lie."

-Chadé

The Competition:

I award myself a point for spotting the gamecocks.

I lose a point for suggesting the tour.

We also award two points to the girl on the left petting the miniature horse:

She lobbed her water bottle into this trash can, and, upon making the shot, whispered "two points" under her breath. We would like to honor those points.

Andrea awards Adam a point for spilling hot sauce on himself in Savannah, but any future instances of Adam spilling on himself will hereafter be suspect and will not be awarded points.

Score: Adam: 6, Chadé: 6, Charleston: 0. The deadlock persists.

The Stats:

1/3 carriage bench to ourselves
2/3 to the rotund couple next to us
4 gamecocks spotted
12 states total
500 miles driven
3,950 total miles

You Lie

I'm going to just cut to the chase: I was arguably the most excited about visiting Charleston and so far it's been the biggest disappointment of the trip.

Feeling slightly more rested than the day before, we left Savannah yesterday morning around 10am to drive the two hours to South Carolina. When we pulled into Charleston we did get to stop at a nice farmers market, eat some $1.30 peaches and buy some souvenirs. Then I took Adam on a tortuous stroll down the main shopping street as I was under the impression that Charleston had excellent shopping but I may have missed it. My knee was not happy about it.

Feeling evermore sleepy, we drove to the Old Slave Mart in the city down a cobblestone street where the stones were originally from 17th Century England. Adam visited the Old Slave Mart Museum while I dozed in the car. This is where they actually sold slaves in the city of Charleston up until 1863.

Then, feeling tired and unmotivated but still wanting to absorb some more of the city's history, I spotted this horse and carriage passing in front of our car and I turned to Adam: "Hey! Let's go for a horse and carriage ride!" I'm going to ruin the suspense for you: I lose a point for this suggestion.

We drive into the parking lot of the carriage company and immediately spot some gamecocks running around. (I don't think they're actually called gamecocks, but that's the mascot of the University of South Carolina, so hereafter that's what they will be called).

Then we boarded the carriage with about 7.000 other sweaty persons, two people on our four seat bench who took up more than 2/3 of the space, two mules named Dylan and Guthrie and a guide who must have been the president of the world's worst jokes club. Here are some of his comedic gems:

While telling us that we were using mules not horses and that mules are a cross between a horse and a donkey: "They give us a tax break for using hybrids."

When describing the seige on Fort Sumter and saying that a donkey was the only fatality: "Some people say that Yankee jackass got what he deserved."

When pointing out the marble stairs on some of the city's old houses: "You know what they say about marble; you can't take it for granite."

And when showing us that the main Episcopal steeple in the city leans slightly to the right after the Earthquake of 1885: "Everything in South Carolina leans slightly to the right."

Wan-wah.

I had many more pictures of the actually beautiful houses of Charleston, but my computer refuses to load them, probably because it's as disappointed as I was.

Immediately after we freed ourselves from the carriage and the tour and the memory of both, we filled up with gas and hit the road. The real highlight of the day came about 100 miles northwest of Charleston in West Columbia where we stopped for dinner right across the street from Joe Wilson's re-election headquarters. It was an unbelievably appropriate epilogue to a highly-anticipated day, as I have been told from many-a source that Charleston is a city worth seeing and South Carolina is a state with its own charm. In the spirit of Joe Wilson and as we drove into the South Carolina sunset and the North Carolina mountains, I really just wanted to scream: "You lie."

-Chadé

The competition:

I award myself a point for spotting the gamecocks.

I lose a point for suggesting the tour.

We also award two points to the girl on the left petting the miniature horse:

Georgia Rambler

Update on the truck fire we passed in the last post: The truck was full of 39,000 pounds of shredded cheese. The only thing missing was the world's biggest tortilla chip.  http://www.pnj.com/article/20100805/NEWS01/100805022/Burned-cheese-blocks-traffic-on-I-10-after-crash

Yesterday we spent the day touring the history and food of Savannah. Though both of us were feeling a bit sedate from the previous night's epic driving and not-so-epic sleeping, our mood seemed appropriate for the city, which is covered in spanish-moss, humidity, and leisurely, kind people. 

Our first stop in Savannah was the Green-Meldrim Mansion, which is primarily famous for being Sherman's headquarters following his famous march to the sea. This is the place where he wrote a letter giving Lincoln the city of Savannah, 150 artillery, and 25,000 bales of cotton for Christmas. 

It is currently owned by a church next door, whose members give tours of the place. On the tour, two very sweet old men very slowly tell you very mundane details about very old furniture. Nonetheless, the tour was really interesting, especially after my recent spate of Civil War nerdiness.  

Next up, Katy took us to the Womsloe plantation, which has a nice little museum, a tomb, and a mile-and-a-half road lined with 400 spanish moss-draped oak trees. The rumor is that this is the road that Forrest Gump runs down when he breaks free of his braces. Sadly, this rumor was quashed by the girl at Wormsloe's welcome center, who was working her first day, and was able to provide little else in terms of interesting information. 

Chadé's excitement for spanish-moss covered oak trees led to many, many more pictures, though I'll only share this last one, of the oldest tree in Savannah.

For dinner we ate at the Moon River brewery, where we drank entirely too much beer, only to be taken  immediately to Wet Willies, which serves slushees spiked with 190 proof grain alcohol.

Chadé wants them all!

Feeling rejuvenated from drink and food (and painkillers in Chadé's case,) we ended our night in Savannah with a sweet fireworks display along the waterfront.

The Competition:
A point to Katy for graciously showing us around Savannah for the day and for humoring us when
we became too exhausted to continue.

Another point to Katy's dog Bundy, whose almost rabid enthusiasm injected some much-needed energy into the day.

Walking back from the Wormsloe plantation, Katy found a tiny anole lizard in our path. I commanded the lizard to climb up on Chadé, who was standing stock-still a few feet away. The lizard obeyed, and climbed half-way up her leg before discovering that she was not, in fact, an oak tree. I earn a point for lizard-mastery, and Chadé earns a point or tree-impersonation.

Unforunately, I also need to deduct a point from myself for poor Hot Sauce management after accidently shaking the bottle with the lid lightly screwed on, spraying hot sauce everywhere, followed by mis-judging the lid of the hot-sauce and pouring about half the bottle on my dinner.

Current Score: Chadé 6, Adam 5

Next stop: Charleston, SC and then on to Kentucky!

- Adam