Road Trip: Numero 4

[Toliver]

That's El Indio's original location. Now they have other locations scattered about San Diego.

When they first started in business, you couldn't even eat inside the original location because they only had a counter where you ordered your food (I think it may have just been a window that you ordered from in their earliest days). You had to get in line to order and then walk it across the street to the stone patio tables. Dining al fresco next to I-5...memories are made of this.

Sadly, the only thing worth getting there these days are the tortillas and the chips they make from their tortillas.

On the run, the carne asada burrito from Roberto's (Alberto's, Hilberto's, Royberto's, etc are all knockoffs) is pretty good. Surprisingly, there's no beans & rice inside...it's just carne asada, salsa and some guacamole.

Daniel,

Thanks for posting about another of your trips. It's been a fantastic read!

[handmc]

In your next life you should buy a luxury bus and offer tours. What a blast to just fly across country and wander back the way you and your girlfriend do.

Seagulls on scooters.....I'll think of that everytime I'm in Wal-mart or the grocery store.

Edited September 16, 2005 by handmc (log)

[Jaymes]

So, I repeat, did you get to Lockhart?

[Daniel]

In your next life you should buy a luxury bus and offer tours. What a blast to just fly across country and wander back the way you and your girlfriend do.

Seagulls on scooters.....I'll think of that everytime I'm in Wal-mart or the grocery store.

←

That would be great to do.. I would really love to...

Edited September 16, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

So, I repeat, did you get to Lockhart?

←

Sorry for not answering Jaymes.. I think there might be some confusion.. I am already home from the trip and now in Chicago on business.. I didnt get to Lockhart, we went right from Austin and spent three days in New Orleans.. I will finish the rest of the trip when i return this Tuesday... Thanks for reading it..

[Jaymes]

I didnt get to Lockhart,

Was going to offer my condolences.

But then I read this bit:

we went right from Austin and spent three days in New Orleans..

Certainly that worked out for the best. You have wonderful memories of New Orleans.

And, Lockhart is still there. You can visit any time.

New Orleans, on the other hand.....

[Theven]

Dano, your stories are like a good book I cant put down.

Btw, is your real name Raoul Duke and your co-piolet wouldnt happen to be Dr. Gonzo would it?

[Jaymes]

In your next life you should buy a luxury bus and offer tours. What a blast to just fly across country and wander back the way you and your girlfriend do.

That would be great to do.. I would really love to...

Um, yes. That would be lovely.

Edited September 19, 2005 by Jaymes (log)

[Daniel]

In a perfect world we could have an egullet x-country trip planned out...

Edited September 19, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

Sorry for the delay.. After coming home from Chicago with a sinus and ear infection with a severe bronchitis thrown in for good measure, you all almost got to see a photo journal of the food provided by St Lukes Hospital.. Judging by the amount of handcuffed crazy people laying in gurneys through out the E.R, the food I am sure, would not disappoint..

Day 7:

We woke up early in the afternoon and were on our way to Salt Lick BBQ.. This restaurant was the reason why we started taking road trips a year ago.. On our first trip, we arrived too late and decided to keep moving.. So this time, we basically stayed in Austin to guarantee making it..

We were driving to Salt Lick when I came upon this place..

Sandy's Hamburgers

603 Barton Springs Rd

Austin, TX 78704-1144

(512) 478-6322

I was on my way to an All You Can Eat BBQ place, so I didn't want to eat too much..They also had fries and custard, but I went cheeseburger..

It was decent.. Big oversized bun, a thin patty cooked through, it was ok..Served with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato.. Wouldn't go back unless it was very close..

Salt Lick is BYOB, so we stopped at the a gas station right before the turn and bought a cooler and some beers.. Just a side note(going through the dessert, we had a styrofoam cooler at all times filled with red bulls and various other energy drinks we found along the way and waters).. We drove down the treee lined, two lane road.. Eventually ending up at this ranch looking place..

This place is huge.. There are two separate dining areas on other sides of the parking lot.. As well as a lot of outdoor seating at picnic tables.. This was because they kept adding on buildings as there business grew..

In fact, this is the original pit..

Although rather large, they feed so many people that they no longer use this for cooking the meat the entire way.. They have much larger equipment in the newer building where they do all of the smoking.. They use this keep things hot before they get sliced...

They were power washing the old side we were seated in the newer building..

This place is awesome.. There is no question that some eating goes on here.. It is a tavern of stone and wood. Bare bones, nothing to distract you from the food.. The smells coming from the back and waitresses carrying Huge plates of food are all the decor I need..

Here is the menu.. For 10.95 you get as much beans, bread,pickles,onions, coleslaw,ribs,and brisket that you can eat..

"The Stars at night are big and bright...."

I think this was the first of three plates to come out. The food there is fantastic, the meats were the star of the show.. I dont really remember too much about that sides.. The beans were my least favorite.. The coleslaw was mine, and the bread was my girls.. The bread is like this huge white cake.. This is the Marlboro of white bread.. More then a few slices would immediately give you diabetes..Sunbeam white pull apart bread baked a little in the oven.. And the bowl of sauce you see there is a habenero steak sauce, went very well with the bread and meat.. We brought home a case..

The meat itself is top notch.. The sausage was incredible.. The brisket, the ribs all great.. Would I say its the best I have ever had no, would I say Salt Lick is my favorite BBQ Place.. Probably.. The service, the atmosphere, the relaxed pace and the all you can eat.. All helps, the fact that we were sitting on picnic tables and pulling beers from our cooler really made it homey..

For dessert we had two solid desserts..

Blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.. This was pure heaven.. The cobbler was hot the ice cream cold, made like this soup of goodness with the crunch of the crust.. Best thing there.. IMO

Yah.. This says it all..

This aint no slouch either though.. Served hot, this consistency was really different.. Was not your average pie.. Second to the place in Washington..

After meeting a guy from New Orleans at SL, he instructed us to go to a place in Lafayette called the Blue Dog Cafe.. Owned by a local artist.. Before that though, he told us of a great spot to swim in a spring near by.. Unfortunately, we got really lost and spent sometime wondering around looking for this spring.. Never found it.. So we were on to New Orleans.

We were very tempted to try more bbq and hit up Lockhart.. But the attraction of New Orleans was too strong.. This was the first time in the trip I actually felt rushed.. I was so excited for three days hanging out in the Big EZ.

Prejean's - Lafayette, LA

3480 N. I-49

Lafayette, LA 70507

337-896-3247

We drove for a few hours until we heat Lafayette.. At this time Blue Dog Cafe was closed so we consulted with Road Food book.. They were 1-1 on this trip so far.. They didnt "stay classy" but rather struck out big time in San Diego, then came through in New Mexico with the green chile burger.. So with there advice we went to Prejean's..

Photo Missing..

We got there right before they closed and were one of the only ones eating The review spoke of how riotous the atmosphere was, but we saw none of that. What we did see was ok food..

I started with the classic gumbo, while my girl got the smoked duck gumbo.. Both were really good, the smoked duck was actually too smokey for my taste.. It muted all the other flavors..

Next I ordered a multi-crawfish combo plate thingy.. It was an array of poorly cooked crawfish.. Fried, baked, au gratined, and frittered.. Yikes..

The best thing at this place besides the beer was the lobster claw machine.. The have a lobster tank set up and for a few bucks, you have 45 seconds to try to catch one of the 20 lobsters with this electronic crane.. We didn't catch any, but it was a lot of fun playing..

photo missing.

We made it to New Orleans around midnight or 1 am.. In NO it really doesn't matter. The only two times that make sense for us at this point are night and day.. We arrive at our favorite hotel Hotel Lafayette and checked in to particular room we had requested.. We were out drinking "hand grenades" and "hurricanes" till the sun came up..

Edited September 24, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daddy-A]

The meat itself is top notch.. The sausage was incredible.. The brisket, the ribs all great.. Would I say its the best I have ever had no, would I say Salt Lick is my favorite BBQ Place.. Probably.. The service, the atmosphere, the relaxed pace and the all you can eat.. All helps, the fact that we were sitting on picnic tables and pulling beers from our cooler really made it homey..

AWESOME! And I'm looking at this just beofre lunch ... not a good thing Does this place have an address, or is it a sort of "... turn right at the oak tree, turn left at the rusted tractor ..." kinda place? (Not that I'm planning on another road trip any time soon )

I love the BYOB aspect. Wish we could do that up here ... other than my back yard I mean.

A.

[Daniel]

Day 8:

After getting in really late or really early, depending on how you look at it, waking up was difficult task.. A night of drinking grain alcohol with various highly sweetened artificial flavorings will do you in.. This was a hang over of epic proportions.. Around 2 o'clock we were able to go downstairs and grab a taxi.. We were very fortunate to read the Perlow reviews of New Orleans and had to visit some places they highlighted..

Willie Mae's Scotch House

2401 St. Anne St.

504-822-9503

After trying to find the restaurant for a little while we are noticing how bad the neighborhood is that we are in.. In fact the cab driver was really scared for us, pleading with us not to get out of the taxi.. After seeing Jason's photos nothing was really going to get in the way of that chicken.

Its a small little house on the street with bars in the windows.. The place seats maybe 10 tables..

It was rather empty so we sat down at a table by the kitchen door.. We were served by Willie Mae's great grand-daughter..The nicest person you could want to meet.. In the kitchen was Willie Mae's 72 year old son frying it up in the kitchen.. They were using a really light buttermilk flower mix..

We ordered a chicken plate and a side of the pepper veal. We got rice and beans and green beans...

The chicken is the best chicken I have ever had.. It was just awesome.. The coating complimented the skin so perfectly. It was highly seasoned with pepper,salt, paprika and the meat was so juicy.. This really is the only fried chicken I wish to ever eat..

The bones photo a la Perlow..

Red beans and rice.. The woman won a James Beard award for g-d's sake making chicken, veal,pork and beans.. How do you think the beans were?

We also got a peppery veal for a side dish also.. Tender, great sauce.

Ordered with a couple of beers, last nights events are completely in the past.. While we were eating we had the pleasure of meeting with Willie Mae.. She is among the most charming, beautiful people I have ever met..While we were leaving we walked by a table she had been sitting at talking for the last hour.. During this time, people are walking in giving her kisses, hugs, and she just lightens up everyone that comes in.. As we walked by she held each of our hands tightly and started talking to us like we knew her forever.. Asking us when we were coming back, and asking for a specific time.. She then asked us if we were how the say in the south "mayred".. I ask what and she said married.. She then wanted to know when we were planning to. We spoke awhile until the cab they called showed up.. The cab driver walks in a kisses Willie Mae and says how are you doing ma. It turns out another one of Willie Mae's son was our taxi driver.. Turns out Willie Mae is related or knows everyone in New Orleans..

We had back to the room and pass out.. We wake up in the dark and are really hungry.. It took a lot for us not to go back to Willie Mae's for more chicken.. However, another picture from the Perlow's trip was calling us.

Liuzzas's By The Track

1518 N. Lopez * New Orleans, LA 70119

504-943-8667

http://www.nola.com/sites/liuzzas/

Its a tiny little place that feels like a real neighborhood spot.. Locals at the bar, locals at the tables, had a real homey feel..

Before getting the main event, we order a gumbo and a crawfish corn soup.. There gumbo was great, the corn soup was off the hook..

Butter+Corn+Crawfish = Soup

Gumbo

Would most likely cure my bronchitis after the first spoon..

This was something I had been looking forward to since the day I saw of photo of this sandwich.. It was awesome.. I have recently remade this sandwich at home using the recipe under recipe-gullet.. The sauces are different. I would say this sauce tasted like a gravy with a lot of butter and pepper.. As opposed to the other recipe that was worcestershire sauce with a lot of butter and pepper..

This thing is awesome.. Take a NO french bread.. Hollow it out completely and stuff it with tons of bbq shrimp.. The sandwich stays intact while you eat it.. Burning hot butter and gravy run down your hands, burning your face, but you are unable to stop.. Its sooooo good..

Please sir can I have another..

Wait, I dont think you understand.. They took butter, gravy and shrimp.. And they stuffed it, in the hollowed out french bread..

It was the type of sandwich that you would watch drip and stain the hell out of your clothing and you didn't care.. Almost guiltily happy about it.. Knowing you would have some with you wherever you went.. Next we ordered a couple of irish coffees and the bread pudding..

Very good.. Liked the pool of condensed milk sauce it was sitting in..

I think this might be a picture of the only bite I was allowed to take..

After we were finished eating we were told that there was going to be a band performing.. It was the guitarist for Dr John.. We stayed there pretty late and then went back to the hotel..

Here is a picture outside of our room.. The hotel is called the Lafayette Hotel.. Its .. Really old and really cozy. And like a 100 bucks a night for a fairly nice size suite.. They have a great living room with a wet bar, old post beds that have wooden steps to get into.. And the nicest staff.. Here is a photo from iron wrought balcony that wrapped arounds the entire suite..

Edited September 23, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

And I'm looking at this just beofre lunch ... not a good thing Does this place have an address, or is it a sort of "... turn right at the oak tree, turn left at the rusted tractor ..." kinda place? (Not that I'm planning on another road trip any time soon  )

I love the BYOB aspect.  Wish we could do that up here ... other than my back yard I mean.

A.

←

I can do better then an address..

salt lick

[Daniel]

Day 9:

We were able to make it a little early on this day.. What trip we be complete with out going to Cafe Du Monde..

Cafe Du Monde

1039 Decatur Street

New Orleans, LA 70116

Offering only Beignets and coffee... We went with the ice coffees.. The beignets were fried perfectly with heaping amounts of sugar.. The coffee was fabulous..In that weather, iced coffee was the only option we could go..

We then walked awhile through the market and up to the far end of Bourbon St.. It was kind of a shady area.. There we met a man who supposedly was fresh out of prison and looking for money.. When giving him a dollar he told me it wasn't enough and started to get almost forceful.. We quickly ducked into the nearest place.. Which happened to be Clover Grill..

Clover Grill

900 Bourbon Street

New Orleans, LA 70116

(504) 598-1010

www.clovergrill.com

Never heard of this place before but it appears to be rather famous.. Its a small little diner with a really funny crew.. We walked in to find one of the two cooks complaining about having to bread the onion rings.. The other cook, a large man who was wearing a clovergirl t-shirt who would not stop calling me honey and making half sexual jokes.. This burger better be good...

The burger was very good.. In fact, the burger was outstanding.. Perfectly grilled, top notch burger..

The oinyahn rings were great too... I just had to order them with and knew they were going to be great, after hearing her complain so much about making them...

This is my girls invention..

After eating we were happy to see our friend had moved on to extort the next tourist.. We went in the Funky Pirate and listened to some awesome music for awhile.. A couple of hours later we were on our way to try this place called:

Zydeque

808 Iberville Street

New Orleans

Its right off of Bourbon and it has so many good reviews from reputable sources, I couldn't pass it up..

Photo Missing..

The place is set up really nice, with a smoker in the middle of the dining room.. There is a jazz room and bar area..

We ordered pull pork with a side of fries and greens.. The pork was good.. It had crunchy bits, a hint of smoke.. The sauce was way too sweet..

A side of ribs with boudin balls.. Ribs were average.. No ring, same crappy sauce.. The boudin balls were good..

They had opened the pit while we were eating.. The had some really good looking chickens coming out of the smoker..

But the lack of smoke in a smoker is not a good sign..

I ended with a watermelon snowball to go..

From there we walked around a little and listen to some zydeco.. We then walked back to the Funky Pirate for some great blues.. Attached to the Funky Pirate is a place called the Tropical Isle.. They are the inventors of this potent drink.. Consisting of grain alcohol and juice.. Its rather strong..

We also had a couple of these bad boys.. Shark Attack.. Same grain with other artificial flavors added.. Shark included..

Walking down the street a little drunk its great to watch the goings on.. One group in particular are the bottle cap dancers.. Placed on the bottom of their shoes are metal bottle caps. They do a little dance and then pounce on anyone who happens to stop to watch.. When i say pounce, its really intimidating.. Which is definitely there tactic.. Confusing and scaring people..

This is one of my favorite pictures.. Here you can see a guy counting much he just gave to the kids.. Besides the fact that he was pressured into handing over more money then he wanted to, he shouldn't have his money out like that..

This guy wins the prestigious.. I am not from New York Award..

Yah.. These are the older kids that shake down the cute kids who get the most money..

Another great thing about the Tropical Isle is the proximity of the Lucky Dog Stand.. Directly outside.. Whats better then a Lucky Dog is where you have to be to eat a Lucky Dog..

My man Ignatious posed for a photo.. Chili dog please..

Gorgeous Photo.. From the distribution of the mustard to the placement of the onions this thing couldn't have looked prettier if you painted it..

We walked on and came upon a very common set up they have in New Orleans.. They are these little huts that hold frozen hurricane machines.. This place had a bar too, but there are many places which only are big enough to hold one of these machines that serve these grain alcohol frozen guys.. Why dont these places exist everywhere in America..

Less threatening street acts..

For dinner we went to Crescent City Steaks.. This place is awesome!!! One of my favorite steal houses... The meats are dry aged and shipped from Chicago.. They come served in sizzling butter.. Its neighbors with Ruth's Chris Steak House.. Legends has it that Chris got his idea from Crescent City.. The sides were great, the salad was great.. The service was friendly. The atmosphere was old school classy but with a casual attire.. Not for the wait staff however..

Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries at this point and we had the other one back at the hotel. So this was my last photo for day nine.. I missed out on some great photos of a steak for two with some potatoes and spinach..

Edited September 24, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[ludja]

Hey, glad you're feeling better... and yes, it is also nice that you're well enough to finish your awesome trip blog.

The crawdaddy corn soup and bbq shrimp sandwich just look amazing!!!

[Daniel]

Thanks Ludja,

Yeh able to process oxygen today.. Spent most of the week making chicken soup and enough stock to last months.. Just a couple of more days left on my trip...

[mizducky]

From there we walked around a little and listen to some zydeco.. We then walked back to the Funky Pirate for some great blues.. Attached to the Funky Pirate is a place called the Tropical Isle.. They are the inventors of this potent drink.. Consisting of grain alcohol and juice.. Its rather strong..

←

Heh. Looks like you omitted the name of this tasty beverage ... said name, however, is given away by the shape of its container.

The One and Only ...

[Daniel]

Oh baby.. So famous its infamous, the one and only hand grenade...

[Daniel]

Day 10: New Orleans

Thankfully after a couple of late night phone calls to the airlines and the rental car service, we were unable to dump the car and take a Sunday night flight.. This was the Saturday before Katrina came.. We awoke to a relatively calm New Orleans.. Most people weren't discussing the storm and going about there day to day business..

We took a taxi over to Two Sisters Restaurant.. Not to be confused with the Court of Two Sisters...

Two Sisters Kitchen.

223 N Derbigny St

New Orleans, LA 70112

I mean if anything describes the mood just a day before the storm hit, I would say this is it.. There were all these police eating before we got in and still there after we left.. We had been there for over an hour before i took this photo..

The place is a classic soul food restaurant.. Complete with Sweet Southern Tea and the down home friendliness of the room..

We ordered fried chicken, green beans, mac and cheese, yam, and buttery rice..

This was all very good..The star was the mac and cheese.. Very very buttery..

Incase there wasn't enough butter on the rice and mac they served this awesome cornbread..

Here you have fried catfish,mac, beans and potato salad.. The catfish was really good..

We also ordered a side of okra with shrimp in a tomato sauce.. Light sauce, boiled okra and shrimp.. Was pretty good.. Better then not having shrimp and okra..

We left New Orleans that Saturday around 1 pm.. We were surprised how there was no traffic leaving the city at this point.. It is really so terrible what happened and what is still happening.. To think of the horrors every person I met or face I had seen, is now going through, hurts me.. From the bartender we spent a couple of afternoons with, who moved from Detroit 6 years ago and just bought a home.. To Willie Mae and all her family.. To the hotel staff, or the Pakastani cab driver that drove us to Liuzza's, who moved from Queens with his family 6 months ago.. Its horrible and so upsetting.. I hope these photos might give someone who has never been there a little insight. New Orleans is a magical city, that has a lot of problems.. The magic will always be there, the problems dont have to be..

Edited September 24, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Pan]

Daniel, this is not only a great travelogue from you as usual, but also a historic document.

It seems totally beside the point now, but I'm curious whether you were hassled photographing the kids who were shaking down tourists and so forth, and did you ever have reason to fear your camera would be stolen and you'd get the crap beaten out of you? [Edited to add that I'm really glad you're feeling better!!]

Edited September 24, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Daniel]

[Edited to add that I'm really glad you're feeling better!!]

←

Hey thanks..

In terms of the kids.. The only really scary ones were those three.. And a fourth kid who didnt have a box, he was arguing while walking with some drunk guy down the street.. Those three were the only ones I gave money to.. 2 bucks a box for the photos.. It was during the day and really too crowded to worry about anything.. The bottom line is, there is no real violence, the whole thing works on intimidation and confusion. Once someone pulls there money out, make them flinch or miscount or just choke .. Once the accidental 5 or 20 goes in the box, it aint coming out..

In terms of getting my camera stolen.. I just didnt have it out around the cemetary.. There we were told you will be robbed in broad daylight.. There are a lot of secluded areas there..

Edited September 24, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

Day 10 Continued..

Our plan was to leave New Orleans and drive up to Natchez, the Tamale Capital of the South/USA.. And maybe hit up a little Memphis.. Then on to Ohio Chili places.. Because of the storm we were shortening the trip and taking a more direct route..

Archibald's

1211 MLK Blvd.

Northport , AL 35476

Phone: (205) 345-6861

This place is the real deal.. Do you see this place? The place is a broom closet hooked up to a monster smoker.. Dont let the building in the background fool ya, the restaurant stops where the green does..

We walk into this little place and are greeted by this tower of a man.. If anyone should be called Archibald, it is this man.. He tells us there is one thing on the menu today.. They have ribs.. Nice, I like ribs.. He was sorry there were no butt.. I am too..

Cause if the ribs werent their speciality, this place would be heaven.. Great ring and color on meat.. Had some chew to it, but in a great way.. We sat outside on benches and ate away..

And the best part, you dunk the ribs in this.. It was a light vinegary red sauce.. Hot, a little bite and some spice.. I could just sit there with the cartilage on the end of the bone all day, dunking...

Now I am not a bug expert and didn't ace my entymology class in college.. But I have seen National Geographic.. And on there show, red ants kill things.. Some time while eating, my foot started to burn.. Turns out, I was attacked by a duo of these assassins.. The acute effects were a severe or perhaps slight burning of my instep.. Who knows how this attack might effect me in the years to come. Needless to say, I hate bugs, but found it interesting to actually to get my first red ant bite..Fear of bugs and inability to change tires are not some of my more masculine traits..

We escaped Archibald's and headed further north.. While driving a noticed a sign for Pop's Charbroil..

On the grass outside the restaurant there was a sign saying that the state of Alabama lists Pop's in the top 100 places to eat..

Pop's, not all that good.. What made it inedible was their special sauce.. It was like a slimy, redish. sweet sauce.. It wasn't a sauce, it was a plasma of some sort.. I tried to wipe it off, but was so grossed out doing it.. I left it, fries, drink and all, to the garbage.. You lied to me Alabama..

We made it to Atlanta by 830 pm.

THE VARSITY DRIVE-IN.

61 North Avenue NW Atlanta GA

404-881-1706.

I remember seeing this restaurant on a food show.. The restaurant serves over 10,000 thousand people a day.. It looks more like 10 thousand at a time.. You walk up to see order taker after order taker lined along a counter calling "what ya have, what ya have" Its rather awesome..

I was unimpressed with the food.. It may have been to our order taker.. She was almost not breathing. It took her so long to get a simple order.. She left a drink out, gave me my frozen orange rock solid, I was lucky to have exact change,,

But the food was ok.. Nothing great..

Onion rings were weak.. A little too battered.. The burger was forgettable and the chili dog was pretty good.. The star of the meal was the new Frozen Orange I went back to get after seeing other peoples drinks..The FO was truly fantastic.. Besides the experience and the history, its an ok place..

Some guy was doing tricks with his car in the parking lot.

We drove on for about 5 more hours that night..

Edited September 24, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

Dano, your stories are like a good book I cant put down.

Btw, is your real name Raoul Duke and your co-piolet wouldnt happen to be Dr. Gonzo would it? 

←

Thanks StevO..

No, no.. Our trips are a lot less tame.. However I believe "There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning." As Raoul Duke said.

Edited September 24, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

DAY 11:

We woke up a couple hours outside of Woodbridge Va. Home of Dixie Bones BBQ.. With the Sunday AYCE Brunch Special.. Oh baby..

Dixie Bones BBQ

13440 Occoquan Road

Woodbridge,VA

Friendly looking place.. Lots of families eating after Church most likely

I dont know really know the exact price of the open buffet, but it was certainly a deal.. Came with refillable 20 oz glasses of southern ice tea..

There was a serious selection available here..

You have brisket, beans, pulled pork, bbq chicken, mac and cheese, a ridiculous potato dish, coleslaw, cornbread, collard greens..

Pork,beans,beef chicken..

Greens, Muddy spuds,( skin on potato cooked with bacon, and onions),Greens, and mac and cheese..

Everything was good on the plate.. The collard greens were shocking my system with its green-ness.. They had different bbq sauces that went well with all the meats.. From a thick sauce to a thin vinegar base, I used and liked, most of them.. The spuds were fabulous.. The brisket was my favorite of the meats..

For dessert we had a coconut cream pie and a chopped pecan, Pecan pie..

The coconut cream was exactly what I was expecting.. Super sweet starchy thick pudding.. With tons of toasted coconut on top.. Great

The pecan pie was interesting.. The chopped pecans gave the pie a different attitude.. Was like moguls on a ski slope, rocky like eating hazelnuts.. I put my spoon under the layer of nuts and really went for the super caro goodness.

We drove for awhile and came to Washington D.C.. At this point traffic on 95 all the way to Manhattan was jammed.. We were hoping to get home at a reasonable hour.. Now I went to college just outside of D.C and spent many days and nights exploring D.C.. Without fail, I would get lost for at least an hour everytime i drove in.. With out having GPS, my only hope was for people at Bens Chili to have directions.. Turns out after three phone calls, no one could help us.. We then were disappointed again to see Marathon Deli closed in College Park.. The best gyro ever..

After hours of waiting in stand still traffic, with several quick strong moves up the shoulder while the girl napped, we were able to bypass the Jersey Turnpike traffic and head torwards Philly..

Now since we are passing Philly.. Its only right that we stop.

9th st Wharton & Passyunk Ave.

Philadelphia, Pa. 19147.

215-468-1546

Off in the distance you can see another restaurants lights.. I dont really know too much about the place, I think its an upscale sushi joint.. Seriously, The Pats vs Geno rivalry is the smartest concept going.. You have two place that open right next door to each other and create this tension.. Because who's not above throwing their two cents into an arguement, Pats and Genos are both gauranteed a sale from the person who compares them.. Now as long as the public opinion is closely split, both places get loyal customers.. Loyal customers and endless debate over a sandwich.. Only in America..

The steak: I order a provo wit whiz.. My philosophy is that the provo forms a protective shield around the bread.. And then you have whiz to melt down and cover onions and steak.. The seperation also allows you to enjoy both cheeses..

Yah, I am a guy with a philosophy on eating cheese steaks. Of course thats normal, what are you talking about.

Besides the people from all over the world standing next to you, who you know has waited, and traveled, and dreamed of comming to Philadelphia for this one simple sandwich.. There is the show behind the counter..

Loud talking, skillfull, men, banging out this world famous sandwich that cant be copied anywhere..

After seeing these photos, I am considering a raw steak with raw onions, provo and hot sauce sandwich..

Cheese fries sitting in a cup half full of whiz..

Driving over the GWB was really exciting, sad, and surreal.. I never really gave much thought to how much ground we were covering. From Seattle to Mexico and then to New York. 4950 of the worlds greatest miles.

Traveling this way really allows me to have almost a casual relationship with the country.. Besides visiting major cities and going mainstream hotels, we also saw places without their make-up on.. Small towns and local places through out our trip.. Its like meeting a bunch of states at a party.. All are interesting and fun, but there are a few states you cant wait to see again.. Seatle is a place I would love to spend more time.. Go up to Canada from there.. Oregon was awesome.. Mexico is still a country I have not seen.. I could spend a life time in Texas.. And without any question at all, New Orleans will be back and stronger...

Daniel

Edited September 25, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[monavano]

Daniel, this has been an amazing ride, all the way. Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your travels, eats, and experiences.