Closure, Home… for a couple of days…

It was a great trip… long drive and all…

I landed at SFO last night at about 11:30, 25 minutes ahead of schedule… I love Virgin America… Their staff is nice… the passengers are nice… its worth more to fly Virgin…

Thoughts…

On the journey... There is a lot to see if you are willing to pause and get off the Interstate… we got off at most towns with a “Historic Route 66” marker… There is a world parallel, within a mile of the Interstate, a really fun, interesting world.

The cities of “middle America” are great with lots to offer… we particularly liked Oklahoma City (Bricktown), Ft Smith and Little Rock… Memphis has lots to offer… but Beale Street is a bit Spring Break… A place to party, but we had fun, and Graceland is real... a not to be missed attraction.

Road side attractions should not be avoided… the Cadillac Ranch (itself a parody of road side attractions) particularly. The steak at the Big Texan is not the best in the world (its good) but you should not avoid it, instead embrace it.

McDonald’s and other chains are not a good option… in 6 days we visited Starbucks three times… We never went to McDonald’s…

If you get a chance, visit Graceland.

The postcard is not dead as an art form… I don’t mean the color photograph of a canyon or significant building reproduced in color. I mean the post card with big letters saying “Welcome to …”, the Photo of Elves’ Cat, the photo of Bill Clinton’s Cat… The post card is under siege from the email… long live the post card… We found that the post card selection at the Big Texan, The Clinton Library and Graceland were particularly good.

We had more connectivity on this trip than expected… Steph and I both had web cell phones… we were never more than 10 minutes away from e-mail and the web… We had live GPS… I had Wi-Fi at Dulles, and on the plane flying home.

Travel is no longer equal to isolation.

You need to visit Graceland… really

Washington DC is worth the trip… it’s a spectacular city, the home to a great government… its obvious… If you haven’t been here you need to visit to understand. I recommend crab cakes… or crab cake sandwiches… I like the Eastern Market or the Capital City Brewery… but I am not an expert, only a visitor…

Embrace the city where ever you are…

Remember to visit Graceland….

Now to pack for the next adventure…