The long and winding road...

It was with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to Tara & Lexi this morning. This is how and why:

On Saturday I walked about with Alyssa and Mandy for while whilst Drew went off to do some filming, before heading back to the apartment to do some washing. With washing done, I was just about about to leave to meet Mandy and Alyssa in downtown when Lexi returned and said she's join us too. She then produced from her bag our album, You Dig The Tunnel I'll Hide The Soil. With complete sincerity, this blew my mind. Not only had she bought it from the local record store just around the corner, but they had it in stock, in its own section under the heading Hatcham Social.

We headed downtown, had dinner, a few beers, met Drew, and then returned to the apartment where we met Tara, and then proceeded to have a bit of party, with our album as the backdrop. Truly strange. And amazing.

We got some shut eye and Sunday morning headed to a local diner for breakfast, The Bad Waitress (at Nicollet Ave and 26th). Drew mentioned the possibility of me joining them on the rest of their road trip, and as a big fan of Dave Gorman , I have a policy of not turning down new adventures, so I tentatively said yes, but only if they were sure. We said we'd see how things went and no more was mentioned. Later that evening Matt came by again, and we all decided to go out for a few beers. By then I had also decided that I definitely wanted to join them so accepted their offer. A few went home to sleep but myself, Matt, Drew and Tara stayed out and went bowling. I won both games. GO ENGLAND! (go to http://mattmeadlife.blogspot.com/2010/11/holy-bowly.html to see some great pictures by Matt). We returned home (I just called it home again) and got some sleep, rising at 7am to start our journey. I suddenly realised I didn't really know where we were going. It's now 8pm, and I know exactly where we are. Before I tell that story, I'm going outside to sit by the fire...

New Faces New Stories...

Friday 5th November 2010

Friday morning I was starting to think maybe I should work out my next move. I don't want to outstay my welcome here, although when I broached the subject with Tara and Lexi, they both insisted they were quite happy for me to stay. In fact Tara said she had a surprise for me and we went out for a drive in the afternoon, and she took me the Minnehaha Falls, a small but very pretty stream (well, small river) that led to a Falls, just a 15 minute drive from the apartment. We spent a while meandering around, taking in the fresh (and very crisp) air. Then Tara had to run a few errands and I joined her and then got some food. Later that evening Tara was planning to go a friends gig for whom she was writing the biography for the application to SXSW. I of course accepted the offer to go along, especially as the gig was taking place in the front room of the house the band lived in. We headed down about 8pm, and it really was the most intimate thing I've ever been to. They had literally constructed a very small raised stage in the corner of their front room, they had home made popcorn and apple cider, and when we got there there a solo guy performing. They had fairy lights strewn around the stage and everyone was either sat on the floor watching or sat on sofas and chairs. The main band were called The Royal Engine Company, and I really enjoyed it, although I also thought the very little I saw of the opening guy was very good too. The Royal Engine Company are a sort of upbeat Folk set up, reminding me of Crosby Still & Nash along with The Band. You can hear them at http://www.myspace.com/theroyalenginecompany and I certainly recommend you give them a little listen (plus, if you look at their photos, one is a spitting image of Pete Townsend. Following that we returned to the apartment as Tara had some work to finish and they were expecting some new Couch Surfers, and her friend Matt who has just moved back to Minneapolis but doesn't have a place to stay yet. We were all pretty tired and not particularly looking for a late night. Then the three surfers and Matt arrived. We all sat up chatting. Matt told us of his time in Korea teaching English, whilst Drew was in Minneapolis to film a documentary following a charity who tries to reunite Native American families who were split up as children, whilst he has brought his 2 friends Mandy and Alyssa along for the road trip. I'm constantly amazed by the stories I'm hearing on the road. As the clock struck 3am we decided we should probably go to bed...

Thursday, nothing happened...

Thursday 4th November 2010

I spent the entire afternoon in Tara's coffee shop. Recovering. Drinking Chai Tea. Eating a sandwich from Plan B (they're great, it comes on Pumpernickel bread, with chips, and mini carrots, and a pickle). And meeting two of Tara's friends, Matt & Brian. We talked for ages. About nothing. And everything. In the evening we went to the Walker Arts Centre and looked at more art. Including two naked people sleeping. And a great photo of Niagara Falls. Then we went home (I call it home now) to watch Stardust. I recommended it because Big Fish is one of Tara's favourite films and I thought she'd like it. I think she liked it. I went to bed. And fell asleep. And dreamt of Niagara Falls. I need to start thinking where I might travel next...

Party. Hard.

Wednesday 3rd November 2010

During the day, I visited the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, a vast building covering all sorts, from China, to Africa, to the USA. I spent about 3 hours taking it all in, including a special section on Native Indians. Late afternoon I returned to the apartment, where Tara offered a number of options for the evening's entertainment. I said whatever she wanted to go do was fine with me, and I'd just tag along and take it all in. So that was set, first we were going to the Guthrie Theatre to see some of her friends who were putting on a production of 4 short pieces from George Bernard Shaw plays. We got there just in time, it was very relaxed and I didn't really know what to expect. It turned out to be very good, and of course it was all being done in English accents! I was pleasantly surprised that most of the accents were very accurate, in fact a couple of them I could have sworn were British had I not heard them speak afterwards in clearly American accents.

Following that we headed towards a bar called Cabooze to see a free entry show called The Most Interesting Show In The World. Again, I knew very little about it, and when we got there it was one in one out, and as it was freezing, we went to the bar next door whilst another friend of Tara went into the show to get some free beers for us (the two bars were connected). After a while we gave the main entry another go, and this time we got in. It was basically a cabaret show, and the first act we saw was a scantily dressed woman, singing, and forcing beer down the throat of a random guy picked from the audience. When I say forced the beer, he drank the beer with her foot in his mouth whilst she poured the beer down her thigh. You get the idea. Then Andrew W K came out and did some compering. The next act was a magician. It involved lots (six) of white doves appearing from random bits of mid air. Pretty impressive, but it reminded me slightly of Gob from Arrested Development. However, for his finale, he put all the doves into a cage, covered it, then 'WHOOOSH' out of nowhere a full scale colourful Red White Blue Green parrot appeared. That WAS impressive. By this time I was on my 3rd or 4th free beer (the whole night was sponsored by Dos XX, a Mexican beer company) and enjoying the crazy American atmosphere. Finally, to close the whole show, Andrew W K performed Party Hard live with his band (which I'm pretty sure I have on 7" somewhere). From then on it turned into my first real hazy night of drinking, which continued at a VFW (equivalent to a Working Men's Club, stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars), and then into a bar that was playing Blur as I walked past so I jumped around stupidly excited, and downed a Jameson whisky. This was all walking distance from the apartment, but God knows what time it was when we got back. I didn't surface until 12:30pm the next day. I still need to ask God how Tara made it to work for 9:30am...

strangers in the night...

Tuesday 2nd November 2010

Let me begin by publicly stating that Tara, and her flatmate Lexi, are two of the kindest and warmest people I have ever met. On Monday evening they cooked me dinner and we shared a bottle of wine and discussed all sorts of things. It was the most random and strange evening. I had only just met Lexi, and Tara only 2 days prior, and there we were, having dinner as if we'd been friends for life. We closed the evening with a film, Drop Dead Gorgeous, a dark comedy based in Minnesota, the State within which Minneapolis lies.

On Tuesday I went along to the coffee shop that Tara works in (Uncommon Grounds, 2809 Hennepin Ave), and then went for a long afternoon walk into downtown Minneapolis. I walked down to the Mississippi river (two esses two esses two pees), and popped into a theatre called the Guthrie Theatre, a magnificent building designed by the french architect Jean Nouvel offering magnificent views of the city and river from the yellow tinted windows of its ninth floor.

Mississippi river from the Guthrie Theatre 9th floor

I returned back to the flat at about 6pm and there was another couchsurfer staying the night, from Australia. Just like the night before, I found myself having dinner with relative strangers and discussing all sorts. We went out for a few beers and I got on very well with Amied, Australian born with Afghan heritage. We couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the Jew and the Afghan, both with liberal views, sat discussing life in a Minnesotan bar into the early hours! He has been travelling since August 2009, but will be back in Australia next year, so we will hopefully meet again there. Then, to completely cap the night off, Tara asked the dj if he would play Hatcham Social (expecting him to be clueless as to who we were), instead he replied by saying he didn't have any with him but he'd bring some with next week. To say I was stunned would be a massive understatement. On the way back we got pizza. The shop owner was Polish. The pizza was good. But not as good as what Wednesday night had in store...

the morning after the night before...

Whilst not asleep, I lay in bed for a while. Like a long while. I even stayed laying there, motionless, whilst the cleaners prepared the other now empty beds in the dorm. I surfaced about 1pm, showered, and got myself ready to go out for a stroll and find some food. As I walked into downtown Chicago I thought I'd ring Tara and Dennis. Tara answered and said she'd be making her way into town later and would call me, Dennis didn't answer. I strolled around for a bit, ate, then went to Millennium Park. Tara called and we arranged to meet in the Park.

"So, when are you going back to Minneapolis"?

"Tomorrow morning, 6:30am".

"So, shall I still come to Minneapolis and couchsurf at yours?"

"Yeah, sure".

"So, shall I get the same bus as you?"

"Yeah, OK".

"So, that's cool with you?"

"That's cool with me".

"Cool".

"Cool".

A quick visit to megabus.com and that was that. Completely against my plans to head eastward, I'm now randomly heading west to Minneapolis. Sunday disappears, and before I know it, it's 6:30am and we're sat on a Megabus for our 8 hour journey to Minneapolis. Monday disappears, but Tuesday and Wednesday are to bring more fun to the table...

1227 miles later (part 3)...

...I go from my hostel to the UIC Halstead subway station, get my metro card, and stand waiting for the train. I'm heading to Belmont, so I will need to change from the Blue Line to the Red Line. It's all pretty straight forward and I get to Belmont, google map in hand that I printed at Patsy's. First stop is a liquor store (not an off licence) and they studiously look at my ID (my driving licence). After quite a long wait, he looks at me. "Where's the date of birth?" I point it out and explain that our date of birth is the other way round to theirs (our 15/06/81 should read 06/15/81 over here). He let's me in. I pick up a six pack of PBR's for the amazing price of $4.99, and off I stroll to the house party. There's a sign on the door that says to go down the side to get in. In I walk. There are people in the kitchen, I feel pretty weirded out be the whole experience, I say hi to a few people and explain I'm from the couchsurf website. I speak to a guy called Justin, who I had messaged on the website already. I talk to another girl who says if I speak to enough people I'll find someone to put me up in Chicago. I meet the host of the party, who I had also already previously messaged. I talk to a few other random people. After about 45 minutes I get talking to this girl dressed as Charlie Chaplin, called Tara. I explain what I'm doing, travelling, kind of following the wind, how I was in Chicago for the next two nights but not really sure what after then. She's also couchsurfing, from Minneapolis, but her place fell through at the last minute and so she was hoping to stay at another party somewhere else in Chicago. She tells me I should come to Minneapolis. I say OK. And I meant it. She then says she has to leave to go to this other party at a place she couchsurfed at once before, did I want to go with. I hadn't really been at this party very long so felt it was a bit silly to leave, but something in my head was telling me to go. Why not I thought, jump from party to party, and anyway, Tara was cool. So off we went, meeting her friend Dennis along the way (he was from Pittsburgh, they were meeting in Chicago as a halfway point). Waiting at the Jackson subway station for another train some random guy complemented Tara on her shoes, and before we knew it, he had called over this other guy, and they were dancing together on the platform along to a jazz/blues playing busker. Onwards we went, via a full on brass band outside the next station, and eventually (after a very long walk) reached the destination of the party. It was $5 in, and was pretty much a warehouse space, with arty types who lived upstairs hosting this massive party. With everyone dressed up for Halloween it was pretty spectacular. The party was a party, there was drinking, and dancing, even some transvestites turned up, and in typical party fashion, I eventually got back to my hostel at about 4:30am. I creeped into bed so as to not wake anyone else up, and I then fell asleep, fully clothed. But I did have Dennis and Tara's phone numbers...