Saturday, June 14, 2014

Jack's 50 State Journey Sites

Jack’s 50 State Journey 
41 States, updated 6.14.14. 
Number in parentheses represents the order in which we visited the states.
Alabama (1) 2008
Decatur, AL
Big Bob Gibson’s Barbecue
Gulf Shores, AL
Huntsville, AL
Space and Rocket Center
Arkansas (3) 2008
Walmart. We're going to give Arkansas another shot.
California (40) 2014
LAX
Route 66 Museum, Victorville, CA
Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch, Oro Grande, CA
The Mad Greek Restaurant, Baker, CA
Alien Fresh Jerky, Baker CA
Shoshone Village, Shoshone Inn, Shoshone, CA
Death Valley National Park
Ashford Mill Ruins, Death Valley
Badwater Basin, Death Valley
Furnace Creek, CA
49'er Cafe, Furnace Creek, CA
Lone Pine, CA
Manzanar War Relocation Center, CA
Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA
Lone Ranger Canyon, Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA
Lone Pine Film History Museum, Lone Pine, CA
Mount Whitney - the foot of the mountain : ) (Highest peak in lower 48)
Joshua Tree Forest
Sequoia National Park
Fresno CA
Mr. Sushi 2, Fresno, CA
JP and Margaret Ann Shamshoian Home, Fresno, CA
Todd's Cookhouse BBQ, Oakhurst, CA
Yosemite National Park
Curry Village, Yosemite
Glacier Point, Yosemite
Sentinel Dome Trail, Yosemite
The Mist Trail, Yosemite
Livermore, CA
Francisco Bay Inn, San Francisco, CA
Pompeii's Grotto, San Francisco, CA
Ghiradeli's Square, San Francisco, CA
Alcatraz Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, CA (met a former inmate)
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA
Fort Point at Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA
Pier 39, to see the sea lions
Chowder's, San Francisco, CA
Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
Pacific Pinball Museum, Alameda, CA
Pizzeria Delfina, San Francisco, CA
Lombard Street, Crookedest Street section, San Francisco, CA
Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia, Burlingame, CA
World's Largest Artichoke, Castroville, CA
Monterey, CA
Monterey Beach
Pacific Coast Highway
San Luis Obispo, CA
San Luis Obispo Farmer's Market
Pluto's Fresh Food, San Luis Obispo, CA (FANTASTIC)
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, San Luis Obispo, CA
Santa Monica, CA
800 Degrees Pizza, Santa Monica, CA (FANTASTIC-with Bob Easterbrook, also fantastic)
Eden and Carolyn Chen's Home, L.A., CA

Public School 310 Pub

 Connecticut (38) 2012
Stamford, CT
Delaware (28) 2011 
Dogfish Head Brew Pub
Lewes, DE
District of Columbia (31 a) 2011

Florida (39) 2013
St. Augustine
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Destin
The Red Bar
Panama City
Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum
Georgia (32) 2011
Savannah
The Lady and Sons (Paula Dean’s Restuarant)
Illinois (12) 2009
Chicago, IL
Chicago Blues Festival
Art Institute of Chicago
Field Museum, Chicago
Giordano’s Pizza, Chicago
Grant Park, Chicago
Superdawg Drive In Restaurant
Wrigley Field
Indiana (11) 2009
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Iowa (24) 2010
Kansas (5) 2008
Wichita, KS
Pizza Hut, Original
Old Cowtown Museum, Wichita, KS
Kentucky (10) 2009
Hodgenville, KY
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace
Louisville, KY
Churchill Downs
Lynn’s Paradise Cafe
Patton Museum
Fort Knox
Louisiana (8) 2008
New Orleans, LA
Cafe Dumonde
French Quarter
Gumbo Shop, New Orleans
Central Grocery
Jackson Square
Maine (35) 2012
Maryland (31) 2011
Massachusetts (36) 2012
Boston, MA
Michigan (14) 2009
Detroit, MI
Detroit Institute of the Arts
Motown, Detroit
Slow’s BBQ
Mackinac Island, MI
Lake Huron
Lake Michigan
Lake Superior
Minnesota (23) 2010
AmericInn 1 Mile Slide
Austin, MN
Mississippi (9) 2008
Gulfport, MS
Mississippi River
Missouri (4) 2008 and 2010
The Gateway
Arthur Bryant BBQ
St. Louis Arch
St. Louis Zoo
City Museum, St. Louis
Independence, MO
Harry S. Truman House
Jesse James House
Pony Express
Ted Drewes Shakes
Montana (22) 2010
Friends: The Thiel Family

Nebraska (18) 2010
Omaha, NE
Omaha Zoo
Nevada (41) 2014
Rhyolite Ghost Town, Rhyolite, NV

Goldwell Open Air Museum, Rhyolite, NV

 New Hampshire (34) 2012
New Jersey (29) 2011
New York (15) 2009 and 2012
Buffalo, NY
Anchor Bar
5th Ave
Broadway, Spiderman, “Turn out the Dark”
Chrysler Building
Freedom Tower
Grand Central Station
Ground Zero
NY Public Library
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Staten Island Ferry
Statue of Liberty
Wall Street (the bull)
Wyoming, NY
Lake Ontario
North Carolina (26) 2011
Ocracoke Island, NC
North Dakota (21) 2010
Ohio (16)
Canton, OH
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Cleveland, OH
Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame
Lake Eerie
Oklahoma (6) 2008
Oklahoma City
Cattleman’s Cafe
Murrah Federal Building National Memorial
Pennsylvania (30) 2011
Amish Country, PA
Rhode Island (37) 2012
South Carolina (25) 2011
South Dakota (19) 2010
Tennessee (2) 2008
Memphis, TN
B.B. King Cafe
Beale Street
Lorraine Motel
National Civil Rights Museum
Peabody Hotel
Rendezvous Restaurant Memphis
Rockabilly Cafe
Soulsville
Stax Records
Sun Studios
Graceland
Texas (7) 2008
Austin, TX
Driftwood, TX
Salt Lick BBQ
Houston, TX
San Antonio, TX
Hard Rock San Antonio
River Walk, San Antonio
Sea World
Alamo
Boudro’s
Vermont (33) 2012
Virginia (27) 2011
West Virginia (17) 2009
The New River Gorge Bridge
The Natural Bridge
Wisconsin (13) 2009
Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant
Greenbay, Wisconsin
Lambeau Field
Pelleteir’s Restaurant
Wyoming (20) 2010




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Sunday, June 8, 2014

Day 9 Pacific Coast Puke, Pizza and Public School

Beautiful, but pack the Dramamine

I don't know. It's LA.

Fantastic pizza with Bob at 800 degrees in LA. 

Good friend Bob Easterbrook, Mom and Dad on Santa Monica Beach

These were the menus for a great pub in Culver City, CA, called Public School 
Last day in California. We drove down the twisting, curving Pacific Coast Highway. At least the view is beautiful while you're throwing up. Okay, we didn't actually throw up, but we might have felt better if we did. We arrived Santa Monica and met our good friend, Bob Easterbrook, at 800 degrees Pizza. He took us on a tour of LA. Crazy. Finally, we had supper at a cool pub in Culver City called Public School 310, and spent our last night in CA at the home of Eden and Carolyn Chen. Thanks, Chens!!! We drove 1700 miles and visited 2 states on this trip, less than half of the usual drive and one fourth the number of states. We're at 41 states now. Road Trip 2015, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona.
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Day 8 Artichokes, but the Slagle's persevere

The Mission in San Luis Obispo

Can't leave without seeing the biggest artichoke
in the world. 
Site of The Lombard Incident.


Hanging out on Monterey Beach.

Fair weather Brave's fans in Monterey CA.


Another one of Mom's incredible finds: The Pez Museum.  Every model of
Pez dispenser ever made as well as a museum of discontinued toys.


After fleeing San Francisco's Lombard Street, we drove south to San Luis Obispo. Along the way, we stopped to see the biggest artichoke on earth, the Pez Museum, and lunch on Monterey Beach.
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Day 6 & 7, SF and the Lombard Incident

Living the Vida Alcatraz

Always read the fine print.

Me and Dad with Bill Baker, an actual ex-inmate of Alcatraz.

"So, Mr. Castle...can I call you Frank...or just Punisher? I'm good
either way. What's say we put away the Colt M1911A1 and talk
about our feelings?"

In San Francisco. Special Mike Zeck exhibit. Awesome.

Educating Dad in the Marvel Arts.

We were going for excited at Ghiradeli's, but Dad did leering.


The Golden Gate Bridge, which is "International Orange".

Raw power.

The Pinball Museum in Alameda. Mind-blowing. 

Pinball Wizard on the right. 

Dead-eye Deb.

Big fat, sleepy, water puppies on Pier 39. 
Site of "The Lombard Incident".
Our stay in San Francisco ended with "The Lombard Incident." Nobody could get to Dad to punch or kill him, so all's well that ends well. More on that later. We made our way to Ghiradeli Square for a chocolate shake and a sundae and stepped back out into the frigid temps of SF June. On day 6 we went to Alcatraz - very cool in a creepy kind of way. An actual ex-inmate from Alcatraz, Bill Baker, 80 years old, was signing his book. We hobnobbed with Bill for a while and then took the ferry back to the mainland and watched the sea lions sleep on Pier 39. They look like hundreds of fat, sleepy water puppies. We drove to the Cartoon Museum to see an Mike Zeck exhibit (Marvel Comics artist), and then, to the best part of the trip so far, the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda. Wow. Seemed like there were a hundred machines and we played for hours. Now, The Lombard Incident. As we left San Francisco, we drove down the crookedest street in the universe, Lombard. When we were approaching the bottom, lots of people were gathered around the bottom taking pictures. That's when Dad rolled down the window of our car and started screaming, "I'M OUT OF CONTROL!!! I CAN'T STOP!!! AAAAAAGH!!!" Panicked tourists scattered like roaches--at first. Dad thought it was funny, but they didn't.
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Friday, June 6, 2014

Day 4 & 5 Yosemite, Laughing in the face of mortal danger


Our canvas cabin in Yosemite's Curry Village. Completely
vulnerable to the razor sharp teeth and claws of Ursus Americanus.

Asleep, but ready for bear.

Hiking the Mist Trail, which as it turns out, is one of the
top ten most dangerous hikes in America. I'm DANGEROUS!

Mom, me, Yosemite's Half Dome behind us.

Supper.

Mom, me, after hike to the top of Sentinel Dome in Yosemite.

He's in Yosemite, that's where.

Yosemite Jedi teaching the Yosemite Padawan
the ancient secrets.
DFPB-The Duck Face Photo Bomber of Yosemite.
Before entering Yosemite, we talked about bear safety, and then purchased some amazing pulled pork and a rack of ribs for a picnic inside the park. We were so stuffed we didn't have to work hard at playing dead. With bellies full of grease and meat, we climbed to the top of Sentinel Dome. We shrugged off our shortness of breath and radiating pain in the chest, neck and left arm and came back down the mountain for an ice cream. We slept in the 10% bear proof canvas cabins of Curry Village in Yosemite National Park, woke up and spotted Waldo. On June 2, we hiked the Mist Trail, which, according to backpacker.com is one of the 10 most dangerous hikes in America. Mom left out that little detail when we started.
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