Back to Reality, Whoop, There Goes Gravity
As soon as the tires of our 2004 Toyota Corolla skidded onto the New Jersey Turnpike, a strange sinking feeling fell upon us. Suddenly, images of strip malls, Bon Jovi, power plants, Tony Soprano and jug handles flashed before our eyes. We were back in the United Suburbs of New Jersey and it was, well, depressing and amazing at the same time.
We were excited to hit up our favorite restaurants, see Nick’s parents, our cat, and our friends and be in one place longer than 3 days. But at the same time, our 3 month long journey into the wild was over. Null and void. Dunzo. Kaputz. And that was very sad. It was time to start thinking about jobs, money, holiday gifts, etc. instead of just where we were going to sleep the next night.
Our first stop back in the NJ was our friend, Jeff’s, new town home in Bordentown, NJ. Since Jeff can’t drive further North than exit 9 on the Turnpike, we knew this would be the only time we would be able to see him until we are all old and wrinkly. It was great to see Jeff and Liz and their animals, including the turkey they had cooked for our arrival. Actually, to be fair, we sprung our visit on them and they had already made the turkey for themselves, so we ate their cat instead. Jeff and Liz, thanks for the Reese’s!!
Next and last stop on this odyssey was at Nick’s parent’s house in Cranford, NJ, where we would be staying for the next month before we move to….. stay tuned for the answer! Back in Jersey, we unpacked the car, ate some of Nick’s mom’s famous rubber cake (it sounds bad, but tastes really good), picked up our feline friend Computer (thanks again Pulia! We still owe you big time), drove to Delaware to get Nick’s brother Andy from college twice (along with veggie turkey subs from Capriotti’s each time), celebrated with some friends, and for the first time in 3 months, fell asleep worrying.
I've Got Two Tickets to Paradise...But It's Cold and Cloudy There
Our last overnight stop of our 3 month long journey was in Virginia Beach, VA, at a nice Bed & Breakfast called Barclay Cottage. We were greeted by the smell of the salty Atlantic and a tour of the inn from our gracious innkeepers. We stayed in the Lighthouse Room…a room that was filled with even more lighthouse paraphernalia than my mom has. Pretty amazing.
After we settled in, we headed out to seafood restaurant, Taotog’s, for some dinner. We had a mediocre crabcake and tuna melt and some pretty good wine. Then, we walked it off on our way back to the inn (stopping only for trashy gossip magazines to get us back “in the loop”). Then, it was off to bed.
The next morning, we were drawn out of the bedroom by the wonderful aroma of breakfast cooking. We sat down to coffee, sugared apples, muffins, eggs, veggie sausage and potatoes. Way more than I could eat that early, but still very delicious. We also met a nice older couple who eloped in Jamaica and urged us to do the same.
After our gluttonous meal, we drove north over the amazing Chesapeake Bay Bridge and then into Delaware for a delicious veggie turkey sub at Capriotti’s. Next on our agenda was a stop at Dogfish Head Brewery. We arrived about a half hour before the tour and walked into a huge warehouse with no signs of life…until a guy walked in and we asked if they were doing a tour. “Yeah,” was the reply and that was it.
We waited around and finally, the tour started. The tour itself was probably 8 minutes long with some beer samples at the end. The samples were, of course, the best part. Though buying the beer at the brewery was way more expensive than buying it at a beer store…weird. I was the designated driver so I only tried a couple of the tame beers while Nick got loaded. Haha.
Mostly, we spent this last day thinking about the fact that our trip was basically over. We seriously could not believe it. Before we left, three months seemed like it was going to be a really long time. But we were realizing that, although it was an amazing trip, three months is really not a long time to see an entire country. And with a strange mixture of homesickness and the sadness that snapping back into reality creates, we headed into New Jersey.
Asheville, Not Nashville
The furthest west we decided to stray on our way back up the East Coast was to a cute little Appalachian mountain town…Asheville, North Carolina. We had read about Asheville a bunch before heading there. One article voted Asheville the most veg friendly small city in the US. We were pumped.
As we drove North from Charleston, we noticed the fall colors and the changing landscape. It was pretty pretty…up until we actually got to Asheville where it was frigid and snowing and we remembered that winter was upon us. After sitting in the car for a few minutes, we mustered up the courage to brave the cold and ran to the first veggie restaurant on our Asheville list, The Laughing Seed.
I ordered some Yerba Mate to warm me up and Nick ordered some coffee. Then, I opted for a fake sloppy Joe and Nick got a tropical seitan creation. Both were delicious but a little spicy. So it goes. The last course was a yummy vegan mint chocolate cake that defied both of our expectations.
After dinner, we headed to our Couchsurfing host’s lovely log home. Unfortunately, our host, Chall, was sick that evening and his girlfriend, Lucia, was working late so we chatted for a bit and then all headed to bed. The next morning, we bundled up for the freezing temperatures and headed out for a cup of coffee and sweet potato scone. Then, warm and satiated, we stopped at the local food co-op to look around.
Next it was time for us to check out what the downtown was all about. We popped in and out of stores, warming up just a little in each one. Then, it was time for lunch. We ate at another veggie place called Rosetta’s Kitchen. We split a veggie Reuben and sweet potato fries. I guess sweet potatoes were the theme that day.
In the evening, we met Chall at the movie theater to see Lars and the Real Girl, a movie that didn’t look too promising, but ended being really good. Then it was off to a local bar for some beer, billiards and darts. Nick and I shared a delicious Gingerbread beer and tried not to hit anyone with our darts. (Actually, Nick is pretty good at both darts and pool…I knew I picked a winner.) When everyone got tired of watching me scratch, we headed back to the house for our respective beauty rests.
The next morning, we bid farewell to Lucia and Papa (their super cute doggy). We had already said goodbye to Chall who had to work early that morning. It was so much fun staying with them in their cozy library of books…I was even able to bring one home with me. Thanks for everything, Lucia and Chall!
From there, we headed to Sunny Point Cafe for a gigantic and very delicious brunch. Nick had huevos rancheros with veggie chorizo and I had an egg and tofu bacon croissant. And we both indulged in the endless supply of coffee. After our hearty breakfast, we took a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping at a great Folk Art Center on the way. The Parkway was beautiful though we couldn’t go very far because they had closed part of it for construction that day. We were there after peak leave color season, but it was still very vibrant.
Then, we stopped at a cafe for some, you guessed it, coffee…and WIFI, of course. Finally, it was over to Keith and Laura’s place. They were our second couchsurfing hosts in Asheville since Chall and Lucia could originally only host us for two nights and we wanted to see more of the city.
We were warmly greeted by Keith and Laura and clicked with them right away. We all pitched in to help with dinner (mini eggplant pizzas and risotto). YUM! Then, we headed out to see Keith play some tunes at the Root Bar, a bar with a fantastic beer selection. Nick, of course, loved it. The bar is famous for Root Ball, a game that was created there and then patented. Sadly, it was too cold to play. We played some games of pool, one we actually won, and then headed back to Keith and Laura’s cute apartment.
We found ourselves up late chatting with our hosts (who are soon setting out on their own longer version of our trip). We made sure to give them pointers on how to avoid hitting deer, national parks to see and other road trip ideas. We hope they have an amazing time on their journey…and we hope they will visit along the way.
The next morning, we were off early, headed towards Virginia Beach for a night before our trek back to the NJ. We were so fortunate to have met such amazing people in Asheville. We hope Keith, Laura, Chall and Lucia will visit us wherever we end up!
