Sane Defaults

After having sorted out the hotel stuff and safely stowed the car we landed (har har) at The Flying Saucer. Without doubt the best beer place I've ever been to. Crazy selection, with literally hundreds on tap. Per and me started drinking our way through the 10-15 pale ales on tap. I'd tell you which was best but I honestly can't remember.

I do remember getting to know some of the locals, most interestingly a repo-woman ("I steal cars for a living") and an honest to goodness libertarian. I thought they were only an internet legend.

Trivia And cultural observations

• The flying saucer apparently only employ female waitresses. They wear short skirts, and tops sporting "Beer goddess". It's unclear if this is tacky or awesome. It's not like it's the kind of place you go to oogle waitresses. There was a hooters across the street.
  
• The flying saucer and some other beer places offer memberships and register everything you drink. If you try 200 different beers you get on the wall of fame. All the walls were filled with them.
  
• Event in a place with literally a thousand high quality beers to choose from, some people still buy Michelob ULTRA and bud light. What's wrong with these people?
  

Started the day with proper American breakfast (or so I assume?) from IHOP. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns. The works.

The hotel (another econolodge, next to the IHOP) promised that it was "Minutes from Graceland". I guess even the minutes are bigger in America, as it was closer to 45 of our European minutes.

Pulled up at Graceland and paid our parking blood money, was greeted by a pretty awesome poster.



Another handful of dollars and we were allowed to enter.

The bad: Graceland is probably the most "Tourist machine" event I've ever been to. Lots of people directing, pointing, and making sure we were going the right place and not lingering. The good though was that the tour was really well put together. Came with a pre-recorded tour guide that was informative without going into mad Elvis fanboy territory.

Poor Elvis though. Having your home preserved in the state it was during one of the ugliest decades in modern times. Green shag carpeting on ceiling and floors? Really?








Cultural observations

• Pretty much everywhere we've been, the coffee has been great. Seems like the Americans also like strong filter coffee, like us, even if they ruin it with cream and sugar
  
• What's the deal with shower heads in hotels here? They're screwed in to the wall. How are you supposed to clean those hard to reach places without acrobatics.
  

Day 4 - Blue ridget

Drove towards the apalacian mountains on wednesday to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway. It snakes along the mountains with lots of pretty views:









After the four hours or so it was enough though, so we exited BRPkW at Roanoke. To compensate for all the nature we went to Wal Mart to stock up. I was not aware one could get pre-cooked bacon and pretzel logs in 5kg cans. America, I salute you!

Ended up eating up another few hundred miles, heading towards Nashville, the destination for day four.

After New Jersey we set a course for where the Blue Ridge Parkway starts. It's a scenic route through a national park along the Appalachians that was recommended by a colleague

In other words, the rest of Tuesday was spent on the road along I95, I66 and I81. Turns out the car is awesome. A sticker on it claims it's a "4 door sports car". Seems pretty accurate

Had dinner at a road side place which had a "Roy Rogers" eatery. If you just thought this sounds tacky and horrible, you were pretty spot on.

After crossing New York state, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington DC (This was a bug, the GPS lady confused me) we ended up in Virgina. Pulled up at a Days In motel, just after midnight. Incidentally that's the cutoff for when you're not allowed to sell beer in Virginia. Doh.

The reception lady was pleasant and helpful, but as we discovered she assumed that when we asked for lodging for four people it would be acceptable to get a single room with two queen size beds. We're four people traveling, two girls and two guys, no couples. This room arrangement is not ideal.. Anyway, it was cheep and we were too tired to go down and argue. The plan for tomorrow is that Per and me go to reception, as presumably they wont assume we're a couple. Also, do couples usually enjoy sharing rooms with other couples? It seems like an odd arrangement.

In the morning the had one of the wolds crappiest "continental breakfasts". It's uncertain which continent this was supposed to be. At least they had a pool, so we could kick of the day with a swim. Will try another motel chain tomorrow.

Cultural observations and trivia

• Toilet paper in the US seems to be about half the thickness of Norwegian toilet paper.
  
• We've been trying to determine when to "Mrs" and when to "Ms". Seems to differ between states and the person you ask. Today's person claimed you use "Ms" about anyone that might be able to hurt you.
  

Time difference meant we got to bed early and woke up early. Per and me walked out to explore around 8 o clock and ended up getting breakfast subs at place I think was Cuban, on the corner before Central park. Ate and drank on a bench in the park watching ducks and joggers. Excellent breakfast!

Cultural observations:

• A 5 dollar sub can apparently mean three different kinds of meat with melted cheese. They're awesome and you don't have to eat for the next 6 hours.
  
• All of us were ordering black coffee. Seems like using no cream or sugar is weird in Harlem, because people kept asking if we really meant it.