Day 51 Home Again

We finally made it back to Solomons and it's nice to be home. We spent last night in Waynesboro, Virgina right at the intersection of 81 and 64. I expected to stop, check in some cheap motel, grab a beer and eat at some indescribible chain restaurant, like Outback. We got lucky and found a very pleasant new Residence Inn at a reasonable rate and across the street was a terrific sensibly priced restaurant with well thought out food and wine menus called the South River Restaurant and Wine Shop. If you're ever traveling 81 or 64 and looking for a good stop, stop here. I know I will.

Quick thoughts on every place we stayed:

Richmond,VA - The Carytown area is a fun place to eat, drink, and walk. A little off the highway though.
Greenville,SC - Wonderful little city. I could live there. I always stop here when I'm on 85.
Destin,FL - Busy resort town with lots to do. Good for families.
Grayton Beach,FL - Very small old beach town. We got a place there next year for two months.
Rayne,LA - Good people, good fun. Would like to go there every Mardi Gras, if I could handle it.
Hot Springs,AR - Don't bother unless you like gardens or horse racing.
Tulsa, OK - Nah
Wichita,KA - Nope.
Louisville,KY - Definitely worth doing with a family or solo. Many things to see and do.
Waynesboro,VA - Nothing there except the South River Restaurant which is worth the stop.

Day 49 Louisville, Kentucky

 Yesterday we arrived in Louisville mid-afternoon and after checking in took a drive over to Bardstown Road which has a two mile strip of old small stores, restaurants, shops, pubs and tattoo joints. We managed a stop or two and thought it was a pretty neat area so we made reservations there at a semi-famous restaurant called Jack Fry's for the next day (today). We weren't very hungry so we skipped dinner and called it a night. The next day (today) we got an early start and headed downtown to take a tour of the Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat Company and Museum. I enjoyed watching them make Louisville Slugger bats for the major leaguers like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. For me it brought back old memories of playing baseball as a kid. For Sylvia, I don't know, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Or, maybe she just wasn't talking to me? Anyhow, after that we walked around downtown, which we discovered was a much bigger city that we thought. It's also undergoing a major revitalization and has quite a few museums and things to do. We wandered around and admired the old Brown Hotel before having lunch. Sylvia ate the innards out of a Chicken Salad sandwich and I was forced to try a Louisville tradition, the “Hot Brown.” The Hot Brown is an open-faced sandwich of turkey and bacon covered in Mornay sauce and broiled until the bread is crisp and the sauce begins to brown. It was a real stick-to-the-ribs lunch. I wonder why I'm getting fat and Sylvia isn't? The next stop was Churchill Downs and a Behind the Scenes Tour of the track that they only do on non-racing days.. Sylvia and I were the only ones on the tour and it was a real treat. We got tours of the Jockey's Quarters, Silk Room (picture), Board Room (picture), Press Box and TV area, Turf Club, Millionaires Row ($68,000 for a Derby Day table for 8), and other areas not normally seen. It was very impressive. If you get the chance--do it. Jack Fry's restaurant was packed and fortunately we had a reservation. The food was good and fairly expensive. They do a good job and wouldn't mind going back. The locals really support it. We're getting closer to home and expect to be in Solomons by Saturday. Tomorrow we want hope to get to Charlottesville,Virginia, but the snow might slow our progress.

Day 47 St. Louis

It was a busy day that started off with a trip back to the Hill to check out the little Italian grocery stores. We first stopped at Volpi's Salumeria where we bought Coppa and Salami and then on to Digregorio's for Poval, Locatelli, and pasta. We went in several others but resisted the urge to buy too much. They have so many things we can't get at home it's hard not buy more. I know I'm going to regret not picking up a few more things.  Afterwards we drove downtown to the Arch and I took a ride to the top in a little oval device that looked like an ostrich egg. Sylvia, not being a fan of small spaces, opted out. We then walked down to the LaClede's Landing where there's a bunch restaurants, bars, and a casino. We stopped in the casino and made a quick deposit in the slots before leaving to go uptown to a neighborhood they call Central West End (as recommended by Rosa). We walked around for an hour or so before having lunch at Culpepper's where I had a burger with a smear of garlic cream cheese on top. It doesn't sound very good, but it was brilliant. Gotta' try that at home. The next stop was the highlight of the day, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. The mosaics are incredible. It took over 80 years to complete (83,000 sq. ft. and 41 million pieces) and much of the design was done by Tiffany's. We've visited many churches in Europe and this one does not play second fiddle to any one of them. It's definitely worth the time to stop and appreciate. For dinner we decided on Bartolino's over Lorenzo's; probably a mistake, it was good, but not up to expectations. Tiny Calamari over Flash Fried Spinach with a couple of sauces on the side was the best thing we had. Overall, it was a good day. St. Louis has a lot to offer and wouldn't mind stopping here again.

Day 46 St. Louis, Missouri

Last night brought a light sleet and snow storm that must have caused very slippery conditions, because the highway was littered with cars that spun off the road during the night. Fortunately the roads were clear by the time we left for the seven hour drive to St. Louis. There was still ice on the trees and grass so the prairie was sparkling...a spectacular sight. Around two 'clock we checked into a hotel located in Italian section of town called The Hill and immediately went to the restaurant next door called Bartolino's. We ordered a quick lunch of Roasted Ravoli's that were as good as they were unusual. It was hard not to order a second helping. The Bartender Rosa, who had lived in The Hill for 37 years and knew everybody, was quick to recommend Bartolino's, Gian-Tony's and Lorenzo's as the best restaurants for good Italian food. Around seven we drove around The Hill to decide where we wanted to eat. The Hill is St. Louis's answer to Little Italy, and is a fascinating eight block by eight block residential area with either a restaurant, market, or bakery on practically every corner. The difference is that it's not made up of row houses, but is suburbish in that it's all small houses on small lots mostly built in the 20's and 30"s. Since Lorenzo's was closed on Mondays, and Bartolino's was next to the hotel, we selected Gian-Tony's for dinner--thankfully, because I was starved for pasta. Walking in I thought "this is exactly the kind of place where Tony Soprano would be a regular". We started with an Involtini, Spinach and ricotta cheese blended and stuffed in very thin grilled slices of eggplant, served in a marinara sauce with melted mozzarella. There wasn't even a tiny morsel left over. Any restaurant, anywhere would love to have this on their menu. For an entree I ordered Cannelloni, homemade egg crepes stuffed with ground veal and vegatables served in marinara sauce and melted mozzarella. Although very good, it didn't come close to what Sylvia had; Pollo Spedini, chicken breaded and rolled, stuffed with broccoli and provel cheese, served in a peppercorn cream sauce with more broccoli. I don't know what made this dish so extraordinary, but it was unique. Maybe it was the locally produced provel cheese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provel_cheese) I don't know, it was just great. There was no room for dessert. Oh, I almost forgot, it all came with a good bottle of Valpolicella.

Day 45 Wichita, Kansas

Well we've spent two whole days in Wichita. We originally intended to be here only one day, but the same stuff  we left Maryland for came back to haunt us here...that's right, sleet and snow. So we spent an extra day wandering around this sensational town. Wichita's another weathered old city that's undergoing a revitalization. We stayed in a renovated area called Old Town. There really isn't any other place you would want to stay. Old Town has lots of things to do, but there's nothing actually worth doing, so there's not much to report. We did hit the usual local spots and everything was ok. Tomorrow we're starting to head east and toward home. I've had beef for the last three days and it was all good, but I've had enough for the next month and I'm ready for pasta.We're thinking the next stop is St. Louis and they're famous for Italian food. So we're off again.

Day 43 Tulsa, Oklahoma

It was a pleasant drive through the rolling hills of Arkansas to Tulsa. The first thing we did was head over to the Gilcrease Museum and wandered around. The Gilcrease houses the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West. It has a bunch of Bierstadt's, Remington's (18 of his 22 bronzes), Catlin's, Moran's and many others. If you're into Cowboys and Indians, this is the place. It's just a terrific museum and well worth the trip.We checked into a newly renovated downtown twenty story la-te-da boutique hotel called the Mayo.  Downtown Tulsa is undergoing a revitalization and in a few more years should be pretty great. Its many 30 and 40 story buildings are architecturally ornate and hopefully restoreable. We walked the downtown and didn't find much at all to do, but we did manage to locate James E. McNellie's, a good old Irish Pub with 75 beers on draught and 500 in the bottle...not a bad stop. We were going to have dinner at whatever was suppose to be the "Best Steakhouse in Tulsa", but we stopped in Trulas, the hotel restaurant, and met the chef who just left the Willard in DC to start up this place. For dinner Sylvia had Pork Belly and I ordered a NY Strip. The sides were very good as were the meats. We'll be heading to Wichita, Kansas tomorrow and I guess I'll have to try their steak too. I sure would like a good old bowl of pasta.

Day 42 Hot Springs, Arkansas

I went to the track and it was a beautiful day, the races were exciting, and the whole experience educational  (i.e. I lost money). After the track I took a cab back to the hotel and we had to figure out where we wanted to go for dinner.. Except for a couple of burgers we hadn't had any beef since we left Maryland. We decided since we were in cattle country it was time to test the beef. After checking the internet and asking around (including the cab driver), The Back Porch was the restaurant of choice. Sylvia had a Filet and I had the Ribeye. Both were very good. We'll try more tomorrow. We got back to the hotel early and packed. We're heading to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Why not?

Day 41 Hot Springs Arkansas

Yesterday's drive from Rayne to Hot Springs, Arkansas was pleasant but uneventful. After checking in we just drove around town to get a feel for things and realized that Hot Springs had every chain restaurant ever conceived. However we did manage to find a little Mexican joint and it was just what I needed...refried beans. After a good night's sleep we went over to the Garvan Woodland Gardens for what was advertised as the Daffodil Days. There were exactly zero daffodils in bloom, nevertheless it was well worth the trip. We walked three of the four miles of walking paths and as far as woodland gardens go, this was the best I've ever been to; and it's only eight years old. In another four weeks it will be unbelievable. I would highly recommend that if anyone happens to be in Hot Springs, especially in late March, they should definitely go to Garvan Gardens. Tomorrow I'm going to Oaklawn race track to play the horses. It's a well known track and I'm looking forward to the excitement. I called Skip, an old high school pal, and asked for his picks and he gave me plenty. I'll play his picks for sure if the silk colors are green, yellow, or pink. If the silks are blue, I probably won't. Purple's a definite no-no. Sylvia's not interested in going and it's probably a good idea. Our “lively” discussions have slightly deteriorated.

Day 39 Rest Day

Finally a rest day. Fred, Mica, Hillary, and Jason headed back to New Orleans so Sylvia and I decided to take relaxing sightseeing ride around the countryside--there's not much to report. We stopped for lunch at Rockey's in Eunice and shared a light lunch of Shrimp, Alligator, Catfish, and Oysters...all fried. I don't know where to check-in first; the Alcohol Rehab Clinic or the Cardiac Center. After lunch we drove through the towns of Opelousas and Crowley, which is the "Rice Capitol of America" (only America?). Tomorrow we're leaving for Hot Springs, Arkansas, a drive of about 400 miles. I'm really not sure why.

More pictures from yesterday
Top - Cracklin's, Pork Rinds, Fried Sweet Potato Chips
Left - Sylvia, Mica, and Hillary
Right - Three generations of Mardi Gras revelers. The outfit, including the pants, on the girl holding the baby is made entirely out of Crown Royal bags.

Day 38 Courir de Mardi Gras

Today was the day of the Church Point Courir de Mardi Gras which is a Cajun country and Medevial tradition of ceremonial begging;bands of masked and costumed horseback riders roam the countryside "begging" for ingredients for their communal gumbo. "Le Capitaine", a caped unmasked rider leads the riders from house to house where they dance and sing for donations. Often the owner will throw a live chicken into the air that the younger costumed men will chase like football players trying to recover a fumble. In addition to the Mardi Gras on horseback, some ride on flatbed trailers pulled by tractors. The courir starts early in the morning and and returns to town by mid afternoon for the parade downtown.

We were invited to Jean and Mattie Mouille's party in downtown Church Point, the self proclaimed "Buggy Capitol of the World". Fred and I arrived at 8AM to do what we could while they all cooked. There were two very large tents set up with cauldrons for cooking Gumbo, Cracklin's, Pork Rinds, Boudin, Jambalaya, Venison Stew, and Rabbit Stew(bottom picture before adding additional ingredients). Additionally there were pits to cook a whole pig and several beef briskets. The vegetable of the day was deep fried sweet potato chips. Around ten o'clock the rest of the guests started to show up, probably at least 200 in all. We ate, drank, and partied until three o'clock when the Courir de Mardi Gras showed up. They came down Main street and we all walked up the street and joined in the celebration. There were about 200 riders (top left picture), 100 chicken chasers(top right) and at least 50 trailers filled with costumed people all throwing beads. The parade lasted more than and hour and a half. What's amazing is that the total population of Church Point is less than 4,000 people.Things quieted down by early evening and we went back to the hotel, and not being very hungry or thirsty called it a night. The people, food, and parade were awesome.

Day 37 La Grande Boucherie

This is going to be very challenging, but here goes. Eight of us met up in the hotel lobby at 6:30 this morning so we could be at the Cafe Des Amis in the town of Breaux Bridge (Crawfish Capitol of the World) by 7:15 in order to stand in line when they opened the doors at 7:30 for breakfast. This, I thought, was crazy. My thinking was that it would make more sense to go to Fred's Bar in Mamou for their 7 o'clock Happy Hour and their celebrated Zydeco band. My disappointment was short lived. The Cafe Des Amis was great. It started with a plate of Beignets, followed by a Tasso Ham Omelette and Grits with Andouille. Sylvia had Crawfish Etouffee over a biscuit. Everybody ordered something different and all were happy with their food especially since it was accompanied by four or five pitchers of Mimosas. But, the breakfast wasn't why people lined up at seven o'clock in the morning. The real attraction was the Zydeco Band that started playing at eight. The first note was barely played by the time the smallish dance floor was absolutely packed (picture). We drank and danced for a couple of hours and as we left we saw that the line waiting to get in was still a half a block up the street. What a breakfast party! Afterwards we took a ride down to the levee and made a couple of required stops; first at Pat's Fishermans Wharf in Henderson, and then at Red's Levee Bar, a tiny little hole in the wall joint right on the levee. After a few beers Fred thought it would be a good idea to head down to St. Martinville for the La Grande Boucherie des Cajuns (a festival of the butchering of pigs, Cajun style). What I'm going to tell you now is the absolute truth. Besides having the standard four different Zydeco bands, there was first a Squeal Like a Pig contest, second a Cracklin Throwing contest, third a “Battle on the Teche” Arm Wresting contest, fourth the Louisiana Ice Gator Dancing Girls, and then the highlight of the afternoon, they slaughtered and butchered a pig. The pig thing wasn't all that great, but the food was totally different from that of any other festival I've been to. The best was the crispy fried alligator. Normally you just get small alligator bites. These were large chunks of juicy, tender meat. We also had Boudin Balls (remember-a pork and rice sausage), Cracklin, a Fried Pork Chop sandwich, Jambalaya, and more beer. This was a good stop. Ok, you would think by now we were done...nooooo. Fred, Hillary, Jason and I drove up to Church Point where 40 or 50 friends of Fred were partying in an old machine shop shed and boiling tons of crawfish. We did not need more food, but we also didn't want to insult anyone, so we downed a couple of pounds. This party was just practice for the big day tomorrow “The Church Point Courir De Mardi Gras”.

Day 36 Grayton to Rayne, Louisiana

Started the 400 mile drive to Rayne at six o'clock in the morning. It rained all the way except on the way through Mobile, Alabama it snowed. The snow doesn't seem to affect the people down here since they continued to drive seventy on the interstate. Fortunately it stopped raining just before we arrived. Rayne's a small town and calls itself "The Frog Capitol of the World". I'll wait until tomorrow to ask someone why. We checked in and Fred told us to meet them at the City Bar in Maurice, which we did. A dozen people showed up and we had a few beers before heading up the road to Jeff and Marisa's house for their weekend warm-up. The party started around four and there were about 50 people there at any given time, although it was never the same people. They just kept coming and going all night. They served boiled shrimp, oysters on the half shell, "Fried" short ribs, and Boudin (pork and rice sausage). They had one guy boiling shrimp all day, one guy opening oysters all day, and one guy frying short ribs all day. The Boudin was cooked in a big pot and kept warm. Boudin can be very good or horrible. Fortunately this was the former. Five of the local women treated us to their annual Beauty Parlor Skit done in their best Cajun accents and dress...hilarious.I don't know how late we stayed, but we drove back to the hotel with Fred, Mica, their daughter Hillary, and her fiance Jason (both from Colorado). We were all in good spirits and luckily Jason was able to drive.

Day 35 Last Night in Grayton Beach

We've spent the last few days trying to hit all the spots we missed and saying so-long to many of the good people we've met. It really was a good time and we will be back next year. Here are some of our thoughts about the Grayton Beach/Route 30A area. Most of all we really liked the down-home, quirky and friendly people. We felt like locals almost from the first day we arrived. 30A is 20 miles of artsy villages, funky bars, good restaurants, and unbelievable beaches. In case anyone gets down this way, here are some of our favorites, realizing that there are many, many places we never got to:

Fire - It's hard to call it fine dining because it's so casual. Our favorite menu.
Mitchell's Fish House - Best restaurant chain.
Pizza By the Sea and The Pickle Factory - Tie for the best pizza
Santa Rosa Beach Club - Best ocean view. Plus good food.
Shorty's - Best Ceviche, Best local bar and consistently good music.
Red Bar - Best Local color and most fun. Best bands.
Beach House Bar and Grill - Best geezer bar.
Hurricane Oyster Bar and Grill - Best oyster bar this side of Apalachicola.
Stinky's Fish Camp - Best Gumbo.
Great Southern Cafe - Best breakfast.
Gravel Road - Best country cooking.
Donny Sundal - Best non-band music.
Dread Clampitt - Best Band.
Redd the Singing Bartender - Best singer.
Sally's Backside - Best "Have to try" place.
There are many more that I'm sure I missed. Tomorrow we're heading to Rayne, Louisana to meet our friends Fred and Mica and spend four days celebrating Mardi Gras in several towns around the area. We were there 13 years ago and it was crazy. We're expecting no less this year.

Day 31 Super Bowl

Jolene and Cal arrived on Thursday and after picking them up at the Pensacola airport we began to make the rounds. Over the next four days we spent a significant amount of time at the Red Bar and Shorty's, plus one time visits to the Hurricane Oyster Bar, Hightide, Stinky's, Gravel Road, Rum Runners, Great Southern Cafe, Sally's Backside, Beach House Bar and Grill (Geezer Bar), and probably several others that I don't remember. We ate and drank a considerable amount including; oysters, Gumbo, Ceviche, Grits, Biscuits and Gravy, etc. They also got to see Donnie Sundal, Dread Clampitt, Redd the singing bartender, the Red Bar Jazz Band, and Howlin' Jack. We had a grand time but they were a little upset about leaving since they would be heading back to that 25 inch snow with 10 to 20 more on the way. Cal was whimpering on his way out the door and muttering something about not leaving until May. And, oh by-the-way, we did see the Super Bowl and the people down here are extremely pleased, to say the least.

Day 27 Grayton Beach

Picture of this morning's sunrise over a tidal pool in Grayton Beach. I wish I could say that I took the picture from our front porch, but I had to walk a good 40 yards. Not much happening today. Tomorrow my sister Jolene and her husband Cal are coming down from Pennsylvania for a few days, and just in time. The past 28 days of "togetherness" is taking it's toll. Lively discussions are becoming a bit more numerous.

Day 26 Sally's Backside

Well we stumbled into another place we had been eyeing up the past few days. It's an old two pump gas station with a little convenience store up front and a bar in the back called Sally's Backside. It was Tuesday so Redd the Singing Bartender was working. We were early, the place was mostly empty so we talked to Redd for awhile and she told us we might want to order something to eat because it will soon be packed. She said Meatloaf and Bar-B-Q ribs were the specialties. That's what we ordered and neither was very good, but it didn't have to be because by the time we got our food, the bar completely filled up and Redd started singing. She was unbelievable. She seated people, waited tables, and tended bar all while singing, and singing very good. I know this is probably sacrilege, but she sang Patsy Cline almost as good as Patsy Cline. She reminded me of Rusty Warren of Knockers Up fame. As she said, "If you don't know why I spell my name with two D's, you must be blind". It was good fun and the crowd of mostly older people (my age dammit) had a great time. With a lot of coaxing (and tipping) Sylvia and I asked her to sing Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You. She said it was a very hard song to sing and took a lot out of her but if we waited until the right time she would sing it. When she came back from a little break she announced that she was going to "sing a song for the guy in the back with the orange shirt." The place went quiet and she sang to an absolutely awed crowd. It was well worth it. Everybody around thanked us, and one woman asked Sylvia if I had a brother.