The collision of global markets and social mood

Monday, January 16, 2012

Road Trip Recap

Had some great meetings down in Georgia. The only hard part was that it was colder down there than it was in New England when I left, so every stop for gas was a chore.

I'm not really in road-trip mode lately, so it was still an afterthought to take the camera with me at all times. I never know when something is going to pop up, so it's important to always have it with me. Especially when I head into a restaurant.

Right off the bat, I left it in the car at my first stop. I was in Connecticut and was hungry for some lunch. I wanted a sub, but wasn't in the mood for Subway. I checked the GPS for a small Mom & Pop style place. I found one, but when I "arrived" at its address, it was nowhere to be seen. In a huff I turned into a parking lot to do a U-turn. That's when I found the Glenwood Drive-In. Score!

This not the first time something like this has happened. I swear the Road Gods watch out for me. At the very least, it shows just how strong the power of intention is.

The Glenwood Drive-In is the real deal. They serve grilled foot-long hot dogs and let YOU put on whatever YOU want at their hot dog bar. 3 different kinds of mustard, 3 different kinds of relish, and a big, steaming vat of sauerkraut. Amazing. All these years I've been blazing past this area near Wallingford, CT, and I never knew this place existed.



It wasn't until I left Georgia that I pulled out the camera again. This time, I was on a personal mission: to pick up some moonshine in Tennessee. After my meetings, I drove from 5 pm until about 9pm from Georgia to Hendersonville, North Carolina so that I could spend part of the next morning in Ashville for the first time. I've always wanted to see it. What a great vibe it had. I can't wait to go back.

From Ashville, I was able to take some great back roads over the Appalachian Mountains to a little town called Greenville, Tennessee, which is one of the few places that you can buy Popcorn Sutton's legendary moonshine. Since his death, it is now produced legally by his apprentice who must be raking in the cash. Two bottles of Popcorn's likker cost me $72.00! But since a lot of folks from home are keen to try it, I wanted plenty to share.


I thought this place called Momma's Kitchen looked great, so I pulled over and took a picture. The roads were a driver's paradise.



This one's for my Chicago peeps. Downtown Greenville, TN.



Picked up my first moonshine here.



When I was little, I wanted to be a moonshine driver. Well, in this short video I finally made it. Fresh from my moonshine purchase, I blasted up some more back roads on the way to Interstate 81. Found an ultra corny AM radio station that was cranking out some real classics that were making me laugh out loud. See if you can notice the speed of the car getting faster and faster as the tunes and the corners roll by. Great roads. No wonder NASCAR is such a big deal in these parts.




Truck stop randomness in Virginia.



An homage to one of my favorite films of all time . . . Repo Man.



"Find one in every car. You'll see."




Friendly reminder in the Poconos of Pennsylvania to pull over when the "check engine" light comes on (not my car!!!). By the way, you would not believe the number of copper-colored cars I noticed on this trip. It reminded me of the '70s. I think there is some heavy duty socionomics at work here. Remember the '70s? The Dow Jones was below 1000.



Swung through New Haven on the way home and finally tried a real Pepe's pizza after all these years. It didn't disappoint. Had to wait out the long line (avoided the frigid cold) by heading over to the nearby IKEA. Yikes. But it was worth the wait. I absolutely loved the fresh taste of the tomato sauce and the way my fingers got black from the ash on the dough from the super-hot coal-fired ovens.

Forgot to take the camera inside with me yet again and missed getting a close up pizza shot, but snapped this instead.




And finally, about to try moonshine for the very first time. Notice I waited until I got home. Haha.


It's pretty good, too.

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