Year 2000 Road Trip Extravaganza!

First things first. Don’t forget, this is the Week Of Dave (WOD) and it is going strong. To recap, we saw David Benoit last week in D.C. performing with the Symphony Orchestra in front of the Capitol. Friday we saw Dave Letterman in New York. Saturday we drove to Boston and stayed with our friend Dave. Sunday we saw Dave Matthews. Monday we took a Duck Tour of Boston and guess who was loading our duck? That’s right, Dave.

Today we hit the Falls, Niagara Falls that is, Canadians and one really big swimming pool. On our way into the falls we stopped at an information booth and signed up for a tour that included a jet boat ride to the whirlpool, a visit to the Horseshoe Falls, and a trip up to the top of the Minolta Tour. The tour departed from the Sheraton Four Points Hotel at 12:00. We arrived approximately 15 minutes early. Our bus arrived approximately 15 minutes late. Guess who was driving? WOD. Poor Dave, a bus broke down that morning and he was now trying to play catch up. He kept radioing to his base station trying to give them updates and get information back and like an I Love Lucy episode the messages kept getting mixed up and garbled. At any rate, we finally picked up all 12 passengers and headed to the Canadian border. A Canadian border agent boarded the vehicle, asked about everyone’s citizenship, then took four visiting Dominicans off to stamp their passports. Ten minutes later the agent returned with the family and informed Dave that they did not have the proper Visas. This man runs the largest bank in the Dominican Republic, has been to more countries as I’ve been to states, but because his Visa was European and not Canadian, they would not let him in to the country. Exactly what they are afraid of, I don’t know. At any rate, we had to turn around and return the family to the stop we picked them up at, but first we had to go through U.S. Customs, despite the fact that we never actually made it into Canada.

Apologizing profusely, Mr. Jiminez and family disembarked the bus at their hotel and we headed back to the Canadian border, with all eight passengers on board. We made it through (thank God) and picked up our remaining passengers about an hour late. Meanwhile, Dave’s looking like he’s going to have a nervous breakdown. We high-tailed it to the jet boat, arriving only about 30 minutes late. Our pilot, Dave (not our bus driver), gave us quite a thrill ride as we jetted up the river and back doing 180’s—or Hamilton’s as they’re called. The thing is literally a huge Sea-Doo, only this bad boy has three Volvo Penta 6-cylinder engines powering three separate jets to put out about 1500-1800 horsepower. Those are the same engines Volvo uses in their big-rig tractors (and we had 3 behind us!) more power HO HO HO!!

Needless to say the jet boat was exciting, although we would still like to ride the Maid of the Mist, which goes right up to the bottom of the Falls. Next time. Dave is feeling much better now and we continued our tour without event. Details of that are best read on the web site where you can see the corresponding pictures.

We left the Niagara area around 8 I think it was and headed south to Chattanooga, TN. Around midnight we switched drivers and due to our late start and my night-owl nature, we drove until about 3:30AM. Not wanting to have to pay for a motel for only 5 hours, we pulled into a rest stop in Southern Kentucky and slept surprisingly well until about 8AM. I even remembered to lock the doors AND roll up the window this time.

We arrived in Chattanooga, TN mid-afternoon on Wednesday where we are staying with some friends of my family, The Fischers. Yesterday we went boating on the Tennessee River in X9, the Fischer’s high performance boat. Perhaps I should say what used to be their high performance boat. Yes, fun follows THE ROAD SCHOLARS around and as we were heading back into dock the engine sputtered, coughed once, gave us the finger, and quit. Talk about the Midas touch. Chris and Mike (Fischer) were over the side before I knew it, pulling the boat to the dock. If you ask me I’ll tell you the distance was measured in yards. If you ask Mike’s karate class, I’m sure they’ll say it was miles. Regardless, they only pulled us a few feet before another boat came along, glanced quizzically at us and asked, “what are y’all doin’?”. I looked up plaintively from the engine (as if I could fix the damn thing) and said “pushing”. He gave us a good tow, we arrived at the shore without a hitch (pun intended), and I’m sure Mike will keep us posted on what the problem was. We did luck out though, not only did we miss the thunderstorm that was brewing, the boat waited until we were literally a stone’s throw from the dock before dying. St. Christopher strikes again.

See ya’ in N’orleans,

-Sean

Labels: New York, Tennessee, wod

After my last update, I’m sure you can imagine our—or at least my—demeanor when we got back to our friend Dave’s place last night. Keep that in mind before passing any judgment on us for what I’m about to tell you. I know my grandfather will certainly appreciate the tale.

We lucked out the first night because Dave was not home for the evening and we used his parking space in the parking structure of his building. But that was not the case last night. So we circled, and circled, and circled, tired and wet. We read signs in parking lots stating “resident permit parking only, guests park on street”. Then we read signs on the street that stated “resident permit parking only, guests are screwed”. I must have driven down every street around Dave’s place backwards and forwards, literally.

Finally we found a spot…a tight squeeze, but I managed to pahk the cah as they say in Boston. After we parked we noticed a sign that indicated in a very vague manner that there may not be parking allowed where our official TRS vehicle now sat. “Do they have a ticket?” I asked Chris, pointing to the car behind us. “It’s only 10 dollars” he responded. Screw it, at 1:30am it was worth it. Chances are they’d ticket and not tow, right?

Never mind tow, we’re lucky the gosh damn car was there this morning. Sitting in our locked vehicle overnight three blocks away from us was the camcorder, my cell phone, Chris’ CD collection, Chris’ keys to the rental car, the brand new GPS receiver I purchased yesterday (which was sitting on the dash board), and of course all our miscellaneous crap in the trunk, including clothes and suitcases. So now you’re wondering what was stolen. That’s the kicker. Nothing. Everything was just as we left it, right down to the car keys sitting on the console. An impressive feat considering the driver’s window was wide open. Thank you, St. Christopher.

Drive safely…and roll up your damned windows!!

-Sean

Labels: Boston, wod

If you are looking for the down and dirty, quick and easy way to see as much of Boston in as little time as possible, a Duck Tour is the way to go. What used to be a WWII amphibious assault vehicle--the same ones used for the invasion of Normandy--is now a land and sea tour bus. This is truly a stroke of genius as far as we're concerned, and we're not alone. A Duck Tour is something you need to work into your day, so get there early if necessary. Week days are better than weekends. Sunday we tried to get a tour at noon and the next available one started at 4PM. However, on Monday morning we walked up at 9:15 and got on a 9:30 tour.

You don't actually learn anything about water fowl on the tour, but everyone on our bus did get an opportunity to drive the duck after we launched into the Charles River on the inner part of Boston Harbor. We especially lucked out with the Sarge, our tour guide. He was extremely knowledgeable, witty, and hell, he let me drive!

After our 90 minute Duck Tour, we hit the road for Niagara Falls, NY, driving alongside the Erie Canal for much of they way. We stopped to eat near Rochester, NY at the Cartwright Inn. Excellent Veal Parmesan if you find yourself in the area. And if you order before 6:30, you qualify for the early bird special.

Special note: the week of Dave continues today with the gentlemen who was loading the ducks, Dave. Sorry, he wasn't available for a photo op.

Labels: Boston, New York, wod

We are so damned hooked up it’s not even funny. This is unbelievable. I want everyone to know we are doing this all wrong. We should have taken out loans, rented the car for two months, and spent the summer a week at a time with everyone we know across the country. Next time.

This update finds us in Boston on day 10 (well, day 11 now), so far, my favorite day of the trip. But let me catch you up.

We made it to Camden Yards with great success. The Orioles defeated the Blue Jays 3-2 and it was a pretty good game. After the game we tooled around Baltimore for a little while to pick up some maps, postcards, and, of course, a Hard Rock T-shirt for Chris (he collects them for those that don’t know). During the rest of our stay in Virginia, we managed to hit Mt. Vernon, the Museum of Natural History, the D.C. Hard Rock, the FBI tour, and we watched the fireworks in front of the capitol building. We didn’t know it at the time, but the fourth of July kicked off what has become the Week Of Dave (WOD). To my pleasant surprise, David Benoit played with the Symphony Orchestra just before the fireworks. Two days later we saw David Letterman in New York (Regis was there!!), and we are now in Boston staying at our friend Dave’s place before we go see Dave Matthews tomorrow. WOD.

But I skipped a few steps. We managed to meet up with an old friend in D.C., Gabriela. We watched the fireworks and spent the evening with her on the 4^th. After the FBI tour the next morning, we had lunch with Chris’s cousin, said our good-byes and headed to Gettysburg (for yet another whirlwind tour). The evening of July 5^th put us in Downingtown, PA with some friends of my family, Bill & Liz. A good time was had by all. That’s all I’ll say about that.

After two days in Downingtown (with a day-trip to NY), we were invited to join Bill & Liz on the Jersey Shore with their neighbors, Tim and Arlene. Which brings us to today. We woke up this morning, rented some bikes, and rode along the Boardwalk where we had breakfast and window shopped. Quite enjoyable and, as usual, it was tough to pull ourselves away and get on the road. But another old friend of mine, JoHanna, awaited us in Westport, CT. We hit some turbulence along the way, but we finally made it and although the visit was short, it was great to see her, the new house, her new husband, and the new little bundle of joy on it’s way.

Our next stop on our way to Boston was the University of Rhode Island. All I have to say is you simply must see the video footage on this one. We were charged with the task of locating and photographing a brick in the quad of the University belonging to one of our adoring fans in San Luis Obispo. I won’t name any names, but we finally found Dawn Smith’s brick…I hope we did it justice with our pics.

I think the hilight of the day was my quest for a Rhode Island mug. As many of you should know, I collect mugs from different states. There are only two requirements: 1) I have to have personally visited the state for some period of time and 2) the mug has to have the name of the state on it. I haven’t been doing so well on the mug quest. So far I’ve missed PA, CT, and RI. You can read the details of that adventure on the site under day 10.

Which brings us (finally) to Boston. We are staying with our friend Dave, whom we know from Santa Margarita Catholic High School. He attends BU and has a place that he has graciously allowed us to crash—and we’ve got it all to ourselves...which should leave me with plenty of time to work on the web site, so look for updated pages soon! Tomorrow, Boston in a day, with Dave Matthews topping it off at Foxboro Stadium.

As usual, you can read all about this stuff in detail with pictures on the site, http://www.theroadscholars.com. Any questions or comments should be directed to theroads@theroadscholars.com.

Until next time, drive safely, we’ll see ya’ on the road.

-Sean

Labels: from the road, wod

Start spreadin' the news! We're native New Yorkers (for a day), checking out those neon lights on Broadway. The Week Of Dave continued today with a visit to the Ed Sullivan theatre to see a taping of The Late Show with David Letterman. We almost didn't make it. As you read in Day 7, I had quite a night with margaritas, crabs, and jacuzzis (heavy on the margs). We were doing fine once we managed to get my ass in the car headed to Trenton to catch a train into the city. We were advised by Bill (some of you may remember him as Jeeves from the MediNet days) that Amtrak would get us to the city faster, but New Jersey Transit would be cheaper. We were supposed to be at the Ed Sullivan theatre no later than 3:00 and NJT would have been cutting it close. So we shelled out $33 a piece for Amtrak tickets...only to find out the train was running 20 minutes late! We ended up at Penn Station 4 minutes before 3 O'Clock with about a mile to go. We hailed a cab (my first in NYC), called our contact at the Late Show and managed to arrive in the nick of time.

To be honest, the show was okay, I was disappointed with the lack of interaction with the audience. But hey, we were there, Regis made a cameo, who could ask for anything more, aside from being on the show? But we did the next best thing. All you TFTM folks--Dave Letterman now has a matching T-shirt.

Naturally, we hit the HRC for a T-shirt for Chris. As fate would have it, we bumped into a family from Dana Point as we came out of the subway headed to HRC. They took this picture (thanks) and we took one for them. A quick visit to Times Square (Chris was fascinated with Nasdaq) and we made our way back to the homestead in Downingtown. Another day, another whirlwind tour of a city! Just always remember to ask yourself, "why are we here?". Because wherever you go, there you are.

Labels: HRC, Letterman, New York, Pennsylvania, wod

For many years now, I have been in search of a good time on the Fourth of July. Any holiday involving barbecues, patriotism, and explosives at high altitudes should be phenomenal, right? I've certainly had some good times over the years, but nothing has blown my socks off like I would have liked. This year started off nicely. We took the Metro back to the Museum of Natural History for another crack at the place. We got a good two hours in but still only managed to scratch the surface. One thing is for sure: I saw the biggest damn train I've ever seen in my life.

The museum closed at 5:30 and we made our way up the Mall to meet up with Gabriela. We were lucky enough to happen across the Air Force Symphony Orchestra performing a live concert in front of the Air & Space Museum. Very cool.

After we rendezvoused with Gabriela, we had an excellent dinner at a Mexican restaurant just north of the Capitol. After dinner we headed to the other side of the Capitol where the Symphony Orchestra was performing with special guests James Galway, Ray Charles, and David Benoit (kicking off the Week Of Dave). The fireworks followed Ray Charles' performance and, quite frankly, I think the show at Disneyland is better. Yeah, there were 30 minutes worth of fireworks and yeah, it was neat to see them explode behind the Washington Monument but it was nothing phenomenal. Plus there were a lot of people and very little organization and the natives were getting restless. I had much more fun after the fireworks, when we went back to Gabriela's place and corrupted her with her first cigar. Although we didn't inhale, I wouldn't say we used the "Clinton approach".

On our way out, Gabriela was amused by the amount of items I had in my pockets. As I emptied them out, Aaron observed us from the steps. Seeing his amusement, I attempted to explain our zaniness and the road trip. It was easier just to take his picture. Smile!

Labels: Gabriela, July 4th, museums, Washington D.C., wod