29th Aug 2005
Part 2: Those Places
Yikes, I’ve been lax on writing up stuff on The Drive. I’ll do this bit on some cool spots I want to go back to (and a couple I’ll avoid), and another on Tech things I noticed along the way.
Stops – One of the first things I noticed along the way was that I liked the Turnpikes. They aren’t intimate with local cities in any way, which could be seen as a con. On the other hand, we found the whole service plaza concept to be at turns amusing, convenient, and surreal. Ingredients: construct a neo Art Deco / World’s Fair futurist building, jam a Starbucks, Hardee’s, free WiFi, and a dozen other eateries/stores in a nice modern mini-mall, and make it accessible only from the Turnpike. Now flip the blueprint around, and construct the symmetrical twin across the road. Repeat a dozen times. The large feeding trough area is heavily stocked with high chairs and booster seats, as if to give encouragement: “have bigger families! Eat more fast food! Have another Latte! Check your email! Stay all day and spend!” The Service Plaza experience isolates you pretty well from where you ARE, and puts you into a sort of alternate, comforting reality. One wonders if a cross country trip will someday turn into a series of stops at these roadside airport lounges. Might was well drive underground the whole way! I think they’re cool, if visited sparingly, but I gotta feel sorry for kids who do a “road trip” with parents that only stop in the “convenient” places. Think we got a generation of minivan’ed brats that just watch DVDs coast to coast? Might as well remove the side windows. Hey! Look! There’s a Wal-Mart! Everyone out! Pork Rinds for everyone!
Another side of the spectrum is to visit a Truckstop. We went to the Iowa 80 Truckstop, which claims to be the largest in the world (this bit surprises me … what – that honor doesn’t live in Texas?) What can I say, other than “it’s trucker heaven”?!
Some quick impressions of a bunch of places … all too hurried, and no photos :-(
Pittsburgh & Cleveland – blur. That’s the best word. I enjoyed the Warhol Museum. We got such a late start from NYC, that we didn’t get into Pittsburgh til 3:30 am. Then we were off to Cleveland in the late afternoon. I owe it to myself to get back to both cities, to see them right proper!
Chicago – wonderful. The Magnificent Mile is a great walk. It reminds me of NYC, and perhaps a little of Paris and Berlin’s KuDamm. We kept flashing on how clean it was in this part of Chicago. Loved Wacker Drive. The Marina City towers reminded me of the Bob Newhart show I used to watch as a kid. There they were! Sit outside eating Italian at Coco Pazzo on a perfect night. Check out the biggest Apple Store (but not for too long!) It was an all too brief glimpse. I could spend some quality time in Chicago (well, not in the Winter!) doing a gig.
Ames, Iowa – interesting. We were the first family members in, like, a gazillion years to visit the birthplace of one of our own. Ames reminded me a bit of Petaluma. Sleepy tree-lined streets with nicely-kept houses. Backyard tire swings. Local politics (”no mall”, “save our schools”) in lawn-signed action. There’s a brewpub in the old part of town called Olde Main Brewing … I hate to say it, but it has just about the worst beer I have ever tasted. I mean, it was memorably awful, replete with all sorts of strange aftertastes.
Iowa City, Iowa – pleasant surprise. On a whim, I dove off the interstate looking for coffee. My celebrated sense of direction (or was it the Hertz “Never Lost” GPS?) quickly lead me to the center of town. It’s got a cool college vibe. We bought a mess of Hawkeye shirts. I’d love to go back.
Omaha, Nebraska – worth the stop. I was all misty-eyed about crossing the Mighty Mississippi, so I just had to stop in Omaha. Nah, that wasn’t it. I wanted to check out the Old Market area, and it did not disappoint. Visions of renting out an artists loft to do some project for a month or so .. strolling along the River, etc. Want Italian food? We loved Vivace.
Grand Island, Nebraska – fucking waste of land. The 3rd largest city in Nebraska is a disappointment! GI suffers from the “let the developers run wild” syndrome. It’s a march of corporate signs vying for attention, of parking lots bleeding into each other, and no planning whatsoever. I apologize to my family for booking a hotel in this sorry excuse of a town (I had to pick somewhere to stay before the stretch to Denver …) Hint: at 8:30 pm on a Sunday night, you can have an entire Supermarket to yourself! We asked our hotel clerk where the “old town / historic district” was, so that we could get dinner. She winced. We almost had to explain the concept. Bulldoze this town. Our waitress begged us for any tips on her upcoming trip to NYC – she couldn’t wait to escape GI for good.
Denver, Colorado – yahoo and yeehaw! Denver bikers without helmets. Denver Ducati doing a wheelie in the carpool lane for a mile straight. Denver construction all around. Denver light-rail to be. Rocky Mountain Backdrop. LoDo. 16th street mall with a free bus. Impressed by the Tattered Cover. Varied terrain and interesting buildings. Right on. I could spend some quality time in downtown Denver.
Santa Fe, New Mexico – yes. Santa Fe was one part Sonoma, CA, one part San Anselmo, and most of all, just itself. I loved its Adobe sense of identity. I like how the downtown is so old. We had a great breakfast at the Plaza Cafe. The vibe in SF is interesting. I felt like I was back in NYC, SF, or LA. It’s as if it’s a meeting point for the City types out in the middle of the desert. I grabbed a real estate mag and pondered … hmmm, yeah, I could spend some time there!
Flagstaff, Arizona – Sense of Place. I loved Flagstaff. It has a lively downtown, it’s old, and heck, Route 66 runs through it. I had a strange feeling I had been there long ago (when I was 9 or so, going to the Grand Canyon?). I could spend a few more days there – it’s a great launching point for the Canyon, and for Sedona.
Las Vegas, Nevada – Nothing’s Real. I’d had an afternoon stroll along The Strip a few years back, but this was the first time I’d actually stayed in Vegas. Uh, I’ll never go back to the Luxor. I do especially like the Paris and New York New York hotels. It’d be easy to lose track of time (and lots of $$) going to all of the shows and cool spots. It’s a wonderfully artificial world. The Monorail is strangely oriented … why isn’t it running down the middle of The Strip, making a stop at each intersection? (I’m sure there’s a long drawn out story to explain why it got shoved a long eastward walk behind everything). Vegas is DisneyWorld with Grit.
