Road Trippin' Across Missouri

My past travels took me across the state of Missouri...along the way I made stops in St. Louis, Jefferson City (the state capital), Springfield, and a return trip to St. Louis.

My first trip to St. Louis was a quick one night stay in which I drove through downtown past the arch and Busch Stadium (home of the Cardinals). I drove along the Mississippi River and had my first true experience with Soul-Food. 'Sweetie-Pies' in St. Louis was delicious...friend chicken, rice, mac-n-cheese, and corn bread. The following morning before departing I crossed off the creepy clown's fast food chain off my bucket list...Jack-in-the-Box...which was surprisingly uninspiring.

Even more uninspiring was the state capital of Missouri. The highlight of my trip was a close tie between the steak at Chili's (which was exactly the same as any steak from one of those chain restaurants) and meeting the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Missouri.

Quite contrary to Jefferson City; Springfield was a diamond in the rough. I went in with very low expectations. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was a minor league baseball team based in Springfield, but I had one of the most excellent trips to a bar that I have ever had. Unable to decide on what to eat...we just walked into a steakhouse and winery called Flame. We made our way downstairs to the bar area to find out it was a red-light lounge. They had a live DJ and there was a bevy of dressed up young ladies down stairs. The reason for the favorable audience was "Stiletto Night" a Springfield Thursday Tradition at Flame. The taller the heels the cheaper the martinis for the women. Afterwards we ventured to a few other bars in Springfield which were filled with college-aged people all having a blast. A location I am looking forward to visiting again in the near future...

The following night I made the return trip to St. Louis. Washington St. in downtown St. Louis had a plethora of good bars. It was my final night with the previous demo team, and we had a blast. We hit four bars in St. Louis and enjoy the company of the locals!

It was an adventure waking up the next morning and catching a plane to San Jose...however, I made it safe and sound. A week out on the west-coast before heading home...

Tales From the Windy City

Another weekend has past...and the adventure continues.

First trip to Chicago was an eventful one. It started with my attempt to navigate the 'L' train system lone wolf style to Montrose Beach. After a brief mix-up while switching lines I was back on course. I enjoyed the views of Wrigley Field from the train...before hopping off at my stop for the beach.

I got off the train and started heading for Lake Michigan....I vastly underestimated the size of the "great" lake and found myself on a concrete beach with no sign of Seth (my partner). I meandered along the concrete beach for quite a while. It was so long that I had the privilege of helping a poor old lady who stumbled down the concrete steps (see photos from Chicago). After another mile or so of strolling, and about 5 phone calls with Seth I realized I walked in the wrong direction. I then requested the help of a nice young lady who guided me in the right direction.

Finally, I reached the beach and enjoyed some Coronas and a swim in Lake Michigan. From there we made a beer run and boarded a sailboat in the harbor right outside the Chicago Yacht Club. We kicked it on the boat for several hours and watched fireworks out on Lake Michigan. Afterwards we walked through downtown Chicago and walked past the set of Transformers 3 which was being filmed in Chicago this past weekend.

The following day was spent with some early relaxing and some egg sandwiches from Glenn's Diner (featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives) and then some pre-gaming for the Cubs game. Wrigley was unreal, and it made it better that the Phillies were handed another loss...shouting at Jayson Werth "We Hate Twenty-Eight!" with the Cubs faithful was a blast. From there we met up with some of J.B's (Seth's Brother who lives in Chicago) co-workers. We bounced around Chicago dancing and raging until 4:30 am...lets just say it was a wild evening.

The next day we laid low and hopped on our first conference call. The conference call brought good news...Seth and I will be partners for the first half of the year in the Central Region (stretching from Florida to Minnesota - no Carolinas or Louisiana). This was good news and we celebrated by touring J.B's neighborhood and enjoying the scenery at Bowman's Bar & Grill - great burgers and atmosphere.

I wound up the weekend with a bus/train ride back to the airport where I was picked up by Jermaine (current team member who is training Seth and I). We stopped at a local pizza joint just outside of Chicago. I sampled some Italian Beer - which was delicious - and played some arcades.

All in all; Chicago was a fantastic city and I am looking forward to more trips in the future...final week of shadowing...taking a tour of Missouri this week and then off to San Jose for the final week of training. Looking forward to seeing everyone back home in Virginia...and continuing this crazy adventure with all of you soon!

Photos from Chicago

Downtown Chicago

Chicago Theater

Lake Michigan

Concrete Beach in Chicago

Chicago From A Distance

The Windy City

Sailboat Chilling...

Chicago From Lake Michigan

The Legendary Wrigley Field

Play Ball

Left Field

Wrigley Field Press-box

Right Field

The Infield

Cubs Outfielders

Wrigley Field Street Seats

Cubs v. Phillies

The Cubs Win

I'm Certainly Not In Kansas Anymore...

After leaving Minneapolis, this week was a bit of culture shock so to speak. It started out with a 5 or so hour drive to Council Bluffs, Iowa. On the way we passed some pretty interesting stuff...De Soto, Iowa (aka the birthplace of John Wayne - pilgrims), Drew's Chocolates (random food stop for chocolates), campgrounds & windmills. The hotel was filled with baseball teams who ran around like hyenas on acid. We had a bevy of top-class restaurants to eat at, and chose the classiest "Applebees"... thank goodness we were only stayed there for the evening.

A quick drive across the border took me to Omaha, Nebraska. After my first true day on the job...we packed up and traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska. Drove through Nebraska's campus...and stayed downtown at the Cornhusker, Marriott. I learned a few things from my trip to Lincoln...someone stole all of the sleeves off of their shirts (never seen so many bare arms in my entire life), apparently establishments must denote that you are not allowed to carry firearms inside of them (which I thought was self-explanatory), and Nebraska has some delicious tasting cows (Lazlo's Brewery and Grill had one of the most amazing steaks I have ever tasted - good beer too!).

From there it was off to Kansas City, and my first true experience of no cell phone coverage upon the miles of corn in Nebraska. Kansas City was nice...sampled some true KC Bar-B-Que and won $200 at the casino. The following day I attempted my first presentation and then headed for greener pastures by traveling to Chicago.

Arrived in Chicago late last night, and am about ready to hit the city...until we meet again!

Photos of Minneapolis

Snapshots from Minnesota

Main Entrance to Target Field (new Twins Stadium)

Target Field Plaza

Giant Baseball glove at Target Field

Statue of Joe Mauer/Twins Collage ala Virginia Tech Hokie Birds

random sign at Jimmy John's

Kieran's Irish Pub in Downtown Mnneapolis

Sky-ways in Minneapolis

Street Art on Electrical Boxes

Minneapolis

Crazy Church People Driving Cross-Bearing Truck

1st time in Minnesot-ah

My first true weekend on the road is behind me, and it was an unforgettable one. My partner, Seth, and I flew out to Minneapolis on Saturday morning for shadowing (learning the ins/outs of the NOW Van from a current team member). Seth and I met up with Jermaine and Chris in Minneapolis and we had a blast!

We stayed in the City Center Marriott in downtown Minneapolis. The hotel was amazing...I stayed on the 21st floor of the hotel. After settling in we hit the town. We ate at a local restaurant, Rock Bottom Brewery, and caught the 2nd half of the third place World Cup game. The food was delicious (Pulled Pork BBQ with homemade sauce) and the beer was even better. They only served their in-house brews.

After lunch we walked around the city and explored the Target Center Plaza...which includes the brand new Target Field (see pictures in next post). Unfortunately the Twins were away this past weekend the field looked gorgeous. On our way back to the hotel we popped into Kieran's Irish Pub, and wound up spending the next four hours on the patio drinking Irish beer. I sampled Boddingtons, Smithwicks, and a Cider-Smithwicks Blend.

Late night we hit the clubs and spent most of our time at 'Drink' which was a two-story bar that combined dancing, socializing, pool/foosball, etc. On the way home we had to run several blocks in the pouring rain.

I visited the Mall of America on Sunday (unfortunately the pictures of the amusement were lost on my camera). Yes there is an amusement park in the center of it. It has three/four roller-coasters and a log flume. The food court has everything from McDonalds to Hooters to Bubba Gump Shrimp to Chipotle to Johnny Rockets. It was amazing...they had a full-sized Best Buy, five hat stores and stores dedicated to Socks and Minnesota hockey and two kiosks selling equalizer shirts - shirt stickers that light up and flash with the changing beats of the music (I must admit I bought a heart and lightning bolt). I finished up my weekend by going to see Despicable Me, and it was quite funny and I recommend it to anyone.

It was a great weekend in Minneapolis...the weather was ideal - high of 80 degrees - much better than the heat wave sweeping the east coast and the sub-zero temperatures of Minneapolis most of the year (the city has a set of indoor sky-ways that are used for travelling around the city when its too cold to go outside). The city itself was busy, but not overcrowded like many east coast cities. It was nice to sit outside a bar downtown and just enjoy the day. The locals were all friendly and helpful in finding fun things to do. And one of the most surprising things about Minneapolis was the large quantities of beautiful women...they were everywhere: working at the hotels and bars, walking around the city, out at the clubs, and all over the Mall of America.

so long RTP

sitting in raleigh/Durham international airport waiting to board my plane...had another great week. go-carts, batting cages, and laser tag...it was a pretty sweet team offsite meeting. wrapped up the week with a trip to a sushi bar...tried sake, raw salmon, and some tempuora sushi roll. and then hit the clubs till 3. very attractive ladies out last night.

the photo is of a urinal at the goat (bar by nc state)...just thought a lips urinal was pretty excellent. until next time in Minneapolis...

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Fourth of July

welcome back, I would like to start out by sayin; I hope eveyone enjoyed their holiday weekend...

The 3 day weekend was a great way to finish off the first week of work. Friday evening the team went out for some P.F. Chang's and drinks. I must say it was a first for me dabbling into that brand of restaurant. It was delicious. I also tried a delicious Japanese beer Kirin Ichiban which was quite tasty.

Saturday was much more eventful. Enjoyed watching the Red Fury succeed in its pursuit of world domination at a local bar. Then ventured into downtown Raleigh for the evening. Explored several establishments, and of course broke out the traditonal dance moves. Actually invented some new ones on the spot...the guys got a kick out of it. A video was taking...what else is new lol.

For the fourth we cooked out at a team members house in the area. I learned how to make a delcious mainade...which I will do my best to replicate when I return in a few weeks. After dinner we went out to a dive bar in Raleigh; The Goat is a fairly popular place and it had some great drink specials....so definitely check it out if you ever are in Raleigh.

In addition to getting acquainted with the team I have been trying all types of new things: food, beer, wine, etc. This past weekend I explored the Red Wine world and must say it is delicious. Yellow Tail Shiraz watch out...

Again hope the weekend was spectacular for everyone. I am starting the intense part of training now and am hoping to grasp all this technical jargon. I will be in touch soon with more updates...Minneapolis this Saturday!