7/24/16, “A
Very Iconic Day”
Charleston,
West Virginia
This is a
completely unremarkable vista in every way.
In fact, if it were not for the building located a mile behind me, of
which there are only 55 other similar buildings in the country, this would be a
completely unremarkable dateline. Of
those 56 buildings, I have been to 33 of them, when we drive to the one behind
us in the morning, it will bring my count to 34. It is also the closest such building to my
home that I have yet to visit. I believe
that my reader should realize that I mean our countries capitol buildings. The national Capitol in Washington, along
with the 55 state and territorial capital buildings spread across the
country. Within a few years, I will have
visited all of them.
That is the only
reason we are spending tonight in this very boring city called Charleston,
unlike its far more fascinating twin in South Carolina. However, the rest of the day was far more
interesting than this boring vista of I-64.
In all, as planned, it was a very iconic day, though it was also a very
stressful day. It is very hard
travelling with any kind of schedule with more than two people. I have learned that the hard way far too many
times. Dutch time multiplies
exponentially with more than two people.
It is just very near unworkable.
After I closed last night, I headed up to the room and was soon asleep,
only to be woken at 5 AM by one my friends’ work associates calling about some
autographing tip. That fucked up my
sleep, making it difficult for me to get back to sleep, causing me to oversleep
by half an hour. We were on a tight
schedule, and every minute counted. We
needed to get to West Virginia for dinner, to their “most iconic restaurant” (a
drive-in), before it closed at 10 PM.
This would be a tight schedule.
We got ready, and we were out the door around 8 AM, heading straight to
Strip District for breakfast.
We would
begin the day with breakfast at Pennsylvania’s most iconic restaurant and end
it with dinner at West Virginia’s most iconic restaurant. These were the type of places that Anthony
Bourdain would eat at or would be featured on such shows as “Diners, Dives, and
Drive-Ins”. When Stu and I started
travelling together, I would want to go the restaurant with the highest rating
on TripAdvisor or Zagat’s.
Now, it’s
become this list courtesy of Thrillist (https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/most-famous-restaurants-in-america-iconic-restaurants-in-every-state). I have now eaten at 18 of the 51 restaurants
on this list, and I will be going to the one in Texas with my mother in
October. It is an incredible list, and I
hope to visit all 51 eventually. I also
just learned that there is now a list for all EU countries. That is dangerous knowledge to have. I am pleased to say that I had one of the
best meals of my life at the United Kingdom’s entry on that list: Dinner by
Heston Blumenthal.
Crap, it is 1 AM, and
I am dead tired, and I have still not even recounted my breakfast. We made our way to DeLuca’s Diner, situated
in the heart of the Strip District, surrounded by souvenir shops. There was a bit of a line, but it was worth
it. I got their famous mixed grill,
consisting of steak, eggs, potatoes, and vegetables, along with some toasted Italian
bread and coffee in a keepsake mug. It
was delicious.
After breakfast, we
walked to Pittsburgh’s most famous cigar shop, Leaf and Bean, which had a very
disappointing selection of cigars. I
opted for an Ashton Symmetry (the leaf) and more coffee (the bean). We found a picture of Reagan with the words
that Trump has taken to repeating: “Let’s make America great again.” Reagan did it, and I have the utmost faith in
Trump’s ability to do it again. In 1984,
it was morning in America again.
Thursday night, Trump gave what has been called his “Midnight in America”
speech at the convention. I only hope
that, in 2020, it will be morning in America again.
We took a ceremonial picture outside and got
some souvenirs before heading to famous, historic Point State Park, which
housed a fort from the French and Indian Wars (fought against the French and
the Indians, not fought between the French and the Indians). It was located at the forks of the Ohio
River, the famed Three Rivers point. We
saw Heinz Field and PNC Park across the river.
We were in a rush at this point, already an hour behind schedule, and
made our way to Kennywood.
Stu had
arranged for a guided tour of the park, which expedited us through the first
few rides. This is one of America’s
oldest amusement parks with many rides almost a hundred years old. It is, of course, a National Historic
Landmark, so I finished my cigar outside the entrance for a ceremonial
picture. We enjoyed the first few rides
before our guide left us. It was past 1
PM by the time we finished all the roller coasters, and Stu still wanted to do
four more water rides.
I had hoped to be
out of the park by 2 PM, 3 PM at the lastest.
That no longer seemed an option.
We could leave at 5 PM and still make dinner in time, but that was even
starting to look unlikely, and I wanted to stop at the high school from “Perks
of Being a Wallflower” and at Fallingwater, too, which required the 3 PM
departure. I asked him to give up one of
the water rides. He refused, the exact
same I would have refused if he told me to give up one of the National Park
Sites tomorrow. We went back to the car
so that I could get my stuff and have a cigar and write my entry while he did
the water rides. First, though, we would
have to try the famous Potato Patch French fries. As what got the fries, something remarkable
happened. A thunderstorm hit. That meant the water rides would be closed
for the rest of the day. Fortunate for
me, devastating for Stu.
Still, somehow,
it was 4:30 PM by the time we left the park, leaving enough time to stop at the
high school from “Perks”, but not enough time to stop at Fallingwater. I suppose I will have to visit it after it
gets it World Heritage Site designation.
I will not go into the details of the drive to Frostop Drive-In in West
Virginia, but we hauled ass for the drive, even breaking 100 at one point for a
short spurt.
We arrived at 9:30 PM. The food was great. I got their famous slaw dogs and homemade
root beer in a frosted mug, chased by an ice cream. She was quite pleased that we had come from
New York for this. After dinner, I gave
Stu the wheel and fell asleep during the short drive to our hotel in
Charleston. We settled in at the hotel,
and I then headed down to the bench outside, where I lit up my Ardor, smoked in
so many famous places across the world, and proceeded to write this entry,
which I will now close so that I can publish and plan our day tomorrow.
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