I'm ashamed to admit, I completed this 30 Before 30 item 2 months ago, but we have been so busy getting settled in Ann Arbor (2 blogs ago, another 30 Before 30 item) and with the puppy, Nashville (last blog, yet another 30 Before 30 item). So, here I'll recap our 3,000-mile roadtrip, complete with stories (what I can remember) and pictures.
So as I blogged about previously, we moved to Ann Arbor in August so that Taylor could start Business School at Michigan. One of the traditions at Michigan is that students have the opportunity during the week before school starts to go on a trip with some of your new classmates to some exotic location. It's called "M-Trek" and they travel to places like Spain, Costa Rica, Asia, and places in the U.S. as well. The only catch is that the trips cost $3,000 - $4,000 plus food and entertainment expenses. We decided that we should save the money for something else, so we decided instead to go on a "Smith-Trek" road trip around the country. I basically mapped out the route based on places we wanted to see or had friends. Here's the route we took:
Ann Arbor, MI > Nashville, TN > Dallas, TX > Austin, TX > St. Louis, MO > Chicago, IL > Ann Arbor, MI - 2,750 miles!
So our first big decision of the trip was, what vehicle to take. We rented a car, but when we got there, they basically told us we could pick any of about 10 different compact cars. We ended up deciding on a Dodge Caliber because it had cruise control, a spare outlet that was actually the kind you have in your house, so we could plug our electronics right into it, and it was a hatchback, so we could always have access to the things in the trunk. Here's the starting odometer reading:
So Saturday night, the first night of our roadtrip, was actually spent in Ohio. We went to a Sanctus Real concert near my hometown in Bowling Green, OH. Sanctus Real, in case you don't know, is one of my favorite bands. They are a Christian band from my hometown.
Sunday morning, we left at 7am to head to our first destination, Nashville, where we went to college (and the inspiration for our puppy's name!). On our way through Kentucky, Taylor had the brilliant idea to turn this into a real, live roadtrip, and we took a little detour to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln (he was actually born in Kentucky, even though he went into politics in Illiniois). Here's the building that houses the log cabin that apparently was thought to have been Lincolnd actual cabin where he was born, but we were told that they actually found out about 30 years after this shrine was built that the cabin inside it was not his actual birthplace, so now it's just an "example."
Obligatory photo by sign:
We arrived in Nashville in the early afternoon and our first stop was Las Paletas, a really popular Spanish popsicle shop in Nashville. They have all kinds of flavors. I think Taylor got blueberry lime, and I got berries and cream. YUM!
Of course we also had to stop by Vanderbilt, too! Here I am in front of Kirkland Hall, the main administration building on campus. We walked all over campus, and it was so quiet since it was summer. Still, it was nice to be back.
That night, we went out to dinner in downtown Nashville with Taylor's Aunt and Uncle who were kind enough to let us stay at their house.
We got up bright and early Monday morning and made our first stop the iconic Loveless Cafe. Some delicious breakfast and good times ensued!
Let me pause here to add another thread to this post. So Taylor's birthday was the last day of our road trip, and I bought him an acoustic guitar for his birthday. The plan was to give him the guitar the day we got home, and while we were at the Sanctus Real concert, I had actually bought him a guitar pick just as a little side gift. Then, when we were at Loveless Cafe, they had guitar picks for sale and it gave me an idea...I would get him a pick from each place we visited! So I'll include those stories as we go.
On our way from Nashville to Dallas, we passed through Memphis, and what road trip that includes Memphis would be complete without a trip to Graceland!?
Taylor with one of Elvis's cars.
While we were at Graceland, I managed to sneak away and grab a guitar pick while Taylor was in the bathroom!
Next, we drove through:
Get it? Nice, huh?
Here's the old state house in Little Rock, where President Clinton gave his acceptance speech for both of his terms of President.
And here we are with the actual "Little Rock" which became important because it used to be in the middle of the river in the background and was used by boaters to tell if the water was high enough to sail.
Shortly after leaving Little Rock, we crossed into Texas and immediately stopped at a Texas favorite, Whataburger!
We stayed overnight in Dallas, but it was uneventful sinec we got in so late after 10 hours of driving. Our friends Taylor and Talia were our hosts, along with their puppy Dora, who is the same breed mix as our Nashville!
On Tuesday morning, we hopped in the car again and drove down to Austin. Our first stop was Chuy's Mexican, a spot that was recommended by my friend Jessica, and boy was it delicious!
Austin was HOTT with like a hundred Ts (they were on their 65th day of 100+ degree weather or something). So here we are stopping at Sno-Beach, a popular snow-cone place with many many flavors!
Here's the Texas State Capital, which is famously larger (and pinker) than the U.S. Capital building (everything is bigger in Texas!)
In Austin, we stayed with our friends Jessica and Bart and their little foster boy!
He was so cute!
Jess and Bart were nice enough to take us to dinner at an absolutely amazing barbecue place called Salt Lick. It was delicious! After dinner, Taylor and I went out for a couple beers in downtown Austin while the parents headed home with their little guy. These 2 rooftop beers were $2 each! After drinks, we went out to a piano bar, where I was able to pretend to be making a phone call and run and buy a guitar pick (actually, it was a pack of them....and I used another in the pack to represent our time in Dallas as well)! Whew.
The next day in Austin, we were fortunate to get to meet up with our friend Bria who happened to be in town from DC!
We also spent some time walking around the UT Austin campus where we saw this next photo...which is purported to be the world's first photograph. Crazy!
That night, we drove back to Dallas where I got to get together with some old friends from college, Katie and Mel! It was so fortunate that they were both in Dallas and available to meet up for some drinks!
The next day we left Dallas on our way to St. Louis. On the way, we had a brief trek through Oklahoma and were looking for something to do so that we would have some photos from Oklahoma and we came across this little gem:
That's right! Here we are with some of the contents of the museum:
While we were at the museum, we got these little guitar figures made of plastic, and I actually cut that into the shape of a guitar pic to represent our time in Oklahoma.
On the way from Oklahoma to St. Louis we hit what might have been the most interesting portion of the road trip: Route 66 and Joplin, MO:
As you probably know, Route 66 is the iconic trail across the country that's famous for it's pure Americana.
Here's a soda shop:
But you couldn't actually go in...it's actually a tutoring center (which wasn't open because it's summer)
Here we are with a Route 66 sign in Baxter, MO.
Route 66 passes through Joplin, MO, which probably rings a bell because it's the town that was absolutely devastated by a tornado this spring. We drove into town and it looked completely normal. We even stopped at a Kroger and got Wifi to fill out the adoption application for our puppy (we found out about the puppy while we were staying with our friends in Dallas). Then we drove about a half a mile toward the tornado's path and...well pardon the abrupt transition, but that's actually what it's like:
That's right, you literally drive across an invisible line and it is total destruction . Below is the world's smallest Walmart...right now it just contains a pharmacy and an eye exam since the rest of the store was destroyed.
Check out this tree!
Driving through Joplin was really interesting and sobering. I'm very glad we got to see it.
Our next stop was St. Louis. We arrived late at night, and the next day we headed to the arch!
I thought this segue tour was hilarious!
Next, we went to the Anheuser Busch headquarters for a brewery tour. It was a beautiful day, and the beer wasn't bad either :)
We opted to do a "Beer School" where we got to try several beers and learn about the process of making it. After the school, we went on a tour of the brewery, and we even got to see the Budweiser Clydesdale's!
After the tour, we were a little hungry, so we stopped in for some St. Louis ribs!!
Whew, this was a whirlwind day! On our way back to our friend's apartment, we stopped by the St. Louis branch of the non-profit that Taylor used to work for, Covenant House. Here he is outside.
Saint Louis was a blast! I unfortunately was not able to get a guitar pick or, evidently, any photos of our friends Dan and Pam who were kind enough to let us stay with them. Thanks, guys!
The next day, we drove to Chicago and attended out Goddaughter Rachel's first birthday party. It was a blast, but we were so busy havin fun, I didn't take a single photo! It actually turned out that Taylor's whole family came into town that night and we went out to dinner to celebrate Taylor's, his mom's, and his brother's birthdays (all are in August). We had a great tapas dinner followed by cupcakes. The only good photo I got was of Chicago as we were leaving town the next day (this is after I spent a half hour driving around trying to find a guitar pick, which I did, finally).
The day we left Chicago was Taylor's birthday, and we spent the first part of the day driving back to Ann Arbor from Chicago. Taylor's parents were with us, and on the way, we stopped off at a restaurant on a lake where my parents were for some dinner. They were kind enough to make Taylor a nice big ice cream dessert for his birthday!
Here's the whole group!
After dinner we watched a beautiful sunset over the lake and reflected on a great trip!
We got home late that night and I gave Taylor his new guitar, he was thrilled!
And here are the guitar picks!
Final Odometer reading (29,889 - 26,916 = 2,973)!
What a great trip!
