Hiphopo-potamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Jeff communes with the wildlife in Indianapolis, IN at his Uncle Harry's. Yes, that's a Hiphopo-potamus but alas, no Rhymenoceros... that's in the other crib, 'yo (actually it's downstairs).

He has 50+ animals at his Indy compound.

And yes, that is a camel in the background.

West Virginia and Kentucky

Oops, we forgot West Virginia and Kentucky- two states we drove through on our way to Bloomington.

We stopped in 2 places- The Greenbriar in WV and Homemade Pies and Ice Cream in the 'Ville.

Fun fact - Kentucky produces over 90% of the nation's bourbon (and the US produces most of the world's bourbon).

Click for more pictures of pie and cake.

JSP can't escape Hoosiers, even in Tibet

JSP encounters the ubiquitous driveway equipment of Bloomington, IN - the basketball hoop.

The thing that makes this interesting is that it's located Tibetan Cultural Center. The Dalai Lama's brother lives in Bloomington (seriously). The Lama's sister-in-law has a restaurant there called Django's (at which we ate).

Jin Sun is hoping that the turtle in the road will provide her with total consciousness on her death bed.

Jeff in the Wild Outdoors

Jeff shows off more of his household skills with mowing the lawn in Bloomington, IN. JSP not impressed- neither is Logan.

More Family Fun in Bloomington

Father/Daughter trombone playing.

Why is Megan Balaguras randomly playing the trombone? Because she's 4 1/2.

Why is her father John walking around his sister Jean's house playing the trombone? Because he lost a game of "Screw Your Neighbor" to his teenage niece and nephew (Thomas and Anne) and this was his penalty.

The ladies (Jean, JSP, Anne and Barb) plot their next move...








John modeling his awesome new t-shirt.

Jeff's 20 Year High School Reunion

At Nick's on the eve of the reunion weekend and at Jake's the next night (and a side trip to the Moves in between) - Jeff relives his glory days with old friends.

Click for more pics...

Bloomington, IN - A Few Early Highlights

JSP finds out what meat candy is- mmm...








The Subway that made Jared famous and lowered his BMI.








First night with the family- dinner from Cafe Pizzaria- stromboli and breadsticks included.

Charlottesville, VA

Founding Fathers....Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Balaguras

Thomas Jefferson's Home- Monticello

After 3 attempts, we finally got tickets to the tour of Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello.

It was filled with inventions- favorites were the wine dumbwaiter and the alcove beds.

Beware - the older ladies that work there love to scold people and make you feel like you're in trouble all the time - not sure they've had much customer service experience.


We also went to UVA- the other architectural work by TJ

The Corner- UVA

Jeff samples yet another burger at the awesome college hangout, the White Spot. He went with the plain cheeseburger (as the purist he is) and despite much prodding did not order the GusBurger- Cheeseburger with an egg on top. Gus estimates 1,200 sold on a weekend night between midnight and 3am during the school year.

Click for a picture of Gus...

Logan's Startle Reflex

Jeff's display of domestic skills surprises everyone- especially Logan. Jin Ho calls it a startle reflex.

More Road Food

The Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg, SC.

Pork BBQ sandwich at 10 in the morning... and they had frings! Needless to say, we shared.

Automatic For the People

A quick day trip through Athens, GA to visit some of the famous sites there -

- Sanford Stadium (Between the Hedges - the pics didn't come out that great).
- Athens music scene sites such as the 40 Watt Club, Wuxtry Records and Weaver D's BBQ (inspiration for the R.E.M. album)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Athens,_Georgia
http://www.wuxtryrecords.com/athens.html


Picture below of Talladega Super Speedway. For you NASCAR fans, you'll be happy to know that we passed through Talladega, Martinsville, Rockingham and Charlotte (and were on Dale Earnhart Memorial Highway). We also were on Billy Graham Freeway and Jerry Falwell Highways at various times. No kidding.

Road Food in Atlanta, GA

Our first stop in Atlanta, GA was Mary Macs Tea Room, another recommendation from our Road Food bible. Fried chicken, cracklin' cornbread, fried green tomatoes, fried okra and peach cobbler. Yum.









More southern delights at the Flying Biscuit for brunch. They had the best grits.

Special Guests in Atlanta, GA

As a follow up to Mt Rushmore, we went to see the Southern heroes at Stone Mountain. Not as impressive but worthy of a picture and a blog post.







Special guests Brett and Todd in Atlanta, GA.

More Cuisine in New Orleans

We enjoyed Po' Boys at Mothers- JSP went with the Oyester Po' boy and Jeff went with the Ralph (ham, roast beef and debris no dressings).

We also ate at K Paul- Paul Prudhomme's restaurant as well as Mr. B's (A Brennan's establishment). We ate well - Kobe beef brisket, Pasta Jambalaya, Gumbo, and lots of bread pudding.

We finish our night off with a PB and J bar at the Pavillion, washed down with hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream. Can you tell we each gained 5 lbs in New Orleans?

And on our way out. of town... MUFFALETTA!

Alligators and Air Boats in the Bayou

We rode an airboat through the bayou- Barataria Swamplands to be exact. Think Reynolds in "Gator".

We saw numerous alligators of varying sizes- unfortunately, our camera battery died right after the first few pictures.

Otherwise, you would have seen Jeff wrestling a 9 footer and winning!

Alas, we only had pics of this first alligator eating marshmallows.

Essence Music Fest and NOLA

After numerous failed attempts to sample Cajun/Creole cuisine (most places in rural LA closed on Sundays!), we finally make our first successful food stop at NOLA- Emeril's famed restaurant in the French Quarter. Jin Sun had her fourth plate of ribs in less than a week and Jeff had the southern fried chicken. For dessert, the banana cake. Check out the pics- mouthwatering!

Our visit also coincided with the last night of the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Turns out there was quite a lineup for the weekend including Kanye, Chris Rock, MJ Blige, Al Sharpton, Rihanna, Grandmaster Flash, Dr. Bill Cosby, Patty LaBelle, LL Cool J, and many others.

http://www.nola.com/essencefest/






PS JSP recognizes someone from the SF Bay Club.

What to do in Houston on a Sunday morning?

Jeff voluntarily goes to church on Sunday for the first time in his life.  When Jeff decides to go, he goes BIG. He goes to Lakewood Church -  the world's largest Megachurch (holds 16,000).  

Lakewood is located in what used to be the Houston Summit.  That's right, the place where Hakeem, Drexler and the Jet used to play is now a humongous church!

Note:  the church band had a twin guitar attack and a drummer with a double kick drum.  Even with their bad haircuts and church clothes, these guys would crush a band like Coldplay in a battle of the bands competition.

Our Souvlaki is Bigger Than Yours...

The first Greek to hit our stomachs- Niko Niko's in Houston, TX.

More Kick-Ass Austin BBQ- The Salt Lick

Off the beaten path, upon recommendation from newly found Austin friends, was The Salt Lick. It was true Texas BBQ- with tons of smoky flavor and full fat goodness.







LOOK AT THE PIT!

SF crew in Austin, TX

Closing out our time in Austin, TX with a last hurrah at the Belmont.

Good times all around...


P.S. JSP runs into Isobel, a random acquaintance from SF, CA

Will Farrell in Austin- along with a slew of bats

Jin Sun and Will Farrell in Austin on the 4th of July- who knew he liked to hang out on the Congress street bridge?


The batman cometh (check it out!)...

Texans love to be shirtless...

Only after we saw the first few dozen shirtless guys in Dallas/Austin did we realize that shirtless was the new black. We decided we had to document this phenomena so that all of our friends and family could see for themselves.

At Whole Foods, in the elevator-- we saw more than our share of shirtless guys in Texas. As you can see, getting pictures was pretty tricky.

Best BBQ so far...

Rudy's was quite the experience. Want to know what a Cutter Cam is (no Bloomington connection)?.

Click on the link for the before and after pics.


Even though we ordered the brisket and the ribs, we were able to sample almost all the other goodies offered by our friendly host. Mexican Coke, Fresca and Dr. Pepper are standard equipment.

This place is highly recommended.

Whole Foods Mecca

Jin Sun visits her homeland: Whole Foods World Headquarters in Austin, TX.

Vegan bar, nut bar, juice bar, gelato bar, bbq bar, sandwich bar, seafood bar, beer alley, dessert bar, ethnic food bar, you name it, they had a bar for it. If only we had more time...

Austin City Guests

Special guest stars from San Francisco, Shawn Arroyo and Julie Helwig!


Live music on the streets of Austin- check out the 80's hair band. They were actually really good.