Bite of Bozeman? No thanks, I'll think I'll eat the whole thing.

Ahhhhh. That's the sound of feeling very refreshed after a great night out in Montana. We seem to be timing things pretty well with respect to local events (street festival in Cleveland, motorcycle rally in Sturgis, etc.), and we sorta hit the jackpot today in Bozeman.

Yesterday marked the start of Bozeman's annual weeklong Sweet Pea Festival, and last night was the "Bite of Bozeman" event, for which the main drag in town (Main St.) is filled with bands, restaurants, and people, all out to have a great time.

We rolled into bozeman at around 6:30 and dropped off our bags with our host Anne, and then I rolled over to a local coffee shop to upload some blog material.

(Our lovely host Anne, mid-bearhug) 

Here's a story: While waiting for a few things to upload, I noticed I was surrounded by chess boards, and i felt like I was in some sort of hybrid chess/coffee shop. There was one guy sitting around, looking lonely, so I offered to play a game with him (note: I consider my chess skills to be VERY amateurish), as I was just sitting there anyway. After being thrashed in a couple of consecutive games by the guy (whose name was Ron), I threw in the towel, and decided to just comb espn.com instead. However, just after i quit playing, Ron had a friend show up to take my place. As I finished my uploading, I couldn't help but overhear the conversation at Ron's table. Ron failed to mention that he is heading to Montana State Chess Championship next week, as he is in the state finals. Whammy.

After finishing up the blogwork, I drove back to Anne's, changed into a more nightlife-friendly outfit (first time I've worn jeans on the trip), and headed out with Jim and Anne to the "Bite of Bozeman" festival. Here are a few pics from the street festival itself:

(The local fire department in Bozeman, on the walk from our parking spot to the festival. They've had their hands full as one of the local bars in town spontaneously exploded at 8am a few weeks ago due to a gas leak. Yikes.)

(Pinkie and the Floyds - A cover band that was playing "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" when we showed up at the beginning of main street) 

(Here's a shot of Main St. during the "Bite of Bozeman" festival)

(Pulled pork, brisket and baked beans - $4)

(Scallops in a Chive Butter Sauce - $5)

(Desert Kebabs! Great idea. Gives skewered chicken a run for its money.)

(My father, the ladies man, with Anne and her best friend, Marcia.)

After combing the booths for solid, inexpensive food, we decided to have a couple of extra bites at a local tapas restaurant. A quick dinner for three ensued with 4 small plates and a couple of good local beers.

(Great name for a restaurant.)

(The lovely Jessica showcasing Bozone Brewing Company's selection of drafts. The Bozone Brewery was right down the street, but was closed by the time we had arrived in town.)

(Asparagus with Goat Cheese, Sauteed Shrimp with Focaccia)

Once dinner was over, circa 9:30pm, my father was feeling tired and full, and decided to head back to Anne's to hit the hay, but I decided to stay out, if only for a little while. Anne explained that from the cluster of popular bars (called the "Barmuda Triangle) to her house, it would take about 25-30 minutes to walk back to her place. Whatever, I have a iPod.

I started out at a place called "The Zebra", at which it was "Ladies Night", which meant that women can order any drink for $1.00. However, I quickly found out that the same deal applied for dudes. So really, I guess a more appropriate name for the nightly special would have been "Persons Night". Man, I am sooo clever. One other thing worth mentioning: The Zebra had a small but legit poker room in between its two main bar areas. Had I wanted to sit down to a $1/$2 No Limit Hold 'Em game for a couple of hours, The Zebra would have been thrilled to have been. But it can wait until Vegas...

I then hit up the other two bars that compose the Barmuda Triange: The Pourhouse and 317. Both were a bit classier (The Zebra was a bit dingier, by comparison). I met some very interesting people, some of whom were locals, while others were in town for the Sweet Pea Festival. Bozeman is home to Montana State University, and although school's out for summer, there were more than a few students floating around as well.

While I unfortunately don't have any pictures from the bars (because I was already THAT guy at the bar wearing the string backpack, I figured flash photography would have been overkill), I did take a picture of Main St. about halfway between the bars and the house. Very quiet and peaceful.

(Lonely late night Bozeman)

The next morning, I awoke at 6am to the smell of bacon frying. I grabbed a quick shower, checked the car's oil, packed our bags, and enjoyed a lovely, classic breakfast of french toast, bacon and eggs. While I idiotically forgot to snap a flick, I did remember to take a picture of our parting gifts: A couple of bottles of Anne's favorite beers. By the way, did I mentioned that she also baked us Banana Bread and Chocolate Chip Cookies for our trip to Seattle? Because, oh yeah, she did.

(Trout Slayer and Salmon Fly - Two of Montana's finest local brews)

(Anne shows off her baking skills.)

Now we are off to Seattle. The drive should take 10 or 11 hours. So far we've done about 3 of them. By the way, this happened:

(What's a drive through Idaho without a bunch of teenage girls holding up a "HONK IF YOU'RE HORNY" sign as you drive by")

I'll leave you with a picture of our $9 Idahoan-Vietnamese lunch:

(Jim liked his noodles. I thought mine tasted like cardboard. Go figure.)

Yellowstone Photo Montage

Here are the top 5 pics from our short time in the Northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park:

Beartooth Highway Photo Montage

No text or captions necessary. Top 5 pictures from this breathtaking highway pasted below...

Heading to Main Street in Bozeman tonight for the "Bite of Bozeman" festival. Our lovely host Anne Thorsten has recommended this event highly. Live music, local restaurants serving their grub in "street food" form, and the first opportunity yet for me to have a couple of honest drinks. The next blog post should be a good one.

Side note: We are going to have a very full day of driving tomorrow as we try to head straight to Seattle from Bozeman, trying to make it in time to have dinner with Jim and Ali. It has only been a couple of days, but I miss fish. And I think they have fish in Seattle, just a hunch.

We're leaving at 7am. So, there may not be a post for a day or two. Next time I post, I'll upload my top 5 pics from Yellowstone, which Jim and I also visited today. Also, there is no other way to end this post than to say thank you again to Anne and Jerome, without whom we probably would have made the mistake of driving right past this lovely town...

Gillette, WY to Billings, MT

I think that on the 250 mile drive from Gillette to Billings, I finally had that "Holy shit, this country is massive" moment. Landscapes are far as the eye can see, too many beautiful vistas to describe, and here are 5 pictures from our drive, purely scenic:

(Truly beautiful country)

The best part about the drive was the moment we passed a couple of bikers who had their dogs on their bikes. Pictured below:

(If you look closely, you'll notice this dog is actually wearing sunglasses. Not kidding.)

(The happiest wiener dog alive.)

Once we drove through Billings, we realized how hungry we were. Given the previous nights gorge-fest at the Prime Rib, we figured we could deal with something a bit healthier and a bit cheaper. So yes, folks, we went to the local Subway, where I got my usual. I have to admit, it hit the spot, and I'd like to think that we did pretty well not eating at a chain until day 4.

(Footlong Chicken Breast - Double Meat - on Whole Wheat, with Spinach, Tomatoes, Black Olives, Cucumbers, Jalapenos, and Spicy Brown Mustard)

Before leaving Billings, we decided to get some gas before driving the scenic route from Billings to Bozeman, via the Beartooth Highway, a road that a late television anchor (whose name escapes me) described as "The most beautiful road in America," which is certainly a ringing endorsement. And yes, Jerome talked it up as well. As I mentioned yesterday, the guy is a Montana guru. 

Anyway, across from the gas station was a store called "Nine Fingers Mustard Co." that sold "Montana Western-Style Mustard" and described its mustard as "Quite Possibly the World's Best." As a Jew from New York, I pride myself on my knowledge of Mustard, which, if not the world's best condiment, is certainly top three (much respect must be given to designer hot sauces, as well as a good horseradish). We walked up to the store, asked for some mustard, and were told that they were out of mustard. Hmmm. Well, technically, they were out of bottles, and could only sell us their mustard by the gallon. No thanks. As disappointing as Nine Fingers was, I will say this: Subway's spicy brown mustard, while not great, is as good as it needs to be. And unlike Nine Fingers' hot product, Subway's mustard was actually available. 

(The Mustard Store with no mustard. An interesting business model.)

Wow, that was a lot of blogging about mustard. Back to business. We just got to the quant town of Beartooth, about to get to the Beartooth Highway, which will take us right into Yellowstone National Park, so you guys can anticipate a bunch of great pictures.

One amazing detail that I can't overlook. As many of you know, I'm a big candy fan, and I'm especially fond of Economy Candy on Rivington Street, a New York City institution owned by the family of my good friend and former colleague Mitch Cohen. Well we were driving through Beartooth when I spotted the Montana Candy Emporium, which, from the storefront, looked to be just another tiny store. 

(Small Montanan candy store, right? Wrong.)

The place was cavernous. Here's a video of me walking through the candy store, and the best part was this: I was already wearing my bright yellow Economy Candy shirt, so the owners took a liking to me, and I am now back in the shotgun seat, munching on some free jelly beans. Hooray.

(This place would give Economy Candy a run for it's money. Just kidding, Mitch. I didn't mean it, I swear. Please don't stop giving me free candy.)

Thanks for reading. See you next time.

The Motorcycle Diaries (Now with VIDEO and SOUND)

These posts really write themselves. All I have to do is load up the day's pictures, space them out in chronological order, and fill in the blanks. Here's the second half of Day 3 - Sioux City, South Dakota to Gillette, Wyoming. By the way, 10 states and 2,000 miles down, still many more of both to go.

We left Sioux City and got back on the highway, where we finally timed our picture of the once-thought-to-be-mythical 75 mph speed limit sign.

(They do exist!)

I also decided to snap a flick of myself sitting shotgun, just so I could understand what all the lucky eastbound drivers were seeing as they rolled by.

(Rugged good looks...or something.)

We headed straight across the state of SD, in order to get to Badlands National Park, a breathtaking natural treasure that can only be done a bit of justice via photograph. Here are some pics of the rock formations, as well as your friendly roadtrippers. No captions necessary.

While driving through SD, we stopped for gas in the quaint little town of Reliance, SD. At the pump, we met a couple of bikers who were coming back from the annual Sturgis rally (more to come on this later...)

(Nothing keeps a relationship together like a giant 1000cc Honda Valkyrie)

It is definitely worth mentioning that on our way across South Dakota, we crossed the Missouri River, which I must say, looked to be a lot more robust than the "Mighty" Mississippi. Now look, I know it all depends on where you cross, but if I could only pick one stretch of river to back me up in a bar fight, I would pick the South Dakotan Missouri over the WI/MN Mississippi any day.

(Makes the Hudson River look like a Slip N' Slide)

After doing to Badlands loop, we drove right past Rapid City (because honestly, do we really need to hit up 4 major destinations in the state of South Dakota?), and on to Sturgis, the site of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the world's largest and decidedly most awesome chopperfest. It was interesting because ever since Wisconsin, we had noticed a preponderance of bikes, and the closer we got to Sturgis, the more prominent the two-wheeled population became.

Here's what happened in Sturgis: We saw a lot of bikers. And motorcycles. A whole lot. Like more motorcycles than I will see for the next decade. Apparently there are 100,000 die-hard riders that converge on Sturgis each year. Oh and by the way, Aerosmith had played the previous night, and Steven Tyler had gotten so into the performance that he fell off the stage, hurt himself, and the set had to be cut short. I'm wishing him a speedy recovery. Also, the band .38 Special was playing the night we were there. Just hold on loosely...

I recorded a video of a typical road (some were way more intense that this), and here are some pics as well:

(Just your average day in Sturgis...100,000 bikers and 1 Mazda)

(Will Morel and Harley Davidson)

(This guy was revving his engine big time, so I figured he was starved for attention, and I obliged him.)

(At times it felt like I was driving the only 4-wheeled vehicle on the road. Oh yeah, because I was.)

After leaving Sturgis, we drove another hundred or so miles to Gillette, Wyoming, where we hoped to find a good steak and a good bed. We drove through an epic storm in Sundance, Wyoming (home of Robert Redford's annual film festival named after the town), which is the subject of the blog's very first video, showing Jim and me crawling along the highway as the skies opened up:

(In case you can't hear the audio, this is us doing 30-35 mph in a 75 mph zone, windshield wipers set to warp speed.)

The good news was the cloud cover led to some beautiful sunset shots once the storm broke up. Here are a few good ones:

Last but not least, we arrived in Gillette, dropped our stuff off at the local Super 8 (we are becoming regulars there, I suppose), and headed to "The Prime Rib" for what we were hoping was not going to be amateurish meat. Oh man, it was not. My dad ordered a New York Strip, Medium Rare, and it was perfect. He's been eating meat for over six decades now, and he claimed it was one of the best-cooked steaks he has ever had. I ordered a prime rib (their specialty), size Large (16 oz), and once prompted for my flavor preferences/combinations, I asked for half regular, half cajun. Apparently this meant that I was going to receive two completely separate 8 oz cuts of prime rib (note: NOT complaining), and given that it was already 10pm when we sat down (based on the time zone in which we started our drive), I am pleased/ashamed to announce that our motel room's fridge now contains 5 or 6 oz of delicious cow, which I will be devouring first thing tomorrow (along with another sweet, sweet Super 8 continental breakfast). Yes, I usually finish my food, but all things considered, I think this was the smart play. Here are the pictures from the Prime Rib:

(We unfortunately did not make time for the "Blue Martini Lounge")

(45 dollars goes a long, long way in Wyoming)

(A Closer Look at a True Medium Rare New York Strip. A few steakhouses in Manhattan could learn a thing or two from these guys.)

I should note a serious thank you to Jerome for the Prime Rib recommendation. Tomorrow we are off to Bozeman, Montana to stay with his mother and check out the live music scene, but he is making sure that on the way, we are going to ride along the Beartooth Highway, which is apparently a breathtaking alpine roadway that cuts from Montana into Wyoming and back again, passing through Yellowstone National Park (which I hadn't expected to be able to see). I think it's safe to say Jerome is on a roll, and he has earned himself a couple of beers once I'm back in NYC.