The Great American Road Trip (Part 1)

Byline by Alana Garner, a road-tripper moving from Virginia to Oregon

On Sunday, August 28, 2011, I began one of the most eventful, exciting, exhilarating, and exhausting seven days of my life. One of my best friends from college (Anne-Randolph, who I refer to as “R”) volunteered to drive across the country with me, as I moved from Virginia to Oregon.

With my car packed to the gills and a few stragglers attached on the roof, we departed Virginia and made our way to Dayton, OH as our first pit stop. We visited my sister, and ate at Olive, an urban dive, an awesome new restaurant that had just opened. With a jam-packed schedule, R and I hit up Boston Stocker for a quick coffee pick-me-up after lunch before getting back on the road and heading north to Chicago, IL. The drive was not bad, and we were able to get into the city without running into too much rush hour traffic. We checked into our hotel, the Hotel Felix, which wasn’t a far walk from the Magnificent Mile and the Loop.

Upon arrival, we freshened up and hit the town for dinner and some local brews at a nearby Irish pub, The Elephant and Castle. It was a beautiful night, so we were able to eat outside. The food and beer couldn’t have been better; I went with a house salad and fish and chips for dinner, paired with the summer Goose Head IPA. After dinner we headed to Bootleggers for some competitive Jenga. Bootleggers was great; it was laid back and low key, but also had a dance floor when you wanted to shake your groove thing.

The next morning we were in need for a delicious and greasy breakfast. We stumbled upon Adaʼs, which was right in the heart of downtown. The menu was massive, and offered everything from pancakes, to omelets, to bagels, to (my personal favorite) quiche of the day with a generous serving of hash browns.  Re-energized and ready to explore, we wandered further into downtown and headed straight for Millennium Park. We took plenty of pictures with “The Bean” and were able to catch some free jams from the nearby benefit concert. Adjacent to the Park is a beautiful Memorial Garden that has been dedicated to cancer patients. There was also a really nice running/walking path that goes through the garden. We continued our exploration down by the harbor, where we were greeted by yachts and sailboats.

After being super tourist, and making quite a loop around downtown Chicago, R and I had worked up quite an appetite and headed to Tavern at the Park across from Millennium Park. Again, the food and drinks did not disappoint. However, to our disappointment, our two days in Chicago was coming to an end. Although we attacked the city with no real plan, we had a blast! The city was so pedestrian-friendly, and for being a big and lively city, the accessibility that it offered was phenomenal.

Leaving Chicago behind, we continued our trip west! Our next big destination point was Mount Rushmore; however from Chicago, IL to Keystone, SD was more of a trek than R and I were willing to take. Instead we made a pit stop in Sioux Falls, SD. One thing we learned the further west we headed is that they really likes their indoor water parks.

Feeling refreshed and ready to see George, TJ, Abe and Teddy, we were excited to have a shorter drive. However, as road trips tend to go, we got a little sidetracked...in the best way possible. I quickly realized that southern South Dakota has a lot of fascinating things to see: 

• Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD - Corn Palace is truly that, a palace made of corn. It is the only corn palace in the world, and everything is covered in corn. The town’s mascot, Cornelious, leads the way to this unique building, and once inside, it really is all things corn! We did not stay for the local basketball game (where the arena had corn murals on the wall) however, if we would have, I would have most definitely snacked on popcorn and corn on the cob on a stick. After grabbing a few postcards, and taking a few minutes to mail them out, we got back on the road. 
• The Badlands - As we continued west on Interstate 90 making good time, we decided to stop at The Badlands, a ruggedly beautiful national park where ancient mammals such as the saber-toothed tiger once roamed. The 244,000 acre park was well work the $15 admission fee.

Stay tuned for the 2nd half of our cross country adventure...