First Officers Log: Day 6, Where is Route 66?

Day 6: Where is Route 66?




It seems like the earlier I try to get to sleep the later I actually do. We are at state of perpetual motion. Now I know how Memom must fee! Woke up at 7:15 am cst for another continental breakfast. No waffles today, what a bummer. The name of today’s game was lets find Route 66. It wasn’t something we really did on purpose. We rode along I-40 for a good chunk of the day, which parallels Rt 66 for the most part. The thing was that every time we pulled of the Interstate to find Rt 66 again we ended up going 10 miles out of the way, and never found 66. Despite a few minor troubles we did stick to 66 for a while hitting various road museums and small towns. I stopped a lot more today to take pictures of the towns we passed through. There were two Route 66 History Museums, which gave a good telling of how the road came to be and how it came to pass. I never realized that the road was decommissioned in the 70’s when the interstates became more abundant.



We hit a few Indian trading posts where I picked up a few things. My personal favorite was the rattlesnake eggs. I hope they don’t get too hot in the car and hatch!!! When we hit Texas we stopped at the Devil’s Rope Museum, which was a museum devoted to the history of barbed wire. Sound’s boring right, but it was not! I picked up a few pieces of vintage barbed wire and we went on down the road. After lunch it was more Route 66 and beautiful views. We tried to go to the midway café for a soda in the late afternoon but it was closed. I was bummed about that but it was nice to at least stop there. We did get to stop at Cadillac Ranch, which I though would be bigger, but still really cool. They have a row of old Cadillac’s buried in the ground and they are all spray-painted by people who stop there. Our last stop was at our second world biggest attraction. The largest cross in the western hemisphere. It was huge, and surrounded by the Stations of the Cross.







Now one thing I’ve been seeing is an abundance of wind farms. They are kind of cool despite what people say about the view I kind of like them. The one thing Pappy said people complain about the most is the noise they make. When we pulled off at a rest stop I walked up to one and I was able to hear the whooshing sound it made. Now even if you put 50 of those things 5 feet from my head it would still be quieter than the bar across the street from my apartment in Brooklyn, so WTF people shut up already!



That’s it for today, its an overnight in New Mexico at the Econo Lodge and then up at sunrise for some great views in the morning.


PS It just rained here and there is this awesome double rainbow in the sky. That's number one Ally! (Technically its two but whatever.)


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First Officers Log: Day 4&5

Day 4: It’s Too Hot for This Early in the Morning


Woke up at 6:30 am cst, and I was so not having it today. Bringing this blog to y’all is taking away from my sleep because this computer takes two hours to do anything. Regardless it must be done so I will press on. Took my usual am shower while trying to figure out what day it was. Once again had the continental breakfast waffle! I really enjoy waffles, both the food and the person!

Once we’re done eating it was time to hit the road again. As we walk outside from the air-conditioned hotel the heat and humidity hits us like a wave crashing on top of you when you’re not ready for it. It’s too hot this morning so we ride to St. Louis with the top up. The ride through Missouri was nothing but straight roads and Farmland. Oh did I mention there were more hay bails!!!!

When we arrive into St. Louis you can see the Gateway Arch gleaming in the sun. We park the car and head out into the sunny streets of St Louis. It is unbearably hot out, around 102 degrees, 115 with the humidity. It’s about 9:00 pm now and its still 95 degrees out, just for a comparison. We stop for a quick picture outside the Capital building with the Arch in the background, and then It’s down the road to Busch Stadium for a Cardinals game. They played the Twins, and though I am a devote Yankee fan I say when in Rome root for the home team! Our seats were great, second tier (so we were out of the sun) behind home plate looking down the first base line. The game moved a little slow the first couple of inning’s but Pujols hit two home runs and brought in 4 runs. We sat next to this man in id say his 70’s (once again didn’t catch his name so well call him Bill) and his granddaughter Missy (I am just naming her based on well, its my story so ill call her what I want.). Bill was a big baseball fan so he and the Old Man got along well. They talked most of the game about sports knowledge (well Bill did mostly) I’ve just never been able to pick up myself. Missy sat there and said nothing.

The Cardinals won 5-3!

After the game it was off to the Gateway Arch again for more pictures and a trip up to the top. The line to get onto the tram to the top seemed to take forever and I became rather aggravated with the whole situation. You’d think since we were assigned a specific time that it would have been more efficient but alas it was not. The line took about 45 min and then we finally got on the tram. The ride up takes about 4 min and was a little freaky in my opinion. (I hate heights!) We get off at the top and walk up some stairs to look out the observation windows. The view was spectacular. The light came across the city making it look like it was engulfed by the light itself. (Sorry I am bad at describing an image, the view is posted below.)

For dinner we stop at “Skippy’s: Good Food For Good People.” We sit down in a room laid out with several kitchen tables, NASCAR car hood’s on the walls and of course a lot of RT. 66 art. There was also a vinyl Budweiser banner running the length of the wall. The crowd is something out of an episode of Dukes of Hazzard. We chat with Sally our waitress for a bit about the heat today and our trip thus far. She tells us about a guy who fell over the railing at Busch stadium yesterday due to heat exhaustion! I order the Walli fried fish and a Bud Light. The food was good but the entertainment for the evening was something far more befitting of this place. Its country karaoke night at Skippy’s and the whole town is there (all 30 of them.) It was one after the other of horrid country singing and gap tooth cowboys. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

So that’s about it for today. From here we ride down RT 66 from St Louis to the Munger Moss Motel!

I really hope I down get killed at this place.



Day 5: The Blue Whale


It was so hot last night, must have been in the 90’s with the humidity. Work up at 7:00 am cst today, after the longest nights sleep I've had thus far. On the way out I stop and talk to Ramona the owner of Munger Moss Motel along with her husband. The main office where she was perched up behind the desk was several decades of Rt 66 memorabilia including a bunch of old tin toy trucks. The place looks like it was plucked out of the late 50s and dropped right here in Missouri. Ramona tells me about the calls she has received from people and even newspapers since she bought the Motel several years back. “People call and say I heard you have remodeled the hotel." "No” Is what Ramona replies every time. “ We have fixed her up here and there to make it nice, but it’s the same as its always been.” The people usually loose interest at this point and kindly hang up, she tells me. I cant believe anyone would want to tear apart this piece of history. The Old Man and I loved it there, it was great stopping in a motel that is just how it was when Rt 66 opened up. It was a reminder of day passed. If you want new and remodeled say at a Super 8 people. This world is too preoccupied with destroying its past with cookie cutter crap from pottery barn! If you’re ever Lebanon, MO and want to have a real experience I recommend the Munger Moss Motel. There is a great old neon sign with a flashing arrow, and its across from a bowling alley right on Old Route 66.

Tell Ramona I say hi!

After we buy a few things from the gift shop its back on the road down towards Tulsa, OK. We have breakfast at Stake and Shake about an hour from the Motel. The food was good, though I felt like lunch there would have been better. From there is was down to Joplin, MO and then Galena, KS both old towns with a lot of old shops and rundown streets. I of course loved this and stopped to take a few pictures. The old painted signs still on the walls, and rusted trucks gave the whole place a certain charm. From there it was on to Commerce, OK to see the birthplace of Mickey Mantle. Pappy being the avid Yankee fan he is mad me photograph everything I saw. Surprisingly there wasn’t really anything around having anything to do with the famed Yankee, so we quickly moved on. Next it was the world’s largest Totem poll (our first world's biggest attraction) and a big blue whale made of wood and steel in the middle of a lake in Catoosa. The Whale was hard to find. The directions Pappy printed out didn’t say specifically where in Catoosa it was. I tried to Google it with no luck. We stopped at a gas station and asked a guy in his car outside if he knew where to find the whale. He did after an awkward hesitation to talk to us. Of course Pappy and I heard it differently and argued about it the whole way. I was right, which in our history never happens so I gloated a bit on that one.

After the whale we stopped to see The Will Rogers Museum. Which though not my cup of tea was pretty cool. Today was more laid back with less ground to cover, but this didn’t stop the Old Man from rushing me every chance he got. For the most part Oklahoma is a lot of road and hot sun, and has the most hay bails I’ve seen so far! Also I think I’m slowly dying of sun poisoning, due to the fact that this is the most I’ve been outside in 6 years. Its off to bed so im rested up for Texas tomorrow.

“I’ve never met a man I didn’t like.” Will Rogers


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First Officers Log: Day 3, TCB!

Day 3: Taking Care of Business


Last night was the first night I really slept since I left. It may have been because I stayed up till 2 or because I was actually in a comfortable bed with ac. Woke up 6:00 am est to a continental breakfast at the Best Western. I had a waffle and it was just like the ones we had in the dorms freshman year (slightly rubbery but hit the spot.) It was down I-40 for a good 6 hours toward Memphis this morning. I slept most of the way while the Old Man drove. When I finally woke up it was because Pappy was yelling, “Dammit he got me!” He had passed a Statie going 84 mph in a 70. Oh well that’s that's happens when your driving cross-country and you have a lead foot. The cop was intense; he looked like he was in full military uniform. Guns, straps, and cop accessories all over with an olive drab jumpsuit underneath.

Regardless of the morning today was going to be a good day. Why is that you ask, well its cause my favorite Sister-in-Law (Kathy) was able to score us free passes to all that Graceland has to offer!!! (Thanks Kathy) We got in about noontime and saw all aspects of the King’s Life, from his Jungle room, to the peacock sta9ined glass windows, to his collection of cars. I especially Liked the Cadillac's. It was a blast, and best of all it was free! Both Pappy and I had on of the Kings favorite meals for lunch, Meatloaf! It was pretty good.


After soaking up the King for a good chunk of the day we moved on down to Memphis to go tour the Gibson guitar factory. The best part of this was that I haven’t seen Lucille (my Gibson Les Paul) in days and I missed her. I spent a good half hour playing with all the guitars in the show room and wanted them all for my own. The tour itself was ok but both Pappy and I wished there was more technical information, and no one was working in the factory when we got there so we really didn’t get the full experience..

After the factory we stopped on Beale St in down town Memphis to have a Beale Big Ass Beer and listen to some blues. The singer was a vivacious southern black woman and I think she hit on the Old Man a bit. I couldn’t stop laughing! Her name was Ms. Zeno “The Louisiana Mojo Queen” and I have an autographed and freshly kissed picture of her. After we finished our beers it was of to BB Kings for some more music and dinner. Dinner was good and so was the music. I had some pulled pork and it was so much better that anything I’ve had outside of Little Richard’s in Winston-Salem, NC.

Now I have a little trivia question for y’all. (Uncle Alex this is epically for you from the Old Man.) What does the BB stand for in BB King? Now we are on the honor system here so no Internet searching it, but the first one to comment with the correct answer will get a special prize from yours truly!

Its off on the road again across the might Mississippi to Arkansas and the Blytheville Super 8 for the evening! I hope the hotel is half as good as last night. Also the Mississippi smells like catfish!

"No bacon for breakfast makes Frank an unhappy man."



An addition to yesterdays post: Farrah I miss you already!



PS I apologize for all spelling and grammar mistakes (both past, present and future.) I went to school for photography not writing people, so get over it.


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First Officers Log: Day 1 and 2

Day 1: Peanut Soup

I couldn't sleep last night. It was a combination of excitement and the stupid dog barking down the street. I woke up at 5:30 am est, showered and we got in the car and waved Memom good bye for the next 18 days. We drive west through PA, and all I have to say is, one Lancaster sells like Cow Shit, and two Pumpkin Pancakes are delicious!

We stop at Dinosaur Land, which as its name would leave you to believe is awesome. For most of the day we drive down Skyline drive in Virginia. The weather is nice its quiet and the scenery was very beautiful. For lunch we pull off west to go the Southern Kitchen as recommended to me by Gina, my lovely lady’s momma. I have the peanut soup also as recommended. I was a bit hesitant, seeing it looked like melted peanut butter, but general consensus…Delicious! The rest of the food was great too, and if your ever in New Market, VA you should go. I also enjoyed eating next to a stuffed dear head!

After lunch its back to Skyline Drive and down to some Natural Bridge (its supposed to be one of the 7 natural wonders of the world). Turns out its also expensive so we decide to skip it. What I saw next made my day! Professor Clein’s Haunted Monster Museum nearby had “Dragula” (Grandpa Munsters car from The Munsters.) How cool is that? I convinced Pappy to go an bought us two tickets. You go in through a cell door surrounded by a skull! We meet Professor Clein himself, who is quite the character. He take us and two of his friends on the the tour. The place is all creepy inside and though a little hokey I love it. I took his portrait after the tour with this Dead Elvis Mannequin which had formed a beehive on its crotch.

Finally we arrive in Tuggles Gap, VA our final destination for the day. Were staying at the Tuggles Gap Restaurant/ Motel/ Gas Station. First we drive past a what seems like a never-ending view of cows and hay bails. We pull up to the only Motel I’ve seen for over 100 miles, and pappy thinks this is not it. Regardless it was seeing there were clearly no other hotels named Tuggles Gap Hotel anywhere in site. This fine establishment looks like something out of a bad horror movie. We go into the restaurant/ check in office, to meet lets call her Tara (cause I didn’t catch her name.) We sit down to order our food and I get a fine Pennsylvanian Lager (Yueling for those who don’t know.) I go out to call my lovely lady and find out theirs no signal. I smoke a cig and see Tara doing the same. We chat about cell service in the area for a bit and I find out there is none! After this Tara asks if she can look at my tattoos. We get to talking some more and I find out she does tattoos out of her kitchen at home. This just seems to right for this place, but I continue to listen. She talk more about her awful tattoos and then I go inside to eat. The food was meh, but I was starving so of course I ate it. After dinner we check into our room. A fine room it is, no TV (what a shocker!) my bed has stains and cigarette burns on the blanket, but the bathroom is surprisingly nicer than mine in Brooklyn. I am at a loss with out the internet and TV, but I do have beer and my computer so its not all bad.




Day 2: Two Cars Does Not Constitute Traffic!

Again I had a hard time sleeping last night. The lack of technology burned my brain and their was several bugs the size of my hand in the room fluttering around all night. I eventually just put it in my head that we were camping outside and somehow that made it seem better. We awoke at 6:30 am est, I showered and we had breakfast at this quaint little place in a town nearby Tuggles Gap. I had the French Toast which was a bit to soggy for my taste, and Pappy had an omelet. Afterwards we continued down the Blue Ridge Parkway. I couldn’t help but fall a sleep for a bit due to the beauty and peace the road had to offer (unlike the motel the previous night.)

Most of the day was spent there on the road, we stopped at a trading post and picked up some delicious fudge, and stopped down the way at the Blue Ridge Viaduct. It was a beautiful drive and we saw basically no one on the road till the last hour or so. Pappy was getting very angry because there was a lot of “traffic” but I had to inform him that two cars in front of us did not constitute traffic! Our destination for the afternoon was the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC. It’s the largest home in North America. The place had something like 350 rooms, over 300 acres of farm and countryside. There was a billiards room, bowling alley, smoking lounge, gun room, 3 kitchens, indoor heated pool, indoor garden with these amazing wood trusses and mechanical windows. It was all built in 1889 and opened it in 1895. There was just so much detailing and craftsmanship everywhere you looked. They had old prints, tapestries, paintings, and my favorite…Napoleons personal chess set. We walked through the house and then across the grounds for a few hours and then got back on the road. I drove the last leg from Ashville. It was about 200 miles and smooth sailing most of the way.

When we got into Tennessee I saw a sign for Pigeon Radio! OMG it was ridiculous. The guy on there was talking about his sheep or some farm animal for like 10 min and then there was some comedy I couldn’t make out due to the road noise and his thick southern accent. I also got into a little race with this girl who looked like someone I knew in college. She was around 18 or 19, a pixie haircut with purple bangs and she was driving a Mazda. We went back and forth passing each other for a bit, but if anyone asks I totally beat her.

Our final destination for the day is the Best Western in Harriman, TN. I was so excited to learn upon our arrival that they have WIFI and cable!! The only place to eat was a multitude of chain restaurants, so despite my best efforts we went to Ruby Tuesdays. After working there for 2 years the food just doesn’t look that appetizing anymore. Our hostess looked like my friend Kat in Brooklyn. I can't wait to sleep air conditioning tonight!

Instead of ending today with a quote I want to say something about the news events of today. I recently found our about MJ kicking the bucket. Though I was a fan back in the day and thriller will always rock I feel this tragedy is receiving too much news distracting us from the real tragedy of the day. That is the loss of former hottie and Charlie's Angel, Farrah Fawcett. If your up there somewhere Farrah, your poster helped me through some tough times as a teen, and I thank you for it!

-Vaya Con Dios!


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First Officers Log: The Old Homestead

I have arrived at 1229 Gail Rd, the place I spent the first 19 years of my life. God, I have so much crap here. Sorry Memom :( When looking for something in the basement I found an old Jar Jar Binks mask. I forgot I had this!

The car is all packed up and I am just relaxing with Pappy aka "The Old Man" and Memom watching some movie about a little girl in the depression (its weird). I went to hang out with my little brother Chuckles but SURPRISE he is sleeping. Pappy wants to leave at 6:00 am tomorrow, so that should be fun! The road ahead will be long but I am looking forward to it. I hope I have everything!

"The further one goes the less one knows." Lao-tzu (sixth century BC)



P.S. Just When you thought how can Steve make this blog about Star Wars... I bring you, "Where's Yoda?" a visual journey. Click on the image below to follow Yoda, a small Jedi in a big country.

First Officers Log: Supplemental

The Old Man just mapped out the whole trip including our glorious trip to Nathans in Brooklyn on the last day! They're all here, I apologise that their not in order. They are listed with the day's.

First Officers Log: Predepature preperations

These are the voyages of a father and son. Our mission, to seek out great beer in new places. To boldly go where many have gone before...........

It is a week from the day till the old man and I begin our 19 day journey. The route is mapped, the mustang is purring like a kitten, and I have plenty of chex mix! I find my self thinking of the trips we took when I was a child. My sister and I would sleep in the car the night before so we could wake up already on the road. I do not have the luxury of such things this time seeing that I have to drive and quite frankly who wants to sleep in a mustang. I have decided to share our journey with you all here. Check back for pictures and random musings along the road. Click here to see a map of the first leg of our trip.



"Seize the time, Meribor. Live now; make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again" -- Jean Luke Picard