Most Popular Cuisine By State

I haven't posted since November 9th? Wow, that's ridiculous! Apologies readers! Let's just call this my winter break and move forward, shall we? :-)

I still owe you one final entry from my Labor Day weekend trip to Atlanta (I know, I know...). I'm actually headed BACK to Atlanta next week, which is how I remembered that I still hadn't posted about Sun In My Belly. I'll make it a video and post some pics. For my next foray into the "A", I have tours of CNN and Chick-Fil-A already scheduled. I really wanted to go to the Waffle House Museum, but I won't be there when it is open. Meh. I think I'll survive.

Additionally, I have a major update-- I have a car now! Yes, the Queen of Public Transportation has sold out and purchased a 2012 Nissan Rogue SV. Now, don't think this means I don't still have the skills needed to navigate my way without one! But, I do have to admit it makes the thought of completing my journey in the year and 8 months I have left more realistic and affordable (still holding out for an airline or hotel sponsor of some sort...) I have a LOT of travel planned for 2015.

That's my un-named baby! Well, the Edmunds stock image of her anyway

Anyway, let me get to the point of THIS article. I often see articles (mostly on the Huffington Post) that talk about the top/best/worst/largest/greatest/nicest/etc of stuff for each state. I often reference these for ideas on what unique aspects to check out for my adventures. I thought I'd start sharing them with you on here! Just click the "50 State Lists" topic over there on the right (or where ever it ends up once I upgrade my site to something people in 2015 actually like to look at) and check them out!

Out first 50 State List discusses the food preferences of each state based on Yelp reviews. Now, admittedly that's automatically a little biased, because only a certain type of person even uses Yelp to begin with, but as it has cheesesteaks as the top food in PA (the state of my birth and current residence), it kinda makes sense, I mean, with Philly being IN the state and all. Of course you'd expect lots of seafood in New England, and beef in America's heartland (in the form of steaks or burgers). But there are a ton of random ethnic foods categories scattered across the country as well, such as Peruvian food in the Mid-Atlantic, and Hawaiian food in land-locked Utah. I'd be interested to learn what this means about the people in our country- I think it shows we are a lot more diverse than we may care to admit-- and I don't think that's a bad thing! This has probably been my favorite part of my blog- yes getting to travel and see new places- but learning how our differences are much less significant than we'd otherwise believe and seeing how interconnected we really are!

Okay, enough with my "world peace" speech, here's the link...enjoy!

Here Is The Most Disproportionately Popular Cuisine In Each State

PS, you can read about all my food adventures here!

Best Of The West

The last attraction I visited while in Oklahoma City was the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. It seemed to be completely removed from most of everything else in Oklahoma City...or at least the Bricktown area I spent a large portion of my OKC time in. When I entered the museum, I was warmly greeted by a gentleman dressed in a cowboy outfit who apparently took a liking to me right away because we chit-chatted for nearly 20 minutes. He gave me his "business card", and it names him as Mr. Jerry Lee Tyner, BRS. Old West Aficionado, Serendipity Songster. How cool is that?!

This really got you in the mood for the rest of the museum! Kudos!

Turns out he was a docent, and he told me all sorts of facts about the museum and artifacts in it. Most of the conversation focused on a giant white statue directly behind us that depicts a Native American atop a bronco. It's an item featured often in materials about the museum, and when you see it in person, you are going to be simply breathless at how huge it actually is. Turns out it's nearly 100 years old, and the man who posed for the sculptor also posed for the Native profile on the buffalo nickel. How the sculpture ended up in the museum was an interesting (and lengthy) tale about World's Fairs, far away little towns, bureaucratic battles, bronze replacements, and the struggle to preserve plaster that was taken apart for decades.

From here, it gets a little complicated. See, this museum is HUGE. A LOT bigger than it appears to be. The above pictured statue sits in the middle of the east and west wings. I'll talk about the east wing first since I spent the least amount of time there. That's where the cafeteria is, as well as a gallery of Western art the museum has purchased over the years. There's a giant statue of Abraham Lincoln, a smaller bronze one of John Wayne, and some newer artifacts that have recently been acquired by the museum. However, most of the gallery space lies behind Lincoln, and no photography is allowed there, so I didn't go in.

The west wing, however, was PACKED with information and things to see. Even at a slightly hurried pace I didn't get to see it all. It seemed every time I tried to backtrack I found myself in a new room with more artifacts, paintings, or exhibits that taught me about another aspect of Western American culture.

There were areas that showed various Native American clothing:

A section that talked about television westerns (I'm a Rawhide and Big Valley fan myself) where I learned about the first and only African American western star Herb Jeffries aka "The Bronze Buckaroo" (he recently passed this past May at the age of 100):

An area that talked about the history, sport, and evolution of the American rodeo:

A small section that seemed to depict hunting in the early days of the frontier:

A very well done section that discussed the military, including the contributions of African Americans, Native Americans, and women:

A very expansive section that talked about the "basics" of cowboy culture (like different types of hats, rope ties, horses, saddles, etc.) as well as the different kind of cowboys there were. This was an area I wish I would have spent more time in:

There was even an interactive "town" where you could walk in and out of different shops and listen to a shopkeeper tell you about what their average day is like. It was very similar to the McKinley Memorial and Museum I visited in Canton, Ohio except it was larger, newer, and didn't have creepy mannequins incorporated into the shop areas:

There was also a very large gallery full of smaller statues and gorgeous paintings depicting western scenes. One painting in particular had pinks and blues so vibrant and, almost neon looking that I was sure it was a modern piece....but was painted in 1916! No photos allowed in there, and as we know, I (usually) follow the rules. There are also outdoor gardens, but as I was running out of time, my camera battery was dying, and it was over 100 degrees outside, I didn't go and wander about.

This museum was beautiful, and very well put together. But what I loved most was how much I learned there. Did you know that there were cowboys in Hawaii and Canada? I sure didn't. I also learned a lot about the more obscure parts of American history, and about the cultural and economic impact this had on our developing nation. You can go over more than 200 years of history in about two hours, and I think that's pretty cool. I also appreciated that multiple cultures were featured, and that both men and women were portrayed throughout the museum. I also enjoyed that rather than having the material portrayed as a "cowboy versus Indian" theme, both topics were blended throughout without lessening their individual importance. If you have two or three hours to spare in OKC, do yourself a favor and visit this truly amazing and unique museum.

 Well, I thought I was done with Oklahoma but it turns out I have one last very brief entry to go- my first meal at Sonic! I'll try to get that out before this weekend- after all I'll be headed to a "new" state: Georgia! (I put those quotes there because I actually used to live in Atlanta for a very brief period of time...but never ever did any touristy stuff. Shame on me!)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. As always, you can check out my pictures on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and I'll see you on the next adventure!

Proof Museums Can Be Fun- Even For The Reluctant!

My first day in OKC ended with a visit to the American Banjo Museum. Let me add that I was not alone. I was with a fraternity brother and sorority sister who were less than enthused about visiting this museum, but they were humoring me I suppose. We had coupons and a Groupon that made it even more affordable to visit and made it even more difficult to argue against visiting.

The escape from the oppressive 105 degree heat into the museum's generous air conditioning alone was reason enough to pay a few bucks to enter, but (as I, the museum lover, tend to do) really enjoyed my visit here. Amazingly, my friends did too- even if they weren't convinced it was really worth their time.

When you first walk into the museum, you are introduced to the history of the banjo via an 8 minute presentation. It starts with the above grandfather and child having a conversation about the boy learning how to play the banjo. (Interesting fact, they were fashioned after the Henry O. Tanner painting "The Banjo Lesson".) From there you listen about the African roots the physical instrument has, and then move forward through it's place in American culture from slavery to minstrel shows to jazz to bluegrass.

From there you enter into a large, L shaped gallery that has some pictures and neat posters and information posted about the development and advancements in banjo manufacturing and musical influence, but what will stand out most are the dozens and dozens of beautifully ornate banjos. Seriously. When I thought of banjos previously, I thought about hillbillies and instruments made out of scrap metal. These were NOT that. See for yourself:

From there you walk past biographies of some of the more famous banjo players, and then head upstairs to find even more banjos including a very rare 1929 Gibson bass banjo.

There was a very catchy song playing on the second floor (it was actually The Gang That Sang "Heart of My Heart"). It came out of an exhibit that looked like an old school pizza parlor that talked about the band/restaurant named "Your Father's Mustache". It was an interesting surprise, but hilarious thanks to this sign here:

C'mon. THAT is FUNNY! And clever!

At the end, as we prepared our journeys off to Stillwater and Langston, we talked with the lovely woman at the front desk, who invited us to try our hand at playing one of the hands-on banjos at the front. It was a lot of musical fun that I was glad to share with my friends (especially as I gave them a semi-lecture of "See! You thought I was crazy but we enjoyed ourselves!).

More Oklahoma blog entries to come over the coming days. In the meantime, feel free to look at the rest of my Facebook photos from Oklahoma and all the states I've visited for the blog thus far. You can also check out a video I shot of a video in the museum (please don't hate me oh copyright lords and ladies!) and a photo of me awkwardly holding a banjo while my friend takes my picture.

Thank you so much for reading my blog, and as always, see you on the next adventure!

From Bombshells To Just...Well...Bombs

Greetings readers! I apologize for the delay in this, my final entry for my trip to Nevada in May. I've had a lot going on for the month of June, so this is truly the first moment I've had to tell you about my time at the National Atomic Testing Museum.

Above the ticket booth inside the museum

This was my sister's choice for a museum outing- I personally was not interested in the atomic bomb testings or on those kooky 1950s stories about aliens and UFO crashings. However, since she picked it, we went there. It was accessible via the Deuce Bus (you'll need to transfer) and took about 20-25 minutes total in traffic to get there from the MGM. This museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate, and as I also work at a Smithsonian Affiliate institution I received a nice discount on admission (half price if I remember correctly). When you first walk in, it seems as if this place is going to be a weird homage to aliens and pie-tin flying saucer movies (as you can see from the picture above) but thankfully the entire museum wasn't like that.

Display case showing all of the products marketed using an atomic theme

Essentially, the museum touched on both the scientific and cultural impact America's nuclear testing had on history. Admittedly, some of the more boring parts (to me) were the scientific areas- while it is cool to see actual bombs and replicas of the parts, reading about technical achievements weren't exactly up my alley.

Try and contain your enthusiasm folks...

I did, however, learn a lot from the cultural aspects of the museum. Like the JC Penney fall out shelters (maybe those would help boost sales for them now), the economic impact the testing companies had on the region, and the tourism sparked by mushroom cloud viewings and bomb parties. Those sort of tidbits make the time seem relatable, more than a 1:18 scale model ever could.

Take that Walmart! We sell bomb shelters!

There was an "Area 51" section that you have to pay extra money to enter, which we did not. Also, there was a seemingly out of place display about September 11th that had pieces of actual building in it. Upon further inspection you find out that it is dedicated to men and women from the area that have lost their lives to tragedies such as that.

Piece of steel from the Twin Towers after September 11th

My only negative from my time here actually came from my sister. She picked this museum, and wasn't taking time to read or learn or interact with the exhibits. Just kinda breezing through and rushing me as if she was doing ME a favor. Folks, museums are places to immerse yourself in a particular topic, or art, or history, or whatever-- just running through everything (unless you are an expert museum goer such as myself) pretty much misses the point. She slowed down a bit once I told her we didn't have to rush or be anywhere by a certain time. It was a reminder to me that not everyone frequents museums the way I do, so some things just don't occur to them.

A hallway in the museum designed to look like it's underground
with my sister prepping to take a picture

Well, that (finally) wraps up Nevada. I leave for Oklahoma in just over 2 weeks, and you know I've got my itinerary ready! I can say this- I'm excited most about the food! Chicken fried steak, barbecue, and whatever the heck an onion burger is are all things I've read are must haves!

Still working on finalizing a few more travel plans for August, September, and October (Georgia, New Jersey and/or New York, and Michigan, respectively) but I really need to see what my life and wallet are looking like at that time. Also, some other things on the horizon that may hinder my blog goal- but we'll get more into those if they become an actual factor.

As always, thank you for reading my blog, and I'll see you on the next adventure!

Finishing Up Alaska

I've been so busy at work I didn't realize I still had SO many photos/locations to tell you all about for Alaska! I think I can eek out one or two more entries about my time in the Pacific Northwest...

SKAGWAY, ALASKA

This is where we spent the most time of all the ports during the cruise. I already told you about my time at the Red Onion Saloon there, but I visited a lot of smaller museums and sites as well.

Display showing a gold rusher moving his supplies

KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK 

*Please note, the day I typed this up (October 3, 2013) the US Government was shut down, so the website may not open. Hopefully this will be just a temporary thing!

This National Park is actually a collection of buildings, trails, and historic sites between Washington and Alaska that preserves the story of the gold rush of the late 1890s. 

Taken straight from Wikipedia:

The Skagway unit protects much of downtown Skagway including 15 restored historic buildings. The visitor center in Skagway is located in the historic White Pass and Yukon Route railroad depot building at 2nd and Broadway.

From the visitor center, visitors to the park can experience the history of Skagway and the gold rush by participating in ranger led walking tours or by watching the park movie.

The park also preserves portions of the White Pass Trail and the Chilkoot Trail, which leaves from the historic townsite of Dyea, Alaska and runs to Bennett Lake, from which prospectors could raft to Dawson City, Yukon.

The historic townsite of Dyea is also part of the historical park. The trail center in Skagway is operated by both the National Park Service and Parks Canada and has information regarding current traveling conditions along the Chilkoot Trail. A permit is required to hike the 33-mile historic trail.

How the gold would have been stored at the local bank/post office-
I lost my notes so I'm going off of memory.

I entered several of these buildings in Skagway, including the main Visitor Center where I watched a 20 or so minute video documentary about the gold rush and how it affected everyone- the rushers, their families, the Native Americans that were already there, and those who struck it rich (or became bankrupt). Not a very impressive gift store, but the information was helpful. Certainly I was NOT going to go hiking, but for my more adventurous readers, I've been told it is a trail that hikers love because of its difficulty.

In one of the buildings I started chatting with one of the Park Rangers about my old job (at the Smithsonian) and why I was so into museums, and he excitedly went and grabbed an "office person" for me to talk to. Mr. Karl Gurcke is a historian for the KGRNHP, and we chatted for about 15 minutes about not only the history of the city and how it has managed to stay a float a century after the gold rush ended, but how everyday people live their lives currently. We exchanged business cards, though shamefully, I have not yet emailed him to thank him for speaking with me- but I DID mail one of my postcards!

CORRINGTON'S ALASKAN IVORY AND MUSEUM

Mask on display in the museum portion of the shop

Not a whole lot to say about this place, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I learned a lot of Alaskan history within two and a half small rooms- a lot of it information I didn't get anywhere else. There were displays about Native myths, and details about how they carved and weaved many of their cultural items (most of which you can purchase in the much-larger store portion of the building). One neat thing was a talking mannequin that was supposed to be Captain James Waddell. He told the story of how the final shots of the Civil War were actually fired in what we now know as Alaska. THAT is an interesting fact I didn't know about and even though he looked a little worn and dumpy, I was impressed they even had that level of display to begin with. 

Captain James Waddell- he may look bummy
but he talks and moves at the touch of a button!

There were also lots of baskets made out of whale baleen
This claims to be the largest.

CITY OF SKAGWAY MUSEUM

City of Skagway Museum

I happened upon this museum by chance. Off the main hubs of the city (which is saying a lot since Skagway is about the size of a neighborhood in larger American cities), I thought this museum was a church at first. It was certainly the newest looking building I saw the entire time I was there. I paid two bucks to enter, and walked around the tiny exhibits that essentially told the story of the citizens of Skagway. Everyone from police and firemen, teachers, business men (and women!), and all social statuses were represented through their personal artifacts and belongings. There was more information about the now defunct fraternal society called the Arctic Brotherhood (whose lodge is still standing and is an information center for the city). I enjoyed that there was a lot of information about how women were able to make their own way in a town that was so overrun with men- not all the successful women in Skagway had to work at a Saloon, and I was glad to see more information about the entrepreneurs of the time. My favorite non-artifact portion of the museum? The SUPER clean bathrooms. That's always a big plus for me, and the entire place was spotless and sanitary looking!

Table from the old Arctic Brotherhood lodge

Dress from one of the women entrepreneurs-
Whose name I can't remember because I can't find my notes :(

Here are some more pics of what I saw in Skagway

The old Arctic Brotherhood lodge- the most photographed building in Alaska
Apparently architecture students really dig this place

A looksie at my combat boots. More importantly, all the sidewalks
in Skagway were wooden, something I found interesting

Recreation of a Saloon in one of the Klondike Park's buildings

Actual miner's tools excavated near Skagway and Dyea

Well, I think I have one or two more entries before I am (officially) finished with Alaska and Washington. I'm on a travel hiatus for the rest of the year, but have strong plans to visit Nevada, Louisiana, and Georgia all before Memorial Day next year! In the meantime, you can check out all of my Facebook photos (and hit that "Like" button while you're at it!) from the rest of Alaska and all of the other states I've covered thus far. 

Thank you so much for joining me on my adventure!

Awesome Museum Alert!

I love going to museums, and you will see lots of them by the time I finish this blog up. As a self-professed history nerd, I love them and get a true thrill and exciting tingly feeling being around the ancient, rare, and beautiful trinkets of time and culture. However, I also know how many of you feel about museums....

Image from doughslam.com

I won't take this post to argue about how awesome museums are...but I WILL take this post to tell you about possibly the most exciting and engaging museum I have EVER been in...the EMP Museum in Seattle. With a focus largely on popular music history (think of it as a younger but cuter sister of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland), the museum also covers major nerd bases with science fiction and fantasy exhibitions too. It's loud, colorful, and a lot more laid back than your typical historical institution...and quite frankly I see it as the direction museums could be slowly inching towards.

Let's start with the building. First off, it's huge (140,000 square feet to be specific). I wasn't able to get a good shot of it from any angle because it's so massive. No ivory towers here folks, this place has steel and aluminum of different finishes and colors sculpted in abstract shapes that make the building seem like a giant flowing sculpture in its own right. It's directly next to the Space Needle, and the Monorail actually travels through an outer swoop of the building.

Space Needle, Monorail, and a piece of EMP

Peeking up to the sky from one of the entrances

image from empmuseum.org

This is the first museum I've been to that features science fiction and fantasy (as in myths and legends- nothing perverted folks!) in a way that makes it accessible to everyone from hardcore, costume sporting geeks to those who have no clue who Bilbo Baggins is. Highlights include original Tolkien books and drawings, the original Lion costume from the 1939 classic 'The Wizard of Oz', plenty of costumes from the many 'Star Trek' series, an original Superman costume, and the silver skull face from Terminator. As a HUGE 'Dr. Who' fan, I loved being so close to a Dalek- even though if I were really in an episode I would be running for my life.

EXTERMINATE! (but not really)

Suit used in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video

If this doesn't creep you out even a little...

The largest portion of the museum is dedicated to popular music. There's a giant funnel-shaped sculpture made out of musical instruments- that actually play music. A gallery dedicated to Seattle native Jimi Hendrix featured clothes and instruments and tons of video footage of the late guitarist. I gotta admit I knew very little about him before going through the exhibit (and watching footage of him play in the Sky Church allegedly envisioned by Hendrix with a larger than life sized screen that rotated video footage of various music artists as well) but now have a better respect for him as a musician.

Giant instrument sculpture 

Jimi Hendrix poster

Jimi's "Sky Church" room with the best screen I've ever seen

Another great musician from the state of Washington would come years after Hendrix had already died- Kurt Cobain of the group Nirvana. There was a gallery dedicated to them and the grunge movement of the 80s and 90s. Now, as a black girl growing up in the inner city, it wasn't "cool" to listen to rock music the way it is now. So my friends and I would watch MTV and sing along and bang our heads in the privacy of our homes, and only publicly acknowledge liking the rap and R&B everyone else listened to (I mean, we liked that music too...so it wasn't that difficult). Anyway, for me going through that particular gallery reminded me exactly how far I've come in my life- and about how much suicide (an issue I take very seriously) affects people you don't even realize (Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994- I still remember MTV News interrupting some random video with the breaking news). I felt like I was paying respects to this guy and his former band, and I am so happy this was part of the EMP experience.

Entrance to the Nirvana gallery

Clothes, a guitar and an MTV Moon Man
(VMA Award) from  Kurt Cobain/Nirvana

One of the In Utero creepy angels

One of the most historic rooms was dedicated to the advancement of the electric guitar throughout rock and roll history. It was a very dark room, with a video playing discussing the early blues guitar players that were the roots of rock and roll music. While I LOVED the guitars (they have a ton of one of a kind instruments and some really cool electric basses and cellos too) I did NOT love the woman unable to control her too-old-to-be-disruptive son who was running and yelling.

One of the more interesting instruments there

The last major exhibit I saw there was "Women Who Rock", which sadly ends September 22, 2013. While I enjoyed the exhibit, it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. Whereas I thought I would learn more about the struggles of female musicians in a music history context, this was more mini biographies with career highlights jazzed up with famous outfits and pretty pictures. It was also a little misleading- often you would read about the career of the artist pictured, but the outfit wouldn't be from the same era. I took pictures of nearly every outfit there, though, and enjoyed singing along to the music playing throughout the gallery. Some of my favorites (by outfit, singer, or both...) were:

Cher's famous Native American costume next to an outfit worn by Donna Summer

Lady Gaga's meat dress

MY IDOL Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation Hat and Jacket

Well, I could go on and on for quite a few more paragraphs about how much I loved this place. I would recommend you spend AT LEAST two hours there (I spent closer to three and nearly missed my cruise ship because I stayed longer than anticipated). My ONLY gripe is that it's a little confusing trying to find the elevators to move from floor to floor. The highlight of my trip there was the top notch customer service every employee had. The one desk associate even helped me get directions to the (much further than Google Maps led me to believe!) bus stop so I could get on my cruise. Kudos to that magnificent team!

Well, I have a TON more photos from this museum and all of my adventures on my Facebook page. Go on through, "like" it, and I will see you on the next adventure!