Last night we got into Baltimore around 7 just in time to join Kristal's friend Laura and her boyfriend Max for his Bday dinner at Chevy's. Afterwards we went to see Scott Pilgrim at this really cool Egyptian style theater. The walls were all painted as old stone and there were mini sphinxes all over the place. The movie itself was really awesome. Anyone who has ever played a video game will appreciate a lot of the little things about this movie, and overall its a great mix of action and comedy. Definitely worth checking out.
This morning, we grabbed some lunch at Broadway Diner, which was on the food network. I got a bruschetta burger, and Kristal got a pizza burger. From there, we went to the Harbor to check out a fond childhood memory of mind: The Baltimore Aquarium. Unfortunately, upon arriving at 2ish we heard that we weren't going to be able to get in until 5 o clock! WTF!! We end up buying tickets for tomorrow morning, so we will be going tomorrow. We decided to check out the Observatory tower since it was only 5 bucks and we had a couple hours of parking to kill. It was pretty cool and it was interesting to see how close the Ravens and Orioles stadium are to each other. It was also cool because they showed how far a bunch of cities were from that point: including London, Sydney, Tokyo, etc. After that, we grabbed some Ben and Jerry's before heading to the DC area to visit our college friend Jess.
We stopped by her apartment, then walked around her neighborhood for a bit, before getting a tour of NPR, where she recently got a job. It was cool to see the inside of it, and interesting to see how many shelves of free books they have there. After our impromptu tour, we headed out to grab our first Asian cuisine of the trip so far, a place called Thai Tanic. Kristal got her usual yellow curry, and got a chicken and broccoli style curry dish. Delish!! It was definitely a nice change of pace from all the American food we've had on this trip. After taking the train back to Baltimore, we took a quick driving tour of the Maryland Campus, where I was able to point out some of the buildings I remember, and the red M made of flowers. Its a really nice campus.
We are really tired right now. We haven't walked this much all trip lol. Tomorrow we head up to New York, where I'm going to see my parents while Kristal is excited to see her friend Taryn. We've seen a lot of New York, but there are still a few places we are going to see, including Pop Tart World. We have also added a pit stop in Cleveland to our itinerary. It will break up what would have been a 12 and a half hour drive. We're excited! Thanks for reading.
To celebrate our mutual unemployment, we're traveling around the good ole U.S. of A and documenting the whole thing! We've got our phones, a laptop, and a flip cam. Get ready for the adventure!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
And We're Halfway There
Charleston marked the halfway point of our journey! It was the transistion point between the South and the East. I loved Charleston, with its historical architecture, Southern hospitality, and Kiawah Island's beach and resort feel. I figure at the halfway point I'll list out my Top 5 Sites to summarize a bit for those that can't read through all our previous posts to catch up. This is just my list, KT has the same top 5, just in a different order of preference.
1. The French Quarter and the St. Louis Cemetery - I loved the architecture and the historic feel. This is one historic district that I felt was truly authentic and not just preserved like this for tourism. Comparatively, the Charleston historic district was all big name shops like BeBe and Starbucks in old buildings. New Orleans' French Quarter seemed like those shops could have been there for decades, just selling slightly different wares.
2. Graceland - I grew up listening to the King and to see his legacy was very interesting. We were there for Elvis Week so it was pretty busy and some of the guests had those tell-tale sideburns that they spent their days as Elvis impersonators. It was incredible that he bought Graceland when he was just 22 years old. It was a pretty big house and it must have been considered quite the mansion back in the 50s - 70s.
3. Dallas Cowboy Stadium - I'm not as big a football fan as KT, so I'm sure this is higher on his list. It is a massive stadium with the latest technology, making every other stadium I've been feel like it shouldn't be good enough for the team. The new JumboTron goes from one 20 yard line to the other and there's even a fountain on the 2nd floor that is like a mini Bellagio fountain show. Also, it was a lot of fun to try on the pads and helmets, just to get a sense of how huge these guys are that play.
4. JFK 6th Floor Museum - It was strange to be in the same spot that Lee Harvey Oswalt stood when he shot the president. The museum goes through the entire life and political career of JFK before it dives into his death and the conspiracy theories that surround it. It was a fascinating walk through history and I couldn't help but notice the similarities between JFK and our current President Obama. I just hope that history doesn't repeat itself in this case.
5. Mardi Gras World - Since I couldn't go to Mardi Gras itself, this was the next best thing. The decorations from years past are stored there and they also were making new floats as we walked through. I had no idea how big the floats were or how professionally decorated they all were. In addition to the float, we got to try on some costumes and learn more about the history of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. If you can't go to the real event, this is the closest you'll get to it.
1. The French Quarter and the St. Louis Cemetery - I loved the architecture and the historic feel. This is one historic district that I felt was truly authentic and not just preserved like this for tourism. Comparatively, the Charleston historic district was all big name shops like BeBe and Starbucks in old buildings. New Orleans' French Quarter seemed like those shops could have been there for decades, just selling slightly different wares.
2. Graceland - I grew up listening to the King and to see his legacy was very interesting. We were there for Elvis Week so it was pretty busy and some of the guests had those tell-tale sideburns that they spent their days as Elvis impersonators. It was incredible that he bought Graceland when he was just 22 years old. It was a pretty big house and it must have been considered quite the mansion back in the 50s - 70s.
3. Dallas Cowboy Stadium - I'm not as big a football fan as KT, so I'm sure this is higher on his list. It is a massive stadium with the latest technology, making every other stadium I've been feel like it shouldn't be good enough for the team. The new JumboTron goes from one 20 yard line to the other and there's even a fountain on the 2nd floor that is like a mini Bellagio fountain show. Also, it was a lot of fun to try on the pads and helmets, just to get a sense of how huge these guys are that play.
4. JFK 6th Floor Museum - It was strange to be in the same spot that Lee Harvey Oswalt stood when he shot the president. The museum goes through the entire life and political career of JFK before it dives into his death and the conspiracy theories that surround it. It was a fascinating walk through history and I couldn't help but notice the similarities between JFK and our current President Obama. I just hope that history doesn't repeat itself in this case.
5. Mardi Gras World - Since I couldn't go to Mardi Gras itself, this was the next best thing. The decorations from years past are stored there and they also were making new floats as we walked through. I had no idea how big the floats were or how professionally decorated they all were. In addition to the float, we got to try on some costumes and learn more about the history of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. If you can't go to the real event, this is the closest you'll get to it.
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