Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel

We're gonna have to get used to hearing this.... all... the....time...

Boston & the end of our ropes

Yesterday was the day. D-day. The road trip Apocalypse. End of the road. The answer to the #1 question we were asked when the subject of a two-week road trip was brought into conversation:

Won't you guys start to hate each other?

Courtney and I have been friends for nine years this August. We met on the first day of the sixth grade and, thankfully, outgrew our awkward years, survived high school, the first half of college and 13.25 days of our drive to Maine.

Yesterday was the final day of our east coast excursions, and the city I was most looking forward to: Boston.

We stayed Tuesday night in Norwood, a suburb about 20 minutes outside of the city. We got into Boston around 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday, and parked in central downtown at the Prudential Center. The travel book warned us of outrageous parking rates, but our first clue should have been that the rates weren't even posted. Our cost to park for the day? $35.

We didn't know what exactly to do once we got into town, so we followed our usual protocol: wander around and hope we run into things.

We weren't really talking much, but a tweet I posted ended up erupting into a giant argument in the middle of Boston Public Park. I'm not one for confrontation so I ended up taking these random pictures mid-scream fest:



Then, like any other time we disagree, we dropped it and continued on in stubborn silence until something random made the both of us laugh.

We wandered into the historic district and visited the Old State House, which was the heart of historic Boston and the site of the Boston Massacre.




As it happened, a friend of ours, Matt, was also in Boston for the summer so we met up with him and his roommate to grab some lunch which turned into an impromptu tour around the city.

We walked through Faneuil hall, and down to by the harbor. Matt was our official photographer, so we finally got to take a picture together (instead of Courtney taking a picture of me, then me taking a picture of her)

The original Cheers! (Not that I've ever even seen an episode)

We wandered through the little Italy part of town, and I got, as Matt said, "legit" gelato.

I was a little let down though when we didn't get a chance to really see Fenway Park. I'm a huge Red Sox fan (no, I'm not from Boston... they spring train in Fort Myers). Mis-planning on our part on a game day lead to borderline chaos at the park when we attempted to drive by.

Fenway was the part I was most looking forward to, but camp is 3 hours away so all hope is not lost.

Finally:

When we got into where we were staying in Augusta, we decided to go all out the night before we checked ourselves into camp for the next 8 weeks.

This is Franklin. He was our lobster.

He was delicious.

At some point, I realized we were acting as if we were turning ourselves into a prison sentence but regardless we deserved it before we were surrounded by children in a bunk for 2 months.

Today, we check in.

Next blog update TBA!

When in Philly... eat a cheese steak

As this week begins, its time to re-cap the events of last week.

Thursday, we made a trip to the City of Brotherly Love a.k.a. Philadelphia. About 40 minutes from Vineland, it was another city on our list of road trip stops. Of course, wherever we go - the rain follows.


We initially planned to avoid paying outrageous parking fees and take the train, but the original plan fell through. We drove about 20 minutes to nearby Hammonton, but lack of parking at the train station and observing a prostitute pick up a john deterred us so we ended up driving ourselves to Philly.

I had one and only one mission: eat a Philly cheese steak.

We decided not to pull another New York and first consulted the trusty travel books before we stepped foot outside the Mazda. We parked right down by 6th and Market, so we were only a few blocks from The Independence Mall (no, not a shopping mall.)

It first directed us here, to Benny's Place. A source of cheap (we needed cheap) food and CHEESE STEAKS!


Although, I have a feeling that Benny's Place fell victim to the recession because a peek inside the doors and we saw this:

Alrighty, round 2.

We've had bad luck with lunch spots (New York was the source of bland avocado wraps, South Carolina KFC was more like dog food, etc.) but we had faith in a super historic spot on 2nd and Walnut: City Tavern.

Built in 1773, City Tavern was a favorite meeting spot for the Founding Fathers and an unofficial site for the First Continental Congress. Today, it still stands as a restaurant in a reconstruction of the food and atmosphere as it was in the 1700's.

Plus, the waitstaff wear embarrassing Colonial outfits. It was awesome.




The interior felt like stepping into a time machine - it had formal dining areas (the restaurant had 10 total) and all of the food was served on pewter dishes. I felt as if I should've picked up a petticoat and white wig before lunch.



When we first sat down, I cracked open the menu and scanned its entirety looking for what I felt should've been a sure-fire entree: a greasy, fatty, Philly cheese steak.

My heart sank. There was no cheese steak. No cheese, no steak, and neither combined. NOT EVEN A CHICKEN PHILLY?

Biscuts, braised duck, stew? What did I look like - a member of the English Colony? Then I read the fine print:

"City Tavern's primary mission is to interpret and deliver the culinary experience inspired by the customs and foods of the 18th Century Colonial America."

Seriously? We probably picked the one place in the entire metropolitan area that does not serve Philly cheese steaks.

I eventually got over it when our waitress walked over in her ridiculous white bonnet; I decided she was having a far worse day than I was.

I ended up ordering a traditional Colonial America favorite: West Indies Pepperpot Soup, a spicy beef and vegetable stew. It was delicious and very hearty. Courtney ordered a tomato and onion salad, only to discover it was only a sliced tomato covered in onions. Strange, yes, but Courtney said, "It was the most delicious tomato I've ever had!"

We also got a platter of bread, which included a traditional tea bread, molassas loaf, and sweet potato biscuits that were Thomas Jefferson's favorite.

Courtney (mid-devouring biscuit): "Thomas Jefferson had fantastic taste!"

We left City Tavern and set off for some sight-seeing. We started to walk down 4th when, of course, it began to pour rain. The nearest building we dashed into happened to be the sight of the First Continental Congress, Carpenter's Hall.

After that, the rain persisted so we ran a block to the next building, the First American Bank.

We took a few pictures inside, but the highlight of that building didn't happen until we reached the outside.

The steps of the First American Bank (as well as many other historical buildings) are made of marble. When the rain decided to subside, we were en route to the Independence Mall. I was going down the steps perhaps a little more quickly than was necessary and I successfully managed to embarrass myself by slipping and falling right down the stairs of the building.

Once I scraped what remained of my dignity off the marble steps, we made our way to the Independence Mall where we discovered all the tickets were sold out for the day. First of all, the tickets are free. Second of all, it was only like 3 p.m. We asked a security guard by the entrance as to why tickets could all be sold out, all he could say was, " 'Cuz they gave 'em all out!"

Hmm.

Plan B was to head to the Liberty Bell. That was neat because the building where they house it is behind the former site of George Washington's house. Its more of a grassy area where they claim the house was, but that it was pretty cool regardless.

Courtney: "You mean I could be standing by the hole where George Washington use to poop?"

We also found this random statue of the First Amendment near the Constitution Museum:

We also saw Ben Franklin's grave. It was covered in coins for some reason, so we followed suit.

After a long day of pouring rain and nearly breaking my tail bone, we left.

I never got my cheese steak.

The weekend continued with Courtney's little cousin Sammie's events. Friday night was her end-of-the-year 8th grade dance, and she gave me the honor of styling her hair for the big night.

She looked beautiful!

Saturday night was her confirmation (its kind of like a Catholic verson of a Bat Mizvah) and a BBQ afterwards. It was most of the Turner side of the family, Courtney's Uncle Bruce's Aunts and Uncles (Sammie's great-Aunts & Uncles.) The best part was, quite a few of them were very elderly and one in particular, Aunt Gladys, confused me as one of her great-nieces.

Aunt Gladys: Goodbye Honey, it was nice seeing you again! You must come visit me in Wisconsin sometime!

I just decided to go with it. She was a sweet old lady.

Sunday, Aunt Sarah took all of us kids to Six Flags. Me, Court, Sammie, Drew, his girlfriend, Grace; and two of their friends. Again, a rainy morning but thankfully the evening cleared up.

Tonight, we pack for Boston. Helloooooo, Red Sox!

Upcoming post tonight!

Hi,

I'm going to escape to Starbucks again tonight to re-cap our last few days in New Jersey, but until then, I thought I'd post a link to the camp we will be working at. Its beautiful!

http://camplaurel.com/experience/facilities.php

xoxo

Because cheap chinese take-out always knows best.

Last night, we went to Courtney's brother Justin's house with a bag of chinese take-out and watched Kung-Fu Panda (cute movie, by the way.)

In one of the fortune cookies, we found this:

Off to Philadelphia today!

xo

George M. Cohan lied. We greatly dislike Broadway.

Sorry for the inconsistent blog updates - we are currently at a Starbucks in the Cumberland Mall in Vineland and I only have two hours worth of $3.99 internet to sum up our eventful trip into New York City. Here goes:

Yesterday, we drove to Trenton, NJ to catch the NJ Transit train to Pennsylvania Station in the heart of New York City.

The train ride on the way to the city was really laid back - we were basically the only people on it.



We got into Penn Station a little bit after noon and, in retrospect, definitely wandered out of the wrong exit. It had rained all morning, so most of the city (and like the rest of our trip) was covered in a misty haze. Its pretty well-known that NYC isn't known for pristine conditions, so the gray skies only made our first impressions of the Big Apple less than favorable.

Our first few blocks around the city was literally the blind leading the blind. Courtney's Aunt Sarah said to us, "Its better to go without an agenda - you can just come across things around the city."

Well, the first things we "came across" happened to be dirty lunch carts, adult shops, shirtless construction workers, and dilapidated buildings that more than likely had a few crack heads hiding behind the broken windows.

Three blocks into New York, we decided we hated it.

Eventually, Courtney and I came to the conclusion it would be best to use the map in one of the tour books she picked up from AAA.

We found Madison Square Garden and set up camp on one of the cleanest benches we could find (avoiding as many homeless people as possible) and tried to come up with a game plan.

We were in New York so the first place we decided to go? 5th avenue.

We spent the most time in this store, H&M. It was two stories of cheap, trendy dresses and jewelry. Most importantly, my best bet for an affordable dress for my older sister Heidi's wedding in August.

We both wandered our separate ways and met up back in the fitting room with an armful of clothes. I had grabbed this really cute tube-top lace dress and it was the first thing I tried on.

It was a tight dress, so I wiggled it on but was let down when I couldn't zip it up. Defeated, I tried to pull it down when I realized: it wasn't coming off.

Three possibilities went through my mind:

1. Pull it back over my head
2. Somehow get Courtney to yank it off for me
3. Oh god, they are going to have to cut the thing off.

The longer I kept pulling it every direction, I started to get upset and thought for sure this would be the dress I would get buried in. It absolutely was not coming off. I yelled for Courtney and yanked her into the fitting room.

Me: "Dude, this isn't coming off."
Courtney: "Huh, whoa, WHAT?"

She tugged at the bottom of the dress, looked me up and down, and backed out of the fitting room.

Courtney: "I dunno dude...."

Thanks, Court. Remember the time I picked strawberries out of your braces in the 10th grade? Never again.

Needless to say, I finally got it off after fifteen minutes of sweating and borderline sobbing.

I was traumatized after Dress-gate 2009. No more trying on clothes for me.

We finally left H&M and continued down 5th avenue. We walked endless amounts of blocks, without Central Park anywhere in sight. We finally came up to Washington Square Park, which was included a scene from my favorite movie, August Rush.




We decided to consult the all-knowing tour book yet again when we realized we had been going the wrong direction the entire time. We somehow ended up in lower Manhattan, by NYU's campus.

After getting oriented with our surroundings, we set off on our 5.7 mile journey to Central Park. Here's the route we took:



That also isn't counting the 3.7 miles from Penn Station to Washington Square Park. Total miles walked: 9 miles! Not counting the times we rounded the corner over and over again. We had a longggg day.

Random things we encountered from Washington Square to Central Park:

1. Man walking by said to me: "What BEAUTIFUL toes!"
2. Fearless pigeons attacking us in Bryant Park
3. a 3(!!) story McDonald's!
4. Mark Twain's Manhattan Townhouse
   

Central Park

Courtney got attacked by mallard ducks in Central Park. I found it hilarious. She did not.

We also loved seeing Central Park because we both love Law & Order: SVU, and every other episode features a dead body found somewhere in Central Park.

Chris Meloni (star of SVU) better watch it, if polygamy ever becomes legal he will find himself a pair of blonde brides.

After we had enough of staring at trees in the park, we set our next destination as Times Square. Of course, we again tried to wing it but failed miserably. We, although, did find ourselves out of the ghetto and into civilization and parts of Rockefeller Center.





On the way, we found St. Patrick's Cathedral - easily one of the most beautiful churches I had ever set foot in.


The pictures don't even do it justice. It was amazing because the serenity inside of the church contrasted with the crowded chaos outside, it was difficult to believe the cathedral was in the heart of New York City.

Courtney lit a candle for her mother and grandparents.


After St. Patrick's, we wandered around a few blocks before finally finding Times Square.

Times Square was... interesting. Personally, I found it to be a little more tacky than I thought it would be.





NYPD blocked off one of the streets for construction so New Yorkers set up camp with folding chairs and were just sitting around in the streets. It was hobo city.


When we decided we had enough of NYC, we started walking down by the Broadway theatres trying to find a taxi. We had absolutely no clue how to hail a taxi, they aren't very prevalent in Fort Myers or Gainesville. The square was extremely congested, and as we were walking down the sidewalk I was behind Courtney holding onto her purse.

There were a few things we were terrified of happening in the city.

1. Being mugged
2. Being abducted

So a majority of the time we were on the look-out for creeps. At one point, I noticed this man had been following us for a couple blocks. He was shorter, dressed in a suit with a flat-top hat and had a long beard. If he was trying to blend in, he failed miserably.

I kept looking back, and he made eye-contact with me more than once. I knew he saw I noticed his presence directly behind us. He kept getting closer and closer to Courtney, when I saw him extend his arm towards us. I made a split second decision and shoved Courtney through the crowd and into McDonald's.

Court: "What are you doing?? Let me at least get past all the trash bags on the street!"
Me: "Trust me, you'll thank me later!"

Even though the McDonald's was a little sketchy in itself, it certainly was better than getting assaulted by an amish rapist.

Thanks New York, we've had enough.

Philadelphia tomorrow!