Things I learned
Posted on | June 30, 2009 | 2 Comments
I don’t know anything about planning a road trip. I don’t even have a drivers license . Until I went away to college I had never even been to any of the states between New York and California. If you were picking someone to help you plan a trip across the country you would be wise NOT to pick the neurotic guy without a driver’s license. And yet, here we are. Having spent the last few weeks and months researching everything from “muffler men” to pie shacks I am prepared to share my insights and predictions.
1. There is no insider information anymore that is not widely available to curious investigators. There are reviews of every restaurant serving hot chicken in Nashville and every hotel in Asheville North Carolina. There are blogs dedicated to rating barbecue in every town from Memphis to El,Paso. There are forums for airing views about every conceivable kind of food in every city in America. There is very little that is able to fly under the radar. If someone is smoking a superior pork shoulder in Western North Carolina, you can be sure that someone else is writing about it on the internets. When I discuss this with friends, they often point out that you can’t really trust all this information posted anonymously on the internet. While I agree that when it comes to the subjects of Obama’s birth certificate and JFK conspiracy theories, the internet is filled with unatributed and anonymous information, the world of food, tourist traps, and hotels is VERY well covered ground. What the internet lacks in trust, it makes up in volume.
2. It’s easy to get carried away planning a trip like this. I could look for roadside attractions and barbecue shacks for a year if I wanted and come upon something new every day. I am trying to avoid doing any more planning until we leave. I already have a huge selection of bookmarks and a ginormous spreadsheet. I’m curious how much of my research actually winds up being useful and how much was really just a waste of time.
3. Rental car companies suck. If you have a Brooklyn, Bronx or Queens license and rent in the New York area you will be hit by hundreds of dollars in fees that apparently assessed because non-Manhattan boroughs are full terrifying monsters. Will these fees will be added when you reserve online? Of course not. You only find about them if you call the number in the fine print at the bottom of your e-mail confirmation.
4. Google StreetView is awesome. Want to check an address in west Texas? Google has you covered. Want to see the difference between driving a local road and the interstate? No problem. Call it a harbinger of our bleak dystopian future if you must, but for the anxious traveler a better tool has not been invented.
5. The following websites have proved invaluable: Roadfood.com, TripAdvisor, RoadsideAmerica.com, Chowhound.com, SouthernFoodways.com, Yelp.com and SeriousEats.com(specifically their excerpts John T. Edge’s Southern Belly). In the future I hope to publish a more complete list of regional blogs that I’ve enjoyed.
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July 3rd, 2009 @ 1:38 pm
nice start . looking for more comments and updates. it is good to put your neurotic personality to a useful purpose in your trip planning. i didnt use the characteristic of neurosies first ,-you did. how was lexington bbq? hope you made it there.
July 3rd, 2009 @ 5:18 pm
We went. Update later tonight.