Road Trip Day Four: Nashville to Memphis

Route: Nashville Tennessee to Memphis Tennessee
Date: Saturday 8th June
Departed: 11 am
Arrived: 4.22 pm
Stops: None
Distance: 408 km
Arguments: 1

Today we got up with big plans to attend a (wait for it...) a Star Trek convention. When I discovered it was on when we would be in Nashville I was stoked (Radiohead was also performing, hey you win some/lose some). We didn't buy tickets as we were not sure how our road trip would pan out, but we figured it wouldn't sell out. We got to the venue (epic argument and valuable lessons about driving/navigating were had) and it was a hotel that could have been used as a deep space 9 ship. Big atrium and our only thoughts, how many air cons keep this space, with a glass roof, cool?

We got to the suites and discovered a rather large line full of people dressed up. Suddenly our desire to enter went down. After waiting 1.5 hours in line at immigration in San Fran my line limit is 4 minutes. I was sad, then Gareth pointed out that all the ***stars*** were sitting at a table signing autographs and you could just walk up and see them. Two things I wanted from the convention, to see Riker, Geordie LaForge, Q and Troi and see fans dressed up. Both boxes ticked, off we went to Memphis!

We stayed in a great place in Memphis, went to a rather lovely venue called Mollie Fontaine Lounge (in an old Victorian house) and drunk pretty pink cocktails.

Road Trip Day Three - Knoxville to Nashville

Route: Knoxville Tennessee to Nashville Tennessee
Date: Friday 8th June
Departed: 1 pm
Arrived: 3 pm (CDT)
Stops: None
Distance: 297.5km
Arguments: 0


We were feeling a little delicate on this trip, lucky it was only a few hours so we could leave later in the afternoon.

The drive to Nashville was pretty eat, although I missed getting a good pic of the huge gold discoball that sits above Knoxville.

We arrived in Nashville and had a really lovely evening. A great Indian restaurant suggested by the people we stayed with, then we walked to a local park and caught the end of their sons under 10 baseball match. We also saw fireflies for the first time. The area was really lovely, huge homes with big porches, big green backyards and friendly folk who say hello when you walk past.
We are a bit slow with our updating, I'll need to get onto the next few days!

Road trip day Two: Roanoke Virginia to Knoxville Tennessee

Route: Roanoke Virginia to Knoxville Tennessee
Date: Thursday 7th June
Departed: 11 am
Arrived: 5.45 pm
Stops: Poages Mill Overlook, Rocky Knob Overlook, Fancy Gap, Marion
Distance: 492 km
Arguments: We can't remember

Today's drive took in the Blue Ridge Parkway, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range. We were going to just take the interstate but Lynn at the house we stayed at suggested it. We had some amazing views, saw a deer and a beaver (but no bears - sad face).

The journey ended up being a lot longer but it was worth it for the scenery. We hit Knoxville at drinking
hour, had a swim in the pool, then headed to a bar for some drinks and stumbled home at 1am. Good times!

Road Trip Day One: DC to Roanoke VA

Route: Washington DC to Roanoke VIrginia
Date: Wednesday 6th June
Departed: 10.15am
Arrived: 4.30pm
Stops: Strasburg VA
Distance: 390 km
Arguments: 3*

We left on our trip a little apprehensive about a few things. Mainly getting lost, arguing and the phone running out of battery. We arrived with 5% left and a plan to get a car charger for tomorrow.

Strasburg, the town we stopped into for lunch was lovely, super cute and friendly. The place we planned on eating at was shut but a lovely lady Marcy called out to try Hi Neighbour across the street. Marcy also had a shop selling local artworks which we popped into after and I got some cards with cats drinking wine. Perfect!

Roanoke (we asked Marcy how to pronounce it, we had no clue, turns out the e is silent) is a lot bigger (google maps can be deceiving) than we thought. We stayed in a B and B built in the late 19th century that is rather impressive. The innkeepers suggested a restaurant down the road for dinner and after we took a stroll and saw 10 cats. I decided if I ever open a B&B it will be a cat B&B and each room will be named after a cat. Virginia is also super pretty, so lush and green. Driving through the country I have to admit the farm girl in me got excited about seeing all the barns. I hope farm girls from the US get equally excited when they see sheds in Australia.




*When we spoke about how many arguments we had we ended up having an argument. Winners!

Forrest! Forrest!

We left New York yesterday on a bus for DC. It was nice to see some landscape, farms and barns after the big smoke of New York. We had a stroll round DC before picking up our car for our epic road trip that starts today. We plan to spend the next two weeks driving to LA and we are a little scared (we run a business together but right side driving + navigation might really test things) but also looking forward to seeing the country. First stop is Virginia, a state for lovers and from the looks of things fresh country air. Gareth is looking forward to eating 'food from baskets' and I'm looking forward to learning left from right.

The things we are doing

I think our jetlag finally wore off, our feet got used to the pain and we found some amazing coffee. Today is our last day in NYC and up until now we have had great weather (okay, we got caught in the rain yesterday, but huddling under an awning with 8 other people was a fun bonding moment).

On Saturday we discovered Brooklyn Museum and after four hours we decided it was our favourite place. We went Saturday morning and pretty much had a run of the place. The building and collection are amazing. It's top of our new must see list in New York.

We then trained it over to the transit museum. Housed in an old underground station it had an interesting history of the building of the system, which is totally amazing. There was also a cat there.

We then walked over Brooklyn Brudge then trained it out to Williamsburg to check out the Artist and Flea market. It's sort of similar to Rose Street but runs from 10am-7pm. That's a long day for carny folk! Then we found a dive bar and drunk the PBR beer that seems popular in the area.

Yesterday we checked out Grand Central Station, the whispering wall (if you're shouting "is it working??" then you're doing it wrong, and the Public Library. We then went to the Upright Citizens Brigade to see Assscat 3000. Amy Poehler started it years ago and was there performing. It was very funny, very clever and the best value $10 ever.

New York New York

Here are a few more pics from New York.

I'm not sure the order they are in, but we found a cat in a deli, went to the American Museum of Natural History, walked the High Line in Chelsea, saw the Flatiron building and 30 Rock and had a cup of jo in a diner. Check out the mug.