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No sooner does one vacation end when you start thinking about the next one. My next vacation will be the culmination of my quest to visit all 50 states. My final four are Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
Planning is part of the fun and with the Internet, it can be more fun than ever. Like last year, I have been programming my WiFi clock radio with links to radio stations along my route. I am also looking for audio podcast feeds but have not yet found any that suit my needs. Some are outdated, others are video podcasts.
Last year I followed the Twitter feeds of the tourism departments of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington. This year, I’m doing the same thing but different. Rather than just passively follow the feeds of my final four, I reached out and asked the departments to suggest must-see attractions.
Iowa enticed me with the Butter Cow at the Iowa State Fair but unfortunately the dates don’t line up with my trip. Nebraska asked what I liked and responded with a few suggestions.
North Dakota had a few ideas too and sent a link to the attractions page on their website. South Dakota either figured out or took a lucky guess that I would love a place that offers free ice water and five-cent coffee. It’s a famous tourist stop known as Wall Drug.
Lonely Joe
Can someone explain to me the appeal of single-serve coffee makers? First of all, who drinks just one cup of coffee? If I wanted only one cup, all I would have to do is put the appropriate amount of water and grounds into my old-fashioned coffeemaker. There are new drip brew coffeemakers with bells and whistles that look good to me. If my old machine ever breaks, I would only want to replace it with one that allows me to use coffee from any source, including the local roasters that I enjoy.
Once you buy a single-serve machine, aren’t you then stuck using their “K-Cups” or “T-Discs” or whatever? That’s how they get you. It’s like printer ink. Besides, I wouldn’t want to end up with whichever brand turns out to be the Betamax that loses to VHS in this technological battle.
Pulse Rate
The cover of the Metro Pulse grabbed my attention with the title “Revenge of the (Coffee) Nerds.” Like the author, I am not a coffee snob. I happily drink the free coffee at work. I think inexpensive coffee at convenience stores is delicious, especially the Dark Roast at Pilot and the Kona blend at Weigel’s. After church on Sundays, my wife and I like to go to Starbucks, where I take advantage of free refills offered to cardholders. The Metro Pulse writer describes Starbucks coffee as “mediocre.”
The article points out that Knoxville has several local coffee roasters. Over the summer, I visited the Vienna Coffee Company in Maryville. Roastmaster John Clark showed me around the roasting facility and treated me to a “cupping,” which is like a wine-tasting for coffee. He used the Hario drip method, as shown in the Metro Pulse. The more exotic beans were fine but I preferred their best-selling Front Porch Breakfast Blend.
I recently saw one of the guys from jAVERDE Coffee Company while shopping at the Food City across the street. When he said “long time no see,” I explained that I would come to their shop more often if they were open on Sundays. I like jAVERDE’s Shell Shock flavor and recently finished off a bag of it at home. They are very active on Twitter where they sometimes refer to the Seattle behemoth as “charbucks.”
John Clark told me that the charred flavor is a west coast thing. I had to agree after my trip to Seattle this summer, where I discovered the “red eye” or “black eye” or “shot in the dark,” depending on where I was buying my drink. When I do go to Starbucks, I choose their seasonal blend and I like the charred taste.
My post-church routine might be very different if not for Pope Clement VIII. The article taught me something about my own religion:
Coffee first became a popular beverage in Yemen. In the 1400s, coffee shops spread throughout the Arab world as an alternative to taverns (since Islam prohibits alcohol consumption). According to Tom Standage’s book, A History of the World in Six Glasses, the beverage was mostly viewed with suspicion in Europe until Pope Clement VIII tasted it in 1605.
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“Coffee’s religious opponents argued that coffee was evil: They contended that since Muslims were unable to drink wine, the holy drink of Christians, the devil had punished them with coffee,” Standage writes. “Clement decided to taste the new drink before making his decision. … He was so enchanted by its taste and aroma that he approved its consumption by Christians.”
Veni-vidi-vici-son
Traffic was bad in several places on I-40 as my wife and I took our son to Nashville International Airport on Sunday. We made it there and halfway back to Knoxville before we got stuck in bumper-to-bumper delays.
After the airport, we planned to stop at the first Pilot Travel Center along the way. I wanted to redeem a Facebook coupon for free coffee that I had printed at home. I saw a billboard for a Pilot as we were passed by a white pickup truck with three dead deer in the back. I wanted to get a picture but the truck gained some ground on us. My wife kept pace while I got the camera ready, which meant that we missed the exit for the Pilot. The coffee could wait.
We passed a minivan that had just been passed by the pickup. A woman in the passenger seat of the minivan had her hands on her face in horror. The deer hunters slowed enough that we could catch up and see a rivulet of blood that had run down the tailgate. My wife said it was a bad choice for them to have a white truck.
After I snapped several “dash cam” style photos, we dropped back. The pickup continued ahead and was about to pass a red truck. However the driver rode alongside, like a rolling roadblock, while someone in the back seat of the red vehicle held their camera out the window. Apparently we weren’t the only ones inclined to take a picture of the deer carcasses.
Espressoap
Quick, what is this? A delicious piece of banana cake? A Rice Krispies treat? A bar of soap? On any given day, Twitter and Facebook have multiple complaints from people whose coffee tastes like soap. But what about soap that’s made with coffee?
My colleague Paul Moore received a bar of handmade espresso soap from Geanine Cruise of The Rabbit Food, a natural and organic market in Sevierville. In a “let’s get Mikey” moment, Paul gave me the soap to try first. If I like it, he will get his own bar from Geanine.
I half-expected to be hit with an overpowering eye-opening aroma as soon as the soap got wet. It was not a caffeine-effect that I felt but a scrubbing sensation. The coffee beans are there to act as an exfoliant. The rough texture will take some getting used to. I’ve always used plain old Ivory Soap in the shower.
Front Real
Michaele Salahi insisted that I watch “The Real Housewives of D.C.” this Thursday. It’s going to be the White House episode, she told me. Her husband Tareq chimed in that the footage would show they didn’t do anything wrong. They described it as “suspenseful” and said they were on the edge of their seats while watching the episode in advance.
How did I find myself in a conversation with Washington’s most famous alleged party-crashers on Sunday? Moments earlier I had pulled into a parking space at a Starbucks in Front Royal, Virginia. I rejected the first available space because of a car that had slightly encroached on the line between spaces. I parked on the far side of that same car and looked over to see a man behind the wheel. I recognized his face from the news. Seconds later a blond woman opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat. Obviously it was the Salahis. I waved and they waved back.
Michaele rolled down the window, wondering if we had met previously. No, I only knew them from television, which prompted them to launch into the plug for their next episode. During this conversation my wife and I got out of our car, intending to get some caffeine for the long drive back to Tennessee. I asked the Salahis to pose for a TwitPic and they were happy to oblige.
Michaele said she was at Starbucks to satisfy her own caffeine addiction. Tareq said they had a farm nearby. They said people from Tennessee were really nice and asked if my wife and I knew a Nashville deejay named Claude McKnight, Brian’s brother. I explained that I live in Knoxville, not Nashville. The conversation ended with me admitting I had never watched an episode of “Real Housewives” but I promised to watch this Thursday.
Peep Out Front Shoulda Told Me
What was nearly a Clark Griswold moment turned into an Elvis Presley moment for me at Peeps & Company in Oxon Hill, Maryland. It’s the only store of its kind in the world for now. More will eventually pop up in San Francisco and other big cities with upscale retails developments. The first Marshmallow Peeps store is on the Potomac, near the relocated “The Awakening” sculpture.
My son and I walked up to the front door just as David, the store manager, was locking it. The man in the “signature tie-dye shirt” was also posting a handwritten sign saying that they would reopen later, during the afternoon rush hour that we wanted to avoid. I looked him in the eye and said, “you have no idea how important this is to me.” Realizing that I must be one of those Peeps fanatics, he let us in and locked the door behind us.
A power outage the night before had put them a day behind in reconciling their sales. David and his staff needed to close out yesterday’s books before the Friday evening crowds descended upon National Harbor. During Thursday’s severe storms, I posted a joke on Twitter that said “I hope the Marshmallow Peeps store doesn’t get hit by lightning. That would be tragically delicious.” I told David about my joke and about my effort at Peeps brûlée in April.
I liked the original artwork created by David Ottogalli, as recently seen on “Kid in a Candy Store.” If I were inclined to buy a nice wall hanging, I would make sure to buy a piece inside a shadow box. I wouldn’t want to rip a Peep off the canvas, as appears to have happened on one of the pieces for sale in the store.
My son and I had the store to ourselves for half an hour. I bought myself a Peep covered in dark chocolate and a few of the new Peepsters, which are marshmallow filled chocolates. I couldn’t resist a souvenir coffee mug which had an American flag and the Peeps logo on it. I sent a picture and a sarcastic text to my wife that read, “too bad I don’t know anyone who loves flags, Peeps and coffee.” We were told that our Elvis-like shopping experience was over when the head cashier said, “you’re going to have to leave the store while I open my drawers.” You can guess how I responded and you’d probably be right.
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