5 States.
What a day on the road. We woke up bright and early in New Jersey, ready to start our journey South. By 10:15 we were on the road. Being in New Jersey, we were quickly lost, circling around a lake for a good hour. We finally found the right highway, driving all the way to Jersey Dan’s house. This of course led to more detours. Jersey is the only place outside of Europe that I have seen rotaries in every town. There are also the infamous Jersey “jug handles”. When making a left turn off most major roads, you must first make a right, taking a half circle so that you are directly facing the street that you wanted to make the left turn onto. What a waste of space and money. We stopped by Jersey Dan’s house to pick up the rest of our gear, packing the Exploder as tight as possible. We then headed over to I-95, with Philly in our sights.
As soon as the Philly skyline entered our view, we of course had to turn the radio up and blast Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom”. We were of course on a mission. We got off the highway and within a few minutes we were parked in front of Pat’s Cheese steaks. For those of you that have never had a true Philly cheese steak, I am sorry. It’s a truly essential experience anytime you visit Philly. There is often the debate as to which is better, Geno’s or Pat’s. These two fine institutions sit directly across from each other, like two lone cowboys ready to duel. I had eaten at Geno’s, but never at Pat’s. Uncle Sando and I decided it was time to settle the debate once and for all. I ran to the line and ordered my Pat’s. I was pleasantly surprised. Pat’s piles more steak onto their roll, and their cheese whiz is slightly thicker than Geno’s, making it the ultimate cheese steak. Although Pat’s takes the cake, Geno’s is still an excellent choice, as the flavors are virtually indistinguishable. As I finished munching down my first steak, I noticed a bar that served beer to go. Within minutes I happily carried back a couple of brews to the car to wash down the second cheese steak that Zach and I split. After finishing the steaks, we headed off, leaving Philly behind, happy as pigs in shit.
We headed further southward, entering Baltimore. Not much to report from Baltimore, other than it was fun to see yet another city. We headed towards Washington DC. As we reached the beltway we stopped at a guitar store that Uncle Sando frequents. There was an interesting selection of used gear. Zach found a guitar that he is considering acquiring. After spending an hour playing different guitars, we headed towards the Sando homestead. Uncle Sando got on I-66, which supposedly heads towards Winchester, his hometown. Things seemed to be going according to plans until I saw a sign for the Pentagon. The next thing we know we are crossing the Potomac as the Washington Monument rises up in front of us. I was sure that Uncle Sando DID NOT reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Apparently he took 66 east instead of west, and we were now in the nation’s capital. After mocking Sando for a good 10 minutes for forgetting where he lived, we decided to drive by some of the monuments. We were lucky to have arrived just as the sun was setting, dusk falling on the famous sights. We drove by the Lincoln memorial and the Vietnam wall. We parked and looked across the water at the Jefferson Memorial. We all agreed it was one of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen. It was one of those “proud to be an American” moments. Then we drove off to see if Dubya would be interested in chillin’ out with Though I’m Told. Apparently he was out of town for the night, so we left D.C. fer’ Virginia. We pulled over for gas about an hour into the state, and were immediately surprised by the drop in beer prices. Under 4 bucks for a High Life six pack!! After living in Boston for three years, we felt like Trump. Got the gas and drove towards Sando’s. Upon arriving we were greeted by a giant possum and a cooler full of beer on the porch. Sando’s parents had already gone to bed, but there was a huge spread of food laid out for us!! Talk about Southern hospitality. Cookies, cupcakes, veggie tray, tuna rolls, chips, and most importantly… a steaming crock pot full of BBQ pork!! It was certainly a good day for food. Later that night, our friend the giant possum showed up again on the porch. Zach tried to talk him into filling the percussion void left by Nacho. Despite a promise of Florida and beaches, the possum declined and crawled back under the porch from whence he came. We then passed out.
Woke up today and had some more BBQ pork and a few mugs of black coffee. We are taking it easy today. Uncle Sando is gonna show us around town. Tomorrow will be a day of work getting ready for the Carolina dates. Apologies for the lack of pictures. We are on a fairly slow connection, so we are working to get them up as soon as we can.
I’m sure I will have some more stories for you tomorrow. Until then, take care.
What a day on the road. We woke up bright and early in New Jersey, ready to start our journey South. By 10:15 we were on the road. Being in New Jersey, we were quickly lost, circling around a lake for a good hour. We finally found the right highway, driving all the way to Jersey Dan’s house. This of course led to more detours. Jersey is the only place outside of Europe that I have seen rotaries in every town. There are also the infamous Jersey “jug handles”. When making a left turn off most major roads, you must first make a right, taking a half circle so that you are directly facing the street that you wanted to make the left turn onto. What a waste of space and money. We stopped by Jersey Dan’s house to pick up the rest of our gear, packing the Exploder as tight as possible. We then headed over to I-95, with Philly in our sights.
As soon as the Philly skyline entered our view, we of course had to turn the radio up and blast Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom”. We were of course on a mission. We got off the highway and within a few minutes we were parked in front of Pat’s Cheese steaks. For those of you that have never had a true Philly cheese steak, I am sorry. It’s a truly essential experience anytime you visit Philly. There is often the debate as to which is better, Geno’s or Pat’s. These two fine institutions sit directly across from each other, like two lone cowboys ready to duel. I had eaten at Geno’s, but never at Pat’s. Uncle Sando and I decided it was time to settle the debate once and for all. I ran to the line and ordered my Pat’s. I was pleasantly surprised. Pat’s piles more steak onto their roll, and their cheese whiz is slightly thicker than Geno’s, making it the ultimate cheese steak. Although Pat’s takes the cake, Geno’s is still an excellent choice, as the flavors are virtually indistinguishable. As I finished munching down my first steak, I noticed a bar that served beer to go. Within minutes I happily carried back a couple of brews to the car to wash down the second cheese steak that Zach and I split. After finishing the steaks, we headed off, leaving Philly behind, happy as pigs in shit.
We headed further southward, entering Baltimore. Not much to report from Baltimore, other than it was fun to see yet another city. We headed towards Washington DC. As we reached the beltway we stopped at a guitar store that Uncle Sando frequents. There was an interesting selection of used gear. Zach found a guitar that he is considering acquiring. After spending an hour playing different guitars, we headed towards the Sando homestead. Uncle Sando got on I-66, which supposedly heads towards Winchester, his hometown. Things seemed to be going according to plans until I saw a sign for the Pentagon. The next thing we know we are crossing the Potomac as the Washington Monument rises up in front of us. I was sure that Uncle Sando DID NOT reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Apparently he took 66 east instead of west, and we were now in the nation’s capital. After mocking Sando for a good 10 minutes for forgetting where he lived, we decided to drive by some of the monuments. We were lucky to have arrived just as the sun was setting, dusk falling on the famous sights. We drove by the Lincoln memorial and the Vietnam wall. We parked and looked across the water at the Jefferson Memorial. We all agreed it was one of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen. It was one of those “proud to be an American” moments. Then we drove off to see if Dubya would be interested in chillin’ out with Though I’m Told. Apparently he was out of town for the night, so we left D.C. fer’ Virginia. We pulled over for gas about an hour into the state, and were immediately surprised by the drop in beer prices. Under 4 bucks for a High Life six pack!! After living in Boston for three years, we felt like Trump. Got the gas and drove towards Sando’s. Upon arriving we were greeted by a giant possum and a cooler full of beer on the porch. Sando’s parents had already gone to bed, but there was a huge spread of food laid out for us!! Talk about Southern hospitality. Cookies, cupcakes, veggie tray, tuna rolls, chips, and most importantly… a steaming crock pot full of BBQ pork!! It was certainly a good day for food. Later that night, our friend the giant possum showed up again on the porch. Zach tried to talk him into filling the percussion void left by Nacho. Despite a promise of Florida and beaches, the possum declined and crawled back under the porch from whence he came. We then passed out.
Woke up today and had some more BBQ pork and a few mugs of black coffee. We are taking it easy today. Uncle Sando is gonna show us around town. Tomorrow will be a day of work getting ready for the Carolina dates. Apologies for the lack of pictures. We are on a fairly slow connection, so we are working to get them up as soon as we can.
I’m sure I will have some more stories for you tomorrow. Until then, take care.
posted by MetalMikeGuitar at 2:01 PM
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