hitting the rails

[karma]

hi. my names robert bergin and i did speech last year. though i was lucky enough to get into berkeley a few months ago, i was accepted for the spring semester and thus dont head to class until january. obviously, this has left me a lot of time to sit around my boring *** white suburban town and do whatever boring *** white kids do (reading, working, twiddling thumbs while everyone else is off at college, etc.).

this was cool for about two days. no. it wasnt cool period. so one day i was sitting on our pretty green lawn reading this book called the dharma bums, which is about this guy ray who travels around america and writes about his experiences, and i realized: 'y'know, **** this. this town sucks.'

so i've decided to use my summer job money waiting tables to purchase a 30 day pass on amtrak and hit the road. i'm leaving the 18th, and i have a general idea of where i'm going and what stops i'm hitting, and there are some people i'm planning on meeting and catching up with, but beyond that i have no real plan as to how to spend my time beyond reading and writing a bunch.

if youre still reading this, thank you and i love you. i'm not really too hot on calling up some cheesy travel agent and asking where i should stop and what i should see. not very interested in all the grand canyon-y stops yknow? so, after recalling that i posted here a bit in the past couple years, i thought i'd go to the speech community for some tips, mainly since speech was cool for me mostly cos i got to meet a bunch of cool kids who seemed to really know what was up (politically, musically, life-ly).

so i'm asking you to tell me whats up in your area.

i'm heading from San Jose to LA through the southwest to Houston and up to NY and boston, then west to toronto and hopefully chicago, then up through minnesota and along the border to washington and then back down. basically a huge *** circle.

so whatever wisdom you can bestow, i'd love to hear it. wheres the best place youve ever eaten? cool record stores, little rivers, good hills to climb with awesome views, any good live shows coming in the next month in your area. neat venues. honestly, whatever.

thanks so much for any suggestions you can offer. i'll repay you any way i can. have fun with s&d this year. take it easy.

[DCdisco]

which part of MN you coming through? and appx when?

[karma]

em, the route has stops in winona, red wing, st paul, st cloud, staples, and detroit lakes before heading to fargo. any of these neat places? my dad built a house in minnesota once. said theres lotsa bugs. says its pretty too though.

[IamTHATnerd]

if youre coming through louisiana, you HAVE to stop and eat. our food is the best and most unique in the country. so lemme know where youll be driving through and ill let ya know what to keep ur eyes open for.

[narcotictwizzler]

If you're coming through the Twin Cities, there are a million things to do.

Best concerts are at The Quest, lots of great bands, some known, some not, but it's a great venue. As is First Ave, but they tend to have mostly 21+ shows (Cake is coming here, but I can't go because I'm under 21! grahh!!).

To be honest, if you're in Minnesota during the winter, you have to go sledding. It's just one of those things that is fun no matter what, and there's hills EVERYWHERE for sledding.

If you're looking for cool little unique shops, that would be Uptown. Lots of awesome stores in and around Calhoun Square, and Gelato across the way from Jimmy Johns. What an amazing combo. The Ragstock there is still good (what? ragstock not flashy expensive and sucky? it's true!), they usually have a big box of $2 belts that are amazing, I grabbed a teal chunky one with a small wrench on it that spins around when you push it. Very sweet. Also, just walking around Lake Calhoun, the Lake Harriet Bandshell, etc. is nice, even during the winter.

A fabulous place to eat is It's Greek To Me, on the corner or Lake and Lyndale in Uptown, AMAZING greek food, mmm. You have to order Saganaki, they bring out this plate of cheese and herbs and pour wine on it then light it on fire in front of oyu and it burns off the alcohol but still leaves an amazing tasting plate of nummy singed cheese.

Umm, Minneapolis is an amazing theatre city, so if you're into that, I'd say look online for Fringe Fest shows that have continued into the year, Improv A Go-Go is always a good time ($1 every sunday at The Brave New Workshop), most things appearing at The Loring Playhouse or Bryant Lake Bowl tend to rock as well. You can check ticketmaster for any concerts/shows coming here soon. My biggest recomendation is http://www.scrimshawbrothers.com , Joe and Josh Scrimshaw. If you go, you won't be disappointed.

And if all else fails, there's the Mall of America and IKEA. Yep.

So I guess if you're still trying to find stuff to do in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, just email me-- carrietaylor18@hotmail.com

Hope that helps!

[karma]

i read this and all i could think was 'jackpot'. going through minnesota, ND, and montana was sort of a concern. 'theres nothing to do' i thought. 'i'll just ride through to seattle'. well no more. and i'm all about flaming food. sweet.

aaand i'm staying on the coast of louisiana. lake charles, lafayette, new ibena, schrleyer, NO, and the bay of saint louis. anything strike a chord?

again, thanks so much. i sorta just realized how self indulgent it is to solicit this kind of advice on a s&d board, but em, i guess thats how it goes. i'll repay you any way i can, besides all the karma points youre racking up.

[Megan]

If you are planning on coming through Indiana, may I suggest a tour of the cornfields? Just joshing, if you go through Indy you might want to look at the NCAA musuem. For being sports related, it's kind of cool. Oh, and you could see a Colts game

[Chewie]

I hadn't read this thread until just now, and I just wanted to volunteer my opinion that this is a really great story, and should be read. :) Consider this thread *bumped*.

[This is not Jenn]

That was a cool story....Robert, how was your trip?