ON THE ROAD

[Moderator1]

I'm going to take Jim Tom Pinch's excellent suggestion and start a thread that I will stick and keep stuck as long as it is used regularly - like the LiveSTRONG thread.

If it gets jacked or someone decides to be an asshole, I'll just delete it.   Please keep the juvenile stuff elsewhere and thanks in advance.

Use this thread to post advice/suggestions about road trips you have recently made OR to ask questions about places you will be going soon.

[Armchair_QB]

Looking for restaurant suggestions in Louisville.

[Cosmo]

Don't come to Flagstaff right now unless you really like trudging through two feet of snow. I feel like I'm in Syracuse or something ...

Oh, carry on.

[jerseygirl]

In the next three weeks, I will be visiting both New Orleans and Vegas.  What are the chances I'll return with all my faculties (particularly since you won't see me posting on the non-drinking thread)?

But the question is, what's the best place to get a po-boy in New Orleans?  

[Huska]

But the question is, what's the best place to get a po-boy in New Orleans?  

Johnny's Po-boys on St. Louis St. is excellent. Prices can be a little high, but a good po-boy can be hard to find in the Quarter. Great for lunch.

There is a really good place in the Garden District (close to Archie Manning's house), but the name escapes me at the moment. Maybe someone will remember.

[Clubber_Slang]

fried chicken at Dunbar's is the goodness

[Cosmo]

Any recommendations for restaurants in downtown Portland, Ore. that I may not have hit yet? Last couple of years I went to a seafood place (name escapes me now, but it was close to the Willamette) and to Typhoon, a Thai place a block from the hotel.

I'm staying at the City Center Marriott.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Driving tip:

Interstate 95 between Brunswick and Savannah can back up when it gets really busy even though it's a "rural" interstate. North of Jacksonville through about Brunswick it's a six-lane highway, but both directions drop two lanes north of there to just south of Savannah; traffic tends to tie up there and also because of bridge construction through the coastal marshes.

If you get bogged down in that mess, switch over to U.S. 17. Mostly two-lane highway but doesn't get backed up because nobody thinks about it. Brunswick and Richmond Hill are the best places to get on, but if you get stuck in the middle, most of the roads with interchanges connect with US 17 about a mile east of the interstate.

[dooley_womack1]

I come in peace.

If your job takes you to St. Louis, definitely order an Imo's pizza. Thin crust and very tasty. If you're in the mood to party, avoid Laclede's Landing, tho it is likely nearby. Teenybooper and frat/sorority hangout. Have a cab take you to Soulard instead. Much less hectic party scene. The University City Loop is also a good choice.

[Huska]

The Hill is the best memory of my dealings with St. Louis. If you enjoy Italian food, that is the area to check it out.

[Starman]

In the next three weeks, I will be visiting both New Orleans and Vegas.  What are the chances I'll return with all my faculties (particularly since you won't see me posting on the non-drinking thread)?

But the question is, what's the best place to get a po-boy in New Orleans?  

My only experience with New Orleans was the Final Four in 1982 (some freshman kid for UNC hit a jumper. I think that kid might amount to something some day   ).

I don't remember much specifically except that Al Hirt's joint was a ripoff, Preservation Hall was cool, the French Quarter was definitely a spooky place if you get one block off the main drags, and everything else was a world-class blast.

While I'm still young enough to enjoy it, I gotta do the Vegas/New Orleans double.
 

[Ace]

So I assume most of these queries will be about:

Food
Bars
Topless bars
Food at topless bars
Casinos

What is the chance someone may ask about a good museum or park to go to in one of these cities?

[Armchair_QB]

There is a really good place in the Garden District (close to Archie Manning's house), but the name escapes me at the moment. Maybe someone will remember.

Camillia Grill in the River Bend area?

[GuessWho]

There's a place in uptown New Orleans I like called Pascale's Manale. Famous for its BBQ shrimp. Of course, it probably also should be noted a guy died there in the mid-90s, I think, after eating raw oysters. Court found Manale's was 25 percent responsible, the health department 75 percent. But don't let that discourage you.  

[Simon]

I come in peace.

If your job takes you to St. Louis, definitely order an Imo's pizza. Thin crust and very tasty.

I offer the opposite opinion. It's horrible. It tastes like the really cheap frozen pizzas but four times as expensive.

[Jones]

I know I probably shouldn't be, but I've always been way partial to Mother's in Nawlins. Not far from the downtown hotels, counter service, take out or eat in... Good shrimp po'boy, and buckets of all that other shit that'll kill you soon as look at you.

[WildBillyCrazyCat]

Hokie,

Somewhere in Portland there is a restaurant called the Kennedy School. It's set in an old school, with different classrooms for different eating/drinking.

Jerseygirl,

Should you find yourself tempted to enter the Denny's on the Strip sometime after 6 a.m., go against that instinct. There is a 40-something waiter there, Gene, who is bitter about being a 40-something waiter in a Denny's at 6 a.m. He can become downright nasty if you politely remind him to bring  a chocolate milk he forgot a half-hour ago.

[Flip Wilson]

I like Mother's a lot. Also, Jacquemo's in the Garden District (an easy trolley ride from the Quarter), is pretty good as well. Get there early, however; it's first come, first served and they get busy pretty quickly.

[jerseygirl]

Should you find yourself tempted to enter the Denny's on the Strip sometime after 6 a.m., go against that instinct. There is a 40-something waiter there, Gene, who is bitter about being a 40-something waiter in a Denny's at 6 a.m. He can become downright nasty if you politely remind him to bring  a chocolate milk he forgot a half-hour ago.

If I'm in a Denny's at 6 a.m. ordering a chocolate milk, that would be a good sign, since I'd be at the tail end of a long and great evening. But I'll do my best to steer clear of Gene.  

[Mizzougrad96]

I know most of us think it's sacrilegious to stay anywhere other than a Marriott, but those new beds at Westins are just unbelievable...

[jerseygirl]

It's a miracle I don't weigh 450 pounds.

Something I say often. I had planned to start eating better and exercising more after New Year's, but realized that with this trip on the horizon, it was pointless.  

[dooley_womack1]

I come in peace.

If your job takes you to St. Louis, definitely order an Imo's pizza. Thin crust and very tasty.

I offer the opposite opinion. It's horrible. It tastes like the really cheap frozen pizzas but four times as expensive.

Well, you must not have had St. Louis Imo's, or just ran into a bad one. Trust me folks, food of the gods.

And Ace, thanks for the reminder. There's a casino on the riverfront, tho the one across the river in East St. Loo is better. And has well-guarded, lit lot.

[cranberry]

I know most of us think it's sacrilegious to stay anywhere other than a Marriott, but those new beds at Westins are just unbelievable...

Yes. The Heavenly Bed. Very nice touch. I accumulate Starwood points and try to stay at Westins as much as possible. Westin is also upgrading dozens of its hotel gyms nationwide. I must say, however, that the Heavenly Shower is kind of stupid.

[NUkid]

Lou Malnatti's Pizza in Chicago...

Let the great Chicago pizza debate begin.

I'd say my preference depends on geography.

Downtown: the original Uno's (no, not that chain crap) and across the street, Due's.

Evanston: Carmen's.

North Shore: Piero's (Highland Park): .

Anywhere else, I settle for Giordano's.

Now I'm hungry.

[StormSurge]

I know most of us think it's sacrilegious to stay anywhere other than a Marriott, but those new beds at Westins are just unbelievable...

Yes. The Heavenly Bed. Very nice touch. I accumulate Starwood points and try to stay at Westins as much as possible. Westin is also upgrading dozens of its hotel gyms nationwide. I must say, however, that the Heavenly Shower is kind of stupid.

I don't think Heavenly Beds are new.  They are incredible.

You too can own one for the small fee of around $2,500, depending on the size.

http://www.westin-hotelsathome.com/HeavenlyBed/bed.html#