A freezing Pennsylvania morning opened with Scuzzlefark rounding the troops up for the impending assault on the battlefield tour of Gettysburg, the largest battle of the US Civil War.
The Roadtrippers, keen to avoid another chain store breakfast, were determined to find a classical diner in the rural United States and were delighted to stumble across Betty’s Country Kitchen in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It was a classic diner that harked back to the days of Twin Peaks.
John Thomas was particularly keen on the biscuits and gravy for breakfast – a particularly unique American breakfast of biscuits (basically a scone) and gravy (a rather nasty concoction of white sauce and sausage chunks). Putting on a brave face and insisting that the meal was quite tasty, JT quickly turned whiter than the sauce and left over half of the congealed mass on the plate. The rest of the group might have given JT a bit of curry over his insistence that he had chosen well but he persisted with his dubious claim.
The Doctor’s choice of blueberry pancakes seemed a safe bet until our hostess Betty indicated that each pancake was ‘the size of a plate’ and were also half an inch thick. Undeterred, the Doctor promptly ordered two of those puppies, didn’t eat hardly any of it and we used the rest as biofuel to power the Truck of Justice on to Washington. Like every other item of food in the US, they were bound to have corn in them.
Next stop Gettysburg.
It is quite clear that at some stage during this trip, each member of the Road Trip We Can Believe In will have what we have named the Andy Williams Moment. Without going into too much detail, there is a scene in The Simpsons when Nelson is determined that on the road trip with the boys that he gets to see Andy Williams live in Atlantic City.
For Skuzzlefark, Gettysburg was his Andy Williams Moment. To the random observer, seeing four blokes follow a guy with an anorak, map and a smile as big as Texas traipse across an ancient battlefield was probably something to behold. But for us it began as a chore rather than a moment to savour. But the cold winds that swept across the grasslands that is America’s bloodiest home soil battle, you could not be taken aback by how over 150,000 Americans slaughtered each other over three bloody days in the name of states rights or civil rights depending on where you hail.
But as pointed out by our resident civil war tragic (Skuzzlefark), the actual fight began when both the Northern and Confederate armies converged on this Pennsylvanian village in search of quality footwear. Little did they know that if they went to the local footlocker store on Main St you could pick up a decent pair of Dunlop Volleys at less than cost - as they had a sale on, - and were happy to take bulk orders.
Post-battlefield, the trippers retreated into Gettysburg town for lunch and were delighted to stumble across the best café we have found so far in the US. Scanning the menu board, The Rabbit managed to embarrass the group by asking, in hushed tones that the entire café could hear, for a chai tea. We seriously thought about leaving him in Gettysburg, gaffa-taped to a streetlamp.
In recognition of the quality of the dining experience, the suitably bemused waitress was presented with an official Aussies for Obama Fair Dinkum Best Meal certificate. The Don, The Doctor and The Rabbit managed to lavish so much praise and attention on her that she said she was “moderately uncomfortable”.
Leaving Gettysburg, the trippers headed straight for Washington DC. Samantha, our GPS guide, brought us into the suburbs easily enough but it turned difficult with roadworks and many roads blocked off due to official convoys that she apparently didn’t know about. DC traffic was the worst we have seen so far and Scuzzlefark was getting a little hot under the collar by the end of the 2nd hour of traffic jams but managed to wake up the crew with a spontaneous u-turn across 3 lanes of traffic to get to the hotel.
A grand day was finished up with an Aussie BBQ in the DC suburbs with some fantastic expats who gave us a great round up of DC, the bizarre governance structure of the DC/Virginia/Maryland dynamic and some good tips on places to check out.
The Roadtrippers, keen to avoid another chain store breakfast, were determined to find a classical diner in the rural United States and were delighted to stumble across Betty’s Country Kitchen in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It was a classic diner that harked back to the days of Twin Peaks.
John Thomas was particularly keen on the biscuits and gravy for breakfast – a particularly unique American breakfast of biscuits (basically a scone) and gravy (a rather nasty concoction of white sauce and sausage chunks). Putting on a brave face and insisting that the meal was quite tasty, JT quickly turned whiter than the sauce and left over half of the congealed mass on the plate. The rest of the group might have given JT a bit of curry over his insistence that he had chosen well but he persisted with his dubious claim.
The Doctor’s choice of blueberry pancakes seemed a safe bet until our hostess Betty indicated that each pancake was ‘the size of a plate’ and were also half an inch thick. Undeterred, the Doctor promptly ordered two of those puppies, didn’t eat hardly any of it and we used the rest as biofuel to power the Truck of Justice on to Washington. Like every other item of food in the US, they were bound to have corn in them.
Next stop Gettysburg.
It is quite clear that at some stage during this trip, each member of the Road Trip We Can Believe In will have what we have named the Andy Williams Moment. Without going into too much detail, there is a scene in The Simpsons when Nelson is determined that on the road trip with the boys that he gets to see Andy Williams live in Atlantic City.
For Skuzzlefark, Gettysburg was his Andy Williams Moment. To the random observer, seeing four blokes follow a guy with an anorak, map and a smile as big as Texas traipse across an ancient battlefield was probably something to behold. But for us it began as a chore rather than a moment to savour. But the cold winds that swept across the grasslands that is America’s bloodiest home soil battle, you could not be taken aback by how over 150,000 Americans slaughtered each other over three bloody days in the name of states rights or civil rights depending on where you hail.
But as pointed out by our resident civil war tragic (Skuzzlefark), the actual fight began when both the Northern and Confederate armies converged on this Pennsylvanian village in search of quality footwear. Little did they know that if they went to the local footlocker store on Main St you could pick up a decent pair of Dunlop Volleys at less than cost - as they had a sale on, - and were happy to take bulk orders.
Post-battlefield, the trippers retreated into Gettysburg town for lunch and were delighted to stumble across the best café we have found so far in the US. Scanning the menu board, The Rabbit managed to embarrass the group by asking, in hushed tones that the entire café could hear, for a chai tea. We seriously thought about leaving him in Gettysburg, gaffa-taped to a streetlamp.
In recognition of the quality of the dining experience, the suitably bemused waitress was presented with an official Aussies for Obama Fair Dinkum Best Meal certificate. The Don, The Doctor and The Rabbit managed to lavish so much praise and attention on her that she said she was “moderately uncomfortable”.
Leaving Gettysburg, the trippers headed straight for Washington DC. Samantha, our GPS guide, brought us into the suburbs easily enough but it turned difficult with roadworks and many roads blocked off due to official convoys that she apparently didn’t know about. DC traffic was the worst we have seen so far and Scuzzlefark was getting a little hot under the collar by the end of the 2nd hour of traffic jams but managed to wake up the crew with a spontaneous u-turn across 3 lanes of traffic to get to the hotel.
A grand day was finished up with an Aussie BBQ in the DC suburbs with some fantastic expats who gave us a great round up of DC, the bizarre governance structure of the DC/Virginia/Maryland dynamic and some good tips on places to check out.
2 comments:
Great stuff lads. Getting increasingly jealous with every read. Keeping us all very entertained back home. From reading the polls, Obamas popularity has increased significantly post your arrival. Coincidence..... I think not.
Still don't know how The Don survived the Bible belt. What a tolerant man you are Stephen!
SPD - the ABC are trying to get in touch, check your email. AB
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