Truck Rest

Archive for March, 2010

Coming to understand why my mother did what she did was a bigger turning point for me than learning how to drive. It was as important, too, or at least it seemed to serve a very similar function, where I could navigate the world. I don’t know if anyone can ever understand how depression works entirely. There are some things that have to do with brain chemistry , and those are all things that can be dealt with in concrete ways. But there are also those things that have to do with the strange chemistry that happens between people, and that’s another story altogether.

It was not the perfect place to have a revelation of this magnitude, and I doubt most people go to Atlantic City for a moment of illumination, but it happened that way for me. I woke up a little before noon, and had a little coffee before leaving the cool room where I was staying. This was going to be a short day, I remember thinking. It turned out that I’m better off not thinking.

Somewhere between roulette and video poker, I ran into my doppelganger. He was sitting at a table, holding two drinks, watching an older woman yell at a dealer. These are moments when I always get a tightness in my neck, like something springing tightly, and trying desperately not to recoil. They are always so familiar that I get the taste of childhood in my mouth again, the bottle cap candy , cola flavored.

She kept yelling and the man looked down into the drinks. He looked like he wanted those drinks, and more just like them, and that there couldn’t possibly be enough in the world to help the way he was feeling. The dealer, on the other hand, was strange. He had a soft smile on his face that never wavered, and his eyes were not tough, not like everyones’ eyes are tough on the east coast. He was looking at her, and he was listening, and he looked like he might listen all night.

Between the man with the drinks and the dealer I could see myself, and I had a choice on who I could be, and I made a good decision that day.

While you are staying in Charlotte you may want to park the rental car and let the city’s trolley take you around to all the interesting sights to see. The old trolley made it possible for the city to grow in the early neighborhoods. It is still a great way for people of all walks of life to get around the city whether it is to get to work or to just see what is going on around the city. The first incarnation of the trolley was in the early 20th century and this mode of transportation is still thriving today.
If one is visiting the city is it is a fun day to spend with the trolley starting at the new museum that was built in devotion for the trolley and its history. They have a different sort of take on the what the trolley contributed to the city. It was always much more than just a ride to a from somewhere. There was a big social story that went along with the train through all the decades social changes. They like to introduce the cars like they are people. Car #85 is the only original electric trolley car still running today. The city was trying to replace the trolleys with buses and so for a while many of the cars were scrapped. But car #85 was spared because it was sold to the Air National Guard to be used as an office. Then it became a diner during the 1940’s and in the 1950’s it was bought by a Daisy Mae Trapp Moore who was in Huntersville for about 150 dollars who used it to house some some family who didn’t have a home. The inside of the trolley had been obviously changed many times from passenger seating to office desk to kitchen to a three room home.
It is fun to see how this trolley and a couple others were saved and sitting in good condition today. If there is an extra day available while you are staying in a fancy hotel than catch a ride to the Trolley Museum in Charlotte and see how this charming transportation is making a rebound.

The city of Half Moon Bay in northern California is really pushing this green thing. And that’s a good thing. As we’ve all heard, in one capacity or another, going green is the way to go. So here’s how to go green in Half Moon Bay: Start by visiting the Chamber which details unique ecotourism opportunities in the area. A place to stay is the first order of business, then we can move on to the fun stuff.

Would you believe Farmer John really does exist in Half Moon Bay? He and his wife, Eda, own Daylight Farms where they grow a selection of herbs and pumpkins. Eda’s desserts are apparently reason enough to pay a visit. Interestingly, for the past 30 years, Farmer John has supplied flowers for each presidential inauguration. But the pumpkins! Growing pumpkins is a big deal in Half Moon Bay and John and Eda are major contenders. They pride themselves on their pumpkin growing prowess, most recently producing more than 40 of their specialty, the Atlantic Giant (each pumpkin ranging from 250-500 pounds). Visitors who call ahead are generally welcome to join this farm family for dinner. Eda might prepare your freshly-caught salmon and John will discuss any matters of water, land, rural life or government.

Two local wineries score high on the ecotourism card: La Nebbia and Thomas Fogarty. La Nebbia is closer to Half Moon Bay, with their tasting room open from 10am to 5pm daily. Gourmet food products are available to sample and purchase. Dogs are welcome, as long as you clean up after them and don’t let them trample the plants and flowers. Thomas Fogarty is located in Woodside, about an hour’s drive from Half Moon. Burgundian-style pinot noirs and chardonnays are their specialty.

Since we touched on wine, let’s cut the cheese. A tremendous opportunity awaits near Half Moon Bay to visit a cheese farm — specifically, Harley Farms, Inc. Only 16 miles south, in Pescadero, it’s the only remaining dairy farm in San Mateo County. Renowned for their goat cheese, here you have the opportunity to make your own cheese.

Cheese aside, our bellies full, it’s time for whale watching. A year round activity in Half Moon Bay, you are likely to see the gray whale migration from December through May, versus the humpback, blue and/or pilot whales from May through October. Bird watching, fishing and lighthouse tours via boat are also available.

Between the farms, farmer’s markets, wineries and tours available, you won’t find a much better destination for ecotourism than Half Moon Bay, California.

The history of Minneapolis holds a legacy in the mill industry. The Saint Anthony Falls are the only natural powerful water falls on the upper Mississippi River and in the early settlement of the city it was the main attraction for creating the sawmill and flour mill industries. Fort Snelling was the first major military force in the area and acted as the beginning of settlers coming to the area in 1819. The soldiers used this strong river as a power source and as the land in the area opened up settlers arrived into what was originally two cities, Minneapolis and Saint Anthony. Now they are merged together and are often called the twin cities. The saw and flour mill industries really boomed in the early days along with the railroads and the banks.  

There are some interesting historical buildings like the Minneapolis Grain Exchange building still standing but only one large flour company still here, General Mills. While visitors are staying at one of the fine hotels in this diverse city they can visit the Mill City Museum to see an old mill and learn more about the history of the mill industry. The building itself is an old mill that has quiet a story of its own and it is located along Minneapolis’s riverfront which has become a subject of renewal.  

Another interesting place to visit along the riverfront is the Guthrie Theater which is sure to take care of that night life itch you may get when on vacation or a work function. Here visitors can find some grand productions of all sorts of plays and concerts. They also have learning programs for people who live in the area like summer camps for kids and teens and fun acting classes that are about and hour and a half long for your special group that is visiting the area. What a great way to bring out the personality of your team.

Insects in my apartment is a bad thing; however, insects in a museum is a thing of beauty, and the largest museum for insects in the United States may be found in Philadelphia, Pennyslvania, known as the Insectarium . Here, you’ll find a kitchen swarming with cockroaches. The good news is that it’s not your kitchen and the cockroaches, while uncovered, are kept in place by two electric barriers. The museum began in 1992 by Steve Kanya of Steve’s Bug-off Exterminating Company. The museum began small, as a way to display the extermination company’s best weekly catch, which was then displayed in a fish tank in a window. The display proved popular, and Steve turned the top two floors of his building, an old firehouse, into an insect museum.

On the second floor, displays meant to educate you about the insect world are in place. There’s thousands of dead insects pinned inside show boxes. The floor also contains a fully functioning beehive and a live scorpion in a box, which glows in the dark (actually, all scorpions will glow under a black light; in Arizona, where scorpions are abundant, you’ll find “scorpion finding” black light flashlights at some of the convenience stores). The Model Roach Kitchen is a featured attraction, with a sink and counter-tops and cabinets inside plexiglass walls of about five feet in height. It’s here where you’ll be offered the chance to eat beetle larvae with cheddar cheese flavoring.

On the third floor, there’s live exhibits: tarantulas, beetles, stinkbugs, centipedes. Black Widow spiders and bird-eating spiders from Ecuador. You’ll even find a table where you might pet the creatures. You can actually stroke the back of a Madagascar hissing cockroach and a whip-tail scorpion; although, the name alone, whip-tail, might give you pause.

Philadelphia has a number of attractions for any visitor, such as Independence Hall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art , the Liberty Bell Center, there’s nothing like an Insectarium to make you return to a clean, comfortable room and have a nice warm shower. If you didn’t book a room before your visit, you can do so now at this website .