A Trip Down South - Tega Cay

From Philadelphia we took the scenic route to Tega Cay, home of Sand Gnats. It's also where my brother lives with his wife and three kids. We went to see the Sand Gnats, but it was also nice to see family.

Tega Cay, in South Carolina but just south of Charlotte, North Carolina, dates back to 1972, when a young man named Tega Cay sought the freedom to settle a new town and name it after himself.

OK, now that all the nonsense is out of the way, the rest of this post will be dedicated to truth, though you might not believe all of it. First the stuff that's easy to believe...

We had an excellent time catching up with Chris, Jan, Mike, CJ, Katie and Luke. We only had three nights, but we made the most of it, except when Dana went to get her hair done at the Steel Magnolia place. Aside from going to watch Michael & CJ's Little League team, the Sand Gnats, we just hung around, catching up. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of the baseball game - it was semi-dark and raining - but I did get a few shots of Mike & CJ with their parakeet, Luke.

Perhaps it's a result of all the traveling I've done lately, but the camera stayed hidden in my pocket most of the visit... until we came across fearsome goats and an abandoned Christian amusement park. We didn't find the goats to be particularly scary, but a warning sign kept us at a distance. This was a nice lunch spot where we also took a look at the Reverend Billy Graham's grandfather's cabin. It was closed, so we ate our Subway sandwiches on the porch.

Afterwards, Chris took us on a drive to the ruins of Heritage USA. This Christian-themed amusement park was, in the mid-80s, the 3rd largest amusement park in the country after Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker built it, along with a massive hotel, on the grounds of their church/business. This was not a very successful long-term venture for Jim Bakker. He accepted $1000 donations in exchange for a 4 day stay at the hotel. He didn't do the math and there were not enough rooms for all the people who had donated. After a lawsuit, those who donated $1000 received a refund of $6.54. This and the affair with his secretary Jessica Hahn, among other things, led to the demise of Heritage USA. He sold it to Jerry Falwell. You may remember Jerry Falwell as the class act who said the gays, lesbians, pagans, and others helped bring the September 11th upon us. Here's a silly photo of him on the water slide Typhoon, fully dressed. Let's laugh at him.

Somehow I managed to fit my brother, Billy Graham, Jim Bakker, Jerry Falwell, killer goats and a water slide all in the same post. Thanks to a trip to South Carolina.

More photos here. And if you want to see more photos of Heritage USA, this site has lots of great shots of the place in its heyday and after it fell into disrepair but before they dismantled most of it. The photographer even made it up to the higher floors of the hotel before being chased by security guards.

Antwerpen

I was with great difficulty that Dana and I arrived in the last city of our Big Trip. The train ride from Brugge should have been an easy one, but somewhere a train was out of service and we had to connect through Brussels. The 70 minute trip took 200 minutes. Still, the trains were clean, if ill-directed, and arriving at Antwerpen Central Station was an excellent introduction to the city. The massive glass structure makes me think of what Penn Station in New York looked like before it was destroyed to make room for Madison Square Garden. Antwerpen-Centraal, designed by Louis Delacenserie, was completed in 1905, and nearly destroyed 10 years ago. Thankfully, the citizens argues for its restoration instead.

We walked along the main shopping street, Meir, to our lunch destination: Grand Cafe Horta. This restaurant was built in the style of the famous Belgian, art nouveau architect Victor Horta. The structure is from a building built by Horta and rescued from demolition in Brussels. It's worth a stop for both the food and atmosphere.

Our hotel was easy to find, directly across the street from the Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) in the Grote Markt. The room was noteworthy for two other features: no door to the bathroom and a tiny photo of a baby taped to the wall. These bizarre details are consistent with many of the bizarre details of the city itself. A few examples:

• Small buildings have been built onto the side of the cathedral. Look at the McDonald's here.
• The city's name comes from the Dutch for "hand thrown" because the town's hero, Silvius Brabo, cut the hand off the giant Antigoon and threw it into the Scheldt River.
• Brabo is memorialized in several parts of the city, most notably Brabo Statue in front of City Hall. The statue is a fountain and water spews from the severed hand as well as the arm of the vanquished giant. (The water was turned off when we were there.)

Antwerp is also home to several interesting watering holes:

• De Vagant is a cafe that serves hundreds of varieties of jenever, a juniper-flavored liquor that is the predecessor to gin. Dana and I both enjoyed what we tried, and the staff was very helpful. A very interesting spot and a perfect refuge from the pouring rain.
• 't Miniatuurke is the smallest and most friendly bar I have even been in. It's two stories, and each level could hold about eight people. We chatted with the regulars for a long time before one them directed us to an ATM and a good spot to get mussels. One wall was lined with caricatures of younger versions of the locals we were speaking with.
• As I sat in Oud Arsenaal, and the locals went in or out, it felt like I was watching a play. The bar was a perfect set, with it's tiled floors and antique beer signs and jar of boiled eggs. On top of the interesting character, the place has an exceptional beer list.

During our last full day in Belgium, we visited the home of Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp. Raised in Antwerpen from when he was 12, he traveled to Italy to study and returned with first-hand knowledge of what the Italian masters were doing. His home, now the Rubenshuis museum, contains much of his artwork (or replicas), and an audio guide explains his life, his artwork and the building itself. As impressive as the paintings and sculptures are, the architecture of his home and the garden in the back are equally so. After he purchased the house, he built a new building, connected to the old by a gate and hallway, in the modern fashion - baroque. Standing in the courtyard, visitors can look to one side to see the original 16th century residence, then to the other to see Rubens's addition, which he used as a studio. The result is fantastic. The garden is spotted with sculptures and interesting plants. A must visit if you are in Anterpen.

The last gallery of photos from the Big Trip.

Whatever?

While visiting Singapore, I came across a bright yellow canned soft drink called "Whatever" and curiosity got the best of me. There was nothing on the can indicating what might be inside of it. Nowhere could be found the words "cola", "tea" or even "blue blast". I don't remember exactly what the beverage tasted like, and I suppose I never will. The non-carbonated drinks, as well as the carbonated sister drink "Anything", are intentionally sold as questionable products. It's a game of chance. A sort of Russian roulette with soda. Anything could be Cola, Cola with Lemon, Apple, Fizz Up, Cloudy Lemon or Root Beer. Whatever could be Ice Lemon Tea, Peach Tea, Jasmine Green Tea, White Grape Tea, Apple Tea or Chrysanthemum Tea.

I respect the fact that the company is admitting to the consumer that s/he will have no idea what s/he will be consuming. It's hardly ground-breaking. This is already the case with hamburger patty meat and sausages. How about we expand it to movie-going experiences? I can see a half-price crap-shoot cinema in the near future. A production company creates 6 films and releases them to select "I Have No Idea" theaters without any promotions. Only after the lights dim and movie has begun will the audience know if they are about to see a comedy, horror or period drama. Potential. This has got potential.

Anything/Whatever site.

A Trip Down South - Philadelphia

From my parents' house we set off for Philadelphia. Dana's aunts have an apartment there, and they were kind enough to let us stay there. I had not been to Philly since I was a young boy. We spent the day brushing up on our American history and seeing old bells and the night enjoying excellent food and beverages. It felt a bit like a school trip with the bonus of beer at the end of the day. And the beer was excellent. My pick would be Monk's: a cozy restaurant with phenomenal Belgian beers to go with the Belgian fare. I had rabbit cooked in Gueuze.

I won't try to sum up all of the American history I re-learned from the knowledgeable National Historic Park rangers, but I will say that it's a lot more complicated than "they declared independence, rang a bell, fought, and wrote the Constitution." It was interesting to hear the rangers give their spin on history, emphasizing one thing or another based on if they preferred Jefferson or Adams. They felt so strongly about it that you would have thought they were talking about Bush and Gore!

Here are some photos from Philly. Unfortunately I did not get a snap of the man drinking a Starbucks coffee while going for a ride in a horse-and-buggy. I did get a shot of Rubber Band Man.

In Bruges/In Brugge

Brugge (Bruges in French) is the capitol of West Flanders, so it seems appropriate to me to use the Dutch spelling here. And although you can't hear my mind as I type this, my head is also pronouncing it in Dutch. I'm sure it's as bad as my spoken pronunciation of the word.

Brugge is a gorgeous place to visit. The canals cover so much land that it's quicker to get around by boat than by car. Theoretically, that is. I didn't see too many boats that were not tour boats, and they don't stop just anywhere, no matter how much you try to pay them, or how badly you have to pee.

This got me thinking about opening up a water taxi service in Brugge. Dana and I had some good, even revolutionary ideas, and we got to talking about them enthusiastically in a backstreet pub. But then this Flemish tough guy came over to our table. It was clear that he didn't approve, or so we thought, until we realized that he was telling us the dinner specials for the evening.

Brugge has a lovely town square, or Grote Markt, much like Leuven and Brussels, and it has enough bizarre statues to keep it from being ejected from Western Europe, but it also has a bit of Southern Europe and Mediterranean vibe to it. Perhaps this is just because of the canals, but I think it also has to do with the sleepy tourist atmosphere. After over a month without setting foot on a boat, we gave into a boat tour, and it was worth it... but yeah, it felt a bit cheesy at the time. The next day we redeemed ourselves by doing a 9 mile walking tour of obscure architectural wonders, most of which were nowhere near a canal.

The city is absolutely beautiful, and I had a hard time deleting any of the photos from the 24 hours we were there. Even the shots on the boat with the skipper and fellow passengers in the frame... they already feel like bits of nostalgia from a trip to Disneyland... like a Space Mountain (or It's a Small World) through a Flemish town rather than space (or a small world). The difference is that these buildings date back hundred of years, and most people have not been exposed to the unique architecture of this region. Please enjoy the photos of: picturisqué Brugge, you love it, Bruges, to see what I mean.

* As a side note, the city is the site for an upcoming film by Martin McDonagh starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson & Ralph Fiennes. I'm looking forward to seeing how many places I recognize!

** If you ever visit Brugge, go to Hotel Erasmus for dinner at least once. This was probably the best-served meal we had in Europe. The owner cares a great deal about the experience of his customers, and he will also make excellent beer (or wine) recommendations if you ask him.

A Trip Down South - Part 1

After a fairly steady flow of Big Trip entries, I got side-tracked by another trip. This one was not nearly as big, but equally well-earned... at least for one of us. With Dana starting work very soon, we decided to take some time to see some family and friends who live a little farther away than most of our family, but not nearly as far as our Australian friends. And then we threw in two more stops.

Falling squarely in the "not very far away" category would be my parents. However, they live in the direction we were heading, and they were also celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, so a visit was in order. Pat, Jen, Danny & Ciara were also in town, and the little ones are the stars of the photos. It's hard to believe that my parents have been married 40 years. Well, not for me, because my oldest brother is 39. (There is a rumor that my brother was carbon-dated to be 41, but we won't talk about that.) What I mean is that it must be hard for other people to believe it. They don't look old enough! But that's because they were 15 when they were married. Again, I'm kidding. What's true is that both of my parents are very lucky people. We watched clips from their wedding. We flipped through old photo albums. We had a good laugh at some of the clothing, but it's clear that they were very much in love on the day they got married, and things have not changed that much... except for the horn-rimmed glasses.

Employed!!!

No not me. Dana.