Cracker Barrel is a must for any road trip in the US of A

Today, after a phone interview, we headed an hour down the road to Cracker Barrel for some grits and biscuits and gravy. And let's not forget that awesome little game with the pegs in the wood holes. Apparently, my score indicates that I am an "IG-NOR-AIM-OOS". Does this have anything to do with my lack of interest in Sudoku?



I also love the Cracker Barrel store, with it's syrupy Americana vibe. And hello! Those are some great rocking chairs...should I have those or Adirondack chairs on the porch? The debate is really between the footrest or the rock. I think I lean towards the footrest--frankly, even a rocking chair is too much exercise on Friday afternoons.

After our super-healthy breakfast, we decided to take along a slice of chocolate-pecan pie for good measure. When snacking, why not make it worth your while? I could not think of a better snack at 3 PM on a 6-hour day of driving, personally. Upon leaving Cracker Barrel in the hoity-toity outskirts of Birmingham, we whiled away an hour by quizzing one another on state capitals. The most difficult ones include but are not limited to:

--North Dakota
--Maine
--New Hampshire
--West Virginia
--Washington
--Montana

Then, a continuation of our listen of "I am America, and so can you" by Steven Colbert. Hysterical, but one can only take so much--it's exhausting. Try it sometime. And after our snack of you-know-what and a super-depressing stop at a Hattiesburg, Mississippi gas station, we arrived in Slidell, LA, just northeast of New Orleans.



Slightly depressing, but we had a delicious spinach salad and class of wine at Applebee's. And we'll be on the way tomorrow, our last day on the road!!! Houston, here we come!

Red Velvet Cake is like crack cocaine

Writing from Gadsen, AL tonight. The highlights from the last few days:

NEW JERSEY 11/17
--Penske truck arrives late, like an hour and a half late.
--Barely shoved everything I own on this earth (save a few items, namely my Good to Great book and my hiking boots) into the 12' truck. Had to rearrange a few times, during which I chose not to watch my poor rattan Anthropologie chair being manhandled.






--We drive through SNOW to arrive in Somerset, PA. Snow.
--The PENNA TURNPIKE road signs are the largest road sign I have seen in my life. Are they, perhaps, meant to be a signal to the aliens who are planning to invade in 2008, having watched their experiment fail miserably, the humans ruining Planet Earth? Do I watch too many x-files reruns?
--Dinner at Ruby Tuesday an emotional rollercoaster as I realized they had Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel, ordered it, and was told by the Alpha Chi Omega waitress that they were out of it.

SOMERSET, PA/FALLINGWATER 11/18
--Braved snow, which was falling in large, wet flakes, to drive to FALLINGWATER, Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece. Arrived safely.



--Fallingwater f'ing rad, and the tour guide regaled us with the usual stories of FLW's large ego. Beautiful. Did not buy anything at gift shop, as am still
unemployed.















--Ate at Muriale's in Fairmont, WV, which, incidentally, is the birthplace of Mary Lou Retton.
--Weather on trip turned out to be gorgeous, beautiful views of the Appalachians.



--Was the inagural listen of my new playlist, entitled Road Trip 07, which features some fine examples of American and British Rock and Roll, most notably ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man. Arrived in Wytheville, VA.
--Gourmet dinner at Wendy's of salads. No Zinfandel disappointment for me tonight, no sir.
--Watched Amazing Race and was pissed the emotionally unstable woman and her kind boyfriend won. That's what you get for helping people, pretty Latin sisters.

WYTHEVILLE VA/GADSDEN AL 11/19
--Small workout this morning. Felt much better.
--drove all morning to arrive in Knoxville, TN where we found Litton's, cornucopia of deliciousness. We found it in Roadfood. Thank you, roadfood, for one of the best burgers I have had in my life. Called the Thunder Road, it was topped with pimiento cheese, grilled onions, and jalapeno. Fries, and a slice of red velvet cake to go, and we are on our way! Why is it that I could almost be a vegetarian except for that darn burger every now and again?



--Afternoon beautiful again, and we arrived early in Gadsden. Thank God, as the bustling social scene here requires hours of investment.



--Pissed that when we crossed into the Central Time Zone, my dad's phone switched to CST automatically but mine required the phone equivalent of control-alt-delete. Note to self to call Verizon.
--Lonnie's roadhouse or some such bastion of the American physique for dinner, struggling to find something healthy to nourish my cells after lunch. Dad almost ate a biscuit until he found it swimming in a wading pool of liquid butter substitute.

That about does it. Photos to come soon. Takeaways from the last three days: glad to be out of NYC finally, I feel free. Strange. And good. And liberating. Also feel like this trip is renewing my romance with America. Feel like I have been gone for a while...

Speaking of romance, it's time to get ready for the Bachelor finale.

Good-bye, New York

Sitting in my Jersey City hotel room, waiting for my Dad to arrive from JFK. Tomorrow we rent the Penske truck and load it up with my things from the Hoboken storage unit, and then head in the direction of Texas.



I have been in New York since Monday for an interview. I stayed in a hotel for the first two nights, and then with Jen the last two. I really enjoyed seeing all of my wonderful friends, shopping, and generally enjoying NYC without an agenda (except seeing all of my friends, of course...). It occurred to me that it has been a really long time since I have just wandered around the city. That's what happens when you live in the city--you don't have time to really take in the amazing place in which you live.

But still it was good to actually say the words "I am moving to Houston" and have my sweet friends encourage me and congratulate me and assure me that they will come to visit. I don't want to stay in NYC, but change is scary, regardless of what it is. I know that sounds obvious, but it's hard when you're actually making the big change to realize that it's the change itself that is scaring you the most, not the transition to a conservative town, not the transition to a non-walking city, not the transition out of the fabled New York City.

So, change: here I come.

some photos from the past

Just realized it's about a year since Katie and I went to Prague! What the f? Feels like decades...here are a couple of photos from that trip, and more can be found on flickr under sarahjanenyc1...

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Originally uploaded by sarahjanenyc1

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Originally uploaded by sarahjanenyc1

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Originally uploaded by sarahjanenyc1

loving nyc

Oh God, depending on what day it is, I can be either completely (ok, maybe mostly is a more appropriate word) at peace with my decision to move back to Houston, or completely panicked to leave New York. Firstly, I have to stop reading Time Out NYC and New York magazine. In my defense, these magazines are old subscriptions that will lapse--and when they do, I am not renewing. I swear. It's painful, like seeing an old boyfriend out with another, prettier woman. Sigh.

Secondly, I can actually visit NYC! A revelation!

Thirdly, I'm living in the fourth-largest city in the country, for Chrissake. Not the Appalachians.

Fourth, I can bring many of the things I love about NYC here with me! Like a love for the finer things, and dinner parties. Actually, I couldn't have dinner parties in the city, but I always wanted to. Now that I will (fingers crossed) hopefully have a house, I can actually have people over. And I will have a yard! I can be a host, all the time. Fun!

Fifth, nothing is permanent. Maybe I'll somehow come into a ton of money and be able to (and want to) buy that loft in Tribeca a few years down the road! Who knows...

Moral of the post: it's a process.