The Coffee Bandit

I had (apparently) ambitious plans to write a post for every day of the Anchor House ride this year. As it turns out, when you haven't done much training, you get tired and aimless after riding seventy miles before tea time. Between swimming, Riverhorsing at the Yellow Truck, showering, and going to dinner, I just didn't have enough extended focus to even get a single post up. Allow me to try and summarize. The only thing my great American road trip prepared me for was the six hour bus ride down. Easiest part of the week for me, by far. I chuckled at everyone's complaints. Don't they know six hour car drives are nothing? Hell, I had two bus seats to myself! Straight up lounging! Day 1, on Sunday, was forecasted to be ridiculously hot. We left accordingly, at 6am, and saw the sunrise coming up above the road in the first five miles. Virginia (& Pennsylvania later) are full of rollers, which are short up & down-hills in quick sequence. There's a trick to...

My last two days have felt strangely temporary, as if homeis just another destination of a brief stay. I arrived home Thursday afternoon,and my 41 hours in town have already evaporated. We actually spent a few morehours in New Orleans last weekend than I have at home. Before I knew it, I hadmy duffel bag and backpack packed up again, ready to leave town. This time, I’mleaving on a bus with a few more people. You’ve probably heard of the ride before if you know my Dad,or heard him talk about it for the last decade at St. David’s church. If you’reunaware of the ride or the house, allow me a brief description: the AnchorHouse is a shelter for homeless, runaway, and abused children in the Trentonarea. They provide life saving assistance to young children & adults. Theirservices range from emergency housing, life skills training, and counseling, toname only a few. A huge portion of Anchor House's operating budget comes fromthe funds raised by the riders every year, which is the m...

This article is being written pool side at home, meaning yes: we made it. This is also the first one I'll write that won't be checked by my trusty editor, so hopefully I don't screw up too royally. Our Wednesday morning on July 4th was unlike any other on our road trip. We woke up late, lounging around casually watching Wimbledon, because we were in no rush at all. We planned to leave for Washington DC from Eshani's house around 3pm, which we did right on time. Caught the metro in from Fairfax to Farregut North. Our plan was to grab drinks and appetizers around DC before the fireworks at 9 off the Washington Monument. We stopped in at a few places near DuPont Circle, namely Black Fox, Alero, and Lindy's. We got free chips and salsa at Alero, and some cheap food at Lindy's. We set up our blanket just off the fenced in lawn area on the National Mall. The fireworks were a pretty cool sight to see, especially with the monuments right there. America! After ever...

We woke up kinda early in New Orleans Monday morning, to get a good start on our way to Nashville. Grabbed bagels in the city before departing. We made pretty good time despite missing two interstate ramps and having to backtrack. We arrived in Nashville around 6pm. Clare's friend Lauren had a very nice apartment for us to stay in. We threw a bit of laundry in, and then drove about Nashville. Saw Music Row, Belmont University, and Taylor Swift's house? Went to a great burger/bier garden place called the Pharmacy. From there, we spent the night at a bar called the M. L. Rose. Yesterday, we got up much later than we would have liked at Lauren's. Drove into town and got breakfast at the Pancake Pantry, which was damn delicious. Drive thru Vanderbilt and downtown Nashville before going two hours north to Mammoth Cave, arriving at 12:30pm. Our late start meant we missed the cool tours, so instead we did a small self-guided tour. Tuesday was all driving. It's 630 miles...

We awoke on Sunday morning in the Courtyard Marriott, looking forward to continuing our longest stay in one place for the whole trip. Surprisingly enough, we were feeling a bit sluggish after Kyle-Day. After showers and retrieving the car from the worst valet service ever, (but free, hehe) we drove back into the heart of the French Quarter. When we drove by Cafe du Monde on our way to park, the line was out the tent. After walking thru some shops and the market, we were able to walk right up and grab a table. This French coffee and doughnuts place is apparently a local legend in Nola. Pretty delicious coffee, and the fried powdered donuts were tasty too. We walked around for a little longer, seeing a statue of Andrew Jackson in a park, before hopping back in the car and driving to the Garden District. Clare's friend Tim lives in that area, and we roused him from his slumbers to come out and drink with us for the Euro final. We watched the first half at a place called the Bulldo...

Expecting the worst night of sleep, I woke up feeling not so bad. The others felt some of the effects of the hot hot heat, as well as crickets and owls that sounded like jackhammers at our campsite. We arrived into New Orleans around 2 PM, and walked around the French Quarter for a bit while we waited to check into our hotel. Lucky us, we left our car to be valet parked in the wrong Marriott hotel. The Courtyard, which my Father graciously point-ed us, was only two blocks away. Lucky us. After some showers, we walked down the French Quarter some more to a spot named Coop's Place. Quite frankly, the most delicious jambalaya I've ever had. Sorry Ma, but I think N'Orleans is a reasonable place to be beaten out on this dish. After a filling dinner, we loitered around near Frenchman Street. According to multiple sources, this was the spot for live jazz, and it did not disappoint. We jumped around a multitude of places, namely Maison, dba, and the Spotted Cat. Eventually, w...