Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 7 / May 6, 2019 by Mark

Reporting from Waco, TX—

We had originally planned to stay two nights in Austin, but our experiences there seemed to run 50/50.

Our breakfast was fantastic. The Magnolia Cafe served us “the Love Miga”, a breakfast taco and a LARGE pancake. Yummy! Mindy is already trying to figure out how to replicate it at home.

However, lunch was a different story. Black's is based in Lockhart, reportedly the Nirvana of Texas 'Que. We were unimpressed. The meat was decent, but the baked beans were a little soupy--kind of like refried beans with liquid smoke added. Pecan cobbler (the review said you could eat a pan of it) was basically pecan pie broken up. Overall, #citybarbeque does a better job.

We found a lot of interesting stuff, from hipster locations to historic ones, outside of downtown.

…but Downtown was another matter. There was an event going on which basically took traffic down to a standstill. (I had no idea Austin was so big!) We ended up dropping a couple of places.

We did manage to see our second state capital building of the tour.

After a trip to the top of Mt. Bonnell for a peek…

We made the judgment call to move on.

There were a few sites we wanted to see on the way to Waco, but they all seemed to be on these strange elongated “service roads” next to the highway. If you didn’t catch them, you had to go miles out of your way and backtrack. So we moved on.

Mindy did find an interesting snack—rolled ice cream. It’s quite the performance as they put liquid on a super-chilled surface…

Time to wrap it up—more tomorrow. #BayouWeddingTour

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 6 / May 5, 2019 by Mark

We’re back on the road post-wedding and all the accompanying parties. A lot of fun, and the ceremony/reception was great. But now, we’ve made it to Austin, TX.

Since Lake Charles, we have hit no less than three Buc-ee’s. What’s a Buc-ee, you ask? Imagine a convenience store hopped up on steroids and Red Bull. It’s EN-OR-MOUS! They are well spaced to sell you a a large drink and then have another store an hour and a half later when you need the facilities.

You could spend a week shopping here. The also have infinite gas pumps.

One of the Buc-ee’s even had the “world’s longest car wash”.

In addition to convenience stores, we also stopped in Houston to see an art installation celebrating John Glenn and Yuri Gagarin, the first two men to orbit the earth. It’s near an old NASA site. The display has a huge set of tiny holes that, when seen at a distance, shows Glenn’s photo from the capsule.

In addition, Houston reportedly had the “Big Bubble”—an art installation with a red button next to a bridge, which was supposed to generate a, well, big bubble in the river. It must have been down today—no bubble.

That stop did let us discover a George Bush (41) monument. <political comment> He’s the dictionary definition of “grading on a curve”—a President who looks a lot better than what we have today.

Another stop was the Igloo cooler plant, which has an interesting security shack.

In Austin, we tried out Mighty Fine Burgers, and they met that definition.

OK, I’m getting tired. Touring Austin tomorrow.
#BayouWeddingTour

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 4.5 / May 4, 2019 by Mark

A mini-entry from Lake Charles.

Mindy and her sisters went to the shore to see alligators and stick her toes in the Gulf.

We later attended the wedding rehearsal dinner at the party house. It’s quite the facility. Since we’re in the Bayou, they had a crawfish boil, so we gave it a shot. If you like lobster, you’ll probably like it—but get ready for some work to get it out.

The wedding is later today. They had the nerve to hold it on Free Comic Book Day, so we’re sneaking out this morning to go to a local shop.

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 3.5 / May 3, 2019 by Mark

Writing this entry late—we were out into the wee hours (which for me is about 10:30p).

We headed off to Baton Rouge and the state capitol. It’s a very impressive building, especially considering it was built during the Great Depression. Governor Huey Long didn’t take no for an answer.

Google just went ahead and made this panoramic view for me.

We went up the tower and took a look outside.

Then it was off to the old Governor’s mansion (Governors’ ? Governors ?). Docent Frank talked our ears off with some great stories about the place.

Gov. Long had it built like the White House so that “he could find the light switches when he got there”.

On the way over to Lake Charles, we drove around Rayne, LA. It’s touted as the “Frog Capitol of the World” because they caught and sold frogs to restaurants throughout the South. It’s teeming with statues.

Rayne also boasts the only “wrong way cemetery”. They are traditional laid out east to west, but when this one was started north to south, they just left it that way. Add to that the above ground crypts standard in the Bayou, and you get a creepy sight.

Finally we made it to Lake Charles, where we’re attending our niece’s wedding.

Entries may be sparse for the next couple of days, but we’ll see. If not, we’ll continue on the second leg of the trip. #BayouWeddingTOur

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 2 / May 1, 2019 by Mark

Reporting from Slidell, Louisiana.

We made our way through Alabama and Mississippi today, winding up about an hour or so from Baton Rouge. We’re big fans of giant statues, and Birmingham has them all over. Here’s “Miss Electra”, presiding over downtown and the local power company. Per Roadside America, "She appears to be ready to either 1) hurl benevolent electricity into downtown, or 2) fry Birmingham evil-doers with a bolt from the blue."

On top of Red Mountain we find Vulcan, originally created for the 1904 World’s Fair, finally getting his own park after years of neglect. There’s a museum covering local history, an elevator that takes you up to Vulcan and incredible views.

We had lunch in Tuscaloosa, at Avenue Pub. I had their famed Bacon Burger, while Mindy had a HUMONGOUS chicken sammich.

Needless to say, we just had a snack for dinner.

Enough for day 2—tomorrow is Baton Rouge and our main destination, Lake Charles.

#BayouWeddingTour

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 1 / April 30, 2019 by Mark

Well, it’s time for another travelogue. This time, it’s a trip to our niece’s wedding in Louisiana. We’re taking a fairly straight shot down from Ohio, and then a leisurely loop through Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri on the way back to Columbus.

We tried out Chaney’s Dairy Barn in Kentucky, which reportedly has great ice cream (it did). Sandwiches, not so much.

Our GPS took us on a long trip through the country on the way back to the interstate. We even ran into…well, you know.

There’s a “car vending machine” in Nashville—you can supposedly get one with a coin. Couldn’t find the slot, though.

We saw a rocket ship at a rest stop going into Alabama, so we had a take a look. It was an actual Saturn 1B launch vehicle.

We wound up in Decatur—the local barbecue place (Big Bob Gibson’s) has a great white sauce and won a lot of awards.

That’s a two meat platter on top(brisket and chopped pork), and a potato with chicken, cheese, bacon, and white sauce below.

That’s plenty for one day. More tomorrow.
#BayouWeddingTour

The Great White North - Day 12 (Finale) / October 1, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from SFPPN HQ, Grove City, OH

As you complete a vacation, you pass through familiar territory. This was doubly true today, as we drove from my college town to northeast Ohio where I grew up, and finally to home. So, I just have a few notes to wrap things up.

First off, the hotel was VERY nice. In fact, I was shocked we got such a good deal on it. It was a “business hotel”, and so I guess they don’t get a lot of Sunday night business? I checked the rates for next weekend (College Homecoming), and it’s at least 3X as expensive.

We just make a few stops on the way home—to have lunch with some old friends, and a local orchard we like to visit when we get up that way. We left with apples, pumpkins, cheese, squash, and hedge apples (look it up).

Then a boring trip down I-71 to central Ohio and home.

My top memories of this vacation?

Mindy making her own kazoo

The Star Trek set tour

The abandoned space shuttle replica

Our 25th anniversary dinner on the dock

Glass bottle houses

The friendly B&B on Prince Edward Island

Poutine

High and low tides on the Bay of Fundy

The Starway to Nowhere

Avery Soda

and spending lots of time with my lovely wife.

That does it. We’re wiped out—time to unpack and do laundry.

I promise to do more blog entries soon.

The Great White North - Day 11 / September 30, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from Grove City, PA (Latitude 41.14, Longitude -80.15)

Today was the cross-Pennsylvania journey.

The hotel at Wilkes-Barre was nice, if a bit strange (the rooms had hardwood floors).

We headed off to Bill’s Old Bike Barn, which started with bikes and became a destination for—stuff. They weren’t open yet, but we got a good idea of the place.

Next, a trip to the food factory where Chef Boy-Ar-Dee was “born”.

Then, we had lunch at Doolittle Station, a melange of cafes, restaurants, trains, and goats.

Finally, we wound up in Grove City…PA. It’s not only the home of my Alma Mater, but roadsideamerica.com listed three sites there. They turned out to be art installations/parking signs.

The final run back home is tomorrow.

The Great White North - Day 10 / September 29, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from Wilkes-Barre, PA (Latitude 41.22, Longitude -75.88)

This was another day of hopscotching all over the Northeast.

It started at the hotel, where we caught a glimpse of Catwoman driving away.

Our first stop was the Avery Soda Co. There were hundreds of small independent soda pop companies a hundred years ago—this is one of the few remaining still in business. We got to see where they make the soda, and then picked out a selection of their flavors.

We then stopped for a sentimental lunch at Friendly’s. The chain used to be all over the midwest, but it has shrunk to a tiny presence on the coast. Of course, I had to have a Fribble.

An old friend worked at Friendly’s, and met his future wife there.

We then journeyed to the Holy Land—an abandoned “educational” park in a bad section of town.

Then it was two displays—a giant Santa at a storage facility and a statue of P.T. Barnum in his hometown (Bethel, CT).

It took us a while to find thge next oddity—a rock that balances on some smaller rocks, which allegedly happened naturally. I call shenanigans.

Finally, it took a half-mile walk thru a graveyard to find the border of NY, NJ, and PA (actually out in the river near this stone).

Then we found a hotel and a place to eat—an Italian restaurant where we were underdressed. The food was good, though.

More to come.

The Great White North - Day 9 / September 28, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from Windsor, CT (Latitude 41.87, Longitude -72.66)

We’ve just completed a whirlwind tour of the Northeast, going from Maine to New Hampshire to Vermont to Massachusetts to Connecticut.

We started the morning at a coffee shop (it rhymes with Schmarbucks), so we could post stuff online after the hotel beefed it with the wifi.

We then went to Yarmouth, ME and DeLorme/Garmin’s HQ, home to the largest rotating globe (other than the Earth itself). It’s like 3 stories tall, and situated inside an atrium.

We then started south into New Hamphire and a great sammich with homemade bread at Northwood Diner.

A quick comment regarding Google Maps—people don’t ALWAYS want to get somewhere in the fastest time possible. There should be a way to set a “scenic drive” option. We had to keep either adjusting the app or ignoring it to stay off freeways. Also, it would be nice if I could rearrange stops without getting out the laptop…

We did find a bizarre monument at Keene State College—a guy set up an endowment in order to find a way to CONTROL GRAVITY. Thanks, roadsideamerica.com!

The same site brought us to “The Stairway to Nowhere”—the remains of a mansion in the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere (it took us two apps on two phones to track it down). The mansion burned down in the 60’s, leaving only the stones.

One the final leg to the hotel, we checked out the Yankee Candle Superstore (or whatever it was called). I was O.D.’ing on whimsy.

Winter is coming (so get your candles now).

OK, that’s enough for now. More tomorrow.

The Great White North - Day 8.5 / September 28, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from Freeport, ME (Latitude 43.81, Longitude -70.14)

Note: Actually at a nearby Starbucks, since our hotel had a different idea of wi-fi, in that they didn’t have any although they said they did. This is also why this is late.

With better weather than yesterday, we checked out of the Tara Inn and headed over to nearby St. Stephen for the Chocolate Museum. Ganong is a high-end Canadian chocolatier, and they set up a museum in their old factory. It was rather interesting—plus free samples.

We then found a local diner, where I had some great homemade clam chowder.

We followed that up with the day’s main event—seeing the high tide at St. Andrews.

You could barely see these boats at low tide.

Remember the causeway from low tide. Now, not so much.

That wrapped up our time in Canada—we jumped over to Maine (which was just as easy as it was the first time), where we were promptly attacked by a giant lobster.

I took the crustacean by the claws and turned it into a lobster roll.

A late afternoon trip down US Route 1 followed—here’s a cool bridge—

--and here’s a tourist mainstay, as referenced in John Hodgman’s Vacationland (which we were listening to during the drive), Perry’s Nut House.

More to come.

The Great White North - Day 7 / September 26, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada (Latitude 45.09, Longitude -67.06)

We headed back to the mainland, after a very fun 3 days on PEI. We had a wonderful stay at The Lookout Inn, a great B&B:

We stayed in the “Turret Room”, which you can see on the right.

Unfortunately, our string of great weather ran out, so this was a typical view for much of the day.

We drove down to New Brunswick, and made our was to the Bay of Fundy. Why? Because it’s the biggest difference between high and low tide on the planet (about a 20 foot swing here, with as much as 50 feet elsewhere in the bay).

We stopped at the village of Alma and had our first poutine (a Canadian dish with french fries, cheese curds, and gravy). It’s kind of like mashed potatoes, but different—and very good.

We wound up at St. Andrews and the Tara Manor Inn. An old style motel, but comfortable. It’s just across from Minister’s Island, where an old industrialist has a mansion. It’s only accessible via a causeway which is above water at low tide only. Otherwise, you’re out of luck.

You can see part of the causeway in the background. It’s much larger at low tide.

Mindy is standing on the ocean floor. She would be underwater (and then some) at high tide.

We’re planning to hang out here until high tide in the early afternoon, and then return to the USA and Bar Harbor tomorrow. More tomorrow.

The Great White North - Day 6 / September 25, 2018 by Mark

Still reporting from New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada (Latitude 46,40, Longitude -63.35)

Another big day started with breakfast—today, it was tasty Eggs Benedict. Then we were off to Le Musée de la Pomme de Terre, aka The Potato Museum. PEI is a major source of tubers, especially “seed potatoes”, grown to grow other spuds.

We followed that up with the West Point Light House, where we were able to climb up to the top. Stairs became more like ladders as we ascended.

It’s still an active beacon, except it’s automated. The house is also an inn.

More fun was found at the Glass Bottle House—actually three houses, using old glass bottles and cement for the walls, along with pretty gardens.

We ended the afternoon at the Island Honey Wine Company, where we tried out a few varieties of mead. I particularly enjoyed the Apple Cider, made with their own apples and honey.

We wound up the day at the Blue Mussel Cafe, to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. It was a little more casual than expected, but the food was top notch.

Well, that’s plenty for one day. We leave PEI and our B&B HQ tomorrow—off to New Brunswick.

The Great White North - Day 5 / September 24, 2018 by Mark

Still reporting from New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada (Latitude 46,40, Longitude -63.35)

(A quick note—I’m posting my content in the evening for awhile, including Facebook and Instagram, since cell service on PEI is spotty at best).

Our first full day on PEI was fairly packed—a great breakfast at the B&B, and then off to the the home that L.M. Montgomery used as the basis for Anne of Green Gables. We went through the historically-correct house, and then walked the trails that “Anne walked”—Lovers Lane and The Haunted Woods.

We also visited two beaches—Cavendish in the late morning and Robinson’s Island in the late afternoon. Both were gorgeous, breezy, and cold.

We also found a possible investment opportunity—an abandoned Science Center right on the coast of a bay. Did I mention the full-size replica of the Space Shuttle? Or the massive Planetarium?

Before we went down into downtown Charlottetown, we stopped at a tea shoppe in the middle of nowhere for lunch. This included a tea leaf reading. I’m supposed to ride a horse, and Mindy is to learn to play the guitar. Life goals!

Well, we’re worn out. More fun tomorrow—and a big occasion.

The Great White North - Day 4 / September 23, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada (Latitude 46,40, Longitude -63.35)

We are now “north of the border”, after a day of mostly driving with few stops. We started off from the Howard Johnson’s in Bangor, ME (in a related story, Howard Johnson’s still exists) and went downtown to the hipster zone for bagel sandwiches. We declared them “not really bagels” (they looked like bagels without the chewiness) but good anyway.

We then headed to the border, not sure how long the process would take. Turned out to be about 60 seconds. I’m sure it will take longer the other way around.

We drove through Saint John’s, New Brunswick and saw a blurry cruise ship at the dock.

Once we figured out how to set the car to kilometers, it was more driving in very pretty (but monotonous after a while) forests and mountains. Then we crossed the bridge into PEI.

We are now ensconced at a lovely Bed and Breakfast somewhat near the north shore, which will be out HQ for the next few days. Tired out—more tomorrow.

The Great White North - Day 3 / September 22, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from Bangor, ME (Latitude 44.78, Longitude -68.81)

After an interesting night (the motel room’s floor undulated, and the bed creaked LOUDLY), we found a very fine coffee shop in town, and then moved on to the main event, just down the street.

I was tamping down my expectations, in case it was a bust—and the outside display wasn’t promising.

Once we got inside, it was another matter. WOW!!! A complete, meticulous re-creation of the Enterprise sets. Here’s just a few highlights.

I’ll post the whole set on Facebook (once I can find some decent WiFi).

Later, we stopped at the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream factory. No pics are allowed on the tour (company secrets), but I did take a shot outside, at the “flavor graveyard”.

We got to the hotel later than we had planned, but it was definitely better than last night (not a hard hurdle to jump). More tomorrow, including our first day in Canada (assuming we make it across the border).

The Great White North - Day 2 / September 21, 2018 by Mark

Reporting from Ticonderoga, NY (Latitude 43.84, Longitude 73.43):

After an early start (traveler’s tip—unplug the hotel alarm clock so it doesn’t wake you up at 6a), we grabbed breakfast, used the pool, then headed off for adventure.

First stop—The Jell-O Museum in LeRoy, NY. This is where Jell-O was born, although it took a few owners (and a lot of advertising) until it became a hit. Some very interesting exhibits. Here, Mindy presents some Jell-O molds.

Our second stop is one of those “Roadside Attractions”. It’s a traffic light in Syracuse that is upside down, with the green light on top.

…and then we made our way to Ticonderoga. Not exactly a bustling metropolis. Here’s our lodging for the night.

Let’s just say an enterprising fellow would do well if they wanted to build a hotel here. We made a reservation a week ago, which is good, because every room in town is full. Why? I guess there’s a bunch of small events in the area every fall weekend.

There’s a “Hot Biscuit Diner” across the street that doesn’t have a lot of competition, so they just microwave pre-made biscuits. At least that was our guess.

Why Ticonderoga? Because there’s an attraction we’re going to in the morning here—a place I’ve wanted to go since I heard about it. One hint: “Risk? Risk—is—our—business!”

More tomorrow.

The Great White North - Day 1 / September 20, 2018 by Mark

After a long hiatus, I’m back with another blog entry.

We haven’t taken a real vacation in quite a while, and remembered that we really enjoyed the long “Southern Sweep” drive. With our 25th anniversary imminent, we decided to drive to Canada’s Prince Edward Island, site of “Anne of Green Gables”.

Day 1 - a drive from Columbus to Batavia NY (Latitude 43.01, Longitude -78.19).

Basically, drive to Lake Erie and turn right.

We stopped for lunch in Ashtabula (the bridge made our decision for us).

We had deviled eggs and a Cuban sandwich at Rennick’s Meat Market (quite the hipster locale).

Then a touristy stop at the Original Kazoo Company in Eden, NY. Mindy made her own kazoo!

We made it to Batavia and got dinner at Ken’s Charcoal Pits—I made the mistake of getting the special, and they treated it like I had ordered the “Gutbuster”.

Tomorrow—there’s always time for Jell-O.

Southern Sweep - Day 9 and Wrap Up / October 27, 2015 by Mark

Like most vacations, it's great to visit, but it's nicer to get home. Unfortunately, we left the longest drive for the last day--Memphis to Columbus. So no pics for today--it would be a lot of freeways and construction.

We stopped at a very pretty Starbucks in Jackson, TN that might be the least organized location in their chain. You would think if you were paying by phone and knew exactly what you wanted, it would be easy. However, we got a barrista who I assume was a trainee and didn't know how a register worked, that "rewards" could be redeemed, or how to complete an order. I think we could have made the breakfast sandwiches and coffee at the side of the road more quickly. We knew there was a problem when two of the same order appeared. They were nice--just untrained.

I drove, Mindy drove, the other dozed in the car, drive, drive, drive--repeat.

The temperature dropped as we went, forcing us to hit a rest stop and change from shorts to pants.

We stopped at a Skyline Chili in the Cincinnati area (if you haven't had their 3-way, stop reading and drive to Cincinnati), and we ordred, were served, ate, paid, and left in less time than the Starbucks order took.

As nightime arrived, we made it to the Schmidbauer homestead.

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun, we got to see our nieces, ate some great food, and saw giant animals. What's not to like? We're discussing a Western Sweep next--but first some sleep in our own bed.

Southern Sweep - Day 8 / October 26, 2015 by Mark

Niece #3 - Betsy, who lives on the Texas side of Texarkana with her husband Kai and two kids. We got a picture to document the event just outside the IHOP.

Back on the road--and a chance to stand astride two states. The county courthouse was built on the border to save money--go to the left for Texas cases, and to the right for Arkansas cases.

On the way to Memphis, we stopped at the biggest scam since the casino--the Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Site of an ancient volcano, they offer the chance to dig through a field for real diamonds--at only $8 plus the cost of shovels, buckets, etc. It drew a decent crowd, including us.