We left Arizona last Monday, spending about four days on the road. We stopped in beautiful Amarillo, Texas the first night, pulling in about 10:15 PM and listening to some outlaw country on Sirius (side note: the last song we heard was “You Put the Dick in Dixie,” which doesn’t strike me as classic country). With most restaurants closing at 10:00, we settled in to the local Hooters. It was the wife’s first Hooters experience, and it was disappointing (though I did have to apply for a drinking membership at the bar).
Day two we trekked to Memphis and stopped in time for dinner—by far the best night of the trip. Navigating the truck downtown, we found an amazing place for ribs and a blues bar on Beale Street. On Cat Daddy’s recommendation, we tried to find the Hollywood but it was closed. After a great second night (and a very scenic drive through Tennessee and North Carolina), we ended up in Troutville, Virginia, which is next to Roanoke. I don’t recommend either town. The drive was easy until we made it to New Jersey—it took us over two hours to get under the Hudson from Jersey City into New York. Two hours and two movers later, we were settling in and eating some pizza.
Here are some other random thoughts from the drive and my first week here:
-Some one needs to open a motel called the Hodge Podge Auto Lodge and hire a guy named Roger to work the desk. I can hear it now: “Hodge Podge Auto Lodge, this is Rodge.”
-Tennessee is a very cool state. Northern Texas and Oklahoma, not so much.
-I will be paying as much to store my bike here as I would be paying to store my car in Arizona. Haircuts are also twice as much, unless you go to a chop shop in Brooklyn or the Lower East Side.
-Soccer is a great spectator sport to watch, especially in a pub. And since I’m not working, I’ve been tuning in to the 9 AM game as I’m drinking my coffee. Germany’s 90th minute goal and England’s two late goals, plus Australia’s late comeback against Japan, were all great games to watch. The U.S.-Czech Republic game was not so good, although it is easy to see why the Czechs are rated number two in the world—the first header by Jan Koller was beauty.
-So far, I’ve called the late goals by Sweden (in the Paraguay game) and England (in the Trinidad game) about 30 seconds before they happened. During the Germany-Poland game, I told Christy that stoppage time goals were especially painful, about two minutes before Germany scored to win. Really, I did.
-I think bartenders here try to take advantage of customers, at least more so than in other cities. Twice, I’ve ordered a second round of drinks and paid a different, higher price. Another time, the total didn’t match the prices listed on the menu. The bartender said he was bad at math. Uh huh, I bet.
-Fresh Direct delivery groceries are great, especially when one lives on the fifth floor.
-I’ve never watched so much Seinfeld and Friends, partially because I have nothing else to do and partially because everything comes on an hour later here. Each show is a reflection of living in New York. Seinfeld is pretty accurate. Friends is not (and the writers destroyed the characters in the later years, especially Ross).
