1. I'm thinking of doing a farewell-to-Brooklyn meetup with readers. This will need to be in the next few days. You have to email me (using my first and last name without a space, followed by gmail.com) and say you're interested in attending in order to get the time and place.
2. I'm planning to travel somewhere this summer, probably by car within the United States, but I'm contemplating going further afield. Travel for me means an opportunity to blog about different things — and especially to photoblog. So: where would you like to see me blog from?
May 10, 2008
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I would like to see you blog from a beach. I will give you the following options:
1. Bahia Honda State Park, Florida
2. Hapuna Beach, Hawaii
3. Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
Maybe a long road trip where you post a picture from all of the 57 states.
Or, if not that, then a trip up Highway 1 in California. It would even out your time in the east so as to make being back in the midwest more balanced.
There's a scenic spot on the Pennsylvania Turnpike just east of Breezewood, way up, that you should stop and take a picture. You have to pretend to be broken down.
I passed it a thousand times driving between NJ and Ohio.
Speed trap likely going westbound at the bottom of the long downhill, though they're mostly after trucks.
You're more likely to be driving I-80 though, if you return to Madison by ground.
Do a barbecue tour of the south, including Texas. Discuss the regional differences in barbecue, sample it, and photograph the country barbecue shacks you see. Be sure to visit coastal areas so you can visit the beaches in the various states. Take your laptop so you can solicit readers for destinations along the way.
I could add that I've never liked Pennsylvania. The hills are sort of okay, but up close it's a crummy sort of soil. Worse than upstate NY, which I also don't like.
Also it's a very long state, and takes forever to drive through.
1. Have fun, all youse.
2. Depends. Where have you been already, Ann?
My tips would centre around my travel experiences to better aid your choice. I've been everywhere in Europe, save Albania, and the Baltic States. I've been to every South American country. I know less about Africa and Asia. North and Central America I know well.
Last year, the two unmissable locations high society went to were Beijing and Rio.
This year it's, so far, the Bahamas and Thailand.
So, without knowing the answer to the question posed above, I'd say go to Beijing/China.
You'll LOVE it.
Caveat: Photoblogging will never be as amazing to you again. You literally will be taking snaps every moment, like I did.
And yes, the Olympics, but don't worry. There will still be room.
Cheers,
Victoria
Ah, crap, by car in the USA. I'm guessing Beijing is out. :P
Again, it depends where you've been, but I think Seattle, or the Pacific Northwest.
But then, I vaguely remember you going to the Seattle Public Library, and photoblogging that. Hmm.
Portland then? It's a mini-version of Madison, of course, but it's got that Mt. Hood starting down at the city. And the surrounding countryside, wow.
Cheers,
Victoria
I'd recommend ordering life around a bicycle and photographing what that brings out.
Just yesterday, for example, a mortgage forclosure abandoned cat.
I'd been waiting for the right combination of female-planted flowers blooming and uncut lawn, which it appears is not going to happen as the photo opportunity as I had anticipated. But my daily check as I went by turned up the cat yesterday.
So there's your home pathos for you.
Fortunately the hunting is good, there are lots of birdies, which I suppose every cat is adept at dealing in. Anyway he's been going at least a couple weeks now, so is better off there than in a shelter aka pet killing center.
The reason I'm liking the barbecue tour idea more and more is that it takes you - - elegant, sophisticated Ann Althouse, almost the stereotype of an Obama voter, and gets her out among the bitter people who cling to guns and religion, who are the stereotype of the McCain voter. You could view it as amateur anthropology, dress in safari khakis, and pretend you're Margaret Meade.
*laughs uproariously*
Dem and Rep conventions
Helsinki, Finland. (I lived near there for five years, and would like to know what you thought of the Finns. Plus, they have a pretty good art museum or three.)
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania (it's on route 80 straight out of NYC -- just past Delaware Water Gap) -- I grew up there.
What's there to see there?
Nothing much. It's just that everything there is dear to me.
A drive to Mexico City would be interesting.
Good grief, Hardin, the PA Turnpike is one of the worst and most unscenic roads in the US. PA has lovely spots elsewhere.
Further afield -- I'd love to see you blog from a variety of Muslim countries.
Just include at least one great museum in your itinerary.
You're welcome to my place in Star Prairie, WI. You could take pictures of me drinking beer.
Iraq.
Seriously.
If you go through Stroudsburg, have a sandwich on lower Main St. at Sweet Creams. It's a nice restaurant (my friend Chris Koehler owns it) and has good healthy sandwiches and ice cream.
Drive down Third St., which in my day was kind of like a ghetto.
Drive up Main St. and note the colloquial architecture.
You could go out to Crossings Mall, which is a huge destination or even mecca for shoppers -- has about a hundred outlet stores like Hilfiger and Reebok and Gap and so on. Right next to it is a pretty mediocre Indian restaurant in a former train car.
I hate the Crossings mall, but I have the feeling you like to shop. There are some good kitchen type stores.
Kirby--
A couple of years ago I spent some time with an old girl friend who lived near Mount Bethel. I've been to all of those places that you mentioned.
Hardin is right if he is referring to Bedford- very scenic - people flock there in the fall to see foliage in the surrounding hills.
Hardin -PA is wide not long. Turn your map 90 degrees to your right.
Ann I second Paddy O's suggestion to hit all 57 states!
Now that I've come down from my cafe society ramblings, I have some serious tips.
Ann will probably not want to drive all the way to the Pacific Northwest, or Tijuana, Mexico.
But how about:
- "Walton's Mountain", in Nelson Co., Viriginia
- Do a mini-Sarah Vowell "Assassination Vacation", and hit Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC. as well as retrace the steps of John Wilkes Booth after escaping
- Go to Gettysburg National Cemetery and spend the night at an Inn there. They say it's the most haunted place in America
- Philly, PA. I echo other people's suggestion, because though it's a tough city full of rude people (apologies), it's full of awesome stuff to see and do
Cheers,
Victoria
The American West can't be beaten. I just drove two routes - Wyoming highway 14 and Wyoming highway 16 - across the Big Horn Mountains and it was spectacular. Stirring is a better word than spectacular. The whole west is stirring, to an easterner anyway. You should try it. Or try it again if you've done it before.
My suggestion:
Fly into Vegas, blog the hell out of that crazy place, then take a tour of the Nevada Test Site (July 23rd and August 26th are the only tourdates this summer, and you need to get background checked to go, so need to plan at least six weeks in advance)
I made the mistake of just driving there on a whim, only time I've had firearms trained on me, but it was a fun drive, anyway (and the whole firearms trained on me might be an exaggeration, I was greeted by an armed soldier in combat gear, though)
Also, being in Furnace Creek at the start of the Badwater Ultramarathon could be interesting and very blogworthy (July 13th in the heart of Death Valley), and then you could drive to the top of Mt. Whitney to see what the finishers look like after that ordeal.
The drive from Vegas to Furnace Creek is pretty amazing ((and you could even stop in Pahrump and interview legal prostitutes!), just be prepared for the +120 degree heat.
(and if you do a West Coast swing and need a travel buddy, I could probably be available for a week or two)
Vegas!
My God, it took 22 posts for someone to name the most exciting city in America in the early 21st century.
XWL, you rock.
Yes, madam, pogo, has it: Iraq.
You shall enjoy Crown Class Service flying non-stop on Royal Jordanian Airways from Detroit, U.S.A., to Amman's Queen Alia International Airport and then onto Baghdad.
Baggage handling is always free on Royal Jordanian Airways!
You are welcome,
His Majesty King Abdullah II
Ann,
Can I suggest the bright lights of LA (Especially at the Rooftop Bar at The Standard or at the Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax)?
Or a meet up at the Blog World Convention in Vegas, baby, Vegas?
Hardin is right if he is referring to Bedford- very scenic - people flock there in the fall to see foliage in the surrounding hills.
Bedford is okay but I wouldn't be inclined to stop and take pictures. If it's leaf season, you've already been driving three hours through all the leaf stuff you can stand. It does have an intriguing looking roadhouse/restaurant to the south of the turnpike to the west of town.
Breezewood is just a town of a thousand motels, but you're up on the very top of the mountains just to the east, which is cool. Finally you have a real view.
I was unstirred (and unshaken) by the West. I was frequently bored.
Why not New Orleans? I would trust your eye and your remarks and how it's doing more than the g'v'ment!
Why not go to a string of bloggers places across the country? I would love to see Trooper in Brooklyn and Victoria in Miami. (in our white Testarosa!) You surely know many more.
Pick a place; go there; and then let the place and/or the people decide where to send you next!
Fire Island
Ptown
Havana
White hot-total society-fabulous-do it.
I have driven through Death Valley and Pahrump to Las Vegas! And I've driven the Big Horn Highway (and photoblogged it).
I will probably have a trip that includes LA, and I have never driven across the US along the northernmost tier of states. I'd like to go to all 50 states, and I think if I could get to North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, then I'd only have 2 states other than Alaska and Hawaii that I've never been to.
and Montreal.
A drive along the east coast is fabulous.
Cape Cod; Boston; Cape Ann; Gloucester; Ogunquit; Kennebunkport; Portland; Camden then head to Newfoundland and Halifax then go to Roosevelt's home.
Eat a bunch of fish
Drive through Arkansas and have a meetup. :)
I'd like to see you blog from Paris sometime. You've probably been there, but who knows, in a decade or so it may not be as fun (safe) to go back. Lots of art, bits of cultural upheaval breaking out--it would be interesting.
Maybe an I-90 trip West. From beginning to end, with a bit of detour halfway through to get into North Dakota. Then pop down the 101 in Washington, until you feel like turning East again.
I'd dare say that includes about everything a person would want to see.
Right after my high school graduation I went with three buddies on a road trip, taking a big loop around the country, starting in LA, going north, hitting the 90 east all the way across the country, cutting down to DC for 4th of July, then southwest through Tennessee, stopping at Graceland, and on through the quite lovely state of Arkansas and back home.
Amazing, amazing trip.
How about hidden Wisconsin? People don't know how beautiful it is, and interesting.
Wow, Many excellent recommendations. Almost all very good.
My wife and I have been traveling for 40 years, thank the Navy for part of that. In recent years here are the favorites.
Northern Ireland, County Antrim, and Wales, Aberystwth, Devil's Bridge.
Banff National Park, Alberta. But go after Labor Day.
South Africa. Fly to Joberg, don't stay unless you have a reason, such as relatives. Then thake the Blue Train to Cape Town. Then drive the Garden Route to Port Elizabeth. Then back to Joberg.
Singapore. Stay on Orchard Road. Enjoy. Take a side trip to Malacca.
Bali, Wonderful. But go with several friends, few Americans visit here. We had a group of five and it was wonderful. Water is a problem. Beer is not.
New Zealand. Spend two weeks on the South Island. Fly to Christchurch, visit Queenstown, the West Coast, Fox Glacier, Hokitito. Take two weeks. Except for the Aukland airport, We've no experience with the North Island.
Make sure you have a reasonable supply of Cipro. Imodium as a last resort.
Read the travel blogs, they're usually good, but, as always, need some reflection.
Water is safe everyplace except Bali (or Korea for that matter). Get a water purifier from REI or some other reputable store.
Iceland!
William,
We always wanted to go see South Africa, but heard it was unsafe. True or false?
Yeah Ann:
Mt St. Helens, Multnomah Falls, Mt Ranier. They are on your path to your unseen states.
Texas, by car. If you come to Houston, I'll give you some picks on where to go. Hell, maybe you can pick up Amanda Marcotte in Austin and make this sort of a blogospheric Odd Couple / Thelma and Louise sort of deal.
AJ Lynch: St. Helen's and Ranier are nice, but Crater Lake is overwhelmingly beautiful. I'd hate for Ann to miss it.
We always wanted to go see South Africa, but heard it was unsafe. True or false?
I was invited over in 1995, to Cape Town by friends who both have since emigrated to Ireland (both sets of friends, ironically were Russian-Irish-Jewish).
Cape Town is LOVELY, Table Mountain and that Harbour, cannot be beat. Here's a live-webcam.
But Jo'burg, ay. Very scary at night. Especially if you're white...
Still, the same would apply to almost every metropolitan city in South America and Africa.
If Ann can find an Althouse reader to show her around, she would have a field day in South Africa, I know it.
And don't forget to take the Blue Train!
I love Africa. It's so unwieldy.
Cheers,
Victoria
Short notice but how about joining Prof. Reynolds at the NRA Convention in Louisville, KY next weekend?
The Black Hills of the Dakotas, simply because I would love to see the photos.
Be a Hell's Angel 'Mama' for the summer.
Free rides and all the beer and sweat a gal can take.
The new bikes got Wi-Fi and you'd look good in leather.
Hunter S Althouse - you heard it here first folks.
(Have you missed me? I have. I forgot I existed.)
I hope everyone in the New York area can make it to the meetup. It should be fun.
As long as Mort keeps his hands to himself.
You too Titus.
Yikes...a roadtrip in the dead of summer, with gas prices at $5 a gallon? How rich are you?!
I've always wanted to do what you're doing...take lots of pictures and don't pick up any hitchhikers...unless they're cute.
Ann, you're more than welcome to blog from here. June is a great time to travel down through the California Gold Country on Highway 49 and then shoot across the state and travel up the coast via Highway 1. Driving Silvio on those roads would be fun as well. If it were me, I'd continue right up the Oregon and Washington coasts. Unfortunately, I'll be there the entire month, but arrangements can be made.
"I think if I could get to North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon"
It would be great if you did that! I have lived in Sun Valley (central ID), Spokane and Pullman--while having to commute to Whidbey Island (North of Seattle) for Marine Reserve weekends; It has been a while, but I have been on most routes between those places.
There are lots of back roads which even at 50-60 mph take about the same travel time as 80 mph on the interstates. They are a lot more scenic too. You don't mind dirt roads do you?
There are lots of out-of-the-way places that you will miss if you stay on the interstates: Like the apple growing part of WA, Grand Coulee Dam, MaryHill Museum, North Cascades etc.
I recommend a tour of the five national parks of Utah.
Arches, Monument Valley, and Capital Reef (access from Moab, just south of I-70), and then close with Bryce and Zion.
The parks are each amazing, as are the photog possibilities.
By car - The Blue Ridge Parkway through the Great Smokey Mountains, with a few additional days in and near the Shenandoah Valley.
Thanks Victoria.
Its not the Lions I fear but the crime.
No one has feared the Lions since Barry Sanders retired.
I missed your comment about taking the Northern Route. Have done the western end of it many times and June is the perfect month to go. Glacier National Park, Coeur d'Alene, Highway 20 through North Cascades National Park in Washington (Ross Lake is a jewel - looks like one at least), LaConner is a cute stop on the way across Whitby Island. Catch the ferry to Port Townsend, and take 101 west around the Olympic Peninsula to Lake Quinnalt (a nice old lodge there). 101 south towards the Long Beach Peninsula at the bottom of Washington is a beautiful drive. While on the peninsula, you might still be able to drive Silvio on the beach. While there, try The Ark in Nahcotta for lunch or dinner. (James Beard used to rave about the two women who operate it.) Then go across the mighty Columbia via the Astoria Bridge and you're in Oregon. Hang a left on Route 30 and head to Portland. (Stop just outside Clatskanie for a fantastic hamburger.) Plenty so see and do in Portland for a few days. A great trip in June is to go out the Columbia River Gorge via the old highway, breakfast in the old lodge under Multnomah Falls, continue on through the senic and literally fruitful Hood River area and end up @ Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood for dinner, then on Route 26 back to PDX.
After Portland, there are two good ways back to the coast: Hiway 26 or Hiway 18. Both have their advantages. You could post from underneath the wings of the Spruce Goose, for example.
The Oregon lighthouses are delightful. Yachats is a great place to stay overnight. Bandon, too. Rent a dune buggy and navigate the Oregon Dunes or take a jet boat up the Rogue River (the only way to see it, IIRC - claims to be the nation's first designated National Wilderness).
Once you hit California, drop by its toughest maximum security prison @ scenic Pelican Bay. Eureka is quaint, Ferndale is quainter, and the road from there to Petrolia and the "Lost Coast" a real journey back into time. Once you arrive @ the Lost Coast, pay no never mind to the aging hippies, but do stay on the beaten path (marijuana is THE cash crop and trespassers WILL BE shot). The ocean views are incredible. Eventually you end up entering Rockefeller Grove in the Redwoods National Park by the back door.
After enjoying the redwoods and the roadside attractions (drive through tree, etc.) catch Highway 1 at Leggett and head for Mendocino. I prefer the Little River Inn just south of town.
Anyway, just a few ideas.
a bicycle trip through the San Juan Islands.
World Series of Poker in Vegas, baby! Blog the decadence! I'm hoping to play in the $1500 HORSE event beginning June 29th.
How about Area 51, Roswell NM, places that have higher than average sightings of UFO's, or go on a Bigfoot expedition!
Seriously, showcase the nutty part of America!
Otherwise my second choice would be Borneo. I love the Orangutans!
Well, I don't think you should try to get to all 57 states.
Try instead to focus on going to unique art museums and other odd museums, and interview weirdos about what they think about the political race at each junction. Always ask the same question, but have a weird angle to it.
Like, which do you think is more important, race, gender, or Bill Blass? (Keep a totally straight face.)
Redo your Amsterdam trip, but this time as a blogger.
My personal stop would be Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
Ann, if you really want an trip that you will never ever forget, drive up the Alcan Highway to Alaska. The opportunity for creative photography is unparalleled.
Come down to Virginia, Ann....we'd love to have you down here in Mount Vernon--could give you some lovely shots of the bay from the grounds.
Tierra del Fuego!
What?
Sure, it's a LONG drive.
But it wouldn't be boring.
Might need two cars, though. One for the trip down, one for the one coming back.
I would like to see you go fishing in NW USA or in Alaska or in Canada. I'd love to see you catch a giant halibut or salmon or tuna and blog that. That would be amazing. *glees* Fishing.
If not fishing in NW, then attach yourself to Hillary's campaign. We can never get enough Hillary.
The above two paragraphs is 50% of sarcasm.
Hwy 101 in Oregon...the coast in Oregon belongs to the state (that's all of us), so you can walk on any beach along the whole coast.
It's 58 states isn't it? 57 + the last one Obama hasn't been to yet?
1. The Sandia Peak tramway near Albuquerque. Easy ride, and a great view from the top.
2. Disneyland! Plus, it would be a great choice once the campaign gets into full swing and they start making all kinds of promises.
3. Goldsmith's Ice Cream parlor in Missoula, Montana. Try some homemade ice cream and find out why they are open all year around (and it's not easy to sell ice cream in Montana in January.)
4. If you are perchance on I-40 westbound through the southwest, be sure to stop in Winslow. If you get off on the first exit (Transcon lane) and go into town, you will see two pieces of the world trade center on your right (a 9/11 remembrance garden.) They are the largest pieces of the structure outside of New York. The flag, tattered by the desert wind though it is, flew over the Pentagon that day. Then continue on through town, past the stoplight (since you are on a one way), go about one more block, and turn left. You will see the statue of the guitar player on your right. That's the corner in the song. Then turn left again and continue up the road to the La Posada on your right. It's an original Harvey House hotel (since restored) and among the people who've stayed there include Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, Amelia Earhardt, Charles Lindbergh, Albert Einstein, James Cagney, John Wayne and a long list of others (they've got a whole wall of photos). The restaurant is a little pricey but they have excellent food. Definitely a classy place to spend the night (though I regrettably have to add the caveat that when driving in Winslow, especially in the evening, you may encounter drunk people staggering out onto the road.)
World Series of Poker in Vegas, baby! Blog the decadence! I'm hoping to play in the $1500 HORSE event beginning June 29th.
...Best game in town.
Hunter S Althouse blogs from Vegas:
"So where are all the frigging horses then?" I asked the bell-boy.
His face began to explode into a galaxy of dense purple gas and word bubbles drifted upwards from his snarling little mouth. (Or maybe that was the old ether binge come back to haunt me. Thirty years and no relief. Damn love these flashbacks.)
"It's a card game you hick, not a circus animal freak show."
He was snarling, so not the ether then.
"But this is still bat country, right?"
"Room 2317 and no bonfires in the sink like last time."
"That was my attorney. He checks hotel plumbing. It's a secret Government mission. Deep cover. Breathe a word and you'll have to take seven of these brown pills. Got it?"
Later we made it to the card room. Fat young men in baseball caps mostly. One table was played by mustangs. Magnetic cards so they could pick them up with their hooves.
"Too many Swedes in here. My cover will be blown," said my attorney. "Let's run before the bats return."
But I was anteing-up at the horse table. "Your bale of hay and raise you a nutball."
So then, it was the ether after all...
The high road from Santa Fe to Taos, NM, the most beautiful drive in North America.
A road trip when gas is $5. Damned right!
1. My car gets good mileage, and I don't drive much over the course of the year. My drive to work, when I don't walk, is less than 2 miles.
2. There will be less traffic. Great time for the back roads and the national parks.
Seconding tjl: The Santa Fe/Taos area has gorgeous light and scenery. And Santa Fe is the kind of place where you can sit down at the community table at Cafe Pasqual's, introduce yourself to your table mate, and find out that their occupation is "Shaman". Plus you could go to Ten Thousand Waves.
In Europe gas is much pricier. It was ten dollars a gallon ten years ago. But the cars are smaller, and they use diesel for the most part. I had the impression that diesel goes further, but I am not sure.
The Catskills has some cute towns. I live in one called Delhi.
About twenty minutes north of here is a bookstore village called Hobart. An Italian diplomat named Elda Stifani opened a bookstore there called the International Bookport. It's in a town of about 300 people, most of whom wear camouflage flak jackets and deer hunting hats even when they're taking a bath.
It's an odd combination. Metropolitan bookstores amidst Appalachian squalor.
There are also five other bookstores in the village.
You have to drive up to Kingston and then turn left. Go past Woodstock (which is a kick to visit on a sunny day because all kinds of funny hippies are drumming on the village square).
Then you crawl through a lot of picturesque towns like Andes (which has five pretty good art galleries amidst the typical Catskills squalor) and then through Delhi (named after the city in India), and then you go up to Hobart.
Cute sandwich shops mixed in with pretty genuine hardware stores and coffee shops that defy description: men sitting in booths with orange ear muffs and gold teeth reading newspapers with names like Catskill Mountain News, where columns describe every tiny event -- 100th birthday parties and such -- that have taken place over the previous week.
I agree with the suggestion of New Orleans. Your camera would get a great workout in the Garden District and food blogging would be interesting obviously. You could do some of the barbecue hunt mentioned above on the way down through Memphis. Highway 61 through Mississippi would take you through the Delta and into Natchez and Vicksburg. The latter has a scenic Civil War park that can be driven with monuments erected by the various states who fought there.
Here are a couple of other things you can do in the state of Washington:
1. Visit George, Washington (it's right in the middle of the state) and have a cherry pie at Martha's restaurant.
2. When my wife and I honeymooned we went to Port Angeles and took the ferry to Victoria, B.C. (be sure to take your ID though-- that port of entry, going back into the U.S. was made infamous by Ahmed Ressam) Take the tour bus to Burchart's gardens north of town-- definitely the kind of place you wish you could just live right there in the garden. Then back in Victoria, they have an excellent wax museum, and some great restaurants-- all easy walking distance. And you see things that remind you it's not quite the United States (like when we went back for our ten year anniversary, the street musician who was working for tips, instead of playing a guitar or a horn, was a concert violinist wearing a tuxedo and playing concertos by Brahms and Mozart-- and exceptionally well, at that.) They also have a wax museum you shouldn't miss.
What dbp said about the out-of-the-way places (in WA and elsewhere.)
Just (a) don't get so entranced with those places you forget to make it all the way to Puget Sound country, and (b) don't pay the slightest attention to his mph math, it doesn't add up at all. The interstates are, with very few exceptions, straighter and more direct, and thus faster than any other roads even before you account for the speed differences.
But still, minor quibble--I completely agree with the Pacific NW as a destination. And yes, Randy, there are still places in WA and OR where you can drive on the beach.
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