Gained a co-pilot in Asheville: Carol. Then lost one in Greensboro: Matt, who stayed down in North Carolina to celebrate Thanksgiving with his in-laws. Matt put in two strong stints: one back at the beginning, on the Bourbon Trail and then up to Indianapolis; plus here on the southeastern swing, from Little Rock to Nashville to Asheville to Greensboro. Much appreciated.
We closed out our Greensboro visit with an absolutely miraculous 24 hours. I already mentioned
(“Southern Comfort”) seeing an all-time Top-5 concert at the Coliseum on Saturday night: Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, and the Pistol Annies. And then, the icing on the cake on Sunday, at Kickback Jack’s sports bar: I got to watch my J-E-
T-S annihilate the favored Oakland Raiders 34-3 — for the Jets’ third straight win! Their play was so immaculate that even Robby couldn’t find anything to mock. Gang Green actually removed their starting quarterback late in the 4th quarter because of their overwhelming lead. In the past I’ve seen my team bench the QB . . . but always because we were so far behind. Might have to travel down to Greensboro and keep my same seat at Kickback Jack’s for the remainder of the
schedule!
Next stopover was Washington, which featured a rollicking reunion of (mostly-Penn) old friends, followed up by a little D.C. sightseeing. Went with a reco from daughter-in-law Alison to visit the Newseum, dedicated to “understanding the importance of a free press and the
First Amendment” (pretty damn relevant these days, wouldn’t you say?) — and it gets a Beagle Man 5-star review. Passed two hours there, entranced; my max capacity for an indoor museum normally runs about 8 minutes. (Sorry, but this excellent attraction is closing its doors on December 31 of this year. Hurry.)
In my most recent post, I mentioned that after a few fly-and-drive legs earlier in LA/XC-6, the entirety of this current southeastern portion of the journey has been in my trusty Hyundai Tucson rental that I picked up at the Little Rock airport. And that I’m really enjoying locomoting in true Beagle Man style. Well, now I’m gonna go one step further . .
.
It is hereby resolved that last Wednesday’s flight from LaGuardia to Little Rock, with a connection in Atlanta, will go down as my last. And I don’t just mean on LA/XC-6. I mean ever. I HATE AIRPLANES! I HATE AIRPORTS! I HATE AIR TRAVEL! Last week, a super-late United takeoff out of St. Louis for Albuquerque caused me to miss my connection in Denver — after a mile-plus-long mad dash through Denver Airport. My reward for what
turned out to be a three-and-a-half-hour wait for the next flight? A $10 voucher for my airport meal — which barely covered the Buffalo Trace Bourbon I so badly needed. Another delayed takeoff on my LaGuardia-Atlanta-Little Rock (Delta) flight caused a second marathon sprint through the country’s busiest airport — and this with the Air Train out of order, turning the terminal into a madhouse. Just made this connection, though poor Matt had left his bag on the originating flight and therefore had to do his dash twice! I can live very nicely without all this drama. The family, I know, is talking about a trip to Alaska somewhere down the road. I’ll go by train. There’s also been some discussion about a trip to Australia. I’ll swim.
Next up, Delaware — for Thanksgiving with our other set of in-laws!
• Road signs mis-read from afar: (This feature, a favorite of my good friend Sally Jo, was a staple of my previous road trips. I’ve pretty much neglected it this time around. Until now . . .) HANGOVER TAVERN (it was actually “Hanover Tavern,” in Hanover, VA).
LOOK FOR THE FREQUENCY OF BEAGLE MAN POSTS TO PICK UP NOW THAT I’M ON THE ROAD FOR LA/XC-6. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW MY TRAVELS ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM.
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