The Doo Dah Parade!

Last weekend I drug my family to the Doo Dah Parade. I have wanted to go for a couple of years, but life and responsibilities have interfered, this year though, I would not be deterred (Although I almost forgot about the whole thing). Also, I didn’t want to get there and have to fight for and squeeze into a spot, so I told Kellee we were leaving early and set my alarm for three-thirty AM. I know it might sound overboard to get up that early, as it did to Kellee, but you should take into consideration that I get up around this time to get ready for work, so it’s nothing new. Besides, I am learning quickly how long it takes to get three girls out the door and a two and a half hour window is cutting it short!

Thank the Lord, we made it out the door at six am, I was already stressed out that every inch of curb space would be taken leaving me to scour in frustration. Seven o’clock is already too late to try and find sitting room for one of the great parades in America…or so I thought! When we arrived the streets were empty! Pasadena was a ghost town. Actually there was one family that was crazier that me and was already set up for the day (though I can’t be sure they got their family up as early as I). I shouldn’t have to tell you how embarrassing it is when your beloved is sooo correct, but we had a good laugh about it and she knows how stressed I get trying to ensure we get to places with time to kill (though that rarely happens).

Since we had what seemed like an eternity of time, we decided to go get breakfast! Yeah, that’s right I made my family suffer until we got on location. Afterwards, we had our pick of the streets and wouldn’t you know I chose the spot littered with broken glass and fellow parade watchers who happened to be stoned out of their mind. After no time at all, I realized I needed to move for my sanity and my children’s safety. We found a better spot at the end of the block and later on were surrounded by a family oriented crowd. Our friends the DeShazos came too, as Elsa has been wanting to see the Doo Dah Parade for awhile, as well.

The parade was everything I hoped for and more! I’ll admit there were a few lewd moments or floats that left me somewhat disappointed. But over all I was captivated and enthralled by almost every entry into the parade from the Raelians to the synchronized nap team. I won’t get into detail about the parade I would rather just post the pictures. Next year is a foregone conclusion for me, my section of curb is already saved!

Atlanta Redux

This is finally my last post on a cross-country trip I took this past summer, and to be truthful, I’m worn out writing about this excursion.

From Richmond we drove to Jonathan’s home in Maryland, but it seems that Jim and I were not ready to settle into relaxing at our friends' home, so we had him drop us off at the Metro and made our way to Washington D.C. to get a couple of drinks. As I remember it, Jonathan was supposed to pick us up around 12:00 am or so, but passed out from a long drive home. Thus, 12 turned into 2 am! I had to be up and ready to go by five so I could make my flight in Baltimore at 6:15 am. Suffice it to say, I was groggy, and had hot-eyes from the lack of sleep.

Jonathan’s wife graciously agreed to wake her and the kids up early to take me to the airport. We were running late and got lost for a brief minute but I made it on time with a couple minutes to get through all the security hassles and onto my plane. I was exasperated and out of breath by the time I made it to my terminal, but I made it and on time! The only problem was that the crew didn't. I mean I was there, the other passengers were there, and the plane was there…but there was no crew to fly the damn thing. Apparently, whoever puts these flights together forgot to tell the crew they had to fly out in the morning! So the crew, I take it, did what I did the night before and checked out DC after dark.

So there I sat on the ground waiting for two hours for someone, anyone to fly me home. Finally, a groggy hot-eyed crew showed up to take me to Atlanta. This in itself was another problem, because I missed my lay over flight by 45 minutes! So now I had to shuffle my schedule around and try I find another flight home…along with all the other passengers. Luckily, I managed to get one of the last tickets on a flight to Orange County eight hours later. The help desk in Baltimore told me once I got to Atlanta I could finagle a better ticket. This was not the case! After arriving in Atlanta the help desk lady scoffed at this assertion (Note: Atlanta does not offer Southern Hospitality at their airport)! She said even if this was the case and it was certainly not, that there were no other flights! I told her I would take anything, it didn’t have to be posh OC, I could go to the Ghetto of LA or stretch it out to Long Beach, I could even go to Ontario if she would let me! I tried to tell her this wasn’t my fault, her company was sleeping on the job. I wouldn’t mind taking another flight with another airline (actually I would prefer it!). But there were no flights! Everything, every airline was full! I would have to wait eight hours to go home.

When we had passed through Atlanta on our trip, I lamented how this was one city I would have liked to seen more of on the expedition and one day I would return. I never dreamed my return would be two days later! So, I was stuck in an airport in Atlanta for eight hours. I couldn’t believe that I could be back in the city again and not be able to check it out because I was stuck in the airport! So, I resolved to go out and explore. I found an old man who was working at the airport to direct me on how to get to anywhere that was safe and had something decent to eat. As luck would have it, Atlanta is not as backwards as their airline hostesses would allow you to believe. They actually have a metro that will take you from the airport to the downtown area. The old man pointed the way and told me what stop to get off to get a nice bite to eat at Hooters.

So off I went to explore. I found my stop and found Hooters. However, my wife hates the whole concept of Hooters, so even on an empty stomach I declined the delightful smells protruding from the eatery. I just figured if there was one place to eat in the area then there should be more, I was right but none of them looked appetizing. So, I continued to walk and found Olympic park. Nice place. A Beautiful open area with lots of sculptures. I then went to the Coke Museum. I thought about going in but at $15 bucks a pop (pun intended) to walk through, and I was down to my last $40-50 dollars, it wasn’t worth it. I mean, Hey! If it was Pepsi it would be a whole different story, but this was Cocoa Cola, what’s the big deal? So I simply opted for a Photo Op with an old style Coke bottle with the facility behind me.

What made me really like Atlanta was a small piece of ground near a freeway exit that was used as a homeless hang-out and littered with trash, it was a little area dedicated to Folk Art. Very cool sculptures that can’t help but to bring a smile to your face.

Speaking of which, I met a few folks while on my walk around the town. One gentleman walked up to me and asked me if I was racist. I thought of telling him, “Of course not, I deplore Lincoln.” But didn’t think he would get the humor so I just opted to dispel any fears that he might have of whitey walking around his town and affirmed that I was not in fact a racialist. He apparently wasn’t buying my pathetic attempt at being politically correct. He indeed wanted proof, by helping a poor black fellow out and giving him some of my change. He was disheartened when I told him that he probably already had more change in his pockets than I did.

I then met another pleasant man while walking around. He came up to me to... well, just to talk I suppose. He too was a homeless man wearing not so much a gruff beard as it was a chin strap. He was quite pleasant and I suspected any minute he would pull a switchblade and rob me of my last remaining cash. He had noticed my Dodgers hat and began talking baseball and Basketball with me. In fact, I was quite startled by how much he knew about sports, especially Los Angeles Sports and he was quite shocked I was not a Lakers Fan! We kept up our delightful conversation and I assumed he was just waiting for the right moment to shank me, when he looked up and commented on the gray clouds looming in the distance. I looked up to politely agree, when my jaw dropped to the ground and my startled body froze at the sight. It was summer and had been quite humidly hot in the Big A, so what I was gazing into was not computing into my southern Californian brain. These were not gray clouds or even dark clouds for that matter. This was the abyss opening up. It looked much more like the nothingness in the Never Ending Story. My heart sank as I remember the torrential down pour we had to navigate driving through on our first trip. So, I immediately said my good-byes and departed in haste, running to get back to the metro before I was swept away by an Atlanta flood. I couldn’t believe how swift the storm was upon my heels. As I came upon the last city block the rain began to pour. I decided at that moment that I had had my fill of the city and headed back to the airport for the last hour and a half.

There was plenty I missed; I had really set my heart on going to Stone Mountain to see the confederate leaders carved into the side of the mountain. I also wanted to eat lunch at Richard Blaise’s restaurant, but seeing that I wasn’t planning on walking around the city, I was completely underdressed and a little smelly. I also found out later that they have a muppet museum where they have the Dark Crystal Puppets on display; that would have been worth seeing. Maybe, my next trip across country, I’ll get stuck again and can see all the sights I missed.

Overall, it was a pretty good trip.

The Cracker Barrel

The Cracker Barrel is the southern version of Denny's (maybe a bit better). You can find one near most highway exits in the south. So, why am I blogging about a restuarant chain? Well, because of how badly Jonathan wanted to go there. It would seem every time we stopped for a bite or to rest he would suggest that we eat at the Cracker Barrell. While in Tupelo, we were searching for a place to eat lunch, when Jonathan piped up again, "Oh there's a Cracker Barrell!Do you guys want to eat there?"

"Is the food good?" Jim asked.

"No."

Jim and I looked at him baffled and dismayed. We strongly replied that we were not going to eat where we knew the food was no good and opted for a sandwich shop located in the same shopping center.

However, later in our trip, somewhere in North Carolina, when we were all short on money and it was late in the evening, we finally caved into Jonathan's insistent suggestion. The food was actually pretty good. They stuck with their southern flare and the ambience was down-homey. We later found out that Jonathan always stopped with his family at a Cracker Barrell while they were on a roadtrip. This tidbit of info put the puzzle pieces together for us on why Jonathan was so importunate on going to the Southern Denny's. After all, isn't that what a roadtrip is all about? Creating Memories and holding on to family traditions.

Richmond

After eating great BBQ, we headed out to see the rest of the city. We walked through the fan district to view the great monuments erected to the leading Confederate leaders; Davis, Lee, Jackson and Stuart. It was great to see that the city has not hung its head in shame, but rather embraced the daring leaders who defied the Union army.

Afterwards we went to the Confederacy White House where Jefferson Davis resided. One of the interesting stories to come out of our tour was the "Starvation Parties" that use to take place in the House. Instead of a full feast like most wealthy politicians will have even during the hardest of times, The Davis' threw what was called "Starvation Parties" to show they sympathized with the southern soldiers. During the parties they offered mutton and capers, and for refreshments they had water drawn from the James River.

Can you imagine President Bush serving MRE's (Meals ready to eat) to dinner guest in support of our troops, or President elect Obama serving spam to all his Hollywood friends to embrace the middle class who are struggling during this bad economy? Yeah, me neither.

Afterwards we walked around the Shockoe District trying to find a bar and relax. There we found some friendly teenagers who told us of a rockin' club and offered to share with us their Vodka, they had poured into a soft drink cup. We politely said thanks, but no (see my palin reference there ;0)). After awhile of walking cobbled streets we found a nice little place where we could smoke our cigars and have a Guinness.

Overall, Richmond was way a great city to visit, like most of the cities we stopped in, I only wished I had more time to walk around.

JacksonDavis MonumentWe have the same thing in California, but they're Angels
Confederacy White HouseCobbled StreetsWalking near the James River

Petersburg to Richmond: Going to the Flay Slayer

On the last leg of our trip we headed to Richmond, Va.. On the way there we stopped in Petersburg, I think to
get a map of Richmond or something. The town had an old feel to it and was a pleasant place to relax. No wonder Jonathan decided he wanted to enjoy the atmosphere and have lunch there! Yet, Jim was in disagreement; it was still early and the plan was to eat lunch in a Richmond. So, Jonathan looked to me as the tie breaking vote. Unbeknownst to both of them though, I had my own plans to eat in Richmond. I told Jonathan we were going to Richmond to eat at a fabulously famous BBQ joint. I could tell he was already flustered, but was ready to go along.

"Alright, what's the name of the place?"

"I Don't know." I replied.

"What? What district is it located in?"

"I don't know."

"Aaron, it's a big city, you're not just going to be able to drive around and find the place."

Jonathan was visibly upset and frustrated with my planning at this point, however I was undetered, so he started the car.

The only thing I did know was that the BBQ place was named after two people, one with a slightly weird name, and the place had won a throw down against Bobby Flay. I let Jonathan in on these facts, as I searched the Tom Tom for any name that might strike a chord.

About half way there, Jonathan turned to me and said, "It's not called Buzz and Ned's, is it?"

"Yeah. that's it!"

Jonathan was giggly after that and called his wife to get directions. Apparently he and his family had eaten there on there last outing to Richmond. He had remembered the looped taping of the Bobby Flay Throw Down and the amazing BBQ.

We got to Buzz and Ned's and the place did not disappoint! The BBQ was amazing. I shared a full rack of ribs with Jim and had a pulled pork sandwich. The Ribs were spectacular and sufficed every rib craving I had. The pulled pork was tasty but not as mouth-wateringly fabulous as THE Whole Hogs.

The place was packed; luckily we got there before the line got too big. All the staff wore shirt's that said something like Buzz and Ned's The Flay Slayer! Which was pretty savvy marketing in my opinion. Of course, there is a tape playing continuously of the show where Buzz and Ned's beats Bobby Flay in the Throw Down.

Petersburg
Cool Black building! You don't find many of those in California.

Tasty!
BUZZ and NED'S!