Wednesday, June 28, 2017

The mother of all road trips : Day TWO

Day two started with leaving Louisville Kentucky and our aim was to drive 10 to 12 hours and get as further across Kansas as we possibly could.

We drove a couple of hours and stopped for breakfast at a Denny's. I was the only person of color there inside the Denny's. I am usually immune to racial differences around me but right then I realized that I was the only person of color I had seen for quite sometime. Although our server was super sweet to us, I was suddenly feeling uncomfortable. I was acutely aware of everyone just staring at me. I did feel like the alien the government insisted on calling me. I will not lie I was taking comfort that STP was white and with me. We finished our terrible breakfast and got out of there.

Soon we were out of Kentucky and going across the first major city St Louis, Missouri and crossing the mighty Mississippi.







Soon after crossing St Louis city parameters the scenery changed. It was so flat. Flat green grass, yellow corn fields and vast blue sky. This scenary was going to be with us almost till Denver. And no frequent restrooms, almost no cars on the road. For the first time I encountered not only a maximum speed but also a minimum speed limit on the highway and the minimum speed limit was 65. The maximum 80 and the slowest cars were driving at 90. It was a dream to drive down straight roads at 90 miles per hour with the cruise control on.


We decided to stop for lunch at Kansas City and get some of their famous bar-b-Que at Arthur Bryant's. There was a long line and the food was to put it nicely underwhelming. Also they fry their potatoes in peanut oil. Enough said.




Kansas City by the way is in Missouri and is not a city in Kansas. The city stretches forever. I tried to take a picture of the city from the car.
 


 


After Kansas City it was again the flat plains of mid-west USA. And then suddenly we found ourselves sorrounded by wind mills. It was almost surreal. These giant structures rising from the ground and stretched till as far as your eyes can see. They stretched for miles.



We were making good time and dare I say good mileage thanks to the straight flat roads. but suddenly without warning we got caught in a flash flood. It felt like driving through a waterfall. I was ready to park the car and wait but there were other cars which were also driving and emergency vehicles lining the road. It took up much of our time and having to fight the flash flood we decided to stop. But when you are in Kansas, it is literally the middle of nowhere. It is not possible to just stop. We had to drive for two more hours to find a place to stop and we stopped at Colby, Kansas. To give you an idea of what Colby Kansas is, here is a picture of the neighbourhood of our hotel. Just check the CINEMA house out.




Disclaimer : Apart from the Arthur Bryant poster all pictures have been taken from the car. Including the neighborhood picture.



Monday, June 26, 2017

The mother of all road trips : First Day

The first day was a long day of being on the road. We crossed the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky. We spent the night at Louisville Kentucky and paid a customary visit to the YUM Centre.

Most of the pictures that I am posting are unedited pictures taken from the car. I assume that since this is a road trip post series all pictures that shall be posted will be those from the car.












he day was uneventful. We moved across mostly rolling green fields with occasional farm lands. There were regular rest stops as we were driving mostly on the highways. Very similar to the road trips to Niagara or Illinois which I had done previously too. But the open blue sky and the clouds promised much more to come.



 

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

The mother of all road trips : Prelude

I have always been that person who travels or likes to travel. But all my travels have always followed a schedule. A schedule to go back to school, or go back to work. It always had a destination. Never had a journey. And I always dreamed of a trip like that. A trip where there are no destinations, no time limits, just sit in a car and drive, wherever you want to go.


Last to last week  on the 7th of June something rather unfortunate happened with work. Something that made my future in this country uncertain. It was uncertain to the point that I did not know if I had to leave by the end of the month. Although the prospect of going back home was appealing but I was hurt, disappointed, enraged about how things were being conducted, about how everything was unfair to say the least, how even when everyone at work openly acknowledged to what was happening to me was unfair still was not fighting the cause and reason for it, instead supporting it indirectly. Anyways I digress. What ended up happening was that I realized I had three weeks left in the country and for the first time ever I had no commitment. I had no deadlines, no project goals.I made a plan. I shared my plan with STP and he was onboard as soon as he heard it.

So I cleaned the apartment. Packed everything that could possible fit in my car, moved the bed, the dining table, the coffee table to STP's parents garage, donated the rest which took about 5 days and then the next morning got in the car, bought my last cup of wawa iced macchiato and was on my way.

 Destination : UNKNOWN.





"There was nowhere to go but everywhere,
  So just keep on rolling under the stars"
                                        -----Jack Kerouac


Philadelphia : Visson and Misson

Ofcourse the Vission and Misson are mine. And when it is my vision and mission it has to do with food. PhiilyMag has just come out with the top 50 restaurants of 2016 in Philadelphia. It does not have any of my favourites likes Stargazy, Stock, Era or  Kilimandjaro. And I have not been to any of these restaurants. So as part of my vision and misson in this year and my eternal quest to explore a city better I will embark on a journey of eating in as many of these places as I can . Anyways here is the list.



50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia
  •     Laurel, East Passyunk
  •     Vernick Food & Drink, Rittenhouse
  •     Fork, Old City
  •     Vedge, Midtown Village
  •     Townsend, East Passyunk
  •     Vetri, Midtown Village
  •     Sbraga, Center City
  •     Bing Bing Dim Sum*, East Passyunk
  •     Serpico, Bella Vista
  •     Helm*, Kensington
  •     Zahav, Society Hill
  •     V Street*, Rittenhouse
  •     Volver, Center City
  •     Marigold Kitchen, University City
  •     Cheu Noodle Bar, Washington Square West
  •     Pumpkin, Grad Hospital
  •     Will
  •     East Passyunk
  •     Bibou
  •     Bella Vista
  •     Fond
  •     East Passyunk
  •     Bud & Marilyn’s*
  •     Midtown Village
  •     Amis
  •     Midtown Village
  •     Zeppoli
  •     Collingswood
  •     Fitler Dining Room
  •     Fitler Square
  •     High Street on Market
  •     Old City
  •     Le Virtu
  •     East Passyunk
  •     Le Chéri
  •     Rittenhouse
  •     Russet
  •     Center City
  •     The Fat Ham
  •     University City
  •     Osteria
  •     Spring Garden
  •     Abe Fisher
  •     Rittenhouse
  •     Brigantessa*
  •     East Passyunk
  •     Heritage*
  •     Northern Liberties
  •     The Good King Tavern*
  •     Bella Vista
  •     The Farm and Fisherman
  •     Washington Square West
  •     Amada
  •     Old City
  •     Talula’s Garden
  •     Washington Square West
  •     Barbuzzo
  •     Midtown Village
  •     Talula’s Daily
  •     Washington Square West
  •     Kensington Quarters*
  •     Fishtown
  •     South*
  •     Spring Garden
  •     Jamonera
  •     Midtown Village
  •     Pub and Kitchen
  •     Grad Hospital
  •     Il Pittore (closed January 2016)
  •     Rittenhouse
  •     Aldine*,Center City
  •     Bistrot La Minette*,Queen Village
  •     Brauhaus Schmitz, Bella Vista
  •     Opa*, Midtown Village
  •     Little Fish, Bella Vista
  •     Barclay Prime, Rittenhouse
  •     Ela, Queen Village