An alien in Berea, Kentucky

After treating the van to a 5,000-mile service at Deal Motors in Asheville, NC and then donking around on back roads for a few hours, I was ready to blow past some Interstate miles and head toward Milwaukee to visit my mother for a few days. Around 6:30 PM I pulled off the freeway into the tourist information center of Berea, KY, the self-proclaimed "folk arts and crafts capital of Kentucky." Lucky for me, Thursday night is the well-attended Berea Bluegrass Jam. How could I pass it up?

I parked the Eurovan along the edge of the town square and popped the top to make dinner as the musicians set up on stage and town folk set up folding chairs under the big tent in the grass. Mostly older farm couples and friendly dogs, I definitely stood out in the crowd. I could have been an alien with my shiny white Eurovan shuttle craft from a distant mother ship.

The Jam consisted of around 20 local musicians of all skill levels sitting in a circle on the porch of an old log cabin in the town square. Each musician took a turn leading a song, passing the mic to their left at the end. They continued around the circle several times for a 2-1/2 hour concert attended by ~80 spectators.

Mostly folks were curious about who I was and how I came to find the town. Three separate very nice older couples offered to let me camp at their farms 10 or 12 miles out of town. In the end, at the suggestion of the Jam festival coordinator, I just camped in the visitor center parking lot. I likely passed up an opportunity to share in a big local farm breakfast in the morning, but I hoped to get an early start the next day.

Instead, I shared my breakfast with a friendly black and white cat who had been introduced to me the night before. "City Kitty" lives in the town square primarily cared for by the visitor center manager, but I was told she truly belongs to the whole city. As I finished closing up my van to leave in the morning, City Kitty somehow convinced me to open up a can of kippered herring and dump half onto a small plate for her. I hadn't planned to stay for breakfast, but I swear, some cats exercise mind control :)

(Photos)

On to Milwaukee next...

Roads Less Traveled

I've been using a TomTom ONE XL-S to help with navigation around the US. It has a nifty feature that allows me an option to avoid freeways. When I'm not in a hurry and I want a better feel for an area, I select this option. (Lately I haven't been in much of a hurry!) Often it seems that my TomTom leads me on a wild goose chase as it routes me through residential areas, frontage roads and rural routes. Sometimes it sends me several miles in one direction and suddenly "recalculates" and then directs me to turn around and retrace all or part of the route. I might find it irritating if it didn't lead me to such interesting places.

Unfortunately, my 6,000 lb VW Eurovan is not well designed for taking the steep twisty roads I've found myself on lately. I keep trying to glide through the curves the way I loved to in my sporty VW Jetta GLX or on my BMW R850 motorbike, but instead of hugging the road this van lumbers along with a high center of gravity and hesitant brakes. All my gear in storage bins, cupboards and duffel bags in the back of the van shifts around every time I turn, brake or accelerate.

Though the van is GREAT for camping, it simply isn't any fun on twisty roads!

Asheville, NC

I've left historic USA and entered progressive USA. Downtown Asheville, North Carolina is an amazing ultra-funky organic vegan-friendly homophilic hippy-dippy home of dread-locked, hemp-wearing lesbians and long-bearded hillbillies who seem to thrive on new music, 24-hour coffee shops, free wireless, microbrews, and a dozen varieties of yerba mate. This is a hotbed of yoga, homeopathy and massage therapy. The art scene is progressive, the restaurants are fresh and creative, and the environmental movement is in high gear. In short, downtown Asheville is a great deal like Fremont in Seattle, only more so. I feel right at home.

Outside of the downtown area, Asheville seems remarkably diverse. It is home of the venerable Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa and the fantastic Biltmore Estate. Funkiness may be isolated in the downtown area, but environmental awareness and a focus on health and well-being seem pervasive, even in the surrounding suburbs.

Restaurant recommendation: Over Easy Cafe
For breakfast some locals recommended Over Easy Cafe (32 Broadway, Asheville NC 28801, 828-236-3533). I had the omelet special of sundried tomatoes, shallots, spinach and Gorgonzola cheese sauce with whole wheat toast and side of fresh fruit -- $10. The food was amazing, and the friendly unobtrusive staff well suited the comfortable atmosphere of the place. I highly recommend it.

(Photos)

Jonesborough, TN

Jonesborough is the oldest town in Tennessee, founded in 1779. Presidents Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson and James Polk spent time here. It is a lovely, quaint town with benches lining Main Street inviting visitors to sit with an ice cream cone and watch the world go by. Jonesborough is also home to the International Storytelling Center. Every bookstore and coffee shop advertised evening storytelling hours. Though I didn't stay long enough to join in, I imagine any of the dozen or so guided tours of the town are simply fantastic. I probably should have stayed to check it out.

I was struck by the contrast between this place and other historic towns I've recently visited. This is clearly a place proud of its long history, but unlike the others, this town seems to embrace its evolution. Historical sites from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries co-exist here. You'll find a log cabin once owned by Andrew Jackson across the street from the first abolitionist print shop and a block from 1940's vintage soda fountain/sweets shop. I truly enjoyed exploring the carefully recreated 17th century Jamestowne and 18th century Colonial Williamsburg, but I felt that I had re-entered the real world within the comfortable and natural mix of history in Jonesborough.

(Photos)

Jamestown, VA

Jamestown is the first known permanent settlement of British in North America, originally settled in 1607. Visitors to the area have a choice of two attractions, and I recommend a stop at both.

Start at Historic Jamestowne, operated by the U.S National Park Service. This is the archaeological site of Jamestown with ongoing excavation and research. Many of the building sites have been re-buried following excavation and the foundations reconstructed for tourists to explore (see photos). You can explore their well-designed archaeological museum and see many interesting 400-year-old tidbits that were unearthed on the site. Otherwise, you can walk along the river and imagine the view of America's first English settlers. It is a peaceful place.

Move on to the Jamestown Settlement, managed by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. This is a recreation of the original Jamestown settlement (using much of the research conducted by the archaeologists at the other site, I suspect). The visitor's center houses an impressive museum filled with dioramas and video moving the visitor from regional pre-history to the present day -- with a heavy emphasis (of course) on the rise and fall of the Jamestown settlement. After walking through the maze-like museum, visitors land outdoors on a walking path to living-history exhibits of a Powhatan village, the settlers' fort, and the three ships that delivered the settlers from England. From the web site:

Today at Jamestown Settlement, the story of the people who founded Jamestown and of the Virginia Indians they encountered is told through film, gallery exhibits and living history. New gallery exhibits and a new introductory film trace Jamestown's beginnings in England and the first century of the Virginia colony and describe the cultures of the Powhatan Indians, Europeans and Africans who converged in 1600s Virginia. Outdoors, visitors can board replicas of the three ships that sailed from England to Virginia in 1607, explore life-size re-creations of the colonists' fort and a Powhatan village, and tour a riverfront discovery area to learn about European, Powhatan and African economic activities associated with water. In the outdoor areas, costumed historical interpreters describe and demonstrate daily life in the early 17th century.

(Photos)

I didn't make it to the nearby Yorktown site that makes up America's Historical Triangle, but when I return to the area I'll plan for a full week -- at least. I really enjoyed my stay in historic Virginia.

Colonial Williamsburg, VA

Back here on the East Coast, I've discovered that Colonial Williamsburg is exceptionally fun. If I have the story right, the town was pretty much a mess in the 1930s, with many buildings in disrepair or ruined. J.D. Rockefeller Jr partnered with a local minister to buy up a bunch of the town and fund restoration of 88 original colonial buildings, and then funded a trust to reconstruct about twice that many. Now it's like a huge theme park, except that it is in and around peoples' homes. I found it fascinating. I ended up staying in the area two full days (well, I went to Jamestown too, but didn't make it to the third big history site, Yorktown). I could see coming back here for another several days at some point, there's so much history there to learn about!

The company running Colonial Williamsburg is exceptionally fussy about authenticity, and the place is swarming with costumed actors with history degrees. Several times each day there are scripted programs and it is rather like a progressive play -- where the audience must move from building to building to follow the whole sequence. On my second day I hooked up with one of the sound technicians and got a "backstage" tour. The whole neighborhood is rigged with a wireless sound system, with a different frequency for each major performance area. As the actors move from one area to the next they have to switch receiver packs (a drawback in the setup), but the sound techs just carry around a briefcase with a wireless sound board about the size of a small tablet PC. There are two techs who leapfrog coverage of the different acting venues. In addition to the techs, there's one production manager on the grounds keeping an eye on the whole shebang. What fun!

I parked the van last night in the Colonial Williamsburg motel parking lot to save some cash (to keep a low profile I didn't even pop the van top -- man, it was stuffy inside!) and snuck out of the parking lot right at dawn. After driving much of the day along the Blue Ridge Parkway, tonight I'm at a campground a bit outside of Asheville NC, and will swing through there tomorrow. I'm a bit behind my original schedule, but who's keeping track ;)

Photos

p.s. Thanks, Matt! I enjoyed the tour.

Philadelphia

After dropping off Zach and Matt at the airport near Hartford CT, I meandered through CT and NY to finally stay at a KOA in the Poconos about 2 hrs north of Philadelphia. I slept in late and didn't get to to the city until around 11 am. Rain started almost immediately. I parked the van near the old city and hooked up with a walking tour, then browsed through the historic neighborhoods in the pouring rain until around 5:30, when I found Eulogy Belgian Tavern featuring hundreds of Belgian beers. The food was ok, too :) I stayed there watching the rain and trying to decide where to go next and got to know some of the other people at the bar.

A whole group of people had come in after their company picnic and turns out they were in the sourcing systems dept for GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals. (That's precisely where I was at WaMu.) It was a fun group and we talked shop and about my van and travel etc for a few hours, then a few of us went for cheap Indian food. I ended up crashing for the night on a sofa of some guys who live in the "gay-borhood" near 11th and Linden. It was very tidy, and I got a nice hot shower and coffee in the morning with and directions to a nearby cafe for breakfast with wireless. It was a bit surreal, but I feel that I got to see more of real life in Phila than you get from the $14 costumed-character tour.

City of Brotherly Love -- indeed.

Photos

Roadtrip 2008, Westbound

Today begins the solo portion of my Eurovan adventure. For the past three weeks I've been traveling with Zach to move all his stuff from Seattle to his Dad's place in Columbus OH, then to visit their family cottage in South Bristol ME, and finally a stop of several days at his Mom's place in Winsted, CT. This morning I drove Zach and his brother to the airport in Hartford for their flight to Holland, and started on my way southwest for a meandering return trip to Seattle.

I've always enjoyed traveling with Zach. He's easygoing, tidy, considerate, occasionally funny, he has great connections everywhere for interesting people to visit and places to stay, and he's simply great company. Nonetheless, I'm rather looking forward to finally traveling alone. Travel with another person always involves some compromise unless you're a totally self-centered ass (I'd like to think I'm not.) For the next three weeks, I can set and then change my itinerary on a whim. I can choose to buy or to make meals as I like; I can splurge on a campground with WiFi and showers, or boondock in a truck stop if I'm feeling frugal. I can linger over sights that intrigue me without feeling rushed, or if I get bored I can just move on without worrying that I'm rushing someone else. For the next few weeks, it's all about me, me, me.

Interestingly, I also expect to spend more time communicating (blogging, emailing and phoning) than I did when traveling with Zach. That's partly due to where we stayed (not much cell service or WiFi in South Bristol or Winsted) and partly because I was kept very busy with Zach's friendly family, but there's another aspect to it as well -- something I'd like to change about myself. This is tough for me to articulate... I'll need to find the right words for a later post.

Boston Area

Hurricane Hanna drenched us as we drove from Maine to Boston. We got a late start on Saturday starting with breakfast at the cottage followed by lunch with Zach's grandparents at Morse's Sauerkraut Factory in Woldoboro, then on to Freeport for some outlet shopping (home of L.L. Bean). It was 5 PM before we made it onto the highway outside of Freeport, and by then the rain was coming down in buckets.

My brother Paul from Phoenix was visiting his friend near Worcester, MA. This was (sort of) on the way to Boston and we didn't have any more specific plans to meet up, so I was eager to drop by. He was waiting for friend Fallon's bartending shift to wrap up at Al Fresco Trattoria & Bar in Holden MA, so we joined them at the bar around 9 PM to wait out the crazy hurricane rain. Fallon was great enough to invite us to use her guest room for the night, which was perfect since the van had sprung a leak in the driving rain (add that to the list of repairs!) Hanging out with a bartender after shift meant a LATE night, but we were still grateful for a warm dry place to sleep and free parking for the van.

The route to Boston took us past both the Walter Gropius House and the nearby DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park. Walter Gropius, founder of the German design school known as the Bauhaus, designed the house as his family home in 1937. If you have an interest in mid-century design it is well worth the stop.

Our time in the city of Boston was far too short. We parked the van in Alewife Station and rode the Tube into the city. Arriving around 3 PM, we inadvertantly started out walking away from the old city and by chance discovered the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), and managed to get in for the final day and hour of the Anish Kapoor exhibit. Since my interest was the old city, I told Zach I wanted to eat dinner in a building at least 200 years old, so we went on a hunt. The Beantown Pub may not have been quite so old, but they are "the only bar in town where you can drink a Sam Adams beer while looking at his gravestone across the street!" We finished dinner near dusk, and spent the next two hours just walking around looking at some of the older buildings by streetlamp.

Another day in Boston would have been great, but we were on a mission to get to Winsted CT to stay with Zach's Mom and brother Matt for a few days before their departure.

Walter Gropius House

DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Garden
Photos

Boston
Photos

South Bristol, Maine

We've arrived in South Bristol, Maine. It was a quick trip and I believe Zach was dismayed to find the cottage in need of much repair. Nonetheless I had a nice time visiting with Zach's brother Jon and his girlfriend Jenny, who were also staying at the cottage. I also enjoyed our visit to John's Bay Boat Company, where Zach had worked between high school and college. We also stopped in to see Sam and Tina at their home on Rutherford Island. As always, everyone we encountered offered warm hospitality.

This was my third visit to the cottage and weather was better for photos in previous years, so the photos below are a compilation of shots from all three trips.

Photos: Maine is wonderful

Marjorie Restaurant to Close September 6

I've just received word that my favorite restaurant in Seattle will close its doors on September 6, 2008. I want to offer my thanks to Ben and Donna at Marjorie in Belltown for their consistently kind hospitality. I encourage readers from Seattle to go visit Marjorie (2331 Second Avenue) before the doors close! The closure is due to a lost lease; Donna plans to reopen in a new location at some point, but until then Marjorie will just be a fond memory. Best of luck to Donna (and Ben) in your next venture!

A Good Long Day

Leaving Keyhole SP fairly early, we drove straight through Minnesota and most of Wisconsin to arrive in Milwaukee in time for a quick walk around the Milwaukee Art Museum and then join my mother for dinner. Still feeling fairly fresh somehow, we headed out around 9 PM with goal of reaching Indiana before stopping to sleep. This was our longest driving day by far, but still felt really good and had some meaningful stops. As with any new road trip companion, I think we just needed a few days to figure out a traveling pattern. Unfortunately this is also our final day of unstructured travel so we won't likely get another chance on this trip to get into a similar groove.

Sights along the way: hundreds of motorcyclists on their way to the Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary celebration in Milwaukee, scheduled to begin the next day; the iconic Quadracci Pavillion at the Milwaukee Art Museum designed by Santiago Calatrava shaped like a boat, or bird, or dinosaur – depending on your point of view.

Stowaway #2

This morning when we were packing up camp, a strange scratchy sound came from the folds of the Eurovan's canopy tent. After popping up the van top again, we found this cute little bat under the "eaves" of the pop-top. We didn't want another stowaway, so encouraged him with a stick to find a new resting spot for the day.

Stowaway

“Yep. That looks like cat poo.” We're peering into the back of a U-Haul trailer full of everything Zach owns at the side of the road about 30 miles outside of Billings, Montana.

“He's gotta be in there somewhere.” Zach gingerly removes the dried cat turd with a paper towel and tosses it to the ground. Two days ago we were in Spokane, Washington visiting Zach's friend Kathy, who had been storing Zach's Subaru while he was climbing the highest peak in each state for a Coleman-sponsored project (www.coleman.com/50states) We had stopped in Spokane to pick up the Subaru our way to move all of Zach's stuff to Columbus, Ohio before he flies off to the Netherlands for his next project (more about that another time).

A call from Kathy this morning prompted us to pull off the road. “I can't find Stella. Can you see if he's in the U-Haul?” Stella is a cranky 13-year-old orange-and-white cat. It's been two hot days since the trailer was last opened. After searching for several minutes we found dried-out cat feces and urine, but no cat. Stella wasn't responding to our calls; it seemed clear that the cat was onboard but unable to respond. We'd have to unload the trailer to find the cat, dead or alive.

An hour later in the Wal-Mart parking lot, after partially unloading the trailer and crawling on top of the remaining furniture and boxes with a flashlight, we finally found him on top of a box under the dining table. He's alive, and hungry! A handful of kibble in the back of the Wal-Mart cat carrier is enough to encourage him into new captivity.


The plan: Kathy found a PetSmart/ Banfield about two miles away from our Wal-Mart. She arranged with Ramona (the vet) to check Stella over and keep him until Kathy could arrive later that day to pick him up. Kathy is a Banfield customer back in Spokane, and all her pet records could be transferred between vet centers. (This is one instance where national chains have an advantage over locally owned businesses.)

Seven hours later: Zach and I are well away down I-90, Kathy is reunited with Stella in Billings, and all is well.

Spokane, WA

Kathy Graebl has an adorable vintage house in Spokane and a busy yellow lab named Nisqually. “Nisser” is also the mascot for a mountain gear distribution company called Summit Dog that she owns with Mike (from the Coleman 50/50 challenge). Kathy put us up for the first night of our cross-country trek, and showed us a bit of the cow town of Spokane. We had such a nice time, we decided to stay a second night.

Spokane sights: a handful of nice parks, a steel sculpture of runners (by the same artist who did the Wild Horses monument near the Columbia River Valley), and at least a one really great restaurant (see below).

Our first night in Spokane, Kathy introduced us to a restaurant called Scratch (or at least the bar affiliated with it). All the food is “made from scratch” and is reasonably priced and tasty. If you get to Spokane, check 'em out.

Wild Horses Monument near George, WA

On the way to Spokane we pulled off the interstate briefly to stretch our legs and see the Wild Horses Monument. About ten miles east of George, WA on I-90, a short scramble up a bluff from the parking lot let us get up close to the steel installation by Spokane artist David Govedare. The wind blew uphill with enough force to make the steep climb seem quite easy, and the view of the Columbia River Valley was impressive.

On the Road at Last

After returning from Sinclair Island Zach was eager to finish packing and get on the road to Columbus. On Thursday August 21 we were finally on our way. My VW Eurovan was pretty loaded down by a 5x8 U-Haul trailer with all of Zach's belongings, but we were finally on our way. First stop: Spokane, to pick up Zach's Subaru wagon from friend Kathy.

Plants Away

Steve and friends at the Seattle Firefighters International Union Local 27 are now caretakers for my collection of houseplants, since I won't be able to look after them while traveling until next May. Though I know my lovely ficus, spider, philodendron (etc.) are in good hands, it feels strange to come back to an apartment devoid of greenery. This is the most tangible sign so far that I'm going away for awhile. It is slowly sinking in that I'm really going away.

Dan and Melissa's Wedding in Laguna Beach

Zach was the best man in his friend Dan's wedding in Laguna Beach, CA on August 18, and I was fortunate enough to join as his guest. The wedding was somewhat nontraditional, but beautiful and elegant nonetheless. We were kept pretty busy with the wedding activities (rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception, brunch the next morning.) The ceremony was held at sunset on a terrace overlooking the water at the Surf and Sand Resort. Zach gave a wonderfully heartfelt speech at the reception. Dan's sister Gabby was an adorable flower girl.

Photos: Dan and Melissa's Wedding in Laguna Beach

Sinclair Island and the Stoner House

Mark Stoner hosted a short holiday at his family vacation home on Sinclair Island in Washington's San Juans. Eleven friends gathered to comfortably enjoy food, drink and board games on a cool, rainy weekend.

Photos: Sinclair Island Weekend 2008


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