Big Country Little Car Tour II: Chicks Dig The Long Haul
6/30/11
It’s back — and it’s smaller than ever!
…Just kidding. The trip is waaaaay bigger; the car is the same modest size, but will have cruise control this time oh thank sweet achey Jesus.
Big Country Little Car Tour II: Chicks Dig The Long Haul started out as part of the 2011 contest; one contest winner gets a beverage delivered by me, dressed in my tomato outfit, and Miss Lucy (who does not, to my knowledge, have a steamboat) asked for a gin and tonic to come to her in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Then the Couch Baron’s birthday present got folded into the trip (long story). Then I thought, what the hell, I’ll visit family in Boulder. Then I disappeared down a RoadsideAmerica.com clickhole and now it’s a whole thing, yay!
My tentative itinerary is below; my EZ-Bake Oven with wheels and I hit the road July 25. Watch this space for updates and possible meet-up opps! And please suggest a few fun things to do if you’d like, with the understanding that 1) camping and/or BBQ is not going to happen but 2) minor-league baseball totally must.
7/25 NYC to Akron: Akron Aeros, 7 PM
7/26 Akron to MIL to Madison, WI
7/27-7/28 Madison, WI
7/28 Madison, WI to MIN
7/29 Save The Day Contest beverage delivery
7/31 MIN to Dyersville, IA
8/1 Dyersville, IA to Madison, WI to ???
8/7-8/9 SF, hopefully
8/9 SF to Utah
8/10 Boulder?
(This is a bit sketchy right now; waiting on some more information, plus the car double-back has put me behind.)
updated 7/29/11
Tags: Big Country Little Car Tour travel
As annoying as Guy Fieri is, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives had some good places, I’d see if you can hit any of them on your way out west.
Huh. I was just, on Sunday, at the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum in Walnut Grove, MN. FYI, as of then, the actual site of her dugout home on the banks of Plum Creek was closed due to flooding.
Also, if you’re going through MN on Highway 12, you’ll be going just past the World’s Largest Ball of Twine Made by One Man, in Darwin, MN, where my in-laws live. You can’t miss it, if you don’t miss the single turnoff for the town, since it lives in it’s own little glassed-in gazebo on the main street. Just sayin’!
Sacramento has a minor-league team, the River Cats. Just in case you are passing through en route to SF….
Bummed we won’t be there to see you in SF. I’d try to tempt you with Top Gun and Miramar sights, but I know that’s futile.
Still: Hiiiiiiiighwaaaaaaay to the DANGER ZONE! Riiiiiiiiide intooooooo the DANGER ZOOOOOOOOONE!
I’m in NC so no sugestions, but i’m curious what sort of car looks like an Easy Bake Oven!
In addition to shipping home the tomato suit, I’m thinking you are going to want to ship the little car home from SF and fly yourself. You are going to feel like those people who have had their skin grow onto the fabric of the chair by the time you get to California. And I loooooove a car trip, but yowsa, this is an ambitious one…
Oooh, you’re coming to the Bay Area! The San Jose Giants have home games against Bakersfield on the 7th and 8th of August and they proudly claim to have the best BBQ in baseball (or something like that). The stadium is about 10 blocks from our condo, and you can totally stay on the fold-out couch. It’s super-easy to get here SF as we’re right off a major freeway or you could take Caltrain (drops you off about 2 blocks away)! And we’ll take you to gay bar karaoke after.
I did a major road-trip from the West Coast to Nebraska in a Miata about 6 years ago and it was awesome. You get really creative with packing when you have so little trunk space.:)
Re: Milwaukee. I second Kopps, and also recommend the Public Market or Wisconsin Cheese Mart downtown/Third Ward for the best selection of cheeses this side of, well, France. Driving to Iowa, if you want to take smaller state roads, once you’re through Madison, drop down through Mt Horeb (mustard museum) and Mineral Point for low rolling hills through farm country. Lovely, and should be fun in the rolling lunchbox. Also second Miller Park, and for another moving roof, check out the Calatrava-designed Art Museum – the wings open at 10 am and close at 5 pm.
Recommendations for your trip back:
Drive through Wyoming and/or South Dakota (especially the Badlands). Such beautiful, beautiful country. This route would also take you past Yellowstone (they have nice hotels or cabins), Devil’s Tower, Wall Drug and Mount Rushmore.
If you are an amusement park enthusiast, I highly recommend Cedar Point near Cleveland.
Another yay! for Boulder! So pretty, such good people watching, lots of restaurants and all the outdoorsy activities you can handle.
Buffalo is delightful, and nearly always has some sort of free cultural something going on in the summer! We also have some pretty fabulous chicken wings and assorted other culinary delights that can’t be found anywhere else. Which is why I gained 15 pounds when I moved back here… :)
Just did the Manhattan> Pittsburgh drive twice this month– either way is boring, but if you like craft beer/good food, do plan for a lunchtime stop at Victory Brewing Co in Downingtown PA and then get back on the PA t’pike. There’s really not much else to eat until Harrisburg or Carlisle, and by then you’re almost to PGH anyway.
You SHOULD really come to Pittsburgh! Tickets to see the Pirates are CHEAP (~$15), readily available, and PNC Park is a fabulous place to catch a game. Trust me, I grew up in CLE. There’s more to do in PGH!
You should make a side trip to Oklahoma. Come and watch the Redhawks (they’re in last place, yo!) and have an orange cream slush from Sonic!
I’ll be looking forward to reading your entries. I’ve had roadtrips on the brain, and will actually be on a road trip myself the week that you start off – my lovely sister (who reads and comments here) landed herself a job in DC, and I’m doing the drive w/ her from where she lives in Wisconsin to her new digs. Since she won’t have a vacation for a while, we’re taking a leisurely route on US-50 vs. zipping through on the interstates. There are some sights I’m looking forward to seeing … and, if she reads this, there are some surprises in store.
Your route so far sounds great. I’m checking out RoadsideAmerica.com right now … I have another potential road trip soon (to Michigan’s UP, taking a route I haven’t taken before)
The Rock Hall is fine (I always get into arguments with friends about the white male rock canon…academics are fun! Fun, I tell you!). If Alice Cooper’s restaurant “Cooperstown” is still open try to hit that. It’s right by the Indians’ stadium, has a decent beer selection (decent, not wonderful) and is hilarious.
Looking forward to reading the “on the road again” diary entries. lol I’m curious though if you don’t mind sharing, how much is this costing you in gas/toll money with the price of gas so high?
I would love to do a mini version of this but i’m scared of being bankrupt by the time i got back to the big apple. :)
I’m guessing you’re only planning to spend the night in the CLE, and then head out as soon as you can. :)
BUT (and especially in light of the recent NC Double Shot) – if you’d like to go to a chilled loungey/nightclubby bar that makes the best versions of classic drinks, I’d recommend Velvet Tango Room (http://www.velvettangoroom.com). It’s easily the best bar in CLE, and I’m not afraid to say it trumps any bar in Chicago (where I grew up).
Also, it’s like 30 seconds from my house, and if you don’t want to drink alone (secret shame!), we use any excuse at all walk over. There are also a bunch of restaurants nearby, if you’re looking for grub.
When I first read the itinerary, I thought “SF” would be Santa Fe, and I was SO EXCITED. Now I am bummed. Bummed and jealous of your sweet road trip. Enjoy!
Yay, Sars is coming to MN! July is awesome here. Minor problem: the state government may still be shut-down through July, so don’t plan on using rest stops.
But you will love Target Field if you want to catch a Twins game!
Hope we can meet when you get to MIL. Let me know if your schedule permits..the Cubs will be in town….
Psycho Suzi’s is cool. Their map of Minneapolis is also awesome, with the sharks and general tiki-ness everyone else is afraid to show.
http://www.psychosuzis.com/location.html
In other news, the best cake in the world lives at the decidedly non-tiki Cafe Latte in St. Paul. It’s their Tres Leches. I’d buy you a slice. :-)
Gawd, I love road trips. I’m so jealous (except for the baseball games – I’m not a fan). Can’t wait to see the TN entries about the trip.
It’s a bit off the beaten path (aka 80), but if you’re in Nebraska, Carhenge is well worth the detour:
http://www.carhenge.com/
Little car might be really inspired to feats of greatness after seeing it.
Wait, you have FAMILY in BOULDER? Who? I grew up here and had no idea! Email me if you need places to eat or stay!
Yay for a Minnesota visit! When you come in from Iowa, I recommend taking Hwy 169 north to the Twin Cities; much more scenic than 35, and still fast. You should stop at Jim’s Apple Farm about 45 minutes south of the Cities (you will not miss it from Hwy 169), home to numerous kinds of root beer (like more than 50 root beers), and old classic candies that you have not seen in years, and all kinds of apples/pies/jams/bacon things. It is truly awesome, and a source of weird and delicious gifts.
If you do wind up on 169, and need to stop in St. Peter (about an hour south of the Cities), I’ll buy you a beer at Patrick’s, the best Irish bar in Southern MN!
Oh PLEASE do a meetup in Boulder! This native would love to buy you a drink, and there are some pretty fantastic places for some truly inspired cocktails in Boulder.
So if you DO happen to take the first commenter’s advice and you wind up driving the 120 through Yosemite and Tuolumne Meadows, if you are of a mind to be able to get out of The Little Tomato Car and feel like you Did Something in Yosemite that only takes like an hour — I can give you a couple of extremely specific sets of directions for two separate hikes that start from parking places right along 120, only go for a mile or so across fairly flat terrain, and yet happen to wind up in what I truly believe are two of the Most Beautiful Spots on Earth.
That is obviously a subjective opinion, but man. One of the short hikes in particular, which crosses the Dana and Lyell forks above where they join to create the Tuolumne river, is just… fantastic. As I say, very short, right off that highway, extremely easy (and when I say “easy” I do not mean it in the guidebook sense of “actually is steeper than you would like”, but instead, “so easy that you can still do it the day after you screw up your middle-aged knees climbing 1000 vertical feet in the Valley”), and gets you to an idyllic little spot that is relatively empty (compared to many other places in the park). Perfect for a picnic lunch.
Note: it will take about an hour to drive from that general area (Tuolumne Meadows) to the park entrance nearest San Fran, because it’s not a road to go fast on; and then about 4 hours from there to the city.
(Can you tell I’ve been spending the summer wishing I could go back?)
Another SF’er here–21st Amendment is a local brewery not far from the Park (don’t you want to see The Beard in action?!?) that has a decent Belgian ale, or Bourbon & Branch is fun for a password-only, speakeasy vibe.
Consider an SF meetup for sure–ride cable cars, do the Chinatown treasure hunt, walk/bike the gorgeous Golden Gate bridge (so worth it!) or enjoy the patchouli fug of Haight-Ashbury.
You’ll be in my neck of the woods. :) And you’ll be visiting several of the places I went to and was enchanted by as a kid. Our family made the Field of Dreams site a fairly regular family outing in the early 90’s. It’s pretty fun (but VERY low key). Not that you’ll have a ton of time or desire, but north of Dyserville is a really pretty part of Iowa with bluffs and woods.
And I assume you are thinking of the Laura Ingalls Wilder site in South Dakota….well worth it too.
Late joining in here, but a few Milwaukee suggestions.
If you’re driving via 1-94 between Chicago and Milwaukee, then plan to make a stop at the newly renovated Mars Cheese Castle. I haven’t been in it since the remodel, (they were forced to move the entire building about 800 feet due to freeway expansion) but its previous incarnation encompassed everything that’s good (cheese, cocktails, and more cheese — in a castle-y type building) and bad (horrible dairy tourism trinkets and Packer crap) about Wisconsin. All in one handy stop. The bar used to be very supper-clubby without the supper club, made an awesome Bloody Mary that they brought to you along with crock cheese and crackers. Ball game on the TV every time I’ve been there. Here’s a link: http://tinyurl.com/6axyj4y
The Palomino Bar has a hipster vibe and does deep-fried Yummy vegan bar food (or not, they do carnivore too, but as a vegetarian it’s an awesome option.) And it’s near the lake: http://palominobar.com/
Tuesday night is “The Erotic Adventures of the Static Chicken” at the Jazz Estate, a small East side jazz club. I haven’t been to the Estate in years, but if jazz is your thing it’s a cool little place: http://www.jazzestate.com/estate.html
Or, if you’d prefer to try some 50s cocktails in an actual 50s cocktail lounge, then head to At Random: http://tinyurl.com/6d46ypz
Oh, and if you really want classic Milwaukee, then a trip to the Harley Davidson museum is in order. My nephew just went and tells me it’s awesome:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/HD_Museum/Museum.jsp
@Elissa, in addition to the inspired cocktails, everyone here in Boulder has happy hours. There should definitely be a meetup!
If you find yourself on the east side of Milwaukee, try to stop by Wolski’s Tavern for a pint and an “I Closed Wolski’s” bumper sticker. It’s small, but it’s over 100 years old and it’s well-known and practically an institution to the locals. It’s pretty boisterous late night, but has a very friendly atmosphere. Drinks are reasonable, and the popcorn and darts are free. Also nearby on Brady Street (about two blocks away) is Peter Sciortino’s Bakery, and they sell awesome Italian cookies and bread.
JC makes some excellent recs there. If you like a coconut macaroon (or any Italian cookie), then Sciortino’s is absolutely the place for that. Glorioso’s has also recently expanded with all kinds of old school Italian deli goodness — also on the east side of MKE.
Oh, fun! I haven’t been to an Aeros game in forever! I think I’m going to a Lake County Captains game that night, though, up near Cleveland – Class A, Midwest League. They’re having a ‘Dollar Night’ – 1$ off tickets, and 1$ hot dogs, fries, popcorn, soda or 10 oz draft.
If there ends up being a group meeting up @ the game in Akron, I could persuade my friends to switch, maybe. I’m sure you’ll post details as you decide them.
And I cheerfully second Christine’s Velvet Tango room recc., if you do get up to Cleveland. I don’t live as close as she does, but I’d be happy to drive over there and buy you a drink!
Bon Voyage!
I’ve seen games at both Akron Aeros and St. Paul Saints venues. Akron is a pretty park, but it’s close to big-leauge sanitized. If you can get to the Saints, as your friend ab says, DEW IT. It’s like living in “Bull Durham” for an evening. And the Cleveland Rock Hall just opened a Women Who Rock exhibit. I think the costume hall is worth a stop. However, you can’t truly appreciate the Rock Hall unless you’ve ever been a groupie or a roadie. You gotta really want it to make it work. Have a fun trip!
So late to this party, but you should definitely try to hit up an Omaha Stormchasers game while in Nebraska. Brand new park with a great atmosphere and the Royals still have a lot of minor league talent brewing there. The park is in Papillion and it is absolutely in the middle of nothing. You drive through a typical mid-America town with it’s chain stores and new housing developments and then nothing but barren fields until you hit the ballpark.
And just to clarify a previous comment, this park is not the one the hosts the College World Series. That park is in downtown Omaha.