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Travel Log

A Waterfall in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Biltmore Park and the Blue Ridge Mountains

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Riding the Blue Ridge Parkway – Travel log no. 7

After a short night of sleep my host took me out to the Biltmore park. It is a huge property designed by the Frederick Law Olmsted, the same guy who also designed the Central Park in New York City. The previous owners the Biltmore’s were pioneers in the railway industry. You can see how much money they made by the size of their “house” and the landscaping of the property. It was nice to check out the different plants and flowers even though most of them were not blooming yet.

Biltmore Park, Asheville, North Carolina
The house of the Biltmore’s.

Afterwards I drove off south to check out the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s a scenic drive through the Blue Ridge or Smoky Mountains. I was pretty lucky because the parkway drive just opened again, which is pretty early for a season start. The landscape and mountains were really impressive. See for yourself on the picture below:

Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains Parkway Drive

Along the road I came over a beautiful water fall the Looking Glas Waterfall which you can see as a title picture. Unfortunately it started to rain, so I drove back downtown and worked out. That night we came together with some of John’s friends and we had good food and laughter. Today the weather is much better, so I am excited to take the Blue Ridge Parkway up north.

Jack Daniels Distillery

Jack Daniels and the Smoky Mountains

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Riding through the Smoky’s at night – Travel log no. 6

I woke up relatively late that day around 10 am, which was fatal as you will read later on. First I explored Nashville a little bit. On Broadway I visited Tootsies, one of the most famous bars. The Broadway is known for it’s Country music bars. Many of the big stars like Jonny Cash and Taylor Swift became famous here.

Broadway - Nashville, Tennessee
The Broadway in Nashville is known for is country scene.

Live Music is performed here night and day even Monday Morning at 11 am. Nobody wants to miss out the chance to become the next Taylor Swift. Although the audience is pretty scarce at least so early during the weekdays.

Tootsies bar, Nashville, Tennesee
Tootsies 11 am Monday morning.

After dropping some compassion quarters in the tip boxes of the musicians I drove off to the Jack Daniels distillery. Unfortunately I had to wait an hour for the next tour, so I went to downtown Lynchburg and met a really nice Dutch couple. We had some potato soup at Nina’s. They ended up in the States through horse riding. Nowadays they have their own Lavender farm with bed and breakfast. At 3 pm I started the Angel tour which features a tasting of Jack’s premium brands. The tour was really cool and you get to see all the important places. Did you know that all the whisky is sourced from the single source up in the title picture? The cave provides all the water to produce the most selling Whisky in the world.

In the end of the tour you finally get to taste the Whisky in a Barrel House. The barrels are stored three stores high which was already impressive, but the taste of the Whisky was even better. Even though it’s made with corn.

Whisky Tasting - Jack Daniels
Whisky Tasting in a Barrel House at Jack Daniel’s.

It was 5 pm when the tour ended and I realized in shock that I still had 5 hours drive in front of me. In addition I would loose another hour by transferring into a different time zone. The drive through the Smoky’s was fun though. All the mountain roads were empty and driving through them felt a little like these old 90’s racing games. I probably also drove a little bit too fast from time to time. Bummer though that it was pitch dark and I couldn’t see a thing of the beauty of the mountains. I met up with my host in Asheville at midnight and we had a little midnight snack and roasted a batch of coffee. He is a big coffee enthusiast. Can’t wait to see the Smoky’s during daylight tomorrow!

Smoky Mountains
Driving through the Smoky’s at night.

 

Bell Smith Creek

On the way to Nashville

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Nashville – Travel log no. 5

We started the morning with a last common supper, brunch in Dogtown at Courtesy Diner. The food was good and also cheap. All dishes were around $6 and the place had the atmosphere of an old Hollywood movie diner.

Courtesy Diner
Last Brunch together at Courtesy Diner in Saint Louis.

With a full belly but heavy heart we had to say good bye and go into different directions. I drove off to Nashville, Petr and Anna back to Milwaukee. After two hours ride I stopped to check out the Ferne Clyfe Waterfalls. I was afraid to get stuck, because I had to take a natural way down to the fall which was very steep. It was definitely worth the risk. The Ferne Fall was definitely magical. Nobody else was around and just the sound of falling water was in the air.

Ferne Clyfe Waterfalll
Ferne Clyfe Waterfall

I didn’t expect the landscape of southern Illinois to be that diverse. When I was about to get back on the freeway I saw another sign of the Bell Smith Springs within the Shawnee National forest. So I decided to do another D-tour and to check it out. I came over the Burden falls. After trying to get down to the bottom of the fall I found out why the place is named Burden. The big boulders were hard to climb down from and leaves made it super slippery. Although the view on the fall was definitely worth the risk.

Burden Falls - Shawnee National Forest
Burden Falls

Close to leaving the forest again I came over the Smith Bell Springs. Another place with a mystical atmosphere. I nearly met no other person in the whole forest and the sculptures I came over reminded me a little bit of the Blair Witch Project. I took the title picture on the bottom of the creek.

Finally I made it to Nashville after another 3 hours of car riding. I met up with my host at Edley’s BBQ and we had a Smoky Burger. Afterwards we went to see a soul live band in a bar called 5 spot. The whole crowd was singing and it was a good atmosphere. I am excited to see more of the city in daylight tomorrow!

5Spot - Nashville

Skyline of St. Louis

Mardi Gras in Saint Louis

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Saint Louis – Travel log no. 4

I woke up today at 4:30 am excited to start into my adventure to the first stage Saint Louis being more or less awake. After I brought my last stuff down to the car I had to clean it from snow and ice. Luckily, I had already returned all my winter tools to Walmart on Wednesday, anticipating that they wouldn’t be required anymore. But I managed to get it ready for the trip with Peter’s help. We picked up Anna and left probably one our later than planned. But the street conditions weren’t too bad, although it was windy and snowing.

Car preparation
Getting my car ready and releasing it from the snow 5 am in the morning.

At noon we arrived in Saint Louis where we checked into our hotel on the East Side of the Mississippi and took an Uber to the city center to take part in the Mardi Gras. That’s a French carnival tradition which is especially big in New Orleans but is also celebrated in the former french settlements along the Mississippi. Because we were pretty late we didn’t get to see the parade anymore but we saw some trucks driving off. Luckily the party was just starting to take off.

Mardi Gras Truck - Modified School Bus
Mardi Gras Carnival Truck

The streets were crowded with people dressed up and day drinking. At every corner was live music and everybody had a great time. So we walked down 7th st, partied with the crowd and drank Budweiser out of buckets.

Saint Louis 7th st during Mardi Gras
Saint Louis Mardi Gras on 7th st.

By now we are back at the hotel again. It got really cold as soon as the sun set and most of the people left, most of them pretty drunk. We had a good time, but I also feel super tired because of the previous short nights. I am super excited about my trip now and I am looking forward to tomorrow. Although I will have to say good bye to Petr and Anna. Like the first explorers I will also start my trip from Saint Louis into the West, even though I will do a little D-tour to the Southern East Coast first. I can’t wait to see Nashville tomorrow!

Backpack in MKE

The night before the departure

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Departure – Travel log no. 3

The last week passed by within an instance. On Wednesday I had my say good bye party on the warmest day of the year(70F, 20C) and in the history of temperature measurements in Wisconsin for this time of the year. My friends came over and we had self-made pizza. One of my traditions for many years now. It was good to see most of my friends again before leaving.

Today is already my last day and I still cannot really realize it. At work I treated my co-workers with a Bavarian lunch including Pretzels, self-made Obatzda and NA beer. I think they enjoyed it even though everybody was shy to try the beer in the beginning. I packed all my stuff after work within 4 hours and now I am good to go. The plan is to leave tomorrow by 5 am to Saint Louis to celebrate Mardi Gras. My friends Petr and Anna are going to join me on the first stage of my journey. I can’t wait to finally leave although I feel very vary.  It feels like running on auto-pilot for the past days.

The weather conditions changed dramatically from Wednesday to today. Streets are frozen over and it’s snowing right now and a snow storm is forecasted to hit Wisconsin tomorrow during the day. The right time to leave! Let the adventure begin, thanks Wisconsin for the great time, I will definitely come back!

N Lake Free Way on the Weekend

The last weekend in Milwaukee

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A wrap-up of my last weekend – Travel log no. 2

My departure date is getting closer. I just have one week of work left ahead of me, but my brain still won’t realize that the daily routine will be over on Saturday. My last weekend in Milwaukee was a blast. On Friday I had a casual shootout with my co-workers. Luckily I did win the competition with placing 6 shots in a quarter sized radius. Yes, Americans actually go to the shooting range during lunch break, for team-building purposes of course.

Shooting
Shooting Competition

On Saturday I enjoyed the phenomenal warm weather about 68F(20C). We had Rodizio and drove around the city taking photos. That day I took the following picture which I really like, thanks Jess for modeling!

Enjoying Lake Michigang
Enjoying the last Saturday in Milwaukee on lake Michigan.

I used the Sunday to drive down to Chicago to meet up with my family. We had brunch together and I got to say good bye. It’s crazy that the 1 ½ years really passed by like a whip of the eye. But I am really thankful that I had such great people and family so close to me all the time. My uncle Andy (Great Cousin) got really concerned when I told him that I intend to couch surf during the first part of my trip. He was afraid that I could get locked up in some basement on the way. In case I don’t post anymore for a couple of days. I would appreciate if you would send somebody after me. For my part I am more concerned about boars chasing me through the jungle of Hawaii, but I mean you never know. It’s for sure though that you cannot experience an adventure staying at home and less likely in a hotel, I would say.

For my last days there are still some things to manage. I still don’t have a tenant for my room, I need to get my car checked and most important having my friends over for a last say good bye self-made pizza party.

Some things in life are uncertain, but it’s good to know that there are Friends and Family in the Midwest to return to if things should go down!

FirstPost

First Travel Log Entry in Milwaukee

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Preparing my Adventure – Travel log no. 1

 

My website is ready and my trip is just two weeks away so it is time for my first post within my Travel Log! Right now it’s hard to describe my feelings with words.

On the one hand I know that I have my last work day in two weeks, will vacate my place by then and eventually start my trip. Although now it still feels like my normal life would go on for ever. I am a little bit nervous because there is still many things to organize. Getting a new tenant for my room, trying to sell off my stuff, shipping my clothes back to Europe and after all the question: Will my car make the trip and if so will I be really able to sell it within two weeks in St. Francisco for a good price before flying over to Hawaii?

Nevertheless I will leave many good friends behind. I had a really good second time in Milwaukee and started to call this city my home. On the other hand I figured my trip out now. I know what sites I want to see on the way, what people I want to meet and the route to take. With all the risk I am still super excited about my trip and I can’t wait to get back onto the road again leaving leaving the harsh winter of Wisconsin behind.
After all I will keep my optimism up. No risk no fun, or how Chris Burkhard says:

“The key to anything worth doing is that there has to be some level of uncertainty!”

I hope you will enjoy reading my travel log as a section more posts will come soon. I am planning on posting one travel log every day of my trip including my favorite picture.