Blogging Failure.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm a blogging failure. I lost my momentum towards the end of the trip! I can still write about it though, right? I'm in charge here anyway, so here it goes.


After we left San Francisco we drove down the coast headed for LA. If you ever get the chance to do this drive, you must. We wanted to stop around every bend and take a million photographs. I truly think anything I could say about the beauty of this landscape would just sound trite in comparison to what the photos say for themselves. So, instead of trying to sound poetic and profound I'll just show you what I'm talking about. 

See what I mean? The images speak for themselves and my blabbering about it would just ruin things. 

Anyway, we stayed in Hermosa Beach just outside of Los Angeles with our aunt. As luck would have it, our grandfather happened to be visiting at the same time. So, we were blessed by him taking the car in to get all checked out and it turned out I needed new shocks. Being that he's a generous man, he got them replaced for me. As far as California is from home, it sort of felt like home to stay with family. We were exhausted and hungry and they were eager to meet our needs. My aunt arranged for some interviews at her husband's office, so that was great. We only got two, but they were two great perspectives. Yes, I know I really need more of a sample, but we had no other contacts. Another admission I need to make: we never went into the actual city. I told you I was a failure!  (I have been twice before though.) You just have no idea how exhausted we were. We needed the break. Don't judge me. 

Hermosa Beach is a surf town, with a definite laid back atmosphere. It's neighbor, Manhattan Beach has an immediately apparent different air about it. Manhattan Beach is somewhat swankier and has more retail offerings. Both have a small town feel which was surprising for a suburban LA town. LA is so sprawling that it's sometimes hard to tell what town you're in anyway. Both towns had kids running around at the lunch hour because they were on their break from "Junior Lifeguards". Both towns are walkable, but I think most people's lives are mostly centered around driving everywhere. You can walk to town and to the beach from my aunt's house, but I can't imagine lugging beach gear up those hills, let alone a week's worth of groceries. 

Another funny thing about people in and around LA: they all say things like, "He's in the industry". I know they are referring to the tv and film industry, but this is definitely a place-based phrase. Where else do they say things like that? It made me laugh, but I also like things like that are complete unique to the place. Whether they are colloquialisms or a local dish, it's all interesting to me. 

Hermosa Beach. Don't you just love a smokestack in your beach vista?

Hermosa Beach local joint. Sorry to say I did not visit this establishment. I'll be back though. You just wait poopdeck. 

Alright, that's all I have in me for one afternoon. I'll try to post something about each place in the next few days. I'm sure no one is reading this still anyway and you all hate me for being such a slacker. 

bye. 

Portland and San Francisco

This blog has been harder to keep up with than I imagined! When I first had the idea for the project I pictured myself sitting in the local coffee shop of whatever neighborhood I was crashing in for a couple days and writing away...turns out my downtime is zero to none on this trip. A couple days in each city doesn't really afford you much time so we cram as much into a day/night as possible. Needless to say, we're on day 24 and I'm a little tired. 

But I digress...Portland and San Francisco! The reason these two cities are lumped together into one blog post are two-fold. The first reason being the same reasons I mentioned above. I just flat-out don't have enough time to blog as much as I had hoped. The second reason being that these two cities are a tie for my two favorite places (so far). I know it isn't right to play favorites and the other cities and other hosts in cities may become offended, but they needn't be! Everyone has been the most gracious host(ess) and I appreciate every last ounce of hospitality we've seen on this trip. 

Portland is what I like to call the urban planner's mecca. We talk about the progressive planning efforts made by the city incessantly (almost), so naturally I was most excited to actually see it and experience it. Driving into the city I was trying to hone in on where the actual urban growth boundary begins and ends, but it was hard to tell from the highway and moving at speeds of 65 mph. Not to mention the fact that the splendor of the Columbia Gorge was on my right. 

Northwest Portland

Anyway, we stayed with a friend I made while studying in Italy. He grew up in Portland and you could tell he was very proud of his city. He wanted us to love it just as much as he did and showed us a lot of his favorite spots. 

Bike Statue in The Pearl 

Portland was indeed a very pedestrian and bike friendly city. The preferred mode of transportation permeates the culture of the city. Even the contemporary artwork reflects the bicycle. It is obvious what Portland values and it truly is a model to be emulated. 

A view from the top of the city, Forest Park Rose Gardens

Just some more pics...

 

Moving on...San Francisco was incredible!

The city exceeded my expectations in beauty. We had incredible weather, eventhough it was much cooler than I expected we still got a lot of sunshine. 

We explored many different neighborhoods, mostly on foot. We did ride a cable car, but as it turns out those are mostly just tourist attractions and not the most efficient means of public transportation. Who knew? I guess I could have figured that out, but in my mind's eye San Franciscan's still rode the cable cars. Untrue. 

We stayed in the area called The Mission with a good friend from college, who has an outstanding apartment. Again, we had another great host and I greatly appreciate her letting us crash, especially when her mother was in town! I really liked this part of town. It hasn't quite yet been completely gentrified which is nice. There is a mix of both the Latin culture that originality moved into that part of town and young, mostly white people. Plus, lots of tacos which I love. 

I guess I had read about SF being a bike friendly town, but I was still surprised at just how bike friendly it really is. The Mission is especially so because of the lack of steep hills that are prevalent in other parts of the city. The other thing that SF has a lot of are coffee shops. I thought this was a title held by only Seattle, but SF must come in a close second. I understand why...it's so cold! We did have some great coffee and food. It's a city I have to return to and soon.

Did I mention it was Gay Pride weekend while we there? I can't even tell you what I saw shortly after taking the above photo. We had a ton of fun and I'm glad we got to see that side of SF. I'd do it again!

Harvey Milk posters

I have a ton more pictures and things to say, but this post has gotten on the long side. 

bye.

Boulder and Jackson Hole

We decided to take a break from the big cities and head up to the mountains. Boulder has been a place that, for years, people have been telling me that I would love it. They all have been right. I wanted to visit for the above reason, but also because Boulder has been a city slightly ahead of the game in regards to planning. Like Portland, Boulder has an urban growth boundary so little to no sprawl is allowed to occur. The open space, parks and hiking trails are all really accessible. No one really has a choice other than get outside and do something. Well, they did recently pass a law allowing marijuana dispensaries. Those partaking might get a bit too hazed to do little else than sit on their couch. 

The Rockies.

Kristofferson soaking it in.

We did hear about the "Boulder Bubble" from a few people we interviewed. In other words, it's not a real place. One person mentioned that people that grew up there have little sense of what the rest of the country is like. The population tends towards a more liberal persuasion which one would think would be somewhat enlightened, but that can be one-sided as well. It seems to be a very tolerant community, but I can see how it could feel like a bubble. It is a college town and I can understand needing to leave very soon after graduation. I think a lot of people do stay though and I can also see why they would. In my perfect world I'd live there for a summer or at least just go back for a couple weeks to really enjoy the surroundings.

Once we left Boulder we headed towards Jackson Hole. Hands down, that was the most beautiful drive I've ever been on. There really are no words for it. Driving through the Tetons was an experience not to be missed. I was exhausted, but hated closing my eyes for fear of missing the most gorgeous landscape I had ever seen before. 

Snow on the ground in Wyoming  and what is it? 115 at home? My apologies...

JH is another one of those fairytale lands. A ton of people move out here for a season and end up staying. I would too if I could wake up to this scenery every morning. It is interesting to see a place that thrives on tourism and little else. Charleston has a similar economy, but we do have a a bit more going on. I don't think there are too many job opportunities for me out here though. Maybe land conservation? 

We got to go rafting down the Snake River yesterday and it was absolutely amazing. I don't have any pictures because I was sure my camera would see its last day on that raft. I was nervous at first since we weren't going with a guide and there were no helmets to speak of. I did not die though and I would totally do it again! We froze and ended up  having to hitchhike back to Jackson, but it was well worth it. Oh, I also saved a guy's life by helping him back into the boat after he was bounced out. I think that deserves a round of applause or a badge or maybe even a parade...

We're headed to Boise, Idaho tonight. Unfortunately we can't drive straight to Portland and that city seems like a logical stopping point. I'm somewhat excited to see what the biggest city in Idaho is like. We also get to drive through a town called Bliss and I'm overly excited about that. It's my favorite word for sentimental reasons. I will be stopping and taking excessive photos and William will be bitching about it. So it goes...

bye. 

Chicago

We made a quick side trip to the great Niagra Falls...impressive work of Mother Nature,but man sure did make the town itself abysmal. Souvenir shops and weird rides surround the actual falls. The park around the Falls is great, but still full of strange people.

Moving on...Chicago was great. We had an awesome hostess, my friend Christine who was my roommate in Italy. We even got to reconnect over the Italy v. Paraguay game at a great little enoteca in Wicker Park filled with genuine Italian men cursing in their native tongue. Too bad it was a draw, but better than a loss. But I digress...

I was incredibly impressed by the architecture of the city. America really emerged as force to be reckoned with in regards to architecture when building Chicago. The city itself is really clean and the people were all really nice. It did seem to be moving at a somewhat slower pace than NYC, which is nice. I had never heard a bad thing about the city and it lived up to my expectations, but I think I need more time in there to really fall in love with it. That's the problem with this trip...we can't do EVERYTHING a city has to offer. On the flip side, it gives me a reason to return to these places. 

Anyway, Chicago was surprisingly easy to drive in and a lot of people we talked to have cars and use them on a somewhat daily basis. The transit system is great and easy to use, so I was astonished by the amount of drivers. Anyway, the "El" (elevated train) was a nice change from underground subway systems. You get to see the city from an interesting perspective. It wasn't as crowded as the NYC subway system. We did hear that it makes for a longer commute and that people from the suburbs can get to work in the same amount of time (or less) a person living less than 5 miles away from the office can. 

Well, we're in Boulder, CO now and I must get out to enjoy the great outdoors!

There has been a call for more Kristofferson pics, so I'll leave you with a few...

Some bridge in Upstate NY...

On Lake Michigan.

The Bean.

The Boston pics.

Myrtle St. Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill

Well, that's all blogger will let me post. It's being ornery.

Boston

So Blogger is being a pain in you know what and doesn't acknowledge that I've uploaded new photos, hence no Boston pics at this moment. This is really frustrating me right now, but I'll get over it. Hopefully I'll be able to upload the pictures at a later time. 


Anyway, Boston was great! Our cousin lives in swanky Beacon Hill and we absolutely loved it. She was awesome and gave us free reign over her apartment and made us delicious cookies. The architecture of that area is quintessential Boston with mostly Federalist style rowhouses.  The scale is great and the area is completely walkable. Our cousin was busy when we first arrived so she left the key with the market owner 3 or 4 doors down from her apartment. I thought that was great. Seemed like a sort of time warp. This is a phenomenon that can almost only happen in cities. Think about it. Most area markets in suburbia are nothing more than gas stations. Could you imagine leaving the keys to your house with the guy at the Exxon station? I don't think so. Another great thing about the Beacon Hill area is that you have multi-million dollar mansions around the corner from modest apartments. Now I'm sure those modest apartments are not completely affordable, but it still does allow for a variety of people and a variety of income levels. I take back the variety of people part. That was one observation we made (and that was pointed out to us), Boston is fairly homogeneously white. Our friend told us that racial tensions are pretty high, which is surprising for a Northeastern city. 


We also found from talking with people that there was a need to somewhat justify themselves in comparison to NYC . I found this in DC as well. When I say that I mean that they would say things like, "We're like NY, but we're not as fast paced which is nice" or "This is a much more accessible city than NY, not as cut-throat". I wonder if this is a Northeastern phenomenon or if a lot of city dwellers will compare themselves to New York. Maybe out West people will compare themselves to LA? We'll see. 


I really did love Boston and could see myself living there, but the winters would kill me. One girl we spoke to said it was pretty hard to get around when there was a couple feet of snow on the ground. I'm sure I could handle it if I got into one of the prestigious schools in the city, but it would be hard. Somehow I'd need to come up with a way of avoiding winter. I know I sound like a baby, but I just absolutely hate the cold. Northeastern cold is the worst. The sun doesn't shine from October to April, basically. And for me, that's a harsh reality that doesn't suit my psyche. 


We also got to see the area where Boston University and Boston College students live. There was a definite shift in architecture in the area than Boston proper, which I think is good for college students. They shouldn't live in luxury. College of Charleston students are spoiled in regards to where most get to live, but that's a whole other blog post. 


Anyway, I'm in Chicago now and must get out and enjoy the city and it's fabulous architecture!


bye. 

NYC

We spent Sunday night-Wednesday morning in New York, staying with one of my best friend's from high school, Meghann, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We were greeted with a dinner party in honor of Meghann's roommate's birthday. We got to talk to a lot of different people that lived in different areas of Brooklyn and Queens. None were caught on camera, as it was a bit too loud in the apartment. 


Monday we strolled around SoHo and met our aunt Kathy for a tremendous lunch at Balthazar. When I go to NY I tend to stay around that area because the scale is much more human oriented and tends to not be as crowded as Midtown. That evening we met my friend Kelsey in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I fell in love with this area. The architecture is great, endless amount of brownstones and tree-lined sidewalks. On Tuesday we walked a little through Central Park and tried to go to the MoMA, but as our luck would have it they are closed on Tuesdays. We even had a free pass! I was really eager to see Auburn's Rural Studio exhibit, but I guess I'll have to go back before it's gone. We got to meet up with another one of my friends from college, William, who lives in Hell's Kitchen. We interviewed him in his great back patio.


Anyway, we did walk through Williamsburg, the hipster's playground. It was intimidating, but I find it funny that all those people are dying to be different than mainstream America and they end up all looking the same. Artists and writers and the like all started to move to Williamsburg because the rent was cheaper and still convenient to get into Manhattan. Now it's probably not too much more expensive than parts of Manhattan. It's so much more busier than Greenpoint or Fort Greene and might be a little too much for me to handle. It is nice because there are so many restaurant and bar options, as well as shopping. 


I'm not feeling very inspired to write at this moment. I'll try to get back to this later and actually write about something interesting and/or witty.


bye.