Day 25 Kingman, Arizona

Yesterday we drove an uneventful  365 miles from Santa Rosa to Bakersfield on a lousy cloudy and misty day through the San Joaquin Valley which is miles and miles of agriculture, consisting mostly of citrus groves and almond groves (or orchards, or nuttery's, or whatever you call large groups of almond trees). Anyhow, really heavy duty food producers. We settled down in Bakersfield and found a French Basque restaurant just up the street called Benji's. We got there at 5:30 to make sure we could get in, and it's good we did, because when we left just before seven, they were lined up waiting to get in. It was a strange menu, you only really ordered the meat, fish or entree and "The Fixings" came with it. First came a cabbage soup, beans, and hot sauce that you mixed together yourself. It was great, especially the beans. Second, came a green salad, tomato and onions, and marinated beef tongue. The beef tongue was very tender and tasty. Then, finally came the entree with french fries and some excellent green beans. Sylvia's entree was Sole and mine was sweetbreads. Both were outstanding.

Sole and Sweetbreads

Salads and Beef Tongue

Today we drove to Kingman, Arizona exactly 365 miles, the same as yesterday. Although it was a much better drive today than yesterday. The desert was so different than I ever imagined and I was totally mesmerized. We stopped in Kingman because it's a major stop on old Route 66. We drove around downtown a bit before stopping at Canyon 66 Restaurant and Lounge where we watched a NFL playoff game and ended up having diner there. It was a pretty cool place with mostly edible food.

Canyon 66 Restaurant and Lounge

Day 23 Bodega Bay and Santa Rosa

We were off early for what would be a pretty intense 180 mile drive down the northern coast of California.The 22 mile section over the mountains between Leggett and the coast had the most extreme twists and turns that I ever driven.  It's beautiful with Redwoods and all, but it seems as though nobody really wants to drive it. We saw a total of seven automobiles for the entire 22 miles. Then the 120  miles drive down the coast to Bodega Bay is no picnic either. Turnpike Trance is not a possibility on this part of Route 1. It again was spectacular with lots of variety, the northern part is wooden and the southern is more like pastureland, and all very rugged. We completed our 800 mile Pacific Coast trip from the Columbia River to Bodega Bay in four fabulous days. It's well worth doing with spectacular scenery everywhere.

We marked the end of the drive at The Tides Wharf in Bodega Bay. I had a Seafood Chowder that was tasty and would have been better if it actually had seafood. A bust. Sylvia, still a little woozy, had a salad and chicken. Afterwards we started back east by heading over to Santa Rosa. We expected to have a nice dinner there, but I seemed to have caught whatever Sylvia had and crashed as soon as we checked in. We've traveled over 4000 miles so far. I think we'll go to Bakersfield tomorrow and decide then whether to take Route 40 or 10 back towards Austin or San Antonio. That's another 1800 miles.

Day 22 Garberville, California

Sylvia was still feeling a little funky this morning so I went solo for an early morning breakfast.The diner next to the commercial fishing docks seemed like a good idea, and it turned out to be a perfect choice. Fish, eggs, potatoes, and biscuit, what could be better? I had four choices of fish and I picked snapper, I have no idea what a Pacific snapper is, but it was good.

Around 9 we got started south for a relatively short drive to Garberville. And again the radar showed no rain and yet again it rained all day. The drive was interesting because we took a couple of side roads through three National Redwood Forrests. I've never seen a Redwood and I was totally amazed, they're magnificent. It's good they're not in Maryland because the utility company's would cut them down so they wouldn't interfere with their power lines. Anyhow, we got to Garberville in good order and took 20 minutes to walk around the whole town. Like most of the towns we've seen up here in northern California they're old: like from the very early 1900's, pretty much run down, but still cool. One interesting town we drove through was Eureka. The old part of town is gentrified and really worth a visit. I'd like to spend a day there (This is just a reminder to myself, not that I have trouble remembering).

Snapper and Eggs

For dinner there was only two places worth eating, we picked Calico's Cafe. I don't know how to describe it but, Sylvia had Spaghetti Bolognese and I had Tamales, and we drank a local Pinot Noir. There was a guy on the balcony playing the fiddle, he never finished a song, or took a break. There's no way to characterize the place. It was pretty good though.

Day 21 Crescent City, California

Finally made California, only by 20 miles though. It was a pretty good drive, about half near the ocean and half in the mountains. As soon as we got within 30 miles of California it started drizzling and never stopped. It was kind of strange because if you looked at the radar it didn't show up as rain, just clouds. We stopped a lot to take pictures. In some sections it seems as though there's scenic view pull-off's every mile or two. We stopped for lunch in Mattie's in Brookings, Oregon for a quick bite. Small cafe with nice people, excellent choice.

Once we checked in, Sylvia did laundry and I went across the street to where the commercial fishing fleet docked. There were at least 100 crab boats with thousands of crab pots stored in the parking lot. I talked to one of the fishermen and he did say that the weather is always like this, rain and drizzle. Too bad, what a pretty place.

By evening Sylvia wasn't feeling too well (flu we think), so I went searching for something to eat by myself. Things were really slow, but I did see a tiny Mexican cafe with a Negra Modelo sign in the window. It might as well have had my name on it. Perlita's was a perfect stop, small and no gringo's, except me. I had the special, enchilada and a tamale, Modelo too. I took some really good chicken soup back for Sylvia. She still wasn't hungry. Not sure how far we'll get tomorrow.

This is one of my better pictures

Oregon Coast

If you look close or blow it up you can see a guy bending over near the rock.

One of a hundred like it in Crescent City

Typical Crabber

Thousands of Crab Pots

Day 20 Newport, Oregon

Woke up this morning to wind and rain. I thought it would be a wasted day, but by 10 o'clock it cleared up and the sun semi-shined. We found out it's possible to rain here every 15 minutes for 5 minutes all day. Just something to deal with in coastal Oregon. It sure makes it green though. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is here in Newport and was suppose to be well worth a visit. We got there before noon and enjoyed the extensive collection of fish, otters, seals, birds, etc. We almost had the whole aquarium to ourselves.

Afterwards, we drove down to Seal Rocks and took a couple of pictures before going to lunch at the Clearwater Restaurant over by a huge fleet of Dungeness crab fishermen. Naturally we didn't have any crab, instead I had Halibut and Sylvia a Salmon Burger. It was an enjoyable lunch watching the seals grumbling at each other and the boats heading out with their decks overflowing with crab pots.

We skipped dinner and got ready to leave early tomorrow for more coastal driving down to Crescent City, California.

Oregon Coastline

Our Hotel's Hot Tub

Day 19 Newport, Oregon

The drive from Seaside to Newport was only 120 miles but took almost 6 hours, not because of traffic, but because there's so many spectacular places to stop and take pictures. It's a beautiful drive and we mostly stayed on route 101 except for some side roads to checkout anyplace that looked interesting. The only touristy stop we made was the requisite 15 minute tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We bought too much cheese and a cone of really good ice cream. We continued down the coast to Depoe Bay and stopped for some pretty good clam chowder at Gracie's Sea Hag Restaurant. The final stop before Newport was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse for a quick walk around for a few pictures. We checked in at the Inn at Nye Beach in Newport around 3 and were very happy with a nice room on the beach. For once we hadn't eaten too much at lunch and were semi-hungry for dinner and Nana's Irish Pub seemed about right. Sylvia ordered Fried Oysters, and I had a Steak and Guinness Pie with an appropriate beverage of course.

It's been 19 days and we've been a bunch of places and we found ourselves trying to recall where we stayed, what we did, and what we ate when. Thank goodness for this dumb blog, because we've used it several times already to settle what could have easily turned into another lively discussion.

Yaquina Head

Nye Beach or thereabouts

Day 18 Seaside, Oregon

We left Portland around 9 heading for Astoria, but instead of going the direct route, we went over to the Washington side of the Columbia river and up route 5 and across to Astoria via a rural two lane route 4. I think it was a little more interesting, but a little longer too. Anyhow, it was only 135 miles and didn't add much. And, I really wanted to cross the 4 mile Astoria-Megler Bridge to Astoria and see the "Graveyard of the Pacific" the Columbia River Bar where over 2000 ships have sunk trying to cross the Columbia River. We stopped in Astoria and spent an hour in the Columbia River Maritime Museum which absolutely fascinated me with exhibits of life on the mouth of the Columbia River. It was really well done and shouldn't be passed up.

Of course we had to stop for lunch and a refreshment after such a trying museum experience. By luck, we just happened to stumble onto the Fort George Brewery and Public House. Sylvia coerced me into giving it a go, and I have to admit it was very good. I doubt I could have found a much better lunch spot. We had Seafood Chowder (razor clams, Albacore tuna, shrimp, salmon, and bacon), and a side of Fire roasted brussel sprouts with cranberries, hazelnut cheese, lemon etc. And, it came with beer and wine. I'd like to go back tonight because they had a great menu.

It rained the rest of the day so we just drove a short distance to Seaside and checked in at a Holiday Inn Express. It would have been a nice little town to walk around in, but it was raining way too hard. We weren't very hungry so we went to Finn's Fish House for something to do and ordered food anyhow. Sylvia got Salmon fish and chips. Neither of us ever had breaded and fried salmon, but it was good. I had a burger and it hit the spot. Nothing like a burger in a fish house. Tomorrow it's further down the coast.

Astoria, Oregon & Columbia River

Seaside, Oregon

Day 17 Portland, Oregon

Last day in Portland and I started it off right by going to Voodoo Doughnuts. I had to get there before six o'clock because it gets packed. It's an amazing doughnut shop that's open 24 hours and if you don't get there early, the line for their doughnuts goes out the door and down the street. It's not easy deciding what kind to get, they have 50 to select from. I randomly picked a Maple Bacon Bar, a Portland Cream, and a Ain't That a Peach. I want to tell you, they're really great, not too sweet, just perfect. Check them out ( www.voodoodoughnut.com/doughnuts). No wonder they line up.

After that healthy breakfast we met Larry, Linda and Sarah Zeigenfuss for lunch over across the river in Vancouver, Washington. We met at a neat riverside restaurant called Beaches Restaurant and Bar. It was a very pleasant lunch and good conversation. They provided much needed information for the rest of our trip around Oregon. It was really nice seeing them and catching up on things.

Needless to say, we didn't need anymore food so we pretty much skipped eating for the rest of the day, except for a soft pretzel and a few drinks at Red Sky Tavern. It was a good soft pretzel too. And, that's all we did. Tomorrow it's off and up to Astonia, the most northwester town in Oregon,

Day 16 Portland, Oregon

I got up a little early this morning, had breakfast and went out for a long walk about town. Portland's a terrific city and different than most. There's a million pubs, but they're all pretty much the same. I even stopped in an Irish pub and asked for a Guinness and the bartender said, "You won't be able to find any Guinness in Portland, because I've been trying for two years." Irish Pub? I think not.

Portland's an old and classic looking city, I think most of the buildings were built in the early 1900's. They're classy, ornate and well maintained. It's a really nice walking city with blocks and blocks of shops and store fronts to amuse oneself. Although it's a bit uncomfortable at times, because Portland has a huge homeless population; they're all over the place and sometimes create quite a disturbance. The city does admit they have a major problem but nobody bothers to do anything about it. You just deal with it.

The population seems to be very young, energetic, and like doing stuff together.  In restaurants there's always a couple of large groups of young people enjoying themselves. They also dress a little bit different here than they do back east. For instance, I think an Eastern European cab driver and myself were the only men to wear regular shoes. Everyone else wore either sneakers or hiking boots, and not a sole was hiking and hardly anyone running. Tom Mcan Shoes would go out of business in this town...Oh, I guess they are. I forgot, I'm a geezer.

Back to the rest of the day. I met Sylvia around noon and we walked around town  until mid afternoon (as I was getting tired by now). We went in a couple of stores, walked the waterfront and stopped for a late lunch at LeChon, a nice little restaurant specializing in South American food.  We had an appetizer of grilled octopus, chorizo, fried potatoes, salsa verde, and preserved lemon. I ordered the Peruvian roasted chicken, and Sylvia got the Pastel de Chocio, sweet corn, beef, peppers, and aji amarillo? ( It's kind of like a South American shepherds pie). A bottle of wine too. It was a really good lunch and we both would love to go back for dinner.

We didn't do anything else.

Portland Street Food Trucks

Typical Portland Hotel Lobby (Ours)

Day 15 Portland, Oregon

Hooray, we finally made Portland. It was 15 day 3320 mile trip, but we made it in good order. The drive from Boise to Portland was 433 beautiful miles with a little messy snowy stretch around Deadman Pass. The rest was a piece of cake. One of the coolest drives I've ever driven was the 140 mile section from Boardman to Portland on the Columbia River. The road was next to the river for the entire140 miles and went through gorges and past beautiful winter waterfalls. I've scoured the internet to find any picture that does it justice and I couldn't find a thing. We stopped for lunch at the Riverside in the town of Hood River on the Columbia River and arrived in Portland around 3. It was another fantastic drive. We didn't do much after we got there except stop for a bite and a cocktail at the Senate, which isn't worth saying anything more about. We're staying at the Embassy Suites downtown and it's in a 103 year old gorgeous building and our room is huge, perfect ending to a great drive. We'll be in Portland three days.

Columbia River Drive

View from Riverside Restaurant

Day 14 Boise, Idaho

I got up and decided I would again suffer through the free hotel breakfast. I usually hate them, but it's so easy that I do them anyhow. This time I was totally surprised, they had Miso soup and sticky rice with seaweed and all the fixings. I had two bowls. Sylvia wanted to hangout at the hotel this morning, so after breakfast I went for a walk through the park and stopped at the Boise Art Museum. It's not a bad little art museum, very entertaining. Afterwards, I went back to the hotel and Sylvia and I finally got the Basque lunch we wanted at Bar Gernika, It's a little local bar that seats 30 at most. Sylvia had a Solomo sandwich (marinated pork and pimientos), and I had a Lamb Dip, just like a French Dip only with thinly sliced roast lamb. We both had Croquetas, which are made from butter, chicken, milk, flour, and onion. Fabulous! We walked around a bit afterward because we were too stuffed to sit down anywhere. I couldn't possibly have dinner...could I?

Yep, more food. We read a very good review of a restaurant up the street called Juniper. The menu looked pretty good and it had some items that weren't so heavy. So off we went. If I wasn't so stuffed I would have loved to get the Pork Cheeks and Gnocchi's. Instead I got the Spicy Pork Ramen which had Duck Confit, poached egg, mushrooms, etc. It was good, but it wasn't the Pork Cheeks and Gnocchi. Sylvia had a Roasted Cauliflower, Grilled Kale and Fried Egg Salad with crispy prosciutto and fried capers. She loved it and wants me to make it. It looks too hard.

Juniper Dinner

Boise's a great not so little residential city with about an 8 block by 8 block really nice dining and shopping district. There's at least 30 to 40 restaurants I'd like to try. There's the Boise River that runs through it and a 25 mile bike path that runs next to the river. I understand why so many young people are moving here. It's a wonderful up and coming city.

Tomorrow it's off to Portland, Oregon.

Day 12 and 13 Boise, Idaho

The 400 mile drive from Provo to Boise had yet again a different topography. This time it was mostly prairie land, treeless and semi-flat. We made excellent time since: it was New Year's day, the speed limit was 80, there were very few police, and you could see a long way ahead. We checked in around 3 o'clock and looked for a placee to eat. There wasn't much open except for Double Tap, a little bar two blocks away from the hotel. We had a late lunch and watched  a bowl game with some locals. I had a very good Elk cheeseburger and Sylvia a quesadilla. After an hour or two we walked around a bit to get the feel of the town and didn't do very much else.

I got up early this morning and, as usual went looking for breakfast while Sylvia slept. I'm was tired of the same old hotel breakfast so I walked around town until I found Addie's, a little place owned by a very nice lady who let me in before she was actually ready to open. I drank coffee and read the paper until she had time to make me chicken fried chicken with gravy and poached eggs. That, hit the spot. When we finally got out and about we noticed that Boise had a large Basque population that migrated here in 1890's to 1920's. A few years ago we spent a few days in the Basque region of Spain and we really liked the food and the people. We decided to checkout the Basque Museum just up the street. Turns out they were great sheepherders and were responsible for the massive sheep population in Idaho...who knew? Now all we had to do was find some Basque restaurants. So we went across the street from the museum and went into what we thought was the Basque Market to have lunch. As it turned out it was the Bardenay Restaurant and Distillery, but they had a Basque chorizo and white bean soup so we ate there instead. Tomorrow we will find a good Basque restaurant. We might as well enjoy it here because Solomons falls a bit short when it comes to Basque dining options.

After spending the afternoon walking the town checking out dinner options, we realized we had too many dinner choices. One place I very much wanted to eat was a small German bar called Prost. We went in to check the menu and it was very limited and very German, even the beers were nothing but German. Pretty cool, but we not quite what we wanted. I did have a Bitburger while we "discussed" where we wanted to eat. Unable to decide we just went across the street to Fork. Wow, what a good guess. Turns out it was probably the best choice we could have made. We were early and fortunately got a good seat because it got packed later. The bartender said the turnout was pretty normal for a Tuesday. Sylvia ordered a Artichoke Heart & Ricotta Ravioli which she loved, and I had the Tuesday special, Cast Iron Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Cheddar Waffle with Balsamic infused maple syrup & local Ahaus honey-orange infused butter. It could not have been better. I love fried chicken and I've not had anything better, that's for sure. We're staying another day.

Fried Chicken & Waffles

Big news this morning, somebody climbed the town Christmas tree and stole the topper ornament.

Missing Topper

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

Day 13 Paris

It's the last full day in France, time to get ready to go home. I got up this morning and went to the bakery, then walked up to the metro stop to get tickets for tomorrow mornings train to the airport. We'll have to leave at six and I don't want to have to fool around trying to make our way out of here.

Jim and Darcy stopped by to have lunch before we head home. They're leaving tomorrow too, but not quite as early as us. We went to lunch at Bistrot Mazarin, the same restaurant we had dinner the first night we were in town. It was a good last big meal in Paris. Darcy had a salad, Sylvia  a ham and cheese omelette, Jim a veal picatta, and I had veal kidneys. Everybody was happy as usual, and we lingered there for a couple of hours. Afterwards we stopped for a drink at a restaurant directly across from our apartment called Le Procope. We sat outside and just watched people. A pleasant afternoon.

In the evening Sylvia and I went for a walk just to get out of the apartment for awhile. A crepe sounded good, so we stopped at a little creperie and each ordered a dessert crepe. We both gained a few pounds I'm sure. Tomorrow's an early day and it's nice to be going home.

Omlette and Kidneys

Salad and Veal Piccata

Day 12 Paris

Got an early start this morning so we could get in line for the Louvre. We got there a little before 9 and were about 751st in line. It was the first free Sunday this year, which is first Sunday of the month from October to March. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the line to shrink. Once inside, the Louvre is so large that it just seems to swallow people up - except for the Mona Lisa room. Everybody's got to see that, and we did. After spending two hours wandering about and seeing lots of incredible art, we had enough and left through the underground mall where there was a line waiting to get in that stretched for at least a quarter mile. I'm sure there were people in line that had no idea how long the line was. The Louvre is at least twenty times the size of the National Art Gallery in DC. What a place.

It wasn't even noon, so we walked down to the Marais area and stopped at a cafe called Open for a snack and a beverage. After that we walked over by Notre Dame and checked out the Bird Market where there are hundreds of beautiful birds for sale, all different kinds and colors, lots of cages and bird paraphernalia. Very interesting, but kind of sad too. We parted ways and agreed to meet for dinner somewhere in the St. Germain neighborhood.

Around six o'clock J & D came over to our place and we went downstairs and across the street to Vin et Terroirs. It's a small 120 year old traditional French restaurant. We had a really fun waiter and we ordered standard French fare. For a first course, Darcy had escargot which she loved, Sylvia had ravioli with a chive cream sauce (loved), I had a goose pate (loved), Jim carpaccio of beef and foie gras.  Our main courses consisted of three duck confit with roasted potatoes, Sylvia had roasted lamb and mashed potatoes. Everything was great, and it's unbelievable they can serve an appetizer and main course for less than $20. Back home this would cost at least $35, if you could find it, which I doubt. We also split a couple of desserts and the waiter gave each of us a brandy with our espresso.

Just in case you didn't know, the reason I'm always posting about the food and where we ate it's because it does resolve some lively discussions that occur in later years. Pictures are only needed to confirm the narrative.

Darcy's Escargot

Sylvia's Lamb

Duck Confit and Roasted Potatoes

Day 11 Paris

This morning I got up early and went to get a raisin baguette and take some pictures of the  Luxembourg gardens. Jim and Darcy also got up early this morning and took the Metro over to the Montmartre area while Sylvia didn't do much of anything until almost 11 o'clock when we walked to Galeries Lafayette on Haussman. Shortly after us getting to Haussman Jim and Darcy called, they were finished at Montmartre and decided to walk over to meet us. The Galeries Lafayette are fabulous department stores and unlike any store I have ever seen. It consists of four big buildings, each with 5 to 7 floors of the best of everything. The men's building had seven floors of just men's stuff, and very expensive stuff. The woman's store has to be seen to believe. The food and wine building was to die for. To me it was very impressive, although nobody bought anything. It's worth Googling Galeries Lafayette and looking at the images.

Galeries Lafayette Women's Store

On the walk back to the St. Germain area we stopped at a little cafe with the intention of just getting a beverage, instead we opted for lunch and a beverage. Sylvia had chopped chicken in a puffed pastry, Jim had an Italian salad, I had grilled duck breast, and Darcy stepped out and had a salad with duck liver, duck kidneys, and smoked duck breast. Everybody loved their dish except maybe Jim, you couldn't tell, he never says anything. I was surprise though when he asked to taste some of Darcy's kidneys and liver. I though "This should be interesting, I wonder how our cool French waiter is going to react to someone throwing up at the table?". But jeez, he liked it! Great.

We finally got back to St. Germain by walking through the Arts district. We stopped at a bistro a few blocks from our apartment called Freddy's where we had a couple of bottles of wine and chatted. Afterwards they left and headed back to the Montparnasse area where their hotel was. Sylvia didn't feel like going out for dinner so I went out and brought back a ham and cheese on a baguette. It was pretty much the end of the day. A good day too.

Le Jardin du Luxembourg

Our Apartment