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| Road Trip |
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Back in NY
I'm home. It feels good to be back, although I'm kind of depressed now that I have to face reality. I have to start looking for a job, paying bills, and dealing with the reality that all of my best friends have left NY and, essentially, me. NYC is a lonely place despite all of the people here.
Anyway, Nashville turned out to be an interesting and very lively city! We got another campsite and before we went out I took a nice swim in the pool. It was so humid and sunny that getting in the water was close to heaven.
I'm not into country music as a rule, but with the excess of live music happening at every single bar in the downtown Nashville area, it's hard not to get into it. I could probably enjoy anything that's live and upbeat. Before hitting the town, though, we got some amazing BBQ at this place called Jack's BBQ. It was so cheap to get a LARGE portion of bbq'd pork shoulder with pickles on a roll, and some baked beans. Entirely satisfying.
The entire trip, Troy and I had been playing the alphabet game. That's where you try to find all the letters in the alphabet (in order) only by looking at license plates. We'd been on one game for about a week. Then we hit Tennessee! We actually got through one game during a 10 minute stint on the highway. We were in high spirits because we'd finally hit some place where there was a SOUL. Everyone looked ready to get out and have a fun time, on a Thursday. The first place we hit was Rippy's, where we played some pool. Then we went to Tootsie's, where a live band was playing country and everyone in the place had a huge grin. We met this woman named Audra who was nice, but then told me a story that was really unsettling. She had thought it was funny at work to make a big sign that said "White's Only," and then plaster it on the door of the bathroom. She had this confused look on her face when she said she got in trouble for it. Ummmmm....what's with all this fucking racism? I had no idea when I started this trip that I'd be face to face with it. I mean, if it were a trip to the deep south, then OK, but Nashville is a big cosmopolitan city, and Boulder is a Northern liberal one, so what's everyone's problem?
Anyway, besides bars with live music, Nashville has a plethora of karaoke bars. Unfortunately, these bars are only for amazing-voiced cowboys/girls who want to get discovered. Before we realized this, Troy and I had put in a request to do Mr. Robato by The Styx, only to quickly withdraw it once we heard how serious people were. It would have been fun, though. I had planned to do the "Secret, secret, he's got a secret" while Troy would do that crazy broadway-voiced part ("I am the modern man!!!")
After Nashville was a drive that lasted forever to Chapel Hill, NC. I was so unimpressed. The city was full of frat and sorority types. We were in the south, I guess, but I was on the verge of vomitting. The only good thing about the city was that we dominated Photohunt there. Highest score yet!
We got back to Washington, DC at around 3pm. I had planned on staying at Troy's overnight and then leaving for home the next day. We watched The Royal Tennenbaums (I liked it much better the second time). I was supposed to hang out with an old friend, Tanner, that night, but then I found myself so jealous that Troy was home and I wasn't. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, eat the food from my fridge, and just sit on my couch and watch all the DVR'd stuff that was waiting for me (Rock of Love!!!).
So I got back in the car at 5:45. On the way home I realized it was the first time that I was in the car by myself in 2 weeks. I sang loudly to my music since there was no one to listen. The moon that night was so huge. It was bright bright orange and hung so low in the sky, I felt like it might fall to Earth. The moon's beauty made me think of all the wonders of the universe, and how this world, my world is a part of that.
Back in college, I'd written a story for a creative writing class about a boy who decides to take a cross-country trip, only to stop a few hours out because of fear of the unknown. To be honest, I thought that character I'd created might have been me. In completing this journey, maybe I've proven to myself that I'm stronger than I think myself to be. But, anyway, if nothing else I've discovered that the world is full of beauty in the most surprising ways.
Anyway, Nashville turned out to be an interesting and very lively city! We got another campsite and before we went out I took a nice swim in the pool. It was so humid and sunny that getting in the water was close to heaven.
I'm not into country music as a rule, but with the excess of live music happening at every single bar in the downtown Nashville area, it's hard not to get into it. I could probably enjoy anything that's live and upbeat. Before hitting the town, though, we got some amazing BBQ at this place called Jack's BBQ. It was so cheap to get a LARGE portion of bbq'd pork shoulder with pickles on a roll, and some baked beans. Entirely satisfying.
The entire trip, Troy and I had been playing the alphabet game. That's where you try to find all the letters in the alphabet (in order) only by looking at license plates. We'd been on one game for about a week. Then we hit Tennessee! We actually got through one game during a 10 minute stint on the highway. We were in high spirits because we'd finally hit some place where there was a SOUL. Everyone looked ready to get out and have a fun time, on a Thursday. The first place we hit was Rippy's, where we played some pool. Then we went to Tootsie's, where a live band was playing country and everyone in the place had a huge grin. We met this woman named Audra who was nice, but then told me a story that was really unsettling. She had thought it was funny at work to make a big sign that said "White's Only," and then plaster it on the door of the bathroom. She had this confused look on her face when she said she got in trouble for it. Ummmmm....what's with all this fucking racism? I had no idea when I started this trip that I'd be face to face with it. I mean, if it were a trip to the deep south, then OK, but Nashville is a big cosmopolitan city, and Boulder is a Northern liberal one, so what's everyone's problem?
Anyway, besides bars with live music, Nashville has a plethora of karaoke bars. Unfortunately, these bars are only for amazing-voiced cowboys/girls who want to get discovered. Before we realized this, Troy and I had put in a request to do Mr. Robato by The Styx, only to quickly withdraw it once we heard how serious people were. It would have been fun, though. I had planned to do the "Secret, secret, he's got a secret" while Troy would do that crazy broadway-voiced part ("I am the modern man!!!")
After Nashville was a drive that lasted forever to Chapel Hill, NC. I was so unimpressed. The city was full of frat and sorority types. We were in the south, I guess, but I was on the verge of vomitting. The only good thing about the city was that we dominated Photohunt there. Highest score yet!
We got back to Washington, DC at around 3pm. I had planned on staying at Troy's overnight and then leaving for home the next day. We watched The Royal Tennenbaums (I liked it much better the second time). I was supposed to hang out with an old friend, Tanner, that night, but then I found myself so jealous that Troy was home and I wasn't. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, eat the food from my fridge, and just sit on my couch and watch all the DVR'd stuff that was waiting for me (Rock of Love!!!).
So I got back in the car at 5:45. On the way home I realized it was the first time that I was in the car by myself in 2 weeks. I sang loudly to my music since there was no one to listen. The moon that night was so huge. It was bright bright orange and hung so low in the sky, I felt like it might fall to Earth. The moon's beauty made me think of all the wonders of the universe, and how this world, my world is a part of that.
Back in college, I'd written a story for a creative writing class about a boy who decides to take a cross-country trip, only to stop a few hours out because of fear of the unknown. To be honest, I thought that character I'd created might have been me. In completing this journey, maybe I've proven to myself that I'm stronger than I think myself to be. But, anyway, if nothing else I've discovered that the world is full of beauty in the most surprising ways.
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