I got in last night to New Orleans around 830 and met my friend Alison at the train station and we promptly made a B-line for the French Quarter and a place to eat! We stopped at Chartres House Cafe one block up from Decatur Street which runs parrallel with the Riverwalk along the Mississippi. The food there was great and I got to taste a number of New Orleans fare all together with their sampler. It included Red Beans & Rice, Gumbo, and Jambalaya served with some crusty french bread. We then proceeded to do the touristy thing and walk down Bourbon Street near where it connects with Canal and see the Bourbon Street Brass band and then I got a Hurricane at Pat O'Brians.
This morning I started off the day with a Cable Car ride down into the Quarter and then a brisk walk to the St. Louis Cathedral which is also off Chartres Street near Jackson Square. The Cathedral was beautiful inside as can be expected and even had a concert happening there later in the day that I dropped back in for. After mass I made my way across Jackson Square to the well known Cafe du Monte and ordered myself the standard cafe au lait and a plateful of beignets and both were delectable (thank you Cindy for the tip). I then proceeded to stroll around and do a little window shopping since the crowd here in New Orleans stays up so late they also don't tend to open their shops till 9,10, or 11 in the morning. I kinda liked the majority of the shops while they were closed at least b/c they didn't put the trashy stuff out in the window that you would come to expect during Marti gras, a lot of the shops bank pretty heavily off the marketing of Marti gras. As I scoured the Quarter for all the Creole culture I could handle I started getting hungry and headed over to the Central Grocery off Decatur and got myself a muffaletta sandwich, which was excellent and a whole lot better then what I was expecting.
Well check out the pictures cause I need to get running out to go on a swamp tour and see some gators!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Country Cookin'
This morning I was off to an early start as while I’m visiting with Martha and Tom this week they’re both moving in to new places. Martha scored a pretty sweet house with a law school friend that is about spitting distance to the “perdy” bama stadium and Tom is still out there being a vagrant and looking for a place. Since my train wasn’t coming till the afternoon on Thursday I had a good chunk of the morning free and I felt the need to help a sista out. We were able to get a number of trips to and fro from the apartment to the new house and afterwards Tom and I ducked over to the City Café located in that one street town of Historic Downtown Northport. Let me tell ya the food in Alabama has yet to disappoint me and considering that I’ve shaken the dust off my sandals and on my way to New Orleans I think I’ll keep that happy sentiment.
Riding the train has been a fairly relaxing experience for me and I’ve been able to get quite a bit of emailing and such done while I’ve been on the train. The only downside is that the Amtrak line is pretty notorious for being late. For example showing up the hour early that they recommend and then adding on the half hour that the train is late to that and you end up sitting around for quite a while. For me that ended up being almost all that time spend on the floor as the Dobb’s family decided to have their family reunion in Tuscaloosa and they all decided the train was the way to go, which I don’t blame them at all. I was still proud though that even though there were a bunch of them they didn’t produce the same numbers or amount of ruckus as my family gatherings do. Just my direct family alone is 30 people including the little nieces and nephews of mine.
I’ll be pulling into New Orleans tonight just in time to get a Tee of Gumbo (hopefully onion free if I can find it, since I’d like to remain cancer free) or perhaps take the 15 Dozen Oyster challenge at the Acme Oyster House. I’ll report more tomorrow on the New Orleans experience.
Day 4 (Thursday July 30) notes:
Southern Cooking Joint: City Café
Located in Historic Downtown Northport
- Plenty of spirit and history considering how close it is to the bama football stadium
- Dinner / Country restaurant feel , pictures that tell a bit of the history of the town from the Civil Rights movement to the hayday of bama football under the guidance of Paul “Bear” Bryant
- I ordered a Sausage & Egg Biscuit, a Chicken Biscuit, and a Bowl of Grits w/ a cup of coffee (All were excellent and I donned them with a little bit of Alabama Sunshine Hot Sauce and I was as happy as a pig in slop)
- Tom ordered the Biscuits and Gravy with a Bowl of Grits but managed in his northern Indiana way to slightly confuse the waitress as to what he wanted b/c me wanted to emphasize the sausage gravy and there for said “Sausage Biscuit and Gravy” A quick language translation and all was ‘gravy’ and it was good!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Paint me a Birmingham
Wednesday I decided not to make the drive out to Nashville and spend the day a little less rushed. I started by driving out to Hanceville, AL to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament where the EWTN Poor Clairs' live and worship. The drive out was very enjoyable, about 1.5 hrs from Tuscaloosa where I've been staying, and the weather was perfect. The grounds at the shrine are fairly extensive and are fairly new as they're still doing a few improvements. It's a very peaceful and inspiring place; whom ever oversaw puting the shrine together did a very well thoughtout job.
Inside the main chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is available for Adoration you have a wall that seperates the Poor Clairs from the visitors since they're a cloistered order. As I was in silent prayer before mass they began singing the Chaplet of St. Micheal and it was just absolutly amazing to me how excellent they sounded and how it made staying focused in prayer just that much easier since it was so beautiful. Mass was down in the lower chapel and celebrated by a couple Franciscian Friars that are connected with the shrine and it was just as beautiful as the main church. I would have taken pictures, but there are signs that respectfully ask you not to so if you want to see the inside of the shrine yourself your either going to have to scour on line or visit yourself. I would suggest the visit, it's quite worth it.
After mass I walked around the grounds to the Castle of St Michael the Archangel, which was really cool, and inside was their gift shop. The gift shop was even well put together the religious art was very reasonably priced and very good quality and a lot of the books and other art work was very relevant. I then went on the walk through the Eucharistic stations which was inspiring and then lead down to their replica of the Grotto at Lourds. Having been to the real one in Lourds not many replicas really compare, but it was nice none the less.
Just before I had made my way to the shrine I stopped at the Hanceville Drug Co., which was a cool drug store with an old fashioned ice cream parlor so I had a Root Beer Float for brunch. On the way out I decided to see what Hanceville had to offer in the way of real food so I stopped for my daily BBQ joint visit and then headed to do a drive by photo shoot of interesting scenes in downtown Birmingham.
Tomorrow I spend the day traveling to New Orleans, so this will be my last post for a couple days.
Day 3 (Wednesday July 29) notes:
BBQ Joint: Luna's Hickory Pit BBQ
105 Main St NW, Hanceville, AL
Inside the main chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is available for Adoration you have a wall that seperates the Poor Clairs from the visitors since they're a cloistered order. As I was in silent prayer before mass they began singing the Chaplet of St. Micheal and it was just absolutly amazing to me how excellent they sounded and how it made staying focused in prayer just that much easier since it was so beautiful. Mass was down in the lower chapel and celebrated by a couple Franciscian Friars that are connected with the shrine and it was just as beautiful as the main church. I would have taken pictures, but there are signs that respectfully ask you not to so if you want to see the inside of the shrine yourself your either going to have to scour on line or visit yourself. I would suggest the visit, it's quite worth it.
After mass I walked around the grounds to the Castle of St Michael the Archangel, which was really cool, and inside was their gift shop. The gift shop was even well put together the religious art was very reasonably priced and very good quality and a lot of the books and other art work was very relevant. I then went on the walk through the Eucharistic stations which was inspiring and then lead down to their replica of the Grotto at Lourds. Having been to the real one in Lourds not many replicas really compare, but it was nice none the less.
Just before I had made my way to the shrine I stopped at the Hanceville Drug Co., which was a cool drug store with an old fashioned ice cream parlor so I had a Root Beer Float for brunch. On the way out I decided to see what Hanceville had to offer in the way of real food so I stopped for my daily BBQ joint visit and then headed to do a drive by photo shoot of interesting scenes in downtown Birmingham.
Tomorrow I spend the day traveling to New Orleans, so this will be my last post for a couple days.
Day 3 (Wednesday July 29) notes:
BBQ Joint: Luna's Hickory Pit BBQ
105 Main St NW, Hanceville, AL
- I finally found a place in Alabama that holds true to the tradition of serving authentic Alabama style BBQ ie WHITE SAUCE!
- I ordered the 1/2 BBQ Chicken Meal which was tasty even without any sauce on it
- The chicken was very well seasoned and much better then my expectations considering Hanceville had 3 places you could eat at (4 if you count the drug store)
- Awesome Sweet Tea
- Waitress's were very friendly, cute, and had great southern small town accents
- Served with Texas toast and you guessed it BBQ dipping sauce (tomato based)
- White Sauce was very tangy (my guess was that they used miracle whip as the base)
- Coleslaw wasn't anything much to write home about
- Beans were tasty
- Overall a very good experiance and a diamond in the rough
TCB in a Flash
Yesterday was well worth the 8 hours of round trip driving in torrential rain.
The day started off with a hearty breakfast courtesy of Martha "Stewart" Rogers and then a scavenger hunt for her CD case, cause a road trip just isn't a road trip without some tunes. The drive then started with aspirations of stopping at any little interesting road side stand or site just to mix things up a bit, but I don't know if we just drove through the wrong part of Mississippi or if it's just really not all that interesting because the only stop we made was a half hour outside of Memphis to grab a couple road maps and do a Chinese fire drill. It also just could have been because we were on our way to see the king and eat some BBQ!
As we got on Elvis Presley Boulivard we were pretty excited, we had actually been listening to Elvis music the entire 4 hours on the way up. Then from out of nowhere the clouds disappeard and a large Heartbreak Hotel sign came up on the horizon and we knew we were there. From the street front you don't see a whole lot and you don't necessarily feel like you're being taken back to the 70's. In fact you feel like you just came to the door of a quiant southern mansion with your typical ammenities. A large iron gate with music staffs that opens to a long curvy uphill drive way to dramatically reveal a moderatly sized estate in Southwest Tennessee. As you begin the tour you start to notice on the outside well landscaped gardens, a horse pasture with "Phillip" and his friends running around, and a few buildings that you can't pick out until you actually walk through them.
The tour began with a walk though the main floor and basement of the Presley mansion. As you walk in you don't get an immediate shock to your system as you see the stair case up to the private portion of the Presley home, but as you come in a little farther and turn your head to the right your brain goes into overdrive and begins to process the kilidescope of colors before you as you discover Elvis' sitting room. The first thing you notice are the two large stain glass peacock entry features and then the walls lined in mirrors and the ornate furnature. You look left and you jump right back into traditional fare with a very well put together dinning room. The tour takes you through the kitchen of the house and it brought back memories to me of visiting my grandparents up in Conneticut and how they had their house decorated. After walking through the kitchen you catch a glimpse of what is refered to as the jungle room and get to really experiance what shag carpeting looks like when it is not only on the floor but on the walls and ceiling as well! You then go downstairs and the first room you step into is the biliards parlor and it was quite ornate the walls are super busy as they're decorated with ornate drapes that go from the ceiling to the floor, you continue into the TV room where the bright couches and three TVs seem to be the only unusual feature in the room besides the wet bar with bright yellow polyester seats. The rest of the mansion tour consisted of seeing the racketball building where Elvis typically practiced with the band, the trophy hall that glimmered inside from few hundred gold records they were able to fit along the walls (the rest spilt out to anywhere else on the property that seemed appropriate), his rockin' costumes (my favorite was the Aloha from Hawaii one), and his colection of cars and toys (from a car lovers perspective was awesome).
Martha and I then checked out the touristy stuff of Graceland that's across the street from the estate, picked up a few fun memories from the trip, and scarfed down a grilled peanut butter and bannanna sandwich (it wasn't bad but the way it was made wasn't outstanding either I'm probably going to need to figureout a way to doctor it up a bit so the memory can live on ;)
The next stop was Beale Street, but it started raining so all we did was drive through downtown Memphis and out to the riverfront before turning down Beale St. The reveal as you come up from the riverfront is similar to what I would expect in Vegas and see all of the neon lights. We then hopped back on the freeway to Neely's BBQ as you can read below:
Day 2 (Tuesday July 28) notes:
Tour of Memphis:
BBQ Joint: Neely's BBQ
Free Rolls again served with the house BBQ sauce
Pretty Good Sweet Tea (lots of suga)
EXCELLENT RIBS (We might have a winner! The bar has been set high on day 2!)
Very Good Pulled Pork and Smoked Turkey
Pretty Good Beef Brisket and sides
The day started off with a hearty breakfast courtesy of Martha "Stewart" Rogers and then a scavenger hunt for her CD case, cause a road trip just isn't a road trip without some tunes. The drive then started with aspirations of stopping at any little interesting road side stand or site just to mix things up a bit, but I don't know if we just drove through the wrong part of Mississippi or if it's just really not all that interesting because the only stop we made was a half hour outside of Memphis to grab a couple road maps and do a Chinese fire drill. It also just could have been because we were on our way to see the king and eat some BBQ!
As we got on Elvis Presley Boulivard we were pretty excited, we had actually been listening to Elvis music the entire 4 hours on the way up. Then from out of nowhere the clouds disappeard and a large Heartbreak Hotel sign came up on the horizon and we knew we were there. From the street front you don't see a whole lot and you don't necessarily feel like you're being taken back to the 70's. In fact you feel like you just came to the door of a quiant southern mansion with your typical ammenities. A large iron gate with music staffs that opens to a long curvy uphill drive way to dramatically reveal a moderatly sized estate in Southwest Tennessee. As you begin the tour you start to notice on the outside well landscaped gardens, a horse pasture with "Phillip" and his friends running around, and a few buildings that you can't pick out until you actually walk through them.
The tour began with a walk though the main floor and basement of the Presley mansion. As you walk in you don't get an immediate shock to your system as you see the stair case up to the private portion of the Presley home, but as you come in a little farther and turn your head to the right your brain goes into overdrive and begins to process the kilidescope of colors before you as you discover Elvis' sitting room. The first thing you notice are the two large stain glass peacock entry features and then the walls lined in mirrors and the ornate furnature. You look left and you jump right back into traditional fare with a very well put together dinning room. The tour takes you through the kitchen of the house and it brought back memories to me of visiting my grandparents up in Conneticut and how they had their house decorated. After walking through the kitchen you catch a glimpse of what is refered to as the jungle room and get to really experiance what shag carpeting looks like when it is not only on the floor but on the walls and ceiling as well! You then go downstairs and the first room you step into is the biliards parlor and it was quite ornate the walls are super busy as they're decorated with ornate drapes that go from the ceiling to the floor, you continue into the TV room where the bright couches and three TVs seem to be the only unusual feature in the room besides the wet bar with bright yellow polyester seats. The rest of the mansion tour consisted of seeing the racketball building where Elvis typically practiced with the band, the trophy hall that glimmered inside from few hundred gold records they were able to fit along the walls (the rest spilt out to anywhere else on the property that seemed appropriate), his rockin' costumes (my favorite was the Aloha from Hawaii one), and his colection of cars and toys (from a car lovers perspective was awesome).
Martha and I then checked out the touristy stuff of Graceland that's across the street from the estate, picked up a few fun memories from the trip, and scarfed down a grilled peanut butter and bannanna sandwich (it wasn't bad but the way it was made wasn't outstanding either I'm probably going to need to figureout a way to doctor it up a bit so the memory can live on ;)
The next stop was Beale Street, but it started raining so all we did was drive through downtown Memphis and out to the riverfront before turning down Beale St. The reveal as you come up from the riverfront is similar to what I would expect in Vegas and see all of the neon lights. We then hopped back on the freeway to Neely's BBQ as you can read below:
Day 2 (Tuesday July 28) notes:
Tour of Memphis:
BBQ Joint: Neely's BBQ
Free Rolls again served with the house BBQ sauce
Pretty Good Sweet Tea (lots of suga)
EXCELLENT RIBS (We might have a winner! The bar has been set high on day 2!)
Very Good Pulled Pork and Smoked Turkey
Pretty Good Beef Brisket and sides
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Leaving on a Jet Plane
As I'm sitting here in the BWI terminal staring at the plane I'm about to board to Birmingham it is beginning to set in that I really am doing this whole thing. Up until now it has seemed fairly surreal that I'm actually going to be traveling the country for the next six weeks and I'm excited for what is to come. I can't really thank God enough for all the blessings in my life and the blessings that have just popped up right in front of me to get this trip going and keep it going. I've spent the last week moving into the Youth Apostle house in McLean and saying goodbye to family and friends for a while. Sunday I spent the day with my family to celebrate my parents 40th Anniversary and take some time to reflect on how their marriage has multiplied God's love in so many ways. That evening I went back by the townhouse in Woodbridge where I've been living for this past year with some brothers in community. We spent the majority of the time down in the man cave New Jersey style with our shirts off, chains still on, watching TV, and staying hydrated (ok only Ben was kicking it Jersey style, but the rest of us envied him even if we were teasing him about it). I'm really going to miss living with those guys, I had a great time this past year with them and it was a sad day to pack up my things and go, but I'm also excited for my new digs and working situation once that gets going. I'll be at George Mason University's Catholic Campus Ministry part time getting to minister with a few other brothers, which is also exciting. (This is where my entry ended b/c I had to board the plane but read below for notes on day 1)
Day 1 (Monday July 27) notes:
First time flying Southwest airline and I never realized they don't assign you seats so when I was the 2nd to last person to board the plane there weren't a whole lot of seats. In fact it was me and another very friendly gentleman who were looking to grab seats in the front and I sat down and he begins to joke with me that he would really like to sit where I'm at but he's also doing iny mini miny mo with a couple other open seats. Then the lady sitting next to me grabs my arm and tells me that if I give him my seat she will punch me, so I politely decline the invitation and just sit there wondering what I got myself into.
Birmingham Airport smells like BBQ (mmmm!)
Hosts: Martha and Tom
Tour of Tuscaloosa:
Day 1 (Monday July 27) notes:
First time flying Southwest airline and I never realized they don't assign you seats so when I was the 2nd to last person to board the plane there weren't a whole lot of seats. In fact it was me and another very friendly gentleman who were looking to grab seats in the front and I sat down and he begins to joke with me that he would really like to sit where I'm at but he's also doing iny mini miny mo with a couple other open seats. Then the lady sitting next to me grabs my arm and tells me that if I give him my seat she will punch me, so I politely decline the invitation and just sit there wondering what I got myself into.
Birmingham Airport smells like BBQ (mmmm!)
Hosts: Martha and Tom
Tour of Tuscaloosa:
- uva style architecture but with a "manly" football stadium (it would be sad to give alabama their first loss of the season in such a perdy stadium) (I did in fact like the looks of the stadium)
- sprawling town with a college feel near the campus and pockets of southern charm
- North Port: one street area in Tuscaloosa, very quaint and comes out of no where with a cool "stand by me" wooden train bridge and piers
BBQ Joint: Dreamland BBQ
- Free Sliced White Bread served with the house BBQ sauce (sounds weird but it was tasty)
- Awesome Sweet Tea
- Pretty good ribs and chopped pork sandwiches
- Tasty Sausage
- "No Farting" neon sign above the bar (just to remind you that you're in a fine southern establishment)
- Friendly service and very attentive (I think Tom must have had 8 or 9 cokes and he was drinking them just to be polite and not waste, he then learned to ask for a to-go cup)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Anticipation
I spent a few hours driving up to PA this morning to visit some of my family. It was perfect driving weather – blue sky, a few white puffy clouds – and it got me very excited about the driving we’ll be doing in a few weeks. Of course, the trip will still be great even if it rains, but man, a few days like this would be awesome!
Paul did a great job of articulating the big questions about our trip. In fact, I think I even learned more about the trip after reading his post! Paul is much more profound than I am; right now I’m thinking, “road trip!” and that’s about it. I can’t wait to see more of this beautiful country – purple mountains, fruited plains, et cetera. I love being outside, love exploring stuff, and can’t wait to see some of the country’s most famous and beautiful landmarks. This is going to be great!
So while Paul thinks the profound thoughts, I get hung up on the very unprofound ones. Like, how are we going to refer to the vehicle we’ll be using during the trip? We’ll be taking my 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid (silver, if you're curious). I’ve never felt right referring to it as a car, because, well, I don’t think it is a car. It’s ridiculous to refer to it as a truck, as I’ve been told by many people (in truth, some people just snickered when I said it). Calling it “the SUV” is just awkward, and “Hybrid” is pretentious. And I refuse to call it “the Escape” ever since that ice storm on Valentines Day a few years ago when I couldn’t get it out of my parking space at the condo for two days; “Trapped” would have been a more appropriate name then. I wonder if there’s a patron saint for road trips? We could name it after her/him and be done with it. See, this is why I leave the profound stuff to Paul.
We are also starting to pull together provisions. Paul is giving me every indication that this trip will be one for the record books. My non-negotiable has been that we take a coffee maker and brew coffee in the car/truck/SUV every morning. See, it’s a Hybrid, and it has an actual electrical outlet (not a cigarette lighter) on the dash. Come to think of it, a blender might be nice, too. Hey, you never know.
Today Paul delivered a basket that he informed me we’ll be taking on the trip. The basket was roughly the size of a shoe box, and when I opened the lid I found it full of seasonings for cooking. I figured we’d do some cooking on the trip – we’re camping out, so we’ll need to feed ourselves – though in my mind that was covered by the coffee maker. An entire box of seasonings! There’s even a mortar and pestle in there (though in honor of Paul’s great skills at both building and cooking I want to call them “mortar and pesto”). I guess he was serious when he said this was going to be about food! Hard to complain about that.
There are still so many things to do before we leave. I scored an amazing bed roll at REI a few weeks ago – with this thing I could get a sound sleep on top of Washington’s head at Rushmore (do they let you up there like in North By Northwest?). REI is such a temptation – so much cool stuff, most of it will never be used again come September, of course. I still need to get new tires on the car/truck/SUV and get it the once-over before we leave. We have a tent, but still need that coffee maker and whatever electrical appliances we intend to use (a washer/dryer would be nice but it’s probably not practical). So much to do in just a few short weeks!
The anticipation builds! I can’t wait to get started.
Friday, July 3, 2009
The Five Ws (and one H)
There is probably a good bit of wisdom in the notion that if I really want this blog to tell the story of a journey that I need to share a little bit about the preparation of the journey and give it some context. Proof that it's wisdom is that someone mentioned the idea to me and that it wasn't my own;)
Who?
My quick analytical thinking answer is Chip and myself (Paul). One of my English teachers in High School use to get on my case about how often I used Yes and No and didn't elaborate on my thinking behind the answer, so what I'm going to try to do in the next couple months is fight with myself over being more elaborate and give better context to my answers. I may be pressed with time on how fast paced the trip will be, but I promise to do my best. Please feel free to call me out on this one as well, but if you would be so kind please try and make your criticisms constructive.
Chip and I are the two main players on this road trip cross country, but we're not the only ones. We met through a community we both belong to called Youth Apostles (YAs for short) and we interact together weekly in a ministry we're both currently involved in as moderators for the High School Boys-Catholic Life Community at St Mary of Sorrow's in Fairfax, VA or CLC for short. We both find ourselves in the midst of the same discernment of the Religious Lay Consecrated vocation within YAs even though we are at two different points in our life. I won't get to much into that now because I'm sure at different points along the journey we will share insights gained, excitements, concerns and all sorts of other stuff I don't even know about yet. Other players on this journey are those that have offered places to see and where to eat, the different folks we'll stop and see on the journey, and those that will be following along here and maybe even commenting on the trip.
What?
The journey we're embarking on is one of rest and relaxation; to see sights that we haven't seen and eat food we've only heard stories of / drooled about on TV (if you can't tell I'm really excited about the food). I think a cross country trip is pretty self explanatory; we aren't the first to do it and we won't be the last, but it is our journey and it's unique in its own right.
Why?
I think it is important to note that this isn't one of those last chance adventures to get in all the action we can get before diving into the religious life, but it is a good opportunity to see some sights as we transition from our jobs in the secular world to our first year of discernment and formation of the religious life. I think it's important to slow down before you make a transition.
Where?
I've narrated multiple times for people the places, people, and food I intend on seeing / eating and I've gotten pretty good at it, but I think the best way to answer this question is to tell you to go click on the Road Trip Map link to the right of this post. The idea is to get around to as many places as we can see that have come on to our radar since we starting planning out our conquest a few months ago.
When?
I'll be flying out from Baltimore on July 27th after celebrating with my family my parents 40th wedding anniversary! and Chip will be heading out during the first week of August after spending some time on the YAs beach trip. Currently we're projected to be back on the 4th of September, but then I'll be heading out with a couple of my brothers to see Virginia Tech Football whoop up on some elephants down in Atlanta, GA on the evening of the 5th.
How?
The first two weeks (aka The BBQ tour) I'll be embarking on my own by planes, trains, and automobiles (even a greyhound bus!). Chip has been generous enough to offer his Ford Escape to use during the trip so that will be the primary mode of transportation from Chicago, IL to Portland, OR and from San Francisco, CA back to McLean, VA. The best part about Chips SUV is that it is a hybrid and comes with an electrical outlet, which is important to note b/c we plan on making good use out of it so stay tuned in.
I guess the other thing I'll add to the "How?" is the moment when this idea gelled with the two of us. You see a few months ago when the economy bubble was popped my hours at work were reduced so I got to pick a day that became unpaid vacation time. What I ended up doing was taking off Wednesdays so I could stay one night a week at the YA house in McLean. Tuesday's are the night I would stay and then Wednesday morning I would get up and walk down the hall from my guest room to holy hour, mass, and then breakfast. How convenient is that! Then I would hangout with Eric, Brian, and Frs Mike and Jack in the office and sometimes goof off. Well one day I got an itch about wanting to do some traveling and knew in the back of my head about how Euro rail passes work from a woman I use to work with and decided that the US of A is much more innovative then Europe so we must have something of equal if not better quality! I get to talking with my pops that morning and he starts talking about Amtrak passes so off I go to the Amtrak sight and my imagination began to soar as to the possibilities of the places I could go and the food I could eat;) After extensive brain storming and trip routes (I think I planned out at least 3 different cross country trips before dinner that day) I left the YA house to go grab a bite to eat with Chip before CLC that night. While Chip and I are waiting for our food, and as he's probably noticed by now the excited look on my face that says I'm planning to take over the world, he calmly asks, "so what have you been up to today?" The rest of our conversation is a bit blurry as I'm sure the adrenaline took over once I began to whip out the Amtrak map of the US that shows all their possible train routes and their fare schedule. Later I came to find out as Chip chucked at me, like he tends to do when someone begins to act goofy or overly serious about something, that he too was wanting to do some traveling before our commitment in September.
(As Chip would say) And so the rest is history...
Who?
My quick analytical thinking answer is Chip and myself (Paul). One of my English teachers in High School use to get on my case about how often I used Yes and No and didn't elaborate on my thinking behind the answer, so what I'm going to try to do in the next couple months is fight with myself over being more elaborate and give better context to my answers. I may be pressed with time on how fast paced the trip will be, but I promise to do my best. Please feel free to call me out on this one as well, but if you would be so kind please try and make your criticisms constructive.
Chip and I are the two main players on this road trip cross country, but we're not the only ones. We met through a community we both belong to called Youth Apostles (YAs for short) and we interact together weekly in a ministry we're both currently involved in as moderators for the High School Boys-Catholic Life Community at St Mary of Sorrow's in Fairfax, VA or CLC for short. We both find ourselves in the midst of the same discernment of the Religious Lay Consecrated vocation within YAs even though we are at two different points in our life. I won't get to much into that now because I'm sure at different points along the journey we will share insights gained, excitements, concerns and all sorts of other stuff I don't even know about yet. Other players on this journey are those that have offered places to see and where to eat, the different folks we'll stop and see on the journey, and those that will be following along here and maybe even commenting on the trip.
What?
The journey we're embarking on is one of rest and relaxation; to see sights that we haven't seen and eat food we've only heard stories of / drooled about on TV (if you can't tell I'm really excited about the food). I think a cross country trip is pretty self explanatory; we aren't the first to do it and we won't be the last, but it is our journey and it's unique in its own right.
Why?
I think it is important to note that this isn't one of those last chance adventures to get in all the action we can get before diving into the religious life, but it is a good opportunity to see some sights as we transition from our jobs in the secular world to our first year of discernment and formation of the religious life. I think it's important to slow down before you make a transition.
Where?
I've narrated multiple times for people the places, people, and food I intend on seeing / eating and I've gotten pretty good at it, but I think the best way to answer this question is to tell you to go click on the Road Trip Map link to the right of this post. The idea is to get around to as many places as we can see that have come on to our radar since we starting planning out our conquest a few months ago.
When?
I'll be flying out from Baltimore on July 27th after celebrating with my family my parents 40th wedding anniversary! and Chip will be heading out during the first week of August after spending some time on the YAs beach trip. Currently we're projected to be back on the 4th of September, but then I'll be heading out with a couple of my brothers to see Virginia Tech Football whoop up on some elephants down in Atlanta, GA on the evening of the 5th.
How?
The first two weeks (aka The BBQ tour) I'll be embarking on my own by planes, trains, and automobiles (even a greyhound bus!). Chip has been generous enough to offer his Ford Escape to use during the trip so that will be the primary mode of transportation from Chicago, IL to Portland, OR and from San Francisco, CA back to McLean, VA. The best part about Chips SUV is that it is a hybrid and comes with an electrical outlet, which is important to note b/c we plan on making good use out of it so stay tuned in.
I guess the other thing I'll add to the "How?" is the moment when this idea gelled with the two of us. You see a few months ago when the economy bubble was popped my hours at work were reduced so I got to pick a day that became unpaid vacation time. What I ended up doing was taking off Wednesdays so I could stay one night a week at the YA house in McLean. Tuesday's are the night I would stay and then Wednesday morning I would get up and walk down the hall from my guest room to holy hour, mass, and then breakfast. How convenient is that! Then I would hangout with Eric, Brian, and Frs Mike and Jack in the office and sometimes goof off. Well one day I got an itch about wanting to do some traveling and knew in the back of my head about how Euro rail passes work from a woman I use to work with and decided that the US of A is much more innovative then Europe so we must have something of equal if not better quality! I get to talking with my pops that morning and he starts talking about Amtrak passes so off I go to the Amtrak sight and my imagination began to soar as to the possibilities of the places I could go and the food I could eat;) After extensive brain storming and trip routes (I think I planned out at least 3 different cross country trips before dinner that day) I left the YA house to go grab a bite to eat with Chip before CLC that night. While Chip and I are waiting for our food, and as he's probably noticed by now the excited look on my face that says I'm planning to take over the world, he calmly asks, "so what have you been up to today?" The rest of our conversation is a bit blurry as I'm sure the adrenaline took over once I began to whip out the Amtrak map of the US that shows all their possible train routes and their fare schedule. Later I came to find out as Chip chucked at me, like he tends to do when someone begins to act goofy or overly serious about something, that he too was wanting to do some traveling before our commitment in September.
(As Chip would say) And so the rest is history...
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