Road Trip out West Day 3: Missouri

Saint Louis

Just a short drive across the Mississippi and we were in St Louis, Missouri and straight over to my favorite landmark ever. The St Louis Arch, called the Gateway Arch, seemingly floating about, towers in its unbelievable simplistic grander. Very meaningful for us on our journey west, we passed through on foot signifying we were onto territory uncharted, symbolically of course, making a new life for ourselves, like the original pioneers. We stepped down the stairs from the arch to the waters of the Mississippi, a position we have stood before. From here we could see that river headed in either direction, and heading to the south all the way to the gulf, about the same distance to the East Coast, the course that we had just tracked over several days, and now we were headed on Westward to our momentary destiny in the Rocky Mountains, a true crossroads on our journey.

To spy on the enemy, from inside the belly of the beast, we headed to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery just north in town. The slower and friendlier pace of the central plains and midwesterners were apparently here, so much so we were able to have a conversation about the RX7 to a friendly passerby while driving round on the city ring road. He was very impressed that  the car had the original engine and had brought us out this far from Connecticut. With a toot and a thumbs up, we parted ways. At the brewery, we were blown away, a completely mind altering experience, coming out with a refreshed and renewed appreciation for the InBev brewing goliath. One just pictures the mass production of generic beverages, but the way the site has retained its heritage and they way they present the whole facility and brewhouse is unparalleled to any brewery I have visited. 

The brewhouse

An ornate brewhouse, with all the shiny stainless steel one could dream of, but with hundred year old decorative embellishments such as chandeliers with hop plants on them. They cellar Budweiser in enormous tanks, however still on wood chips and across the compound, beautifully presented of course, some happy looking clydesdales live to cart around all that beer. To finish it off, they gave us a pint in their beer garden. We could choose any beer from the selection of their domestic brands as well as import beers they brew onsite. A german bock for myself and a Dutch Weisse for Amy. Happy days and off we headed to cross the state of Missouri and into Topeka, Kansas for the night, once again setting up camp in the dark. 

Road Trip out West Day 2: Kentucky

Crazy drive in Kentucky before all the horse farms

Day two of our road trip was a scheduled day, of visiting distilleries, exploring the State of Kentucky and covering great ground. This meant for an early start as we had booked a 10am tour of Willett Distillery, which is the distillery that Two Roads Brewing Company sources their bourbon barrels for aging beers from. With that connection, my old brewmaster had organized with Willett to get us on a tour to explore the craft of distillation. On route, we drove down the Blue Grass Parkway across horse breeding country and into the historic town of Bardstown, with a historic downtown including a pub Abe Lincoln would frequent. 

With the endless barrels

On to the distillery and we were really blown away with the facility, history, process and friendly nature of the tour and tastings. I brought an offering of the Two Roads Conntucky Lightnin, a sour mash ale barrel aged in used Willet barrels. The facility was far more expansive than I imagined, spread across a large property. Consisting of a obscure looking building containing a fermentation cellar, towering still and silos, the proofing building, traditional in nature with barrel ramp to roll out the proofed down barrels and a series of barrel buildings containing to their entirety wall to wall floor to celling full bourbon barrels. An unbelievable amassing of product stored cellular in each barrel, so efficiently stacked, the room was just all bourbon. It was delightful to see the process, at what is considered a small and craft facility, where there was a obvious pride and passion among the staff and the heritage presented across the facility. I was amazed that I was encouraged to taste from all the fermentation vessels, noting the reduction of sweetness as fermentation progressed.  It was interesting seeing the similarities and then the differences compared to brewing beer. One significant difference was the tasters, we are no bourbon connoisseurs, so we were happy to note the tastes that we had didn't burn like rocket fuel. 

Jim Beam

We were in Bourbon Country after all, so we hopped along the road to the Jim Beam Distillery. Which was a place on a far greater scale, nearly the Disneyland of Bourbon. But I believe that does a disservice to the tried and tested and still traditional system of bourbon brewing. Other than making spirits on a huge scale, they still use real ingredients, following the stringent rules set long ago in the past of utilizing a 51% or more corn mash content and aging for a set minimum time on new American White Oak barrels. A cooper, or barrel maker, display was set up where the quite extraordinary barrel making process was explained, with a real life veteran cooper there happy to answer my many questions. Again, the facility was honoring a true family heritage that now had just grown to an unfathomable scale, but without losing that value, or at least the appearance of that value.

Finally a picture of Amy

Heading across the sunny green rolling hills, we ducked into Churchill Downs racetrack, famous for the Kentucky Derby. Discovering the museum was $15, we opted to skip that, but we began walking with a tour group instead, listening to a bit of history, until we got busted for having not paid for the tour, whoops, so we headed off and on our way into Louisville city. There were a lot of athletic looking people around carting about their space age looking bikes and steel strong bods, and eventually it all made sense when we discovered it was the day before an Ironman event. We walked around the redbrick, industrial styled city centre, found a brewery and had a beer and some grub for lunch. A walk down to the Louisville Slugger baseball bat factory was a tribute to Amy's dad whom loves his Sluggers. Looking through the glass windows of the building we could see bats being spun and engraved and it made you feel less uneasy walking the streets knowing why everyone was wielding bats. After our quick look around, we drove on through Indiana and right across Illinois making camp on the east side of the Mississippi River across from St Louis, Missouri. 

The RX7 in Kentucky bourbon country 

Road Trip out West Day 1: West Virginia

Catching the sunrise

Day one of our westward journey started at 4am on the premise that I just wanted to get far, far away from the busy East Coast. Some nervousness was felt due to our transportation method, the reliable old RX7. It has never really let me down, but had been having some disagreements with traffic congestion, hence the early start to remove any chance of morning traffic in the tristate area, especially through NYC. The car was fueled up, packed up and smooth sailing it was from the get go. The long morning drive in overcast weather led us right out of Connecticut, across the Hudson into New York, over the top of New Jersey, through Pennsylvania, even nipping over Maryland and into Virginia all without making a stop, turn or barely changing gear. A quite exhausting morning of driving, but we were achieving what we set out to. 

Now, by the afternoon, I was about sick of driving in a straight line and not seeing anything of value. Although a time through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania was more scenic than the rest, with lush green hills and mountainous clouds wisping over the tops and thick fog as we dropped down into valleys. With this inspiration that maybe we should aim to see something along the route, Amy navigated us on a more scenic route via the Seneca Rocks State Park in West Virginia. A beautiful series of local roads sent us climbing up and over the Appalachian Mountains, that we had been sidelining, and barreled us into the back woods of Blue Grass Country. Right at this time, the heavens opened up, and the rain came down. It felt as if it matched the mood of where we had just entered, as the area was green, lush with a tropical feel. We passed very little on the back roads, just beautiful winding roads following valley rivers. The only glimpse of life was ramshackle houses and cabins that darted by in the woods. 

Walking to view the Seneca Rocks

At the State Park, a beautiful view waited for us hidden behind low clouds. The visitors centre was great with displays of the rugged area and with a break in weather, we made a short walk in the forest. Im not sure if it was that I felt like I had just escaped the crippling wretches of the cluster of Connecticut or if it truly was but that forest felt as wild of a place I had ever been, with the freshest air I had ever breathed. At that very moment I felt so relaxed, so fresh, so free and relieved. Breaking from the clouds for a moment, the Seneca Rocks appeared. Large, buttressing rocks poking from the forest, a haven for climbers and bird watchers. A quick photo shoot in the car park and we continued on some more local roads then back to the conveyor belt of the US Interstate System. 

Seneca Rocks

Picking out a KOA or 'Kampground of America' on the map, we made it most the way across West Virginia and just before sunset made it to our destination. Unfortunately, a local pumpkin festival ensured that the campsite was completely full, but the ladies there pointed us 45 mins further into our eighth state of the day, Kentucky and the next available KOA. Setting up the tent in the dark, after being on the go for 15+ hours, I was happy to lie in the tent with my head poking out, looking out at the vast night sky, something I had missed for so long. 

The RX7 in West Virginia (Seneca Rocks are behind some clouds)

Summing up Connecticut

Slashing around in the Berkshires

With our time coming to an end in Connecticut, we had a couple more adventures lined up before we headed out. Also a couple of trips and visits from friends before and after the wedding as our couches saw their fair share of visitors.  The first of them was Simon, coming from Christchurch, NZ to do 'Camp America,' he was at home on our couch for a good week. Allowing him full range on the beer in the fridge, he was pretty easily pleased. We took him out and about to show him the adventures of Connecticut. He wasn't impressed, so we took him away from the hustle and bustle on a nice drive up route 7 all the way to Athol, Massachusetts. A beautiful few hours drive north through small Berkshire towns and forest draped roads, no interstates required. We made a stop in the lakeside town of Hinsdale right near where Simon and our friend Sean, also from Christchurch, would be running camp. Taking a look at a local waterfall, it was the perfect opportunity to ignore some "No Swimming" signs and do some mad jumps off rocks into the fresh water. On to Athol to Brady's birthday party, though Children' parties are not so much our thing, Simon and I parked ourselves up on the back porch with some beers and it was happy days. A cool afternoon with the rain patting away on the forest, it was a relaxing old time.

The Kiwis at Two Roads

We were lucky that Oktoberfest actually falls in September, because we didn't miss the annual Two Roads Ok2berfest. It was quite the mad weekend, but we figured we might as well work and get paid, and have a few beers while we were at it too. A busy Saturday of three or so thousand attendees meant a non-stop service of beer for us out from the Hop Shed in the Hop Yard. A truly unbelievable volume of beer must have been consumed in total that day. With Sunday being a bit quieter, we were up in the main bar, having more of a chance to enjoy a beer ourselves. Now Amy had made herself a bit of a permanent fixture in the Two Roads Crew, working at the bar, in the Airstream in the beer garden and giving amazing brewery tours. That brewery truly was our world for the year. 

Prost!

After all our guests had left, we were looking forward to a couple of quiet days, but of course the text came from Sean looking to terrorize our casual plans. We are however always happy to return the favor for the many couch stays we have be privileged to over then years. Other than the regular visits to the brewery and the beach, we headed an hour or so north to Sleeping Giant State Park for a bit of a wander. A steep and boulder-y park, it was a fun clamber up through the forest to a hilltop with a fair view to wooded suburbs, motorways and power lines, hey that's a quality view for CT.  

Amy and her dad had scored some VIP tickets to the America Gold Cup International Show Jumping, a fancy equestrienne event through connections at the jewelers her dad works for. Including breakfast, lunch, custom made cocktails, front row seats and the sort of treatment one could get used to. Oh and the horse riding was divine, I'm sure. Continuing with the plush, we ate very well for a few weeks having received a gift voucher for a local farm stand for our wedding. We bought all sorts of great looking and tasting locally raised veggies and meats from the Shelton farmers stand. I always say the uglier, the tastier. We had tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, yellow watermelon and the sorts that were all manor of funky shapes and colours and they were delicious. A gourmet dinner out to the local Karma Sushi in Stratford, another gift, left us full and satisfied after sampling a through spectrum of sushi and dumplings. 

Amy at the horse show

On our last week in Connecticut, we made a trip up the Hudson to Bear Mountain State Park with Ted for a day hike. I think he got more than he bargained for with the walk being a steep clamber, especially when we crossed the road at the top and he exclaimed that we could have driven! It was worth the effort though, as a view always looks better when you have earned it. We could see pretty far into the horizon, with a faint outline of the skyscrapers of  NYC in the far distance. And of course after the return trek, a well deserved beer and burger was had at the near Peakskills Brewpub.

Ted (Dad) climbing up the trail

Of course now all that was left to do was pack up our apartment and say goodbye to all our new found friends and colleagues. I had a fun night out in New Haven with my shift from work, having dinner then beers out all around town on them, good fellas. That led to on my request arcade games at Barcade, which led to me missing the last train home by seconds. No worries, a short hike through the rough part of town and I crashed on Steve's couch. 

Sunset over the Housatonic River in Stratford

Now for a small apartment we sure packed it full of things, along with good memories. Memories are easily transportable, however big old couches and the sort are not and a flustered last few hours before handing over the keys was had trying to get rid of some of our hand-me-down big old items of furniture. This required Steve and I to drive all around in rush hour with couches strapped to the roof and chairs poking out sunroofs, but we eventually managed to give it all away. So there it was, one last beer at the brewery, some hugs and a bunch of high fives to all we had met and known over the last year in Connecticut and we were out of there. 

Ted, Amy and Thomas at Bear Mountain

After the wedding lazy CT days

At a beautiful Connecticut beach, where no swimming, wading or touching the water is allowed.

It was good to know the fun wasn't over even after we had to leave the beach. Mum and Dad were off to Washington DC and John and Kel headed to ours for a few days. It was a bit of a manic exodus from the island, but after a relaxing morning at a New Jersey State Park with the Clark family they made it to JFK and Kel and I managed to get the RX7 restarted after a short breakdown on the most congested interstate-95, right in the heart of the busiest city in the USA. After that, we tried to keep it as chilled as possible, but with any drive in the North East, traffic is always the obstacle.

John with his successful catch.

Back in Connecticut, we had a good drive through the country side up the Housatonic River across open roads and dense forest finding ourselves at a legit dingy old road side diner for a malt shake. The big destination however was Captain Scott's Lobster Dock in New London. A seafood fueled lunch that was worth the trip around the work for John. Lobster rolls, shrimp and clams in all their New England goodness. With full stomachs, we took the scenic ride home via some coastal towns and antique shops. But the day wasn't over, meeting Mum and Dad off their train in New Haven, we went to Barcade. You heard me, a Bar-Arcade. Craft beer and Pac-man, Tetras, Pong and every other racing or joystick operated game imaginable.

A cool little adventure John, Kel and I had was a cycling tour of NYC. Walking from Grand Centralto the High Line with a pizza break, then along the High Line finishing at our bike rental shop. John started us off in style with a dismount over the handle bars, while finding out the break levers are on the opposite side here I guess. It was a truly mad day. We circled down the West Side to Battery Park, Wall Street and South Street Seaport. And hey, I knew of a decent pizza place for a bite too. Up the East side and over the Brooklyn Bridge and back across the Manhattan Bridge. Continuing up the East Side with a good stint riding the streets through Midtown eventually crossing for a lap of Central Park right up into Harlem. Managing not to melt and dehydrate, we made our way all the way back down the West Side. With most of the riding on separated cycle lanes, it was fun, safe and provided a complete city tour easily and from a rider's perspective. A quiet couple of beers were well deserved in a small local park before a last couple slices of pizza and the train ride home.

Now probably the highlight of everyone's trip to the US was a visit to the Pass Bro Shop. A place of unbelievable American-ness. It had everything a red blooded American could ever want: pistols, bows and rifles, to camo print handbags, lazy-boyz  and bedding sets. Not forgetting the waterfall fish pond and countless taxidermic animals hung from the walls and celling. Thinking we couldn't get any more American, we then went the the local Bridgeport Bluefish baseball game. Everyone was so positively Americanized at this point there weren't even any complaints at the $8 beers at the game. Considering Thomas the Beer Barron from Two Roads had plentifully supplied the beer for the previous three weeks, they weren't doing bad. Although I had to leave every to head off to another 10pm work shift, John got a foul ball and everyone had a blast.  

Amy playing tour guide for the day.

The next day, everyone but me headed by train into NYC, where they parted in Grand Central with John and Kel to the airport, and a final day for Mum and Dad in NYC with the luxury of a personalized private tour, care of Amy. I was fast asleep that day as the working life grind had resumed for me, at least my last couple of night shifts. Amy took them back to the New York Public Library to see the original Winnie the Pooh dolls that live there, then up into Central Park to see the Dakota, Strawberry Fields John Lennon Memorial, up the Belvedere Castle with a nice view over the park and on to the Boat House for lunch. Unfortunately, this is when it started to rain. They were hoping it would pass, but it turned into a full on downpour. With nothing to do but stand under an awning, Amy opted to venture out, as she was the only one with a raincoat, to try and find ponchos for the rest. No luck, she returned as the rain started to stop, and they decided to make a break for it and see the special spot where we got engaged. They then bounded into the subway station and made it out right at Madison Square Garden, and finally on to the Empire State Building, which my parents chose to go up to the observation deck. Eventually they made it on to the to the High Line and at the end of the line stopped at a Biergarten for German beer. As they later walked around to find some food, I was very humoured to hear later of my dad getting to the point where he just stopped dead and said "No, I'm not walking any further," and then demanding to go home. Classic Dad.

We spent our last day together in New Haven. We took my parents to East Rock State Park, where we drove to the top for a view of the city. We then drove off to a state park to view a lighthouse, and have a bit of a play on the playground. We stopped for a seafood lunch and then had a casual night of board games at home. We headed back down to Stamford on my parent's last day to have lunch with Amy's parents, and then drove them to the airport, again reciprocating all the times they have done the same, always with a few wet eyes as we say goodbye. 

The Devo Clan

"Honeymoon" week in Long Beach Island

Quizzing us on how well we know each other. 

What would anyone's perfect picture of their honeymoon be? To spend it with the whole family, including new in-laws and throw in some friends? Well, thats exactly what we did and it was one of the greatest weeks ever! We took the traditional Sierpina family beach vacation and gave it a New Zealand Devo direction. We planned the whole week out so as to have the silly fun of the bachelor/bachelorette parties on the first night followed with a recovery day including a rehearsal and dinner, then the wedding on an untraditional Monday. This left the rest of the week to be a plan-less, stress free time to enjoy the company of all those that had made it out to celebrate with us. The invitation was out, come for the wedding and why not stay for the whole week?

So the annual drive down to LBI was stressing me about a bit, due to it being an absolute cluster. Seeing as every man and his dog makes the drive from every direction on Saturday morning converging onto the causeway onto the island. Trying to partially avoid this, we took a few car loads down friday. It was still a stressful day and a bit of a cluster for myself. As I drove the RX7 down, along with Simon taking a load containing my parents and Gina and Sean. Once we got to Barnegat, I proceeded to empty the Honda and drive all the way back to Newark Airport to collect another car load of fresh arrivals: John and Kel from New Zealand via Texas, Marc from London and Phil from Colorado. It was a lot of traffic for one day, but man it was nice to be in a car with cruise control and air conditioning after the real 80's driving experience the RX7 offers.

The most PG photo of the evening

The next day was a breeze though, all we had to do was sit in traffic on the causeway for a bit and there we were. Running round to collect keys and right on 2pm we were in our houses. We filled the fridge to get the beers cooling, had a quick swim and it was time for the boys to celebrate my 'last night of freedom' in a typical fashion. A few beers, a BBQ, some classic yarns, a few more beers and a bit of music, and watching the All Blacks. Pretty low key stuff really. The ladies had far more sophisticated plans however, and when I say sophisticated I really mean the opposite. Going to the gambling capitol of the East to a hall of gaggling bridal parties, ogling over sweaty questionable males. Culminating in a cup full of vomit on the bus ride home for Amy, I left her to spoon with the toilet bowl for the night.

The night before the wedding, Steve and Margaret hosted a slightly weather affected rehearsal dinner. A few practice walks down the aisle by all involved and we were free to enjoy the evening, Kiwi BBQ styles. In typical NZ fashion it rained, classic. John manned the grill outside, as all our guests comfortably squeezed into the upstairs Deverson's holiday apartment. It was a great night for our friends and family to meet for the first time or catch up on old times. Mum's potato salad was a crowd favorite, John stealing the glory, because he made it! Otherwise, the Kiwi Dip, Watties Tomato Sauce and Lollie Cake were on point. We even were subjected to a "newlywed" how well do we know each other game, and although we didn't get many answers technically correct, we agreed we knew each other pretty well anyways.

The wedding followed the next day, best day ever of course!

The following days all melted together. Happy memories of beach days, adventures around the island, dinners and drinks. Earlier starts for the households with young children, and funnily enough, nearer to lunchtime awakenings for those in the friend's house. The general day would go: mornings at the beach swimming, body surfing, beach games, entertaining the kids till we were throughly melted, then lunch and activities over the island. We took the shuttle up and down the island to mini golf, the arcade, the island brewery, Barnagate Lighthouse, and Bay Village.

With Charlotte's birthday falling on the Thursday, the Deverson children and their spouses jumped on some jet skis for a an hour and blasted around the bay. Which was an absolute blast, in quite choppy conditions. All Amy could scream was for me to slow down and not turn so fast, but as soon as she got in control of the machine, it seemed like she was quite enjoying the speed, bumps and turns. This then made me ignore her pleas resulting in us catapulting off the jet ski in quite the dramatic fashion. The evening followed with a lobster and seafood feast, cake, and some home videos.

Ready to Jetski! 

A more bizarre night was going back to our wedding venue, the LBIF, to see a presentation on Wolves and getting to meet a few real live specimens. Not the usual beach activity, they were however impressive and didn't mind a scratch behind the ear.

With a wolf! 

Of course the greatest addition to the week was all the extra people. More people, more fun, more stories and more great memories. We are truly so thankful to everyone who was part of the week. We had friends and family come from all over the world, and it wouldn't have been the same without everyone there with us.

The honeymooners