When you roll into Atlanta at 3:22 in the morning on account of your DD wanting to avoid Atlanta traffic the next day, and you’re hungry or looking to check something out, there is only one right answer: The Majestic Diner. You never know who you’ll meet, what’ll be going on, or which girl may grab your waiter when you ask to take his picture, but the food is good, the people are friendly and there is always a story to be told.
Nashville’s Centennial Park, crowned by a replica of the Parthenon, was especially busy for Movies In the Park. We checked out The Wizard of Oz with the rest of town before heading to the West End for some live music and festive, Nashville-style good times.
We came to see the greatest of all time, but his museum was mostly closed for renovations, so we checked out the gallery of him and were politely told – as if they expected us to just do it – that we could not sit in the champ’s Rolls Royce. Just up the street we checked out Louisville’s other favorite son, the Louisville Slugger, to see how the best bats in the majors are built.
Taste of Chicago is officially in Grant Park but it felt citywide to us. We made friends with a bunch of cops (remember, local is always the right answer) who happily told us everything we had to try and from which vendor: sausages, pizza, cheesecake, beef sandwiches – in no particular order but always with …
The Hawkeyes take pride in having one of the best writing programs in the country, which came up often in chatting with our friend and host Dan. We picked up some books for the road at Prairie Lights, the town’s favorite bookstore, before playing a couple games of pool with the College World Series on in the background. En route to Chicago we stopped at the World’s Largest Truckstop, Iowa 80, an adventure unto itself for its sheer size and the people you’ll meet (and road stories you’ll hear over lunch).
From Henny at cache@goruck.com: GORUCK – I hiked up Pikes Peak with a couple group guys after we saw your adventure on the blog. We fought over the tactical hat but I won! Thanks, Henny
