The Trip

Ernest Hemingway - "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."

Birmingham, Alabama to New Durham, New Hampshire.... here we go...

DAY 1
Big Ray, for those who don't know is my dad, and I left the Ham at around 2:30pm headed North.  It was great to spend some quality time with him since I feel like as I get deeper and deeper in the black hole of college, I slowly drift away from my childhood and the relationships that come with it.

Still in comfortable territory we slowly cross the Alabama borders and enter Tennessee.  Such a beautiful state.  The way the road winds through the mountains keeps you awake cause you don't wanna miss any stunning views.  I've been through Tennessee before, though.  It is very special but definitely not uncharted territory.

Then I met Virginia (see what I did there?).  Nothing exciting comes to mind when first thinking about it, but if I had to pick one word to describe it, I would say FARM.  Virginia has so many farms- but not in an Alabama redneck way.... More so in a elegant (if possible) way.  All perfectly organized, and groomed.  Just strangely cool.  We pulled into a little town outside of Roanoke called Salem to spend the night (by the way, I spent $49.00 on a hotel room and it was the BEST DEAL EVER).

DAY 2
Woke up with our free continental breakfast (told you it was a great deal), and got an early morning start.  We had originally planned to follow the Virginia state line into Maryland, but we basically said yolo and went straight for Washington DC.  Boy, was that a great call.

DC was incredible.  Being a big history buff, I was marveled by all the monuments like the Washington monument, Vietnam memorial, Lincoln memorial, and WWII memorial.  Just so cool to be in such a historic city.  However, something I did not expect to see were the cool neighborhoods surrounding DC.  Little duplexes and apartments in cute neighborhoods.  Like in the TV show House of Cards... seriously did look exactly like it did in the show.  I officially have added DC onto my list of places to live in.

Heading out of DC we soon crossed into Maryland.  Now, for some reason, I've always felt a connection with Maryland.  I like the university (partially because their football uniforms are DIRTY!!); I like the Ravens; I like the Orioles; and I've just always had this profile of Maryland in my head of being a classy state.  And it definitely was.  Clean highways, nice neighborhoods, and unique buildings all solidified my feelings for Maryland.  Baltimore was a great city as well.  We never got to fully explore it, but driving by reminded me of Birmingham (without the pro stadiums).  The first thought is that it used to be either a heavy manufacturing city or an iron/steel city.  So many ghost factories provided a rustic look that's very tough to mimic. BUT.......... Baltimore was my first experience with the northern toll bridges.  $4.00 for a toll seems outrageous, right?  Well, you ain't seen nothin yet...

Passed quickly through Delaware... literally was 10 minutes..... nothing to say but woooo Delaware.... Then the dark cloud of tolls started coming in New Jersey.  Seemed every fifty or so miles there was a toll bridge. $2-3 a pop starts adding up when you're traveling.

Jersey was cool.  Didn't get to see much of her just cause we were driving in the cover of darkness and we pretty much stuck to the Jersey pipeline, which is essentially just a big freeway going through Jersey.

NEW YORK (get your pockets ready).  Aside from the crazy tolls, what an amazing city. Gah. Traffic was exhilarating- cars going 80-90 mph on two-lane roads converted into three-lane roads, and then toss in the added stress of road construction- much comparison to dodge ball at high speeds on wheels, but so much fun! We got into the city at about 10-1030 ET.... so imagine your Christmas tree during the holidays and now imagine the same scenario but with city buildings..... I'm still in awe over the sight.  Unfortunately, we got out about just as fast as we came in, but I can say that New York is now added onto the list of cities I would like to live in.

Connecticut was just another humble New England state.  A mix of resemblance between the farmlands of Virginia and the loneliness of Jersey.  Except now, you are starting to get a taste of the mountainous terrain.
Dad and I pulled into the town of Concord to spend the night and we find a hotel for only $50.... skeptical of course, we open the door to our hotel room and, sure enough, it is incredibly 70s-themed with shag carpet, a twenty-plus year-old tv, and the funniest part was that outside our window (we didn't know at the time) was a rock quarry (we found that out quickly in the morning).........

DAY 3
New Hampshire.  State slogan- "Live Free or Die."  Just by the slogan alone I can tell I'm gonna be a fan.
After taking a photo by the state sign on the highway, the excitement starts to set in.  "I'm FINALLY here," I keep telling myself.  The cities we pass through aren't anything too special, but again, like in Connecticut, you start to develop a sense that you must be in some sort of mountainous terrain by the images in the distance.  Hour and a half later we pull into the town of Wolfeboro.  Wolfeboro's claim to fame is that they are America's oldest resort city, and you can tell they like keeping it original.  Corporate America hasn't touched any part of Wolfeboro.  Nearest WalMart? 45 minutes away.  Closest McDonald's?  30 minutes away.  I'm a big fan of this, though.  So many small businesses everywhere maintains the town's energetic and homey atmosphere.  Driving through Wolfeboro we passed the lake (Winnipesaukee), the golf club I'll be spending the next 2 1/2 months working at (Lake Winnipesaukee Golf Club), and soon arrive at my current summer home.

There are three people I'm living with: 1) Mike 2) Ester and 3) Brian.  Mike's a white guy with a THICK Boston dialect that works for a fuel pump/welding company, and he will talk your ear off if you don't stop him.  Ester is Mike's Cuban girlfriend who is a nurse at a nearby retirement home with a fiery, upbeat personality.  Brian is Mike's high school best friend who has a dialect thicker than Mike's, so you really just nod your head and say "yes" half the time cause your can't understand the guy.  Mike also owns a dog that resembles a mountain lion and a cat the size of a golden retriever (not really but you pick up what I'm putting down!)



Looking forward to this experience and will be updating along the way!!

God Bless,


-GP