TravelStream™ news feed for member bradleyt on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/bradleyt en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 11 Feb 2005 22:34:14 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/havana-2004/1103424360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/havana-2004/1103424360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/havana-2004/1103424360/tpod.html Fri, 11 Feb 2005 22:34:14 -0500 Brad and Nadia explore the magnificently crumbling city of Havana, Cuba.

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Havana, Cuba

Havana is a city of hustlers. With an average monthly salary of $20 USD Habaneros have to hustle. A walk down one of the narrow streets will find you passing stalls with fried spam sandwiches for sale, young jineteras with their much older sugar daddies, windows offering a sip of guarapa, brightly costumed "original" Habaneros charging one peso per photograph, legions of stray dogs not beggin but just waiting for any morsel of food to drop, friendly carriage/taxi/bicycle drivers ready to drop you at "the best restaurant in Havana" that just happens to be the one that offers commission to those who drop the tourists off at their doors, and of course cigars, authentic cigars, cheap authentic cigars supposedly moved out the backdoor of the best factories in Havana but suspiciously smell like banana leaves. This is just the beginning of the Havana experience.The first hour in the city is bewildering, at least for someone who had never experienced an old world city choked with people and animals and traffic. Fifty-year old Cadillacs rumble by spewing clouds of grime while the little yellow cocotaxis dart about the pedestrians and bicycles. Until you find the crosswalks (which do exist but aren't well marked) each trip across a major street needs the correct mix of stupidity and fearlessness that Evil Kneivel used to make his career. Just wait til you see the big pink 40-foot long "camel" bearing down on you. These converted 18-wheeler flatbeds are roaming sardine cans stuffed each with 250 or more Habaneros trying to get around the city.All this activity forces you to hustle too. The city has an energy that I've never felt anywhere else. It's the people that make it work. I found it strange that those so downtrodden by their situation be so energetic. Of course I suppose that the lazy don't fare well in Havana.Above all Habaneros are friendly, almost to a fault. You'll spend much of your time talking to them for they are eager to practice their English. They want to know where you're from and what you think of Cuba. Each conversation is a dream for them. The dream of getting away from their dire circumstances where all this hard work translates into more food on their plates and new clothes on their backs. They are also eager to ask you for money for the hustle never stops. It is always tough to say no and when you realize that the ten bucks in your wallet that you don't really need feeds their family for a week you'll find yourself giving in more and more. It's all part of Havana's seduction.* * *I must admit that our trip to Havana was barely planned. Due to some unusual circumstances Nadia & I found ourselves each with a week of vacation to utilize in a short period of time. We pretty much went to Havana on a lark. It was warm. It was exotic. It was far away from work.This really translates into meaning that we did it all wrong. Those of you heading to Havana should avoid staying at a city resort such as we did at the Hotel Copacabana. The food stinks (the food stinks pretty much everywhere in Havana but at least you can get it for much cheaper elsewhere) and the accomodations are lacking. We'd recommend finding a casa particulare which is a room in a private residence, kind of like Cuba's version of a bed and breakfast. Usually you can find something very inexpensive and you immediately feel yourself immersed in the population of Havana.Aside from our accomodations the city did not disappoint. The authentic Spanish colonial architecture alone if worth the trip. The vast majority of these buildings are in complete disarray but thanks to some money supplied by the Spanish government many buildings are being restored. Along the Malecon, Havana's oceanside thoroughfare, you can find completely refurbished colonial mansions sitting beside buldings on the verge of disintegration. The cloud that surrounds the city is not just caused by all the 50 year old cars but by the dust of construction and destruction of all these buildings.Havana Vieja is where you'll find all these majestic buildings and inevitably your fondest memories of the city will be of wandering around the narrow alleys choked with people looking up at the ornate old fixtures and hoping they are not about to fall on your head. The best place to orient yourself is at the Camara Oscura at Plaza Vieja. The guide will give you a quick tour of the city without even leaving the room as the camara gives you a complete 360 degree view of Havana from one of the highest spots in the city.Our favourite place to relax and enjoy the good life was the Cafe Monserrate. This place offers live music everyday from 2pm til 10pm. Beers are cheap and they make a fine mojito. You can also get a whole pizza for about 2 pesos. Nadia and I spent a whole afternoon there and only spent 15 dollars while drinking and eating our fill. Nadia even got serenaded by the band.If you're looking for something a bit fancier than a pizza to eat then stay away from state-owned restaurants and find yourself a paladar. These are heavily regulated private restaurants but the food is delicious. The people who run these restaurants do so because it is their passion and you can taste it in the food. Paladar Calle 10 in the Miramar region of the city had some dynamite dishes and their goat stew will make your knees buckle.For a different kind of awe-inspiring architecture then check out Cemeterio Colon. This city of the dead houses an amazing collection of monuments and tributes to those who have passed on. The most famous of the graves belongs to the one known as La Milagrosa or The Miraculous One. Legend has it that this woman died while giving birth. Her child died as well. They were placed in the same tomb with the babe at her mother's feet. When the tomb was opened some time later the babe was found in her mother's arms. Now pilgrims come from all over to make a wish, rub the statue, and walk away without ever turning their back on the tomb itself. If your wish comes true you are compelled to purchase a small stone marker to place near the grave with your thanks. If you're really lucky one of the cemetery's security guards will give you a guided tour and let you into places that you are really not supposed to go. Trust me on this one, even I got a little weak-kneed on one occasion.Finally, you cannot go to Cuba without attending a baseball game. For just 3 pesos you will get one of the best seats in the house directly behind home plate. The crowd at the game we attended was small but incredibly passionate and easily more vocal than the fans that attend Toronto Blue Jays games here at home. Don't expect all the creature comforts of the modern game though. Your only choice of snack is fried spam sandwiches and there is no 7th inning stretch (although the umpires are served water by lovely young ladies in the middle of the 5th). Estadio Latinamerica is in one of the rougher parts of town and it might be tough getting a taxi after the game but the stadium employs a phalanx of security guards to make sure everyone gets home safe. We spent 20 minutes on an otherwise lonely street corner with a mother-daughter pair from Victoria, BC, 7 security guards and one hand-cuffed Habanero while waiting for a taxi to arrive.If your intent is to visit just the city of Havana while in Cuba you cannot do better than to pick up Moon Handbooks' Havana travel book by Christopher P. Baker. Baker manages to cover the whole city without missing a thing. All of his recommendations were spot-on. It was my first time outside of Canada and the United States and needless to say, we'll be back.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1101612840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1101612840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1101612840/tpod.html Wed, 27 Oct 2004 23:36:27 -0400 Chicago to New Orleans and all places in-between, it's a road trip into the heart of blues music.

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I was going to take the time to pound out some of the stories I missed during the course of my travelogue but all the butter I've ingested has fattenned my fingers and I can barely hit one key at a time. I'm actually using a typing wand to do this.Here are some of the better photos I took along the way with my old-fashioned film camera. I hope you enjoy them. If there were any stories I alluded to in my previous postings that you are just dying to hear then shoot me an email and I'd be glad to elaborate.I will leave you with this list of awards that Nadia & I plan to hand out at some sort of gala event complete with Billy Crystal as host.Best MealCatfish and Chicken Linguine at 1860s Hard Shell, St.LouisBest Budget Meal$5.25 Lunch Time special at Rest Haven Restaurant, ClarksdaleBest Meal from a ChainGrilled Reuben Sandwich at The Corner Bakery, ChicagoBest BreakfastHomemade biscuits at the St.Charles Guest House, New OrleansBest LodgingThe Fullilove Shack at the Shack Up Inn, ClarksdaleBest Chain LodgingHampton Inn, St.Louis (warm breakfasts, free umbrellas)Rainiest CityNew OrleansCrappiest Weather SystemTropical Storm MatthewBest Place to go to the Bathroom on Bourbon StreetMango MangoBest Place to Warm Up on a Rainy DayCafe Du Monde, New OrleansBest BarRum Boogie Cafe, MemphisHardest Working Restaurant StaffBlues City Cafe, MemphisMost Impressive MusicianBilly GibsonStrangest MomentBluesman and artist Stan Street counting to 10 in Turkish while standing in the middle of the Clarksdale 'hood at 1amBest Blues Song Written in the Car to Pass The Time(tie) Loudmouth Blues by Bradley T Hughes and Lazy Man Blues by Nadia Abuseif (guess who the subjects of these two songs are)Best BeerBlackened VoodooBest Mixed DrinkMargarita at Atzimba, ClarksdaleBiggest Drink36oz Hurricane Daiquiri at Mango Mango, New OrleansMost Apt Name for a Sun Studio Tour GuideEldorado (yes, his real name)Strangest Place to See a Highway Billboard in Support of Gay MarriageLafayette, LouisianaOnly Place That Serves Jalapeno Ice CreamTabasco Country Store, Avery Island, LouisianaBest Non-WordIrreliableBest Town NameCooter, MissouriScariest Town NameCheneyville, Arkansas
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1098211320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1098211320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1098211320/tpod.html Tue, 19 Oct 2004 15:32:39 -0400 Chicago to New Orleans and all places in-between, it's a road trip into the heart of blues music.

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Home again and the rush and bustle of the working world has already robbed me of a couple good night's sleeps. We are home now and safely earning our way towards the next trip. Please go back and check out the previous entries again as I've uploaded a number of pictures taken with our digital camera. Most of the credit should go to Nadia for these photos. I'll be back again in a week with an entry full of photos from my archaic film camera.We actually wimped out and stayed inside Thursday night instead of hitting BB's Blues & Soups. We did try out St.Louis style pizza though and the reviews are poor. St.Louis pizza features an extremely thin crust and provalone cheese instead of mozarella. I liked the cheese but the crust and lack of salty taste (even with bacon on it) wasn't that pleasing to either of our palates.On Friday the sun finally started shining in St.Louis. We took a ride to the top of the Gateway Arch. The Arch was designed by Aaro Saarinen as a monument to St.Louis's role in the opening of the west, more specifically as the launching pad for the Lewis & Clark expedition of 1804-06. The Arch is stunning in its simplicity and beauty. Although the space at the top is a bit cramped it's worth the trip just to ride in the funky cable cars that take you to the top.Our next stop was the City Musuem. For all of you parents out there, this is the one stop you have to make in St.Louis and I'm not sure who was having more the fun, the kids or the adults. The interior of the Museum features various play areas, the enchanted caves, an aquarium, a museum of local architecture (complete with four cabinets of artifacts recovered from old outhouses in the pre-plumbing era of the city), a bar (open til 1am on Fridays), a daily circus and something known as the "puking pig." Outside there is a five-storey playground called the MonstroCity. There is also a large yellow school bus dangling on the edge of the building for no apparent reason. Needless to say it's fun for the whole family. Even Nadia and I both ended up climbing around with all the kiddies. This place is a masterpiece of whimsy for adults and a never-ending source of amusement for the kids. Best of all, it appears as if everything in the building is made with recycled junk.We left Friday afternoon for Chicago, the last stop on our trip (sniff). If you happen to stay at a Days Inn out of the main core of Chicago, watch out. There are 3 different Days Inn hotels on Touhy Avenue not far from the I-94 or I-294 cutoffs. Of course, our reservations were for the 3rd hotel we visited.We headed into North Chicago for dinner at Pat's Ristorante. It was excellent. I especially recommend the gnocchi with proscuitto but it's safe to assume that anywhere on the menu where it mentions a "light cream sauce" really means "almost cheese sauce." Next up was some blue at B.L.U.E.S. This little bar on Halstead has charm to spare. That night's act, The Bar Room Preacher Jimmy Johnson, was good but the music was marred by his guitarist's tendency to over-solo. It was so over-the-top that the transition from bad to funny to awful was quick. For a $10 cover we expected a bit more.After wasting away the morning snoring our heads off we quickly discovered Chicago's best kept secret -- The Corner Bakery. This little chain became our staple for breakfast as they feature great omeletes and grilled sandwiches. It doesn't hurt that they had plenty of free cinnamon coffee cake samplers as well. We spent the afternoon at The Art Institute taking a long look at their collection of Impressionist Art and then basically running around in the attempt to see as much as we could before the place closed. This place deserves a full afternoon as opposed to just the two hours we gave it.Our final night on the road would be spent at the place that inspired the whole trip -- Kingston Mines. Back in November we spent a fantastic evening there and we had to revisit it. Although the $15 cover charge turns it into a pricey night, this is the only place that features continual live blues music from 9:30pm to 4:30am. Yup, and they serve alcohol until 5:00am. We didn't last that long (not even close actually) but we did take in some fine music from Byner Smith and mowed down a huge plate of BBQ Rib Tips.Sunday was a day of lethargy and general malaise as we contemplated the end of our journey. We did have some fun seeing downtown Chicago from the various EL platforms and then shot up some of the fastest elevators in the world to the top of the Sears Tower (103rd storey) for a dynamite view of Chicago's famous architecture.We dragged ourselves to the airport and it was only the lure of free alcohol in our business class seats (thank you Aeroplan!) that got us on the plane. Of course, joining the working world again sucks but what are ya gonna do?I'll be back with one more entry filling in some of the blanks from earlier in the trip as well as a whack more photos once the film is developed. Thanks!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1097788980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1097788980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1097788980/tpod.html Mon, 18 Oct 2004 15:17:22 -0400 Chicago to New Orleans and all places in-between, it's a road trip into the heart of blues music.

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St.Louis, Missouri, United States

Here I am in St.Louis but since the city was originally founded by a couple of Frenchmen it might be safer to call it St.Freedom.Much like New Orleans it's wet and rainy here, the difference is that in New Orleans at least it was rainy and warm as opposed to rainy and cool. We're sticking inside to places like the Museum for Westward Expansion and the public library. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow so we'll take a tram to the top of the Gateway Arch before we ship off to Chicago.Last night we had what was hands-down the best meal of the trip at a rowdy & smoky bar called the 1860s Half-Shell. Their catfish was gold and the chicken fetuccine rocked both of our worlds. Coupled with some solid live blues and R&B music from a variety of local musicians it was a great night of fun. It didn't hurt that the Cardinals beat the Astros in the opening game of their playoff series so the patrons were in a good mood.The previous night we had spent back at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, Mississippi. We were so pleased to return and we lucky enough to stay in one of the converted old sharecropper shacks. It was an amazing experience. There wasn't much happening in town (we dropped by Big T's but we had already missed the party) so we just grabbed a bunch of canned beer, sat on the front porch of the shack and watched the cars whiz by on Hwy 49. We made another culinary discovery in Clarksdale -- Atzimba's! This Mexican joint has dynamite food (and 2-for-1 margaritas on Tuesday nights). Their salsa verde is so good Nadia actually did away with any corn chips and drank it directly from the bowl.On Monday night all of you will be pleased to know that I did some Cajun Two-stepping at a dining hall in Lafayette called Randol's. My Thanksgiving was spent bashing the hell out of steamed crab with a wooden mallet and hot-footin' it on the dance floor. The dancing was fun but I wasn't much into the crab smash activities. I don't like working for my food. Nadia, on the other hand, had bits of crab shell in her hair and couldn't wait to get her hands on some more.I'm running out of time again but I'll fill in the details once we return including a visit to the only Tabasco factory in the world and our New Orleans cemetery tour. We're in the home stretch now -- another night in St.Louis and two more in Chicago before flying home. I just realized that I have competed the Ike Turner Triangle with my visit to St.Louis.Ike Turner grew up in Clarksdale. He wrote and recorded "Rocket 88" the world's first ever rock 'n' roll song in Memphis at Sun Studio. Finally, in St.Louis he met a young Annie Mae Bullock who is now better known as Tina Turner.Tonight we're headed to a place whose name pretty much sums up our trip -- BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups. That's right, music and food. Little did we know we would be creating our own little Super-Size Me experiment. We should have brought a film crew (and a team of doctors) along with us.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1097334480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1097334480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1097334480/tpod.html Mon, 18 Oct 2004 15:02:32 -0400 Chicago to New Orleans and all places in-between, it's a road trip into the heart of blues music.

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New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Those of you who believe that I just can't wait to get to the next internet cafe to tell you all about our adventures are sorely mistaken. I'd much rather be out walking the haunted streets of New Orleans but we've been forced to take refuge inside due to the third straight day of rain here. The past two haven't been too bad but today's weather has been downright nasty. Right now we are sporting the latest in garbage bag fashions. Tonight we've planned a fancier dinner so Nadia is going to cinch hers a bit at the waist and then add a plunging neckline. Soon the world of haute couture will be abound with rain ponchos!Now at least the air is still warm. It's been over 80 Fahrenheit every day but that also means every restaurant/store/cafe has their air conditioning cranked. Thus when a couple of wet travellers enter these establishments they immediately freeze their asses off. Of course we could each stand to lose a bit more ass seing as we've visited Cafe du Monde 3 times in the past 24 hours for beignets and coffee.But let's back our asses up to when I last checked in. Clarksdale is about 75 miles south of Memphis and is pretty much Ground Zero for Blues Music. In fact there is a club called Ground Zero there that's owned by Morgan Freeman. There wasn't much happenning there on a Tuesday night but lucky for us we were staying in the right place -- The Shack Up Inn.The Shack Up Inn has actually been converted from an old plantation site. You can stay in old sharecropper shacks (now fixed with modern amenities) or in a room built into an old cotton gin bin. The place is very clean and well decorated. Original art by painter/bluesman Stan Street hangs on the walls and our room even features a wall-size mural by Stan in the bathroom. As well, all rooms are equipped with boom boxes and some blues CDs so you can just hang out and listen to the music while enjoying quiet stillness of the countryside. If you're planning on staying at the Shack Up Inn call well ahead of time since during their high season they actually use a lottery system for potential guests. We were lucky that we showed up on the day we did because they were booked solid for the next 10 days afterwards.We spent most of the day hanging around the plantation, enjoying some quiet time away from the city. We headed into town and got a nice meal at the Rest Haven restaurant (more on this place later). Upon returning to the Inn, Stan Street himself led us out on a most excellent blues adventure. Our stop would be Big T's Blues Spot, a genuine juke joint in the Clarksdale 'hood.Big T's isn't located in the nicest area -- there was a burnt-out house right across the street and Big T's was the only place occupied on his side of the block. Nonetheless, once inside the door we couldn't feel more welcome. We were greeted with a free round of beer! The joint itself was about the size of my living room but they still made space for a live music area, a pool table, and a bar with grill (even a couple of video slot machines in the back). You had to be friendly with everybody just to fit in there.The band that was supposed to be playing was Sons Of The Delta, a couple of blues-loving blokes from England, but it ended up becoming a complete open-mic jam session with a revolving set of musicians, the most impressive being the 13-year old drummer named Lionel. As described to me later, these kids don't have the luxury of video games so all their time is spent practicing on whatever instruments they can get their hands on. The Delta Blues Museum in town runs a youth music workshop where most of the locals got their start in playing music.We enjoyed an incredibly fun night of music and I doubt this event will be topped as the highlight of our trip. We even met Mr.Tater, a local fella who has a bit of a speech impediment, coupled with his thick Mississippi accent we couldn't understand more than 1 word in 10 that come out of his mouth. But he sings the blues as well and even though we had no idea what he was singing about it was so bad it was brilliant.The next day we had our finest meal of the trip at the Rest Haven. When in Clarksdale you MUST get the $5.25 lunch special there. You have a selection of authentic down-home dishes to choose and all of them set your taste-buds a-dancin'.Since Clarksdale the trip has gone downhill. We spent a ridiculous evening in Vicksburg looking for a club that no longer existed and then trying to find a reasonably priced motel room. Since then it's been monsoon season here in the south. We've seen most of the French Quarter but not while dry. We've enjoyed the staples of Creole cooking with red beans & rice as well as jambalaya. We've also discovered that the smoked sausage down here will make your knees buckle and cause you to stare off into space while pondering how the cosmos formed and thus ended up creating such a magnificent roll of tripe and spices. Of course there is also the beignets which we have found to be delicious with and without the several pounds of icing sugar that Cafe Du Monde piles on them.I must not forget the daiquiri. Yup, I'm a girl-drink drunk. As soon as I get one of those 32oz monsters in my hand it's party time. Thursday night was spent sucking back daiquiri's like there was no tomorrow. Last night we tried being a little more refined by checking out a jazz club called The Funky Butt. It was disappointing and quite expensive. By the time we got back down to Bourbon Street it was packed and we were still sober and not much in the mood for the crowds (perhaps a reason why I drink those daiquiris so fast).Okay, I'm out of time and here's a newsflash: It's still raining. Hopefully this weather system moves out of here soon.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1096991940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1096991940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1096991940/tpod.html Mon, 18 Oct 2004 14:31:50 -0400 Chicago to New Orleans and all places in-between, it's a road trip into the heart of blues music.

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Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Eat first, ask questions later. This seems to be the motto of our trip. How anyone stays under 300 pounds in the South is a mystery to me. In three short days we've treated ourselves to roughly a million grams of fat. But then again, this is part of the adventure. If we'd stuck to our regular eating habits we would never have discovered the genius of cheddar cheese grits.We've been in Memphis the past three nights and while I'll fill in the details later (the Memphis public library keeps a close eye on how long you use their free internet terminals) I'll quickly step through the highlights...The Rum Boogie Cafe - The house band, known simply as the Boogie Blues Band, plays a cover of "Strokin'" the brings the house down. I wouldn't believe it either had I not seen it with my very own eyes (and ears). Best of all we caught another regular act known as the Billy Gibson Band who played their hearts out for three full sets to a crowd of not more than 25 people. One of the most fun performances I've been witness to and Bill can play that Mississippi sax (i.e. harmonica) like nobody else.Blues City Cafe - The best pile of green beans you will ever eat and for entertainment purposes the kitchen staff works their collective butt off in full view of the diners. Four guys working so hard that many of us patrons were taking their pictures.Marlowe's BBQ - Free limo service to and from the restaurant in custom pink Cadillacs. The food was damn good too.Sun Studio - The $9.50 charge may sound high for what's essentially a one-room tour but this is sacred ground... like the Vatican of Rock 'n' Roll. It's worth every penny.Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum - This is actually run by the Smithsonian Institute so we can get all learned and stuff about local music history. They even had Ike Turner's very first piano.Carl Drew - The man is 83-years old, can barely walk up and down the stairs but he can still play guitar like he was just breathing. We caught a couple of his sets at BB King's club and he was impressive. His singer, Miss Joyce Henderson, is a fire-breathing soul queen don't miss her when she grabs that mic.National Civil Rights Museum - One of the most emotionally powerful museums you can visit but unfortunately we only had 45 minutes to run through it and absorb the highlights. If you're in Memphis invest a whole afternoon here.Memphis Grits - Home of the aforementioned cheddar cheese grits. The best breakfast in Memphis, hands down. Some random guy on the street told us this and he was right.Graceland - Like, duh!That was the short tour of Memphis but when we get back I'll stuff this story with many more anecdotes such as how to upgrade from a Hyundai Elantra to a Nissan Altima without spending anymore money and why Memphis is the real Windy City.This is where we get on to Highway 61 proper. Next stop is Clarksdale, Mississippi, the hometown of Ike Turner, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith and a whole host of other legendary musicians.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1096655700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1096655700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/blueshighway04/1096655700/tpod.html Fri, 01 Oct 2004 14:52:49 -0400 Chicago to New Orleans and all places in-between, it's a road trip into the heart of blues music.

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Yes, you read that title correctly. A new travelogue begins and for the first time it will feature air travel!! Actually, we're only flying to Chicago but it's a good start for me. Baby steps, you know.For this road trip we've selected the Blues Highway, old US Route #61. The highway itself runs from New Orleans along the Mississippi all the way to the Canadian border near Thunder Bay but we'll be only driving the most famous section between St.Louis and New Orleans. Unlike most of my other trips the theme will be less about landscape and geography that it will be about culture. We plan to be a more laid-back (it's the south, y'all), eat well, and enjoy music clubs all along the mighty Mississippi river.Of course I will also be making my third pilgrimmage to Graceland. This will be Nadia's first visit to The King's home and I hope to catch her reaction to the Jungle Room on film for posterity's sake.To help in the planning of this trip (and there hasn't really been much beyond airplane tickets and car rental reservations) I must point to the one travel guide that is totally dedicated to all points between Chicago and New Orleans -- The Blues Highway by Richard Knight.Of course, one has to dive into both sides of the world of the blues first by reading Peter Guralnick's "Searching for Robert Johnson" and then Guralnick's biographical two volume masterpiece about Elvis called "Last Train To Memphis" and "Careless Love." I also highly recommend "White Boy Sings The Blues" by Michael Bane and "The History of The Blues" by Francis Davis. More than books one should head out to the record store and pick up discs by Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf or Son House. There is plenty to be learned about this part of the world in those simple 12-bar blues songs.Alright, the cab is waiting downstairs so I better get moving. Most likely, I'll be filling in all the details of my trip in travelogue entries once I return but stay tuned for some quick observations while we're out on the road over the next two weeks."Smokin' on the night train/Chewin' on a jelly roll" - Mississippi Gary
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071806820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071806820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071806820/tpod.html Thu, 18 Dec 2003 23:32:37 -0500 A race from Toronto to Las Vegas, hitting as many National Parks as possible along the way.

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Here are some selections from the 27 rolls of film I developed. When you take that many pictures you have to luck into some great shots by pure chance.Enjoy!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071792000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071792000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071792000/tpod.html Thu, 18 Dec 2003 19:06:38 -0500 A race from Toronto to Las Vegas, hitting as many National Parks as possible along the way.

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

Mesa Verde National Park is home to 6000 known archeological sites. They are still finding new ones even though the area has been under extensive examination for over 100 years now. It was one of America's earliest national parks having in incorporated in 1906. It is one of the few parks that is dedicated to preserving the works of humans.Although the Four Corners area of the United States is part of a large Navajo reservation, the Navajo people are only recent residents of the area. Before them lived a group now known as the Ancestral Puebloans. They are also known as the Anasazi, a Navajo word meaning "the ancient ones." The descendants of these people are the Pueblo and Hopi tribes that are also located nearby. They weren't happy that their ancestors were known by a Navajo name so recently the term has been changed to Ancestral Puebloans.The Ancestral Puebloans first arrived on the scene about 2000 years ago. They farmed the mesa tops and were part of a larger trading system that extended down into Mexico and northward through the Rocky Mountains. Originally they lived in pit dwellings, home that were dug into the earth and then covered with a tent-like structure made of grasses, bark and wood. Later they started building one and two-storey structures using flat stones and mud that are now called pueblos. Finally, around the year 1100 they moved from the mesa tops into the canyons and created the cliff-dwellings that we had already visited at Canyon de Chelly and that are most spectacularly on display in Mesa Verde.The Ancestral Puebloans lived in these cliff-dwellings for about 200 years before they mysteriously moved onward. Historians and archeologists have not figured about why they moved but the most suspected reason is a prolonged drought that might have wiped out their fields. They moved southward and eventually the Navajo people re-settled the area.There are 5 large "cities" of cliff-dwellings you can tour at Mesa Verde. Unfortunately, 4 of them are closed to the public in the winter. It was somewhat disappointing but at least it meant we could explore everything we could in a single day as opposed to having to spend multiple days here. The one dwelling that is open year-round is Walnut Canyon. This is the park's 2nd largest and was believed to be home to about 90 people at it's peak population. Tours occur 3 times a day.Since these are important archeological sites the security on them is pretty tight. Park Rangers keep a close watch on everyone on a tour and there is a series of locked gates to pass through for each dwelling. As well there are two hikes that can be done in Walnut Canyon and you can only do them if you have entered the canyon with a park ranger.We were there early enough to do the morning tour of the Walnut Canyon dwelling, known as Walnut House. It's quite impressive as there are several storey buildings and one even has a small section of the original thatch roof on it. Here you can also enter a real kiva. Kivas are rooms dug into the earth for religious purposes. All kivas are built with the exact same design with a fire-pit, air shafts, air deflector, and shelving. Each kiva also has a sipapu (pronounced SEE-pah-poo). This was a small hole dug opposite the fire-pit that supposedly lead back down to the third world (the Ancestral Puebloans and their descendants believe they now live in the fourth world). The sipapu within a kiva was not the actual portal between the worlds but a representation of the true sipapu that, according to Hopi lore, is located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.The most unusual thing most people find about these dwellings is the windows. They actually aren't windows at all. They are doors. No opening was made in a wall unless it was made for someone to move through. Also unusual is that some doors are rectangular while others are shaped like a T. There is no definitive answer for the T shape but the best, most logical guess is that it made it easier to move large bundles that one might carry on their back into the buildings. That is, one's legs can step through the thin part while the larger upper half moves through the cross-section of the T.After the tour we hiked along the Petroglyph Point trail. This trail moves along the side of the mesa and eventually leads to a large petroglyph. Petroglyphs are carvings made by ancient peoples into rock walls. The trail then leads up to the top of the mesa, which you walk along until you return back to the Visitor Centre. Mesa Verde has been hit hard by forest fires over the past several years. The trail along the top of the mesa will take you through a fire ravaged area. You'll notice that everything in the area has a reddish tinge. That stain is caused by the fire retardent dropped by fire fighters to help stop the fire and perserve the dwellings in Walnut Canyon.We returned to the Visitor Centre in time for the early afternoon tour of Walnut Canyon. We did the tour again so that I could take pictures in a better light and so that we could hike the second trail in the canyon. This trail takes you to the canyon bottom and then back up to the mesa top. It was kind of pretty but since we were at 7000 feet above sea level and the hike is incredibly steep we were mainly concerned with not coughing up our lungs as we reached the top.After that we were pretty much done with anymore physical exterion so we drove around the scenic roads and stopped at the various viewpoints for The Cliff Palace (the largest dwelling site in Mesa Verde) and Balcony House (the last dwelling site created before the Ancestral Puebloans moved on). You can also visit sites of ancient pit dwellings, pueblos and kivas as well as a confounding structure known as The Sun Temple. This building must have had some spiritual purpose as there were no doors enabling one to enter it. Inside is a series of small corridors that form a design when viewed from above. Like most of what had been found in Mesa Verde, it remains a mystery.We left the park and headed back into Cortez. For dinner we went to the Main Street Pub and Brewery. As I had mentioned last time, this town has a large German population. Thus the restaurant offered a Bratwurst Burrito that I just had to try. Nadia went with the Brewer's Plate, three succulent sausages with bacon-fried sauerkraut. Sauerkraut wasn't much to Nadia's liking so we switched meals. I enjoyed mine but we both agreed that our main courses were definitely upstaged by the appetizer: Maui-ribs. If you're at this place order these ribs as a main course and get a house salad to go with it. You won't be disappointed (unless you're a vegetarian). The local brew was also top-notch.The next day was spent driving, driving, and driving. We were making our way eastward. There wasn't much to report beyond the fact that we spent the night in Topeka, Kansas.We were up and on the road again early the next morning and by lunchtime we were in Kingdom City, Missouri. This town is the home of Nostalgiaville. I had accidentally discovered this store five years earlier and it was just as good as I remembered. They sell all sorts of crap and everything has a picture of Elvis on it. They also have a fine collection of Route 66 signs and they even reproduce the Burma-Shave roadside advertisement signs.For example...Shaving brushesYou'll soon see 'emOn a shelfIn some museumBurma-Shaveor...My job isKeeping faces cleanAnd nobody knowsDe stubbleI've seen Burma-Shave So, yeah, we bought a whole bunch of crap including a Spam Thermometer. We made our way through St.Louis and then headed northward up I-55 towards Chicago. We stopped not far outside the city in a small town called Pontiac. I must make mention that we stayed in a Super 8 Motel. This is notable as Super 8 will be ending it's VIP Club in the new year. This means that Pontiac, Illinois is the last place I will ever use my Super 8 VIP Card. Considering I've been a fairly loyal customer for over 7 years, they are throwing my business right out the window. Now I'm free to check out Motel 6 or the Knight's Inn.We were in Chicago and checked into our room at the Congress Plaza Hotel by noon the next day. The hotel was built in 1893 and shows its age in every way. The hall reminded me of "The Shining." The room was large but in a quirk of architecture the door leading to our room was actually in the stairwell. Still we had a nice view of the Sears Tower.We walked up Michigan Avenue and took in the architectural wonders of the Windy City. For lunch we stopped at the home of Chicago's Deep Dish pizza, Pizzeria Uno. It was actually a bit of a disappointment. The pizza was okay but the minestrone soup was dynamite. The pizza actually led to a severe bout of indigestion so we rested back in the hotel room for our big night out.If you've got one night in Chicago, what do you do? You go see some BLUES! We took a cab over to Kingston Mines, the best blues club in town. It's a 15 dollar cover to get in but you get to see two bands play continuous music from 9pm to 3am. Kingston Mines is kind of split in two. On each side of the bar is a stage. A band plays on one side and then takes a break while the band on the other side starts up. You'll find people moving from one side of the bar to the other in order to see all the action. We found great seats on one side and opted not to lose them by staying there and listening to the other band and watching them on the TV screens.On our side of the bar was the recently Grammy-nominated Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater. The guy and his band put on a phenomenal show but what else would you expect from 6-foot 4-inch, 50-year old black man wearing cowboy boots and a full Indian head-dress?We stayed for a couple of Eddy's sets and had us an awesome dinner of rib tips and onion rings. If you go to Kingston Mines on a full stomach you are dumb. Get the rib tips (unless you're a vegetarian and then I suggest you stick to the beer-battered onion rings). It was the perfect night out to end the trip. The only complication was the 9-hour drive back to Toronto the next day. Most importantly, Nadia survived the full Bradley T Road Trip Experience and next most importantly I survived it without Nadia killing me.What's next?I don't know. I said during my summer trip to the Yukon that it would be my last huge road trip and obviously I was wrong there. I won't predict anything other than that I'll be back with one more entry showcasing my best photos from the trip.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071525660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071525660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bradleyt/southwestusa-03/1071525660/tpod.html Mon, 15 Dec 2003 17:09:30 -0500 A race from Toronto to Las Vegas, hitting as many National Parks as possible along the way.

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Cortez, Colorado, United States

Bright lights city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fireGot a whole lotta money that's ready to burn so get those stakes up higherThere's a thousand pretty women waiting out thereThey're all livin' a devil may careAnd I'm just a devil with lovin' to spare soVIVA LAS VEGAS!!How I wish that there were more than twenty-four hours in a dayBut even if there were forty more I wouldn't sleep a minute awayOh there's blackjack and poker and the roulette wheelA fortune won and lost on every dealAll you needs a stone heart and nerves of steelVIVA LAS VEGAS!!Well, we didn't exactly do Las Vegas like Elvis did. For one thing he had his own suite at the International while we stayed at the Super 8. Cheap hotel rooms can usually be had on the Las Vegas strip during the week but we made the mistake of being in Vegas on a Friday night (during Thanksgiving weekend no less) so our best option was the Super 8 on Koval Lane. It's only a block off the strip behind Bally's so the location wasn't all that bad.This was my fourth visit to the city that stands as a testament to the monstrosity of capitalism and it was quite fun to see it through Nadia's eyes as it was her first visit. On our first drive down the Strip she was mesmerized by the incredible size of the casinos and the money spent on their themes. She was especially taken with the pirate theme at Treasure Island as well as the giant golden lion at The MGM Grand.Lunch was had at Fatburger. Fatburger is a small, chain of burger stands that were once owned by Magic Johnson. Recently his majority interest has been bought out by the family of the original founder of the restaurant and they are undergoing a rapid expansion. This is good news for burger fans as Fatburger is definitely the greatest of all chain fast food burgers and, in my mind, the purveyor of the second best burger of all-time (next to Reno, Nevada's Golden Nugget Diner's Awful Awful Burger). Needless to say, Nadia and I were both more than happy to wade through the crowd for a Fatburger.Most of the day was spent walking up and down the Strip sight-seeing at each casino and keeping our eyes open for cheezy Vegas souvenirs (i.e. anything with Elvis on it). Originally we thought getting out of our hiking gear would feel good but the size of the casinos betrays just how far one has to walk to see everything on the Strip (and we didn't even manage that). By the end of the day we were both in pain. We should have kept our hiking boots on.In the late afternoon we retired to our hotel room for a nap. As we hummed and hawed over where we should have dinner we ended up deciding upon calling a pizza joint and grabbing some beer from the 7-11. We just couldn't get up off the bed after spending most of the past week on our feet. The pizza was good (Nadia begs to differ though) and the beer was even better. Eventually we got up off our asses and headed over to Treasure Island to check our their trice nightly outdoor pirate show.I had seen the show twice before in my visits to Las Vegas and while it was far from great entertainment I had enjoyed it. Sometime since my last visit in 1999 they had completely re-done the show. Perviously they featured a battle between two ships full of pirates (complete with one ship sinking into the lagoon in front of the casino). In order to sex up the show they turned into some shitty story about sirens luring the pirates and they have some really crappy music and dancing interludes. Total crap. We were both stunned in our disappointment after having endured pushing our way through the massive crowd standing on the sidewalk in front of the casino.Afterwards we chose not to enter Treasure Island (as the show would have you intend) but instead crossed the street to The Venetian. This casino is a mock-up of Venice, Italy. At 7000 rooms it is the largest hotel in Las Vegas and thus it is most likely the largest hotel in the world. As well it is probably the best looking casino on the Strip. We had some drinks while playing the slots. Nadia assumed that her slot machine was broken because she didn't anything. Every dollar inserted into it quickly disappeared. I on the other hand managed to pot myself $20 by the time we got tired. We decided to stop while I was up $20 because "at least it pays for that shitty pizza we had for dinner."The next morning we headed over to Harrah's for the best buffet in Vegas. Unfortunately, we didn't get there in time for the regular breakfast. Instead we had to pay $16 apiece for the "champagne brunch." In order to get our money's worth we stayed for close to 2.5 hours and stole enough food for breakfast for the next two days. The brunch itself was good and Nadia is certain that she has discovered the greatest guacamole ever made.The centerpiece of Harrah's Garden Market Buffet is the Bananas Foster dessert. Bananas Foster is basically bananas fried in brown sugar usually one eats it with vanilla ice cream. On this occasion Nadia discovered a dessert that might trump even this sweetest of concoctions. If you're ever at Harrah's please save room for the coconut cream pie.We then walked off our meal (the only meal of this particular day) by heading over down the Strip for once last look. We blew some more money at Nadia's favourite casino The Bellagio while having a couple of drinks but it was time to start moving eastward. We hopped in the car, endured a huge traffic jam, and were soon standing on top of the Hoover Dam. The rest of the evening was spent speeding across Arizona to Flagstaff where we bedded down at a motel.Since the next day was Sunday Nadia declared it "the day of rest." We lazed about the motel room watching old movies on AMC. Unfortunately we were wasting the warmest day of the trip. Once we finally left the room we discovered that we could actually wear short sleeves! Liberation from sweaters and layering, hoorah! From Flagstaff is was another short trip eastward along I-40. I-40 basically follows the old Route 66 route and we stopped a couple times to photograph some abandoned way stations along the highway.Soon you come to Holbrook which is the town that acts as the gateway to Petrified Forest National Park. In town we discovered the incredibly homey and downright tasty Mr.Maesta's Restaurant. If you're ever here stick with the authentic Mexican selections as they are dynamite.Unfortunately for the Petrified Forest we did those spectacular parks in Utah first. While it was kind of interesting to see these crystal rocks that once were ancient trees scattered about the desert, we both ended up feeling a little bored. The best part of this park was that once you took a few steps away from the road you felt like you in the middle of nowhere. Nadia kept envisioning a herd of raptors (the dinosaur not the mediocre basketball team) appearing on the stark horizon. We finished the day watching a stunning sunset from Blue Mesa. Interestingly, because people steal about 10 tons of petrified wood from the park each year the security in pretty tight here. The park closes when the sun goes down and we witnessed quite a few park rangers ensuring the park was devoid of visitors as they locked up the gates to the various routes within the park.We headed back to Holbrook. Holbrook is a town in obvious decline. Previously it had built itself as a place to stay along Route 66 but now that it is bypassed by the interstate I'm not sure what industry really supports it besides park-goers. The town has a plethora of cheap motels. We chose Brad's Desert Inn based on the name alone. While the room only cost $24 it was a mistake. The bathroom housed an ant colony, the towels were a sickly shade of grey, the heater kept making gunshot-like noises that continually startled us, and both of us awoke with sore backs from the flimsy bed. Of course, only one motel in town looked like it was in better shape. This was the Wigwam Motel. This place has ten or so individual wigwam rooms. It was much more pricey than the rest of the motels so we stayed away from it. In retrospect that might not have been the best idea.We couldn't wait to get out of our room in the morning. We headed to the north part of the park to walk through the Painted Desert. While the desert is pretty from the viewpoints there isn't much to see once you get down into it. Still we managed to spot a small tarantula while out there. I'm not sure that sight justifies a couple hours spent wandering in the heat but again we were still experiencing a Utah hangover.After eating some lunch out of the trunk of the car we headed northward into the Navajo reservation. This reservation which spreads out into all four of the Four Corners states is the largest one in America and is basically a country within the United States. 200,000 native Navajo live here. We were headed to the town of Chinle which is the gateway to Canyon De Chelly (pronounced d'shay). Canyon De Chelly is a national monument, a step down from a national park. In the canyon are a number of abandoned cliff dwellings created by the Ancestral Puebloans from about 800 years ago. There are two scenics drives on both the north and south rims of the canyon. If you want to visit the canyon floor you must be accompanying by a park ranger or a Navajo guide. The canyon floor is still being used as farm and pasture land for local Navajo farmers. There is one public trail you can use without a ranger or guide. This will take you 600 feet down to the canyon floor to view The White House Ruins. These are the most famous and best perserved ruins in the canyon. It is the one "must-see" thing to do here.We finished up at the canyon as the sun fell. We picnicked at the visitor's center (Kraft Dinner with creamed corn, canned chicken and hot chocolate) and headed north towards the actual four corners. Unfortunately the site where the borders of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico meet is closed after dark so we weren't able to stand in all four states at once. For the record, the highway we were on was in Arizona and then passed into New Mexico for about half a mile and then we were in Colorado. The highway we were on was once known as Route 666. Just this past summer pressure from some uppity religious groups finally got the road's name change to Route 491. How boring.We stopped in Cortez, Colorado. The place to stay in this town is the Tomahawk Inn. The room was reasonable for Cortez standards ($37) and we both agreed it was the best room we had stayed in since the Best Inn in Moab.Cortez seems to be a very tight, neighbourly town. In each motel room you can find a booklet that contains the menus of a large number of local restaurants and every business seemed to work to be friendly to support the tourist industry due to nearby Mesa Verde National Park. Our motel room had several pamphlets dedicated to activities at the park. The town just made me feel at home. It helped that Cortez has a large number of German descendants. Since I'm originally from Kitchener, Ontario (home of the largest Oktoberfest outside of Bavaria) it made me feel comfortable.Unfortunately, we would actually be home soon but we still had some adventuring to do yet.
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