Chuck's Wrap-up

What can I say? Terry summed it up in the previous blog.

The whole trip.......4112 miles

States visited: NJ, PA, VA, TN, AR, TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC, NC, MD, DE

In a way, It kinda sucked rushing through certain states, but the urgency of having to get to a convention at a certain time and having to return back to NY at a certain time to play a gig, added something cool to the mix.

Yes I made it to the gig and we did an excellent show. I kept going, not feeling tired or worn out. Made it through the whole evening and got home at 4am Sunday morning.

I slept 'til 3 or 4 pm and got a call from Russ saying he found a new BBQ restaurant to check out. I was feeling kind of BBQ'd out, but what the hell... why not?

Until the next reason for me to log something here...
Ciao!
.:C:.

Terry's Wrap-up

After the much anticipated traffic of NJ and NY, I dropped myself off at Flushing around 6:30 PM (EST). Charlie went on to his home in Suffolk County where he later on had a gig at the Blue Parrot; sorry for not making it! The moral of the story, the conclusion, the two second sound bite that sums up this trip? Not sure yet, I guess that will come after I have told the story and mulled it over countless times in my head and the distilled product will come out (or I will have it at the end of this dump of thoughts).

For now, I can define it with two words: Culture Shock. You come back from the host and birthplace of the Olympics (Greece), go to work for a week, make some major career changes, and then get into a car for a road trip that most people respond to with ‘why didn’t you fly?’ WHY NOT? I respond with the grin of ‘haha I saw shit you will never see in your lifetime, nor would you appreciate it because it was not at some fancy hotel while ordering Foi Gra!’ Okay, enough scorning the elitists; everyone can be an elitist from time to time. The trip was a bit rushed as we combined the standard annual pilgrimage of Lab Automation Engineers to Austin, Texas’ NI Week with a Road Trip spanning two time zones, the Confederacy, Home of Wrestling, Blueberry Cobbler, Jambalaya, key lime pie, Gumbo, Home of Jazz, Live Music Capital of the World, Home of the King, Home of Mr. I did not inhale President, Home of Mr. I only drink virgin Pina Coladas President, Home of the Confederacy’s President, Soulville USA, Natural Gas Fires which we thought were only 40 feet high, but reports later on said they were up to 1000 feet, real BBQ (not the Yankee stuff which is simply grilled meat), Texas Chilly, Driftwood, TX, Home of Texas Independence (a.k.a. Ozzy’s urinal; that dude is whacked!), the random gas station in Dallas where we had several gas station attendants in a self-service gas station who warned us about the stranded truck driver who was driving a mini-van with the hood open who wanted to give us his tools as collateral for a few dollars, the sex shops in a randomly colored Bourbon street, the Athens 2004 Olympics T-shirts, the non-marble Parthenon of Nashville, the wi-fi spots at TA for those truckers (and us!), miles of swamp land in Louisiana through Alabama, to get back to your neighbor’s BBQ where the “y’all come back now” is replaced with Greek Rebetiko (like the blues) and ouzo on the rocks. And then full circle where a neighbor at the above BBQ (not the host) of mine tells me of his 13,000 mile road trip to Alaska! Now that’s a road trip… in comparison, our road trip to Texas was commute… but there will be more!

Reality truly is where you are! It was each of those states we stopped at or raced through at the ‘speed limit’, it was the gravy-laden southern meals that kept me going for 12 hours on the road trip, it was sitting in traffic on the parking lot also known as the NJ Turnpike, and it is getting back to work (the only thing I used to refer to as reality)!

Yours truly,
Terry with 4000+miles of trekking

Saturday

Well I believe that is the last of the interesting stops. (and pictures) After stopping in Alabama to pick up fudge and peanut butter (mmmmmmmmmmm!) the rest of the trip was non-descript. I needed to be back before 9pm so I could get my music gear and go to a gig. So time was of the essence.

It's no surprise that we hit traffic on every road we took from Delaware back to Terry's house in Flushing. After dropping Terry off, I headed home and made the gig on time.

Terry and I will each post a final entry to close this blog shortly. There will even be a statistical entry containing total time, miles, states, gas, etc... which will probably be of no use to anyone (even I don't care.) =)

.:C:.

French Quarter

Before I get to the French Quarter, I need to mention the streets leading to New Orleans are all in swamps. The roads are elevated about 10 feet above the water for miles at a time:



(Lauren, don't go here!)

We made our way to Boubon street and took in the sights. First we found someone who looks like Terry standing beneath the Bourbon Street sign:



The streets are very narrow. Lots of food and music! Lots of nudity and sex shows! Lots of gift shops! If that combination of items excites you, (as it does me) then you need to go here. We're here at the polar opposite of Mardi Gras, and there are still people drinking and puking before noon! We took in some gift shops and got lunch at this place:



We had the best gumbo here and I believe we were the only people in this area that were not drinking alcohol =)

Here are some shots of cool balcony iron works:







And the French Market:


And it wouldn't be complete without a scuff with the law... Here's a shot of a genuine New Orleans Bourbon Street parking ticket:



As an update, I am posting this from a truckstop in Greensboro, NC at 5:45am

.:C:.

Friday

OK - Terry will take this one:

Leaving Austin with a full stomach courtesy of the local franchise Cajun eatery Jazz and saying goodbye to our new found friends from Ontario, Canada and Milwaukee, USA we trekked South on I-35 to San Antonio. Here are a couple of shots of the restaurant Jazz, inside and out:

The inside is pretty spacious. You can see where the bands play to the left of the shot.


The outside is pretty hip too. In case no one knew, Lance Armstrong is from Austin.


Charlie: Jazz has the best jambalaya I've ever tasted. Two years ago when I was here, I had a triple order! (it's only listed as an appetizer) Everything was great until I needed to use the bathroom:


Seriously, we're not sure what this is a picture of. Approaching it from afar it looked like a sunrise. The dark part at the bottom are trees/field. The flame was easily 50 to 60 feet high. There was fog/low clouds that were reflecting the light for miles. It was actually scary as we got closer. (it was about 3:30 am when this picture was taken) It was creepy and cool at the same time.

The return will be a bit longer in terms of miles, but will take us through cities we have never been to before… namely New Orleans, location of the delta of the great Mississippi.

In San Antonio, we visited the famed Alamo. A sacred location to Americans and especially Texans, this is considered the birthplace of Texas freedom. Texas was its own country before joining the Union. For thirteen days, a handful of brave Texans held the missionary turned strategic entrenchment. They did not surrender and all died for the freedom of Texas.

On the door of the Alamo, is an inscription which was moving in a simple Texas-like way.
It reads:

Be Silent, Friend
Here Heroes Died
To Blaze a Trail
For Other Men.

Here are some shots of the Alamo to remember...





Outside of the Alamo (we could not go inside for it was around 9:30 pm CST) we saw a monument erected in 1936 commemorating 100 years since the great sacrifice. It has names of the people from the battle including Dave Crockett.

After we got back into the car, I sent off a post card of the original Planet of the Apes movie (c. 1960s) to my brother. While circling around the post office, I caught drift of several Wi-Fi spots, but could not connect; people are getting more techno-savvy.

So, we got onto I-37 North, got onto Loop-410 and onto I-10 East. I-10 East goes to
Jacksonville, Florida, but we plan to turn up in New Orleans for Atlanta. On the way is Houston and then we will pretty much drive through the length of Louisiana.

-Terry

Charlie: I'm just going to add that I am uploading this blog entry from a Starbucks in New Orleans. Looking out of the window at Decatur Street, we this:


We are going to take some pictures around Bourbon Street now and then we will be en route to Mobile, Alabama (no Bob Dylan jokes please!)

.:C:.

Thursday

Thursday: We oversleep again. miss today's keynote. I think everything is catching up to us now. There has been no real restful time. We are checking out of the hotel today after the conference closes today. We will then grab a bite at Jazz...
->The BEST Jambalaya on the planet!<-
and then grab a t-shirt or two and get on the road...

There! This blog is finally up-to-date!

Wednesday

Wednesday: We make it through the whole days conference (including the key note at 8:30am. Some good classes today. Tonight the LabVIEW user group is heading over to the Salt Lick. It's about 20 miles out of town. It's in a dry county, so we have to stop and pick up our own beer to bring. The Salt Lick is in Driftwood, TX. I think the website is www.saltlickbbq.com. It's all you can eat for $13.95. Woo-Hoo. We do some damage there. Here is a shot of the group that went to the Salt Lick:



And here is a shot of us at the Salt Lick:



We then head back to Austin to catch the tail-end of the shindig given by NI at Buffalo Billiards. This place is cool. It has two floors with bars, pool tables, foozball, shuffleboard (with those puck things and the sawdust), and air hockey... yes... air hockey. The upstairs is also divided into two rooms. The open area that overlooks the downstairs and closed off room where a band usually plays. The music was pretty cool: Saliva, Alice in Chains, Limp Bizkit, etc... Here is a random shot at Buffalo Billiards:



ANd this Buffalo Billiard's shot pretty much sums up the quirkiness of Austin:



We finally bail out and head back to the room. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tuesday

Tuesday: Wow.... what happened? We both wake up late. We miss the keynote speech and the morning classes. We finally stagger into the convention center at lunch time. We then get to our classes. Elpitha invites us to her place for dinner. We agree and go over. Her friend Travis is there too (I have vague remembrances of him hanging out last night) Elpitha made an excellent meal and then we hung out and just chatted about this and that. Trying to cross the parlance barrier that exists when electrical engineers and architects talk ;-) Her friend Justin showed up as Travis was leaving.

Towards the end of the evening we decide to go to Magnolia which is a warped kind of diner with kind of hippie offerings (they serve rosehip tea) and play bizarre, sometimes heavy, music. Good food though... They have the best bacon! Unfortunately I have no pictures of this place. This was kind of uneventful. (thank God) We drop off Elpitha back at her place and we go back to the hotel. Sleep.

The blur that is Monday

Monday. First day of classes and lectures. Not too crowded because it's alliance day. This means it's specially for company's affiliated with National Instruments. Anyone can go, but it costs extra. Terry and I split up and each go to 5 different classes today. All Good.

Tonight NI is throwing an Alliance Party at the Hula Hut. This is a Hawaiian-style bar on the shore of a big lake (no oceans in Austin, y'all!) It's open bar/free buffet. OK let me start by saying I don't like tequila. However, I drank more frozen margaritas this night that I ever have previously. I've been eating the buffet, so I'm not really feeling it yet. This is how tequila sneaks up on you. This place has two docks on the lake's shore with full bars on them and a cover band playing at the end of one of them. Not to conceited, but Pulse 5 smokes this band. They were playing almost an entire P5 set. At this point some people decide that they want to go back into town and go to Coyote Ugly Bar. Did I mention that NI had continuous bus service to and from the Hula Hut from the convention center? Did I mention that our hotel is next door to the convention center? I'll pause here to show some crappy pictures of Hula Hut.

Here is where I hung out for most of the night. This is one of the docks:


Here is a shot of the other dock with a the band playing at the far end:


Now we take the bus back to the convention center/hotel. Terry's been calling his friend Elpitha all day and she finally calls back now (what timing...) Her and her friends are hanging out at the Ritz (pool hall) on 6th Street. Since this is walking (staggering) distance from where we are, we head over there. We hang out drink lot's of Fat Tire (Awesome beer unavailable in NY) then decide to go to this piano bar they know of. Wait... here is an not so representative shot of the Ritz Pool Hall:



We get there and it's empty. The piano guy is finishing up a song. We get him to play Roadhouse Blues and Love Me Two Times before they take a break (there was a drummer there as well)....more drinks. It turns out Terry's friends know the owner. Since the place is dead, he closes up and comes with us to another bar... Logan's. wait. Here are a couple of shots of the Piano bar:

This is looking at the front where you walk in:


This is bad news:


Logan's is a cool place. We pretty much ended the night here. I don't remember much after these pictures except for getting pizza somewhere and all of us sitting on the curb in row eating the pizza. Some shots at Logan's here.

Terry's friend Elpitha at Logan's:


Terry at Logan's:


Me at Logan's (very close to the end):


I don't remember much after this.

.:C:.

Sunday Evening

I get up around 2 or 3 pm and take a long shower. OK.... first stop: Texas Chile Parlor! We walk a few blocks we're there. Quesadillas and chili! Heres a shot of the place:



We have a few headaches getting the wireless internet to work in the room. Especially since they charge per 24 hours of use. The NI website said it was free. Anyway, as it gets later, I'm tired and heading off to bed but not before a blurry picture from our room on the 18th floor looking out:



.:C:.

Finally... TEXAS!

Early Sunday morning: I'm driving and fighting to keep my eyes open. Finally, I give in and pull off to a truck stop, recline the seat, and crash. Wake a few hours later and get back on the road. We find a gas station to throw out trash, get something to drink, use the restroom, and switch drivers. While waiting for Terry to come out, I noticed the sun rise from the horizon. It was an interesting moment because I realized that I had never seen a sunrise before. I've been up at sunrise and have seen the sun rise up over the trees, but I have never seen the sun rise from the horizon. I grabbed a picture of it.



We made it to Austin around 8am. Fortunately the Hilton let us check into our room early. Wow... beds! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

.:C:.

Memphis part 2

We get off at the Graceland exit: Elvis Presley Blvd. See Photo - No ego problems here. Anyway, could we pick a worse time to go to Graceland? (we're in a hurry!) How about during National Elvis Week?! Yep. Our timing couldn't have been better. Tons of cars, people, and tents. We managed to catch the last mansion tour of the day. Platinum ticket (all areas) $27.



We get our headsets and radio-devices. You get on a (short) bus and ride across the street, up the driveway, and get out at the front door. You walk through the mansion at the pace of the narrator on your headset device. You cannot go upstairs. I guess it's a mansion from a technical aspect, but was really quite humble as far as millionaires go. Either that, or I'm just spoiled with the gold coast mansions of Long Island.



As far as mansion decor goes, it's a time capsule for 1973. In other words, I have a lot of the same decor in my house. I took a lot of pictures. They don't let you use a flash. While I was shutting down the flash on my digital camera and inadvertently clicked off auto-focus, so I have a lot of blurry pictures of Graceland. The outdoor shots are clear. Dur to lack of space on this blog and lack of patience on my part, I am not posting them. Well, just a few.



They have Elvis' private planes on display and you can walk through them. All the furniture is covered with clear plastic... My grandmother would be proud. The planes are also, as expected, decorated circa 1973... again, grandma would be proud.





.:C:.