AH, road trips. Always fun, exciting and exhausting. We try and go on at least one trip a year. This year we have been to Tampa for a wedding (which, hilariously, the couple that got married are already divorced...and just FYI I totally won the bet on that - I guessed they would make it a month) and we are going back to Tampa and to West Palm Beach for a back-to-back Rush concert!
This trip encompass Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
There are a few essentials for road trips in the 21st century. Get a vehicle with two 12v adaptors, an iPod hook up, satelite radio and GPS. As Bobz stated, we had a mission control center. We found an adaptor at the house that converts into two standard plugs and we used those for the laptop and charging cell phones as we travelled. OH get a smart phone...you can Facebook and Twitter to your hearts delight.
We left Wednesday the 11th promptly at 6:00am. In order for me to have my proper morning constitution I got up at 4:30am, had coffee, a cig, completed my deposit and got the car packed. We got to Maryland 9 hours later and decompressed at my former co-worker Debbie's abode. It was a short night due to the fact we had been up so early, travelled so far and had to get up just as early the next morning.
Thursday - Morning two, I got up at 5:00am to get the morning routine in order...this was a common theme throughout the vacation, just so you know. It is a very important part of my day. I am sure most of you can agree.
We got on the road at 7:00am and headed to New Jersey where Krystal's tattoo artist relocated. He started her back and arm piece in Savannah, but moved up to New Jersey in the middle of it. Bobz and I ran a few errands and chilled at the tattoo shop for a majority of the day. She sat for 5 hours - her longest sitting yet, and completed the coloring on her half sleeve.
We left the tattoo shop around 5:00pm and made our way to Brooklyn, New York. I can't speak for everybody, but holyfuckingshitdamnitalltohell. No one in their right mind should drive in New York. Ever. Thank goodness for Nancy, our GPS, because if it had been up to me we would STILL be doing circles in New York somewhere.
Not only did we arrive in New York at the end of rush hour, we forgot to grab some cash for the 1,000,345,981 tolls. OF COURSE I ran out of money in New York at the LAST toll at RUSH hour. Want to know what is is like to have 3,000 New Yorkers mad at you. Yeah, forget toll money. In case you are wondering, they write you a ticket and the writing of said ticket takes approximatly 30 seconds, however, in New York seconds that is 30 minutes and they do not hesitate letting you know that their day is COMPLETELY in shambles because of it.
After traversing approximatly 4 tunnels, almost getting run over a half dozen times and running a red light, we finally popped up in Brooklyn, the Red Hook district, where Krystal's high school friend Lindsey and her fiance, Rex, live. They had a pretty kick ass apartment. View from their roof:
We went out to eat and then to a local bar where I came in contact with the largest drag queen I have ever seen in my life. I shit you not, this man was 7'3" tall. So scratch that, he was the tallest person I have ever come in contact with. He was hosting the karaoke that night. Yes, I said karaoke, only my most favorite drunk activity EVER. It was imperative that I belt out some Shoop by Salt N Pepa. It went over amazingly well and Mr. Tall Ass Drag Queen said that it was so spectacular that he was going to take it out of the book; no one else would be able to top it. I can only assume Salt N Pepa don't visit that bar. Amazing compliment though!
Friday - We took a tour of New York to do. I know three things: 1)They have great beer 2) I need better shoes 3) Bobby bought a pack of Newports for $11.75. No, really:
For comparison sake, in Savannah, a pack is $4.75 and we think that is highway robbery.
Beer in Manhattan:
