Down the East coast

7/24-7/31:

After a final stop at Singlecut brewery to say good by to Michael and pick up a few cans to go I headed south.  It was hard to leave New York City, but at the same time I was tired as all hell.  I had done a last minute booking in New Brunswick New Jersey to break up my drive down to Philadelphia, but after arriving at the incredibly seedy looking long term stay motel 8 I learned that they had cancelled my reservation 30 minutes before, because they had no rooms.  I was pretty annoyed by this, but it was also a blessing as I definitely did not want to stay in the clearly drug infested location.  So I continued to drive south I figured out something I should have done more on the trip.  Truck stops are actually great for sleeping in your car.   While the first one I stopped at had a posted 2 hour time limit.  They actually don’t care.  They are pretty populated by all night travelers and well lite.  So as long as you have a decent black out setup in your car it’s not hard to make this work for enough rest to continue on.

I pulled into Philadelphia in the early morning and wandered around checking out the architecture until my sisters friend Hillary was free to meet up for brunch.  I had to laugh when the first statement Hillary made as we greeted each other outside the restaurant was “sorry that Philly Smells”.  She is right of course.  Most major cities have a fairly strong odor, but the liberty city has a scent all it’s own that is not entirely pleasant.  After a delicious meal at Cafe lift we said our goodbyes and I continued on to Washington DC.   Despite the smell I am looking forward to my return to Philadelphia to explore the history and culture in depth. 

When I arrived at DC I was exhausted.  Chicago, Boston and NYC had been the perfect receipt to ware me out.  Having learned that I would have a chance to visit the Nations Capitol for a longer period in a couple months, I chose to use my time there to chill.  I had booked a wonderful Airbnb in Logan Circle which is an area full of food from around the world and great bars.  Outside of taking time to rest and prep for my return west I also played at an open mic at a great brewery called Hellbender and saw the Lincoln Memorial at night.  These were the two highlights of this stay for sure.  After a few days of afternoon rain and catching up on my Netflix queue I continued south to Raleigh NC.

Raleigh was not on my original game plan, but I realized a couple weeks earlier that my friend Phil had moved there during the Pandemic.  So a detour was a must.  Phil lives in a nice little house in a very suburban neighborhood. It had strong Stepford vibes but it was comfortable for sure.  He had moved out this way from San Diego to be closer to his brothers family who had moved to Raleigh a few years back. That night we went over to his brothers house for some absolutely delicious homemade Peruvian food followed by a trip to a local brewpub.  The night ended with a fun drunken jam session, something I had been missing a lot on the road.  It was a short visit but it was a wonderful night filled with great conversation and I am incredibly grateful to Phil for opening his door for me.

Now that I’ve reached the south it’s time to start the westward journey and I think the best place to begin is to get back into nature. To the Smokey’s we go….