Meet me in St. Louis, Louis

Total miles traveled: 824
Stated visiteed: 5

The scenery through Illinois was pretty much the same: farms, corn, silos, until I got to the edle of the state and greenery gave way to concrete and skyscrapers. Finally after one bend in the road, the Gateway Arch appeared.



I went insde the museum below the arch and was facinated with the artifacts collected from the settlers, farmers, soldiers and indians of the day. Unfortunately I didn't go to the top of the arch because the wait was 2 hours, and I had better ways to spend my time.

It was a strange feeling sitting underneat the arch outside. The Gateway to the West was the furthest west that I would be going on this trip.



I had a late lunch at Laclede's Landing, a restaurant row nesr the waterfront, and then took the MetroLink to Union Station. It was an old train station converted to a mall and hotel. Very touristy, but the original structure was intact and renovated to it's former glory.

I was quickly bored with St. Louis. I had to get out.



I took a detour to Bonne Terre, MO to visit Patty at the bar she owned, Crossroads. Patty screamed when she saw me, it was completely unexpected. She instantly introduced me to her friends as 'the girl I met in Chicago that I was telling you about."

I had a wonderful time visiting her and had the most fantastic filet mignon I've tasted in a long while. Yum!

By 10pm I was ready to head back on the road and took a winding, dark, lonely backroad back to the interstate. I looked out the sunroof and yelled, "WOW!" The view of the stars was amazing, like somone scattered sequence across the sky. Now, this was America.

Get your kicks on Rt 66

From Bloomington, IL through St. Louis, MO Rt. 66 runs parallel to I-55, so I'd jump off the interstate every now and then to take a ride on the 'Mother Road'. For the most part I'd have cornfields on my right and the interstate on my left but once in a while I'd drive through a small town with little bungalow houses that look slike those on 16th Avenue in Belmar, NJ. Or I'd see a block of shops that comprised of their Main Street, complete with the train tracks running through at the edge of the block.



The best surprise was driving and coming upon this roadside attraction of a huge ax embedded in a stump, and a huge Abe Lincon riding on a covered wagon, This is the Land of Lincon after all.

Sweet Home, Chicago

Upon leaving the hotel, I went across the street to Grant Park where they were cleaning up from the Taste of Chicago festival. The Buckingham Fountain was amazing...



but was not to be outdone by the beautiful Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States, designed by Frank Gehry.




From there I roamed the city, ate lunch at Navy Pier, took a trolly up to Lincon Park. On it I talked to a nice woman about places to see while in St. Louis. I walked through the neighborhoods filled with beautiful townhouses, some old with amazing architecture and some new and modern. From there,I took the 'L' to Wrigley Field and stayed just long enough to take a picture.



By 4:00 I was ready to be on my way, but since I'm jobless, I forget that the rest of the world still does work and sat in traffic leaving Chicago on my way to St. Louis.

Last night I stayed in a town just because I liked the name, Normal, IL. I'll leave it to you to decide if I actually deserve to be here.

Yeah, but does She vote?

Seen on a bumper sticker:

God is not a Republican

I can't make this shit up...

I came into Chicago through Lakeshore Drive so I was able to see the skyline rise up along the edge of Lake Michigan.



First stop was at Navy Pier, where I took a sightseeing cruise. The Angles of Music interviened again.

On board was a group of older ladies who had enough energy and fire to rival The Quad in our college days. They were hammered and loving life. It was still raining slightly so they were festooned in plastic garbage bags as ponchos and a margarita in hand.

I asked where they were from and they said St. Louis. Well that happens to be my next stop and soon we were chatting away. They were so excited to hear that I was traveling around on my own, and Patty, the self appointed leader instantly adopted me as a daughter. She was havingme pose here and there to get the perfect shot with the Chicago skyline in the background.



These women, who were old enough to me my mother and grandmother soon invited me to not only spend the rest of the day with them, but because Jackie, the soon to be 70 year old party girl, had an extra bed in her room, I was invited to stay the night in their hotel!!

After the cruise, the St. Louis Ya-Ya's took a taxi back to their hotel and I drove the men of their group, Ivan and Jim back. Poor Jim, someone's grandfather, was wedged behind me in the backseat with my dog's hair keeping him company.

The group met up in the lounge - where else. Patty, 48, has the mouth of a truck driver and a heart of gold. Jackie, 69, was the sweetest person I've ever met. Her line was "I love it", unless she was talking about her dearest friends, in which case she addressed them as "you assholes". Patty had called Jackie's husband on the phone. Patty handed the phone to Jackie and she responded:

"Who's on the phone? Dave? F-U-C-K." She took the phone, "Hi sweetheart, you asshole."

Marlena, also in her 60's was the middleground between Patty and Jackie. She could cuss with the rest of them, but seemed a little more innocent than Patty.


Patty, Me, Jim, Marlena, Ivan and Jackie.

We had dinner at Miller's Pub where I had a great steak and Jackie and Marlena made friends at the next table with a Chicago native who lived there for 70+ years.

After dinner we went to the John Hanckock's Signature Lounge on the 96th floor to watch the fireworks. It was so beautiful to watch the sunset over Chicago and the flickers of fireworks all over the city, like fireflies. Patty and I left the others and went to a table on the other side of the building to watch the fireworks display over Navy Pier. We wound up losing the group, so we had one more drink at the bar then took a cab back to the hotel. But Patty and I weren't done yet. We wanted to hear some Chicago blues.

We walked to a blues club a few blocks away, but unfortunately it was closed. Actually it was probably a good thing as I was exhausted and with Patty it was bound to be an intersting night. The ladies asked me if I was sure what I was getting myself into going out with Patty.

I finally called it a night and joined Jackie up in the room for a good night's rest. This morning, I packed up my gear, thanked Jackie for her hospitality and got the name of the bar that Patty owns outside of St. Louis so I can be sure to vist.

Now, the city of Chicago is calling me and I have a lot more to see.

Chicago, baby!

When I got to Chicago, the rain did too

R-O-C-K in the USA

Once I got some rest, it was back on the road for more adventure. I drove across Ohio and once I got into Indiana, I put John Mellencamp on the iPod as a tribute to him.



The scenery was all farmland, with the occasional wiff of horse shit.

The heart of rock & roll is still beating...

...in Cleveland!

The Angles of Music are watching over me. Huey Lewis and the News had me dancing in the aisle, SIXTH ROW CENTER, sweating my ass off. And the best part was that it was FREE!!

After I signed off from my last update, I went over to the ticket window to buy me a ticket for the show when a family approached me asking me if I wanted a pair of tickets. They already had other tickets and didn't need the ones they had. I was ready to ask them how much they wanted for them when he just gave them to me. Holy Crap!!

I was walking back to my car to change my clothes and put on some deodorant when some guy asked me if I had extra tickets.

"As a matter of fact I do. Here you go. See you inside."

The venue's stage backs right up to the river with the Cleveland downtown skyline as it's backdrop. It was pretty small, about one third the size of the PNC Bank Arts Center in Homedel, NJ and not all the seats were filled, but Huey was on fire and was determined on getting every person in the crowd on their feet.

The most beautiful moment is when the sky darkened and the lights of city help light the stage.

I have had a fantastic day and I'm sorry to have to call it an end, but I'm sweaty and gross and I still don't have a place to sleep tonight. So I'll hop back in the car, head out of town and find somewhere to spend the night. Cleveland, you've shown me a wonderful time.

THANK YOU, GOOD NIGHT!

Hello, Cleveland!!

Total miles: dont know yet.
States vistied: 2


Nothing is better than the taste of a cold beer in the summer sun on the banks of Lake Erie.

At the Ohio border I stopped to take a picture of the "Welcome to Ohio" sign. A biker had the same idea. He asked where I was going.

"Oh, around."

"Around??"

"You know, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis."

He seemed astonished.

I got into Cleveland around 2:30 and went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I didn't go into the museum because I was there in 2001, but I did stop in the gift shop to grab some things. From there I went to the Great Lakes Science Center which was really cool because I'm a science geek, but the most incredible exhibit was the Body World exhibit. It was plasticed bodies, skinned, disected and posed. But as gruesome and morbid as it all sounds, it was absolutely fantastic! I can't recommend enough.

There wasn't much else going on Downtown, maybe because it was Sunday, so I went to The Flats for dinner. The Flats is a converted industrial district which now has bars, restaurants and other various fun stuff. That's where I am now, drinking a beer and taking advantage of their wireless internet connection. Apparantly Hewey Lewis and the News is playing here tonight. Maybe I'll try and get some tickets.

Harrisburg, PA

Day Two.
Miles traveled: 177
States visited: 1

I spent the night just outside of Harrisburg, PA. It had been a long day and the train delays, the crowds and the heat had taken all the energy out of me.

I knew when I got into Amish country not by the signs or the scenery, but by the smell. Horse shit. Nothing but the smell of horse shit was in the air.

After a quick dinner at the Eat 'n Park, I got a room at the Holiday Inn which was fantastic for the wireless internet access and jaccuzi. It was just what my body needed after a crazy day.

I was finally able to see what was happening on the Live 8 stage from the tv and from the online replays. Damn, there were a lot of people there!

So now I have some breakfast in me and I'm ready to hit the road. This will be the first day of read driving. I have 6 hours to Cleveland.