Day 11 Provo, Utah

We had am interesting and fascinating drive to Provo. The first part from Denver to Grand Junction, Colorado (160 miles) was though the Rockies the most fascinating part was the Glenwood Canyon Pass. The second part of the drive from Grand Junction to about Wellington, Idaho was a desert and complete devoid of a single tree, it too was an interesting 160 drive, although I wouldn't want to do again. The last 90 mile section from Wellington to Provo through the Wasatch mountain range was as amazing as the Rockies. We did a lot of driving, but well worth it, especially only doing it once. We arrived in Provo by 3, checked in and wandered around town. It's got a lot going on for it and I wouldn't mind staying another day, but we should keep moving as long as the weather's good.

We decided to celebrate New Years Eve by having an early dinner at Ruby River, the hotel restaurant. We had a bit of wine and a dinner not much worth describing or even worth remembering. I fell asleep at 7:30. Happy New Year. Tomorrow it's off to Boise, Idaho.

Glenwood Canyon

Utah Route 191

Provo, Utah

From our hotel

Day 10 Denver, Colorado

What happened? It was 65 yesterday and it's 15 this morning, this is bullshit. Oh well!  Sylvia figured she might as well do laundry this morning while I walked the mile and a half up to the REI store. It was a pretty cold walk but was worth it because the store's amazing. It's in an old renovated factory on the river and it's beautiful. It opened at 9 and was packed by 9:30. I didn't buy anything because I had the long walk back, brilliant. By the time I got back to the hotel Sylvia had been to the gym and finished the laundry so we went for a short walk and a light lunch at the Yard House. It was okay, but only worth going to if you like a huge variety of beer, it has over 100 on tap. It was too cold to do much more walking so we looked around a few stores and went back to the hotel. For dinner I talked Sylvia into walking down to Larimer Square and eating at one of the many excellent restaurants located there. We stopped in Ted's Montana Grill to warm up with some kind of toasty refreshment. Then not wanting to go outside any more, we decided to eat there. Sylvia had bison meatloaf and I went with the bison short ribs, very good. We were both happy until Sylvia realized we had a very cold walk back to the hotel. There was a muttering sound all the way back.

One the reasons I keep writing about where we ate and what we ordered was to use this blog to settle some future disagreements about what we did and where we went on our trips, and we do use it frequently. However in addition to that, it usually makes one of us wrong and one of us smile which does create other issues.

We're leaving Denver early tomorrow morning for a long drive over the mountains to Provo, Utah. At least that's the plan.

Day 9 Denver, Colorado

It was another interesting drive across Nebraska to Colorado. People who do this drive regularly must find it very boring, but having never driven this part of the country before, I thought it was a really interesting 265 miles. We got to the Homewood Suites downtown by noon, they checked us in right away and gave us a top floor room (12th) looking out on the Rockies. Then as usual, we immediately went for a walk to stretch the legs on this perfect 65 degree day. It seemed as though we should do the obligatory first timers 16th street walk. It's a nicely designed 15 block pedestrian walk lined with office buildings, shops and restaurants with plenty to look at. The upper part of 16th street was mostly touristy and the lower part (closer to the river) had the better stores and restaurants. Since we hadn't eaten we picked the Paramount Cafe for a quick bite. It had beer and wine, very important after spending the last 3 consecutive days sitting in the car together. Both of us enjoyed our meal and had the most unusual iceberg wedge salad I had ever come across, very good, spicy but tasty. We also stopped for a refreshment at a bar/restaurant called Public School 303, honestly. Denver has many, many unusual places to eat, drink, and shop and this was one of them. I was impressed with the architecture in that they preserved so many of the old beautiful brick buildings and mixed in new modern structures. Anyhow, we walked around a lot before going back to the hotel to unpack. We went out again early in the evening and stopped in the Stout Street Social for some Sushi and a few Deviled Eggs. Of course they came with cocktails. I think I'm getting fatter.

Most Unusual Wedge Salad

Day 7 and 8 Council Bluffs, Iowa & North Platte, Nebraska

After a pretty good breakfast in Columbia we headed off on a sunny 306 mile drive to Council Bluffs, Iowa. The roads were clear of snow but everything else had a few inches and it made the landscape and surroundings really stand out. We checked in the hotel around 2 and quickly figured out that there was nothing food wise in Council Bluffs that looked interesting, so we drove over to Omaha, Nebraska to the Old Market District. It's an interesting, cutesy four square block of old renovated market structures. It would have been nice to spend some time walking around but the temperature was in the single digits and there was no way Sylvia was having any of that. Instead we went right to the Jackson Street Tavern, sat at the bar and chatted with a couple of the bartenders. The place was empty and they were more than willing to share their stories about the area, especially Warren Buffet. We ended up eating there and I had Berkshire Osso Buco and Sylvia had Steak Frites. The food was good and way more than we could eat. Sylvia went next door and bought an ugly sweater.

Iowa's a kind of different place. Sylvia got up this morning and on her way down to breakfast she met a couple that were carrying their pet pig down the stairs. They told Sylvia that "He didn't do stairs very well". When they got to the bottom they put the pig down and he wandered off on his leash. I think this only happens in Iowa. Anyway, when we got up there had been about four inches of new snow. The side roads were covered, but the highways were clear and no problem. Nebraska's 415 miles across and I didn't feel like driving the whole thing so we decided to overnight in North Platte, 280 miles from Omaha. I though we would have a rather mundane drive across route 80, but I was pleasantly surprised how scenic the landscape was. The snow cover made everything look great. North Platte, home of the worlds largest rail yard, is apparently a touristy town although not much was open this time of year. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant called San Pedro. From the looks of things, this seemed to be the best choice around. The tamales were good. That's about all there is to say about North Platte. Tomorrow it looks like Denver and good weather. I think we're going to stay there two nights.

Days 5 and 6 Nashville and Columbia, Missouri

Christmas day in Nashville wasn't very exciting, Sylvia did laundry and I went to the hotel gym and walked down to the river. In the afternoon we wandered over to the Omni Hotel for lunch which turned out to be pretty good. There were few places open until later in the afternoon, but we managed to find one or two and checked them out. Didn't do much more than that except to decide where to get a room for tomorrow.

Tomorrow came and it was freezing. We checked out and drove 435 miles up and over to Columbia, Missouri. It wasn't a bad trip until it started snowing and tensions got tighter which lead to the normal lively discussions. Fortunately the snow only lasted the final 150 miles as did the lively discussions. Columbia considers itself one of the better foodie towns in Missouri, so after two hours of deciding where to have dinner we picked the 44 Stone Public House. It was a relaxed Pub atmosphere with an interesting menu. Sylvia had ground lamb sliders with pickled onion and yogurt, and a side of shaved Brussel sprouts with bacon and garlic. I had an app of fried chicken livers with mushrooms and truffle oil over arugula, and a roasted lemon and thyme brined chicken with buttermilk mashed potatoes. Everything was excellent, even the Buffalo Trace Bourbon Manhattan. We sat at the bar and it was especially nice to talk to some locals. Definitely worth the stop.

I've never had a drink or spent the night in Nebraska or Iowa so that's where we will spend the next two days. It doesn't look like a particularly good idea, but why not? wtf.

Days 3 and 4 Nashville

It was a short 175 mile drive from Knoxville to Nashville. We Checked in at Homewood Suites on Church around noon and immediately headed down the street towards Broadway where all the happenings are supposed to be. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it looked exactly how I thought it would. What I didn't expect was the number of bars (at least 30) that had live music on a Saturday afternoon. And, it's not all country, a ton of rock and roll too, no rap, though, to the disappointment of Sylvia.  We checked out a lot of places and never saw a performer that was anything less than fantastic. I don't know where they all come from, but this is their gathering place. We eventually got hungry and had a dinner at Puckett's Grocery which was down the street from the hotel. Crashed early.


I got up Christmas Eve morning and went back to Puckett's for a good country ham and red-eye gravy breakfast. We didn't expect to do very much, but had to do something. It was a bit too cold to do a lot of walking around. There wasn't much traffic so we got the car and drove around the Gulch and Pie Town districts even though they're both within walking distance of downtown. While we were there we thought we'd stop and investigate the The Pub and Bar Louie in the Gulch. We watched some of the football games there before going back to the hotel to drop off the car and walk back downtown to hear more music. I couldn't get over the fact that there were so many good musicians. Each band seemed to be mostly pickup bands that hadn't played much together, but it was hard to tell, they just figured it out on the fly. Another thing I found interesting is they never take a break, each individual will take a break and sit out a song or two, and when he comes back another will take a break. There's a lot of swapping of instruments too. Fabulous. Some of the places we stopped were Roberts, Tootsies, Nudies, and Whiskey Bent Saloon.  I think my favorite might be Roberts, but they're all good. We got something to eat at Merchants, an upscale diner. The wait staff could not have been nicer, especially since it was Christmas Eve. I'd go back in a second.

Days 1 and 2 Solomons to Knoxville

Okay, so here we go again. A couple of months ago we decided that since we weren't getting any younger, now would be a good time to do a cross country road trip. Of course we weren't getting any more agreeable either, and while sitting in a car together for least a month might not be the best of ideas, we're giving it a shot anyhow. Therefore, the overall goal was to somehow coexist and the destination would be Oregon. As far as getting there we thought we would take the most northern route that weather allowed, and coming back we would take the most southern route. We did no other planning except to say we would visit Sylvia's sister Frony in Knoxville, then spend Christmas in Nashville. That's it, that's all.

We got off to a good start on Thursday and did the 530 mile drive to Knoxville without any incidents. I was hoping that this would be the longest one day drive we would do. We stopped for a bite at the Wooden Pickle, a little downtown wine bar just off 81 in Marion,Virginia. Food choices on route 81 consist mostly of fast food and chain restaurants and since we try and find something other than that, this turned out to be pretty good choice. We arrived in Knoxville around 4 and enjoyed our two day stay with Sylvia's sister Frony and brother-in-law Allan. We stopped for a few beers at a couple of brewery's, Alliance Brewing Company, and Crafty Bastard Brewery. Afterwards we went to Central Flats and Taps for an early dinner. Knoxville's been having a rejuvenation of sorts in that so much of the old downtown area is being converted into condos and fascinating shops and restaurants. A great city to poke around in. It was a fun time visiting and tomorrow we head to Nashville.

Grump, Sylvia, and Frony