Massachusetts, home.

I too am now back home. I pulled in around 11:45 pm last night. A brisk 4 hour drive compared to the marathon of previous days. In her half awake, half slumber state Jessica was as excited as I was for me to be back home. This whole trip has been bittersweet in a way, as she has been home for the past week and a half working, while Brian & I have been out cruising half the country. As much as I've loved the places we've been and the rides in between, it feels really good to be back home. As Brian mentioned in his closing post, She does rule!

Today I was able to join her at the doctor's office, where we were told that Baby Girl Solomon & Mom are healthy & doing quite well. After Watching Jessica have her blood pressure taken I decided it would be a good idea to give it a try as well, and allow them to take a blood sample. As predicted my blood pressure is stable, but the blood tests came back positive for Barbeque, cole slaw, & various pale ale's. "What have you been doing lately?" the doctor asked. I could only smile.

It saddens me that this is my final Destination Iowa post. It turns out that Iowa was our destination in a geographic context, but our true destination was adventure, and we certainly had one. That guy in Virginia may have the same parents as I do, but Brian, you are definitely my brother as well, and a most excellent traveling companion! So many tales to tell, hard to believe that these 12 days have gone by so quickly. We may not be able to do it again anytime soon, but we sure will be talking about it for years. That old photo is awesome! It was a little weird not to wake up in a hotel room to "yo doggy dogg!" You are the man.

Things I will Miss:
1. handing over the keys
2. Bridget, baby you sure know how to direct.
3. This Blog- Telling everyone the good times we are having
4. Strolling the streets of various cities in search of local coffee spots.
5. Simply staring out the window for hours at a time in the middle of nowhere. There is something soothing about it.

Things I'm looking forward to:
1. My Bed
2. Not filling the gas tank every few hours
3. Fruits & Vegetables, significantly neglected during the trip
4. Enjoying the next few weeks with Jessica
5. Being a dad

As I crossed the Charles River last night I realized it was the last and the first of several great rivers we had crossed during our trip, others include the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Allegheny, Monongahela, Ohio, Cuyahoga, Mississippi, Missouri, Potomac, and of course the Des Moines. Damn! Many hours, many miles, many roads, many smiles.

Lastly I'd like to give a shoutout to my car. She's a beast. Not a single issue the whole trip (fingers crossed for the next few weeks.) She shall be rewarded with a much needed wash, for we have murdered hundreds of insects and possibly 1 bird while on the road. I'm gonna drive her into the ground, hopefully years from now. Ride on girl....
For those still reading who have kept up with us, we hope you've enjoyed our posts as much as we've enjoyed sharing them with you.
May your travels be safe.
Bye.

Friendship

Our friendship began in the summer of 1989 at the Joseph Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (Pictured above circa 1993). Ethan and Brian have remained amazing friends throughout High School, College, and now as young adults. Ethan lives in Watertown Mass, and Brian in New York City. Ethan’s amazing wife often refers to Brian as Ethan’s other woman.

Now that the trip is over and Ethan finishes the last leg of the trip solo from New York City to Watertown, Brian wanted to officially sign out, and thank Ethan for an amazing 11 day vacation. I will never forget a minute of this trip, and I am so thankful we got to do this together. We make great traveling companions.

I’m still in shock that our mission is now accomplished.

-Over 3,300 miles driven
-16 States
-4 Baseball Stadiums
-1 Wedding
-No FAST FOOD
-Kansas City BBQ

-Milwaukee Beer

To quote Ethan as he left Brian’s apartment “The next time I see you, I will have a little girl…”

Best of luck to Ethan and Jess, I can’t wait to celebrate with you!!!

This is Brian signing out…

P.S. Ethan’s wife RULES for letting him spend 11 days on the road while she was home pregnant.

Road Warriors

We are in Staunton, VA. We pulled in around 10 PM Tuesday night. Considering we left Kansas City around the same time yesterday, We've decided that road warriors is an appropriate term for us the past day.

Before we left KC we stopped by LC's for some more tasty BBQ, and headed on to Kauffman Stadium to watch the Rangers beat down the KC Royals. The stadium has the largest scoreboard we've ever seen, and boisterous fountains in right centerfield. Not much of a crowd, as about half the seats were empty. We were sad to see our last ballgame, and left the park more than happy with our KC experience. time to drive.

LC's BBQ -sliced beef, sliced pork mmmmmm


Pregame. Check out Brian's Helmet



Fountains of Kauffman

We cruised through St. Louis a little after midnight last night, and pushed on to Evansville, IN where we slept. Brian "leadfoot" Weigler again embraced the drive, as Ethan took the first nap in the car of the whole trip. Today we drove through Kentucky, West Virginia, and into VA. We know we've been on the road for a while when Brian was cranking Mountain Dew, and Ethan actually purchased and drank a pepsi. We had a 2 hour delay where the car was parked on the highway stuck with everyone else on I64 Eastbound in Lewisburg, WV. Apparently there some accident up the road. We made friends with fellow strandees, while standing in the rain.

So why Staunton? Joshua lives here, and upon our arrival there was a feast of holiday proportions at Zynodoa, a favorite downtown Staunton spot. We really hadn't eaten much today except for snacks and coffee. We dined, and it was glorious. The Meatlof was beautiful, and there were grits with the ribeye! Josh has a sweet apartment located upstairs from a salon in Staunton. We are relaxing. We've earned it today. Tomorrow we head north to the NYC.

Brian & Josh


The Brothers Solomon

Kansas City here I come.....

"They got some some pretty little women there, and I'm gonna get me one......."


This is just a lyric from the old blues tune, not a plan of action. Repeat- Not a plan of action.
KC is a treat. It is a great place for us to unwind after the wedding. We've enjoyed exploring and learning about Kansas City. Did you know that KC is known for the number of fountains throughout the city? They claim to have the most fountains of any city only second to Rome. Today we went for a little drive into Kansas, which is a few miles down the road. This makes our state total 12.


Our hotel is once again a real bonus on our travels. Big Thanks to Dave K for the hookup once again. Ethan had made the prediction last night, that the hotel was nice enough that there's a chance the Texas Rangers might be staying here. Sure enough they are. We've seen a few of them. Vincente Padilla was sitting in the lounge, and we're pretty sure we shared an elevator ride with Michael Young. On our way out the door we said what's up to the Manager Ron Washington. We were trying our best not to be stalkers as we casually strolled around the hotel. We are in some way guests of the Rangers this evening, big thanks to the Daniels Family!

Last night we ate dinner at Arthur Bryant's, The oldest and one of the more well known BBQ joints in KC. We devoured a slab of ribs, some pulled pork, and burnt ends. It was the real deal. We both agreed that it has so far been the best meal we've had on our trip. So good, that we've decided to eat BBQ at a different spot closer to the stadium this evening. We are going to see The Royals play the Rangers, and then we hit the road. This may be the last post for a few days, as our eastbound route is still up in the air. The tentative plan is to head toward Staunton, VA to visit with Josh. Shenandoah Valley, here we come.
Peace, and all types of BBQ grease.


sweet goodness.......

Des Moines

There is much love for Des Moines. Our time in Iowa was one big party indeed. The wedding festivities were an absolute blast. Good times, good food, and good people. The past 2 days have been a whirlwind of laughter, celebration, and significant alcohol consumption. For those still reading who were with us in Iowa, it was great to see you, and boy y'all were certainly stylin' on Sat. night. Mazel Tov to Adam & Suzie, & families, the whole vibe of the party was pretty kickin, especially that horn section. Ethan didn't get as many pictures as he had planned at the wedding, so if you have some good ones, forward them along. We were sad to see everyone go, but we gots places to go ourselves.

Thigns we will take with us form Iowa

1. Hollander-Tofte blowout extravaganza
2.Templeton Rye

3. The East Village

4. exteneded frieght trains

5. Uncle Mike's bar is in our car!

The scoreboard at Principal Park

Aerial view where Brian shows off his his vest in the lobby

Jacob & Brian with Bride & Groom

We're not quite sure what's going on here

The Embassy Suites invaded

View of Des Moines from the Capitol steps

We are currently in Kansas City. The drive was a smooth 3 hour ride. We processed the weekend, gazed at the greenery, and looked on to the next few days. We enjoyed some John Prine as we entered Missouri, his words echoed the scene from last night

"And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile, it don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while, won't you please tell the man, I didn't kill anyone, I was just tryin' to have me some fun, well done."

There's also a song about Kansas City that we'll discuss tomorrow, but right now, we need to enjoy some barbeque!

Via Chicago......

Being in Chicago, we woke up to the sweet sounds of Wilco, our room has an I pod player, and perhaps the greatest beds we've slept on this week. After a quick dip in the pool & the Hot tub, Ethan decided to hit the streets in search of the Picasso Sculpture, while Brian continued to enjoy the comforts of the Swissotel.

Upon arrival at the sculpture, Ethan was psyched to see a farmer's market filled with people. There were beautiful flowers, and he wished Jessica was there so he could buy her flowers. He misses her terribly. So instead of buying his wife flowers he bought Brian a croissant.

On the schedule for this afternoon, The Cubs vs The Reds At Wrigley. What a scene! The Cubs fans, excited that their team is in 1st place were in full effect outside and inside the stadium. It was free keychain day, once again our seats were nuts about 12 rows back on the left field side. Check out these photos, Edogg was going a little nuts, especially when the Cubs were warming up right in fornt of us.

1060 W. Addison St





Carlos Zambrano Warms up for the 1:20 game



Free Key chain day, Go Cubs Go!

The Cubs were able to hold on to the lead, The crowd was going crazy during the ninth inning as Kerry Wood struck out the final 2 batters. After the game we decided to kill some time in Wicker Park before we got on the road for Iowa. We enjoyed walking around, grabbed some food for the road and headed west.

After a brief gasoline debacle in Auroa, IL (shotout to our homeys Wayne & Garth!) We pushed on, pulling in to Des MOines around 12:30. Upon our arrival we were greeted by the groom & family. We are here. We have reached our Destination, Iowa.



Adam displays his approval of the chocolate bacon bar we brought him.
-Iowa

Back to Chicago

This time we decided to stay in Chicago.

Dahhhh Bearssss

We were sad to leave Milwaukee this morning. We met this dude who convinced us to trade our Honda Civic for his 1964 Alpha Romeo. The people in Milwaukee really are nice, especially this fella. We had a nice lunch with the Loebs, family friends of Ethan, and then headed south to Chicago. Our hotel is out of control. Big thanks to Kim for hooking up the rooms. We are staying right on the Chicago River downtown, it is bustling indeed. Tonight we ate deep dish. Perhaps a little too much. Ethan raged against dairy after not wanting to do so in Wisconsin. We walked around a bunch, and are tired Our digestive systems are starting to question our decisions. We are looking forward to cozy night's sleep in our sweethotel the swissotel. Tomorrow we visit the Friendly Confines of Wrigley field, and hang out in the North Side. Pictures to follow.

Ethan in his new ride. "rollin in his six fo.........."

Deep dish.

Beer

So we get up this morning to find out that 2 blocks from our hotel the cast of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley are in town for the dedication of a statue of the Fonz on the Riverwalk. The event was called "Bronze the Fonz." We caught the last 2 minutes of Henry Winkler's speech about how great Milwaukee is and some rhetoric about the future of the children. It seems the one full day we chose to visit was a celebration of these shows being based in Milwaukee. There was a custard social at a park where the the cast would sign autographs if you paid for a t-shirt or a poster. We didn't think it was worth the splurge to meet Penny Marshall & Ralph Malph. We would have another run in with the cast later in the day. But seriously today was all about the BEER. Ethan is currently struggling to compose this latest entry while eating pretzels.



aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, you guys tourists or what?


After lunch at the Milwaukee Ale house we strolled over to the Lakefront Brewing Company for a tour, and some sampling of their fine products. Big thanks to Dave Kaplan for deeming this spot a must on our visit. This place was a trip. As part of the tour our guide demanded that our glasses be filled for the duration of our visit, uh if you insist..... Not only did the taps pour often, but the beer was really really good. We met some nice folks, ate a bunch of pretzels, and talked about beer. Below are some photos of our tour guide along with some of his enlightened words regarding the brewing process. This dude was hysterical. Lakefront IPA is our new favorite beer.



"Here beer is like food, we like to think of it as liquid bread"




"The tour is pretty simple- we make it over there, and drink it over here."


After a quick stop at the hotel we were off to the corporate offices of the Miller Brewing Company. Our old friend Ethan Ganot (thats right another Ethan!) currently works there. He also has in his posession an ID badge that grants him and guests access to to the company bar. Translation- free beer. Yeah, this day had already been declared "awesome" before we peaced out of Miller headquarters to go watch the Brewers play the Astros at Miller Park. Solomon's mother Ronni's maiden name was Miller.


Brian and the Ethans spent the evening in beautiful Miller Park, 11 rows back in left field. As you can probably guess, We had some beer at the game. We also had brats. Unfortuantely the Brewers lost to Astros 5-2. There was a Guillermo Mota sighting, and the Italian Sausage emerged victorious in the sausage race during the middle of the 6th inning. Miller Park is gorgeous. It is Huge and the crowd was way more involved than in Pittsburgh.


The sausage race. Notice the sombrero on "Chorizo"


Upon our arrival at the ballpark The Cast from Happy days was being paraded around the field in old school automobiles waving to the crowd. We weren't too disappointed to have missed Potsie sing the National Anthem. Richie Cunningham was nowhere to found.



Brian & the Ethans


After the game Ethan G took us to Brady St. for some Frozen Custard, a Milwaukee specialty. Unfortunately there wasn't any beer there. Big props to Ethan G for inviting us to the company bar and joining us at the game, good times.

At this moment both of our fucking heads hurt.
Diggin Milwaukee, now sleep................

Wisconsin!

We are in Milwaukee, what a day!

Breakfast in Pittsburgh's strip district, and then straight to PNC Park for the Ballgame. This ballpark lived up to all the hype we'd heard about, and endeared us to Pittsburgh even more. We sat 6 rows behind the visitors dugout, ridiculous. Man it was hot, The western Pennsylvania sun was cooking us, and the Mets bullpen was killing us. The Pirates won 5-2, delighting the hometown crowd. We were almost beheaded by a Freddy Sanchez foul ball, and our lunch courtesy of of Pittsburgh's Primanti Brothers had French Fries in the sandwiches, tasty.

David Wright watches on Deck as Daniel Murphy strokes a base hit. Alas, neither one of them can provide bullpen relief.

Brian and Bridget, as she calculates the drive to Wisconsin

After the game we were both excited and intimidated by the 9 hour drive to Milwaukee. With much enthusiasm we peaced out of Pittsburgh, with Ohio on our minds. The only way to describe this drive was that we hauled ass!! Props to Brian who spent the majority of the time behind the wheel. Ethan was psyched to rock out to Bruce Springsteen's "Youngstown" as we passed through Youngstown, OH. The jewel of the ride was the beautiful sunset we were treated to in Indiana as we chased the sun westward.

Indiana Sunset

No need for Bridget until we hit Chicago. After 7 hours of rural highway, the lights, cars, and width of the highway in Chicago was a bit overstimulating. "We shall return to this place" we said as we zipped through listening carefully to Brig. Regarding our portable electronic friend We forgot to mention that we actually gave her the name Bridget. Before she was simply a friendly voice from the Navigon's company product. To us she is "Bridget the Navigon" master of driving directions, except for when she told us to make a U-turn a few miles north of Chicago. Ethan noticed a hint of snootiness on her part when he busted out the road atlas. She will rest, as there is no driving tomorrow, Thank goodness

Upon our arrival in Milwaukee we were a tad delirious, but well aware of what we just did. We checked in to our hotel and promptly ordered 4 beers, 2 Miller Lites, and 2 Miller High Lifes, ah the champagne of beers, We are definitely in Milwaukee, Hell yeah!

The Hyatt Milwaukee. Ethan ponders "Did we really just drive here from Pittsburgh?" Brian is loopy.

good night.

steel city loungin'

So you've decided to read on, We were thinking that this blog would not only tell you about our trip, but would also serve as a distraction for those looking for something to be distracted while at work. For those that are on vacation as well, good for you, and for those who we'll see at the end of the week, word.......... we are in Pittsburgh, good to be here.

We pulled into Pittsburgh this afternoon. We had a splendid drive through PA weaving around and under various mountains.

We drove up Mt. Washington to get a great birds eye view of downtown, and the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahella rivers forming the Ohio. We took some photos at the Duquesne Incline. We drove around hunting for this hot dog joint where they proceeded to serve us an unusually large plate of french fries, tasty. Ethan then realized it was the second night in a row that he had eaten sauerkraut,

One of the more amusing aspects of the day was our introduction and familiarization with Bridget. Bridget is the lovely voice of Brian's recently purchased portable GPS navigation device. Bridget knows her shit! She is quite confident and direct with her instructions. She was most helpful this evening when driving in and around various Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Tonight we shall satisfy her desire for a fully charged battery. Man, she really knows how to satellite. Thanks Brig, we'll need you tomorrow.

Oh yeah, tomorrow we go see the Mets play the Pirates at PNC Park. Immediately after the game we peace out and drive to Milwaukee, the good land..........

"View from Duquesne Incline"

"Ethan whispers in the ear of the Native man I once looked like you, don't listen to whitey, he wants your land."

"Brian whispers in George W's ear; I was president of Pi Kappa Alpha"

Hello

Welcome. We've decided to blog. We being Brian and Ethan, and we are going to Iowa. We've decided to blog because we are driving to Iowa. An adventure, a week to get there with multiple stops along the way. Fandiggitytastic!

So we thought we'd document this trip in an effort to amuse ourselves, and perhaps those curious about how we doin and where we at.

We're doing fine, Ethan arrived in the NYC from Boston this evening. Tomorrow we leave for Pittsburgh. Lots of Pennsylvania tomorrow, sweet. goodnight.