We’ve officially been on the road for a little over a month now. A week in Chicago, IL, a week in Fort Wayne, IN, a week in Markleville, IN, a week in Lincoln, NE and a week in Austin, TX. We’re now in San Antonio. It’s been a TON of fun. I can’t say we’re adhering to our budget as closely as I’d like. But here are our highlights for month #1.
Events
Wine on 99 was a wine tasting on the 99th floor of the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower. This was an amazing way to spend our first night in Chicago, really getting a view of the whole town at night. The 100th floor is open for paid visits every day.
Saturday Night Belly Dancing @ the Alhambra Palace in Chicago was a great party atmosphere. I sort of wish we’d gotten there earlier because we only caught the last 20 minutes of the show before the party became just a DJ and dancing.
Mezcal Brothers @ the Zoo Bar. While the bar is an avoidable dive, the Mezcal Brothers really get your hips moving and body grooving; great rockabilly.
F*ck This Week: A Comedic Exploration of Your Sh*t-Ass Week in Austin, TX. Improv comedy can be cringeworthy, but we genuinely had a good time at this show. They poll the audience for why their week was terrible, and then exaggerate and extrapolate in their entertaining skits.
Todd Snider & Beat Root Revival @ Gruene Hall. I can’t decide which one I liked more. Todd Snider is an amazing story-teller and hilarious lyricist and his show (the last of his tour) was filled with friends and a crowd singing with every song. Beat Root Revival dazzled with their instruments and sweet harmonies for 3 hours.
Sights
The Baha’i Temple in Wilmette, IL was fantastically beautiful both aesthetically and spiritually, professing love and acceptance regardless of faith. This temple was built in the mid-1900s and the intricate architectural designs could’ve held my attention for hours. Simply magnificent.
Lincoln’s Tomb in Springfield, IL. I mean, I don’t know how we could’ve driven this close and NOT stopped. It’s free, the monument is lovely and the staff are non-intrusive, but extremely knowledgeable.
Mark Twain’s childhood home in Hannibal, MO. I love reading Mark Twain. My dad asked if we were stopping through and I realized it wasn’t too far out of the way. It was fantastic to see Huck Finn’s house (rebuilt), Becky’s house & the Twain house. Quaint town & don’t forget to check out the brewery.
American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City, OK (they got a groupon, y’all!). Growing up with a Banjo pickin’ padre, this was an amazing collection of beautiful banjos. Not a lot of banjos owned by famous folks, but old models and intricately carved instruments and a variety of different models to compare/contrast.
The Oasis on Lake Travis in Austin, TX was shopping/eating on a cliff with great views of the lake.
Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center Canyon Tour was just a magnificent, short outdoor walk. Nicole Miller was our guide, she was energetic and very informative if you want information about the plants, animals and geology. We just wanted to see a cave.
Books
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen – Phil Lesh turned me onto this. I don’t typically read fiction, but these tales are endearing… kids trying to save burrow owls nesting environment, it’s clever, it’s thrilling, it’s enjoyable and it’s a quick read. I bought several more books by Carl Hiaasen and they all have the same general theme (kids saving animal habitats).
Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come by Jessica Pan – This is in the same non-fiction life-as-an-experiment genre as A.J. Jacobs, one of my favorite authors. Jessica decides to try to break out of the shy introvert mold to meet people, to be more adventurous and to gain confidence in herself.
Food
Pagliai’s Pizza in Bowling Green, Ohio… biased opinion, no “world’s greatest” food list is complete without it. Holy cow! The sausage is amazing! I find it’s nearly impossible to wait until it’s cool enough to eat without burning the roof of your mouth. We drove 2 hours each way for this meal and it was worth all that and more.
Iron Works Barbecue in Austin, TX. Great BBQ, wonderful view.
The Gristmill in Gruene, TX. There was a 75 minute wait the first night we were there, so we came back the second day. The building is pretty great to explore and the food was delicious.
AirBnB
New Haven, IN, this was a GEM of a place in a dinky town where I used to live. I had no idea it was there, but it has a great bar (Trion) just downstairs. The apartment was huge and well designed and had all of the amenities that we needed, and the water pressure… best hot power-wash shower I’ve had on the road so far.
Leander, TX. If you like games or sci-fi nerdery at it’s finest, this place is a blast and Mike’s a true socializer. You want some stories and interaction with a host, this guy’s amazing. We only stayed one night, but we loved it.
San Antonio, TX. We love this place because it’s got everything we could want for a week, a place for me to work with sunlight and there’s no shared space.
It really seems like it’s been a lot longer than a month, but we’ve seen and done so much. We’ve gotten to see most of our family and many of our friends. These are the benefits of location independence and the reason we chose to travel any road to everywhere.