This American Summer

Day 23
Tue June 24, 2008
Destination: Savannah, GA
camped in Skidaway Island State Park

woke up, checked out of motel
got breakfast at a Publix - bagels and cream cheese
driving up the coast
alex tried to fix his credit card - got a fraud alert, called and learned need to go to bank of america in person, so tried to get it done, but turns out they think its identity fraud
lunch: roast beef sandwiches
got to Savannah, got into campsite
went shopping for dinner at Kroger: chicken, avocado, beer
cleaned out cooler and refilled
called X, drank beer, got some work done
drank some more, talked to X on speakerphone (haha phone conference)
very humid, sticky and gross

Day 24
Wed June 25, 2008
Destination: Raleigh, NC
Couchsurfed with Brian

got breakfast at Kroger, same as where we got dinner
today = day of Peach! did things from her list of suggestions
drove to Charlotte, NC for NC BBQ, ate at Old Hickory House Restaurant
then drove to Gastonia for Ice Cream at Tony’s Ice Cream

started day with no CS responses
was checking camping and hostels all day, then got last minute email from Brian through couchsurfing
drove to his dad’s house - really nice house
brian made spaghetti with noodles and breaded chicken for us, we brought some beer
swapped stories with him and his dad
they’re going to beach/coast at 6am next morning, his dad turned in early
we got a little drunker and stayed up talking/doing work
brian rides skimboard, showed us his, working on adjusting some gripping he’d put on it
brian also made us fresh guacamole, showed us how to do it on video

Day 25
Thurs June 26, 2008
Destination: Washington, DC
Couchsurfing with Michael

woke up, ate breakfast and did some work, then left raleigh

first stop - Lucama/Wilson, NC for the whirligig farm
didn’t know if this guy was alive, if the whirligigs still/ever existed
drove around for a while, kept trying different things in garmin, used directions from a PBS thing done on vollis simpson
finally found the place! it was amazing, spent 1/2 hour taking pictures/footage, looking at everything around
then drove almost straight shot up to DC

got to Mike’s house, he got us some beer, said he was going to play poker with some guys, we decided to go to dinner
he suggested several places - we ate at Nick’s Fish House
right on a dock in the bay
ate raw clams, steamed mussels, alex got a sandwich.
went back to Mike’s house, did some work, went to bed

Day 26
Fri June 27, 2008
Destination: Takoma Park, MD
Couchsurfed with Ariel

woke up, got all packed up
drove to a metro station, got all our stuff together, bought one day passes on metro
spent the day wandering around DC
first we got hot dogs from road side stand - yum yum yum
then wandered towards white house
walked up the rest of Pennsylvania Ave, up behind white house
started to rain, kind of spurty, but still more than a drizzle, but we just kept walking
rain let up pretty quickly
went through a little park, encounter with ducks
walked past a parked black suv with guy in full battle gear holding a huge gun - m16?
filmed flash mob thing on avenue with view of capital building
walked towards smithsonian museums, bought bomb-pops
walked through art garden, cooled off by sitting at edge of fountain and dipping feet inside
went first to air and space museum - security check to get in, but really all they did was run your bag through an xray, they didn’t metal detect you - david brought his gerber in, no problem
spent about an hour there
then wandered some more, went to hirshhold museum of modern art, took lots of pictures
dinner - went to Ben’s Chili Bowl

then drove to Ariel’s house
parking - MUO is HUGE
so we meet ariel
go inside, do some work stuff, swap crazy youtube videos
decide to go on an epic quest for beer and cupcake supplies
walk around town as its getting dark, very nice walk
finally find beer in a tiny liquor store/restaurant
talking about the trip while in line, some other guy in line was like dude that’s cool, we had a nice exchange
no grocery stores were open, it’s past 10pm by now, so we decide to mix and match the flour left over in ariel’s kitchen
drink lots of beer while making cupcakes, got pretty drunk
tiramisu cupcakes! tasty tasty
made everything from scratch even coffee and frosting - david ground up coffee beans in mortar and pestle, i used electric mixer to whip up frosting
second couchsurfer arrived! - on her way to firefly
all went to bed very tipsy