June 2009 Archives

I got to Pike's Place Market at least decently early enough that the tourist crowds hadn't started forming yet. I wandered a bit before spotting the original Starbucks and starting out my morning with a tall mocha. I then wandered some more until I figured out which stand was the one that threw fish around. They were kind of awesome. I thought though that they just tossed fish around but I guess they only do it when people order something. So while there were fewer crowds gathered around there was also fewer fish tossing. Though I could have probably stayed and watched them forever I decided to walk around some more. I saw Giant Shoe Museum and put in some quarters to get a peak at the world's largest shoes. And I added to my ever growing pressed penny collection. I wandered across the street to get some macaroni and cheese that my coworker said was the best in the world (and she might have been correct.) I then headed back to watch more flying fish. There was more throwing but a bigger crowd. Very entertaining to say the least.

I left the market and headed towards Pioneer Square. I toured around their memorials and parks, checked out Elliot Bay Bookstore, and grabbed more coffee. Then I took the Seattle Underground Tour, which brings you beneath the city and explains some of the history of Seattle that you won't hear in school.

At night me and Scott went to the Italian restaurant Volterra in Ballard that was amazingly good. I had a seafood stew and it was delicious. Now I am again stuffed!

I have one more day in Seattle and then it's on to New York!

I briefly mentioned this earlier...but now that I kind of have a free moment I thought I'd give another mention with a few more details...

So remember a few months back when I said that I might be a stalker of competitive eating? OK, so let's face it, I AM a stalker...but there may have been other photos from that day that I didn't share...

So I might not have been stalking them...I might actually have been filming a reality TV program. I was interviewed a couple times and filmed doing my super fan thing. I have no idea if I will actually be on it because there is no indication at all from the trailer, but you should watch it anyways because it will be awesome. And you might at least be able to spot me in the background.

I'm a Major League Eater
Wednesday, July 8
10pm Eastern/9pm Central
Biography Channel

p.s. The director promised me that he wouldn't make me look too crazy. To that I replied "good luck."

Monday, June 29, 2009

Exhausting day! I'm now staying with Scotty in Seattle and so this morning I took the bus with him over to University of Washington where he works/is in grad school. I toured around a bit while he worked and saw the fountain, red square, a Washington statue, the quad, and some other random statues sprinkled throughout campus. I grabbed a coffee at the coffee shop at the physics building and then we met back up for lunch and got some delicious Thai food.

He went back to work so I grabbed a bus to Fremont...which is, by the way, probably the most Val-friendly area in America. Just sayin'. Fremont not only has topiary dinosaurs, not only has a giant rocket ship, not only has a statue of Lenin (that was advertising Taco Del Mar)...but also has a gigantic bridge troll! How in the world can that be topped?

So I spent most of the afternoon touring around Fremont and being enamored by the sheer amazingness of it...and then I headed over to Gas Works Park which is a big green park offset with all these huge gas tanks. Pretty neat. Also neat was that there was a glorious view from there of the city skyline. Glorious.

Then I headed back to Northgate to meet Scott for an all you can eat sushi dinner. And boy did I all I could eat...and boy am I stuffed...

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Woke up in Prince George. Headed home. By home I mean the U.S., but not home home. Saw more awesomesauce, such as a town called Williams Lake that was having their annual stampede! We drove and drove and drove some more until we finally hit the border again and had an interesting exchange at customs...

Border Agent: Why were you in Canada?
Us: We drove through to go to Alaska.
Border Agent: How long were you in Alaska.
Us: Approximately three hours.
Border Agent: Three hours?
Us: Yes.
Border Agent: Why did you drive through Canada to go to Alaska for three hours.
Us: Something to do.

He thoroughly did not understand. And he kind of sounded like Napoleon Dynamite. Just sayin'.

So we made it through three days of driving through Canada and made it all the way to Alaska! It was pretty amazing. Now I am back in Seattle for three more days. Can't wait to see what else I can see!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

We made it!

We again awoke pretty early and hit the road...Most of the pit stops of the day were to take photos of signs pointing to our main destination of the trip: Hyder, Alaska. Yes, yes, you can drive from Seattle to Alaska. Hyder is a small little town on the Canadian/British Columbian border accessibly by road.

We made a stop to see a glacier that while awesome definitely showed major effects of global warming. We stopped in Stewart, BC where we wanted to go to their Toaster Museum, but it was closed. We did stop for lunch at Silverado Cafe for lunch before taking off down the road back to the United States.

We eased into Hyder, Alaska and took some photos of the welcome sign. Then we stopped at a bar to get Hyderized. What is getting Hyderized you ask? Well, you will just have to wait until I get back and have time to truly explain! (Don't worry, there is a video!) We hung out around town for a bit, went to the post office, went down the pier, tried and failed to spot bears,...and well, that's about what there is to do in Hyder!

But it was AWESOME!

So we turned around and crossed Canadian customs to again enter British Columbia and hit the road back to a hotel in Prince George. We did see a bear along the way back!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Day three of my vacation consisted of driving. A whole lot of driving. Luckily I wasn't the one behind the wheel this time and I learned that it is a whole lot easier (and perhaps a whole lot safer) to take video and photos while a passenger.

We woke up early and checked out of our hotel in Seattle and hit the road in a rental car for the Canadian border. Our destination for the night was a motel in New Hazelton, British Columbia.

Can you believe that this was my first time ever in Canada!!!

The day really did consist of nothing but driving, gas station stops, and lunch at a cute little hamburger joint (I got a fish sandwich and strawberry shake.) While there were no actual stops planned along the way I did manage to see a whole lotta roadside attractions! From a big marmot to a big toy man to a giant chicken on the roof of a restaurant! How awesome is that?

After driving for about 16 hours we didn't get to our destination until well after midnight and by that time, despite doing nothing but sit in a car all day I was pretty exhausted. So I basically crawled into bed and passed out. I needed a good night's sleep because I had another long day ahead...

First stop today was the Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle Center. It was pretty cool but the best part was the special exhibit on the work of Jim Henson. We didn't have time then to go to the second have of the museum: EMP, but hand stamps could be used all day.

Why didn't we have time? Well it was time for a Mariners game! And what a gamne it was! Not only did the Mariners kill it but there was a lot of action, some base stealing, AND the guys who were raking the field busted out in dance!

Afterwards we returned to the Experience Music Project before it closed for the night!

Next up was the Space Needle! We went up to the top and checked out the views!

And, well, I am tired! Tommorrow I'm getting up bright and early and heading off to Hyder, Alaska! See you in Canada!

Differences between Chicago and Seattle...

1. Cars stop for pedestrians in Seattle. Seriously, it freaks me out.

2. When it starts drizzling no one puts up an umbrella in Seattle. No one. In Chicago it can be misty and everyone has one up.

I think that's all I have for now.

***

I took approximately five bazillion photos today...but you will have to wait for them all...in the meantime, here are a couple of my favorites from the day:

***

My alarm didn't go off but luckily I was staying at my parents' place so they could drive me and my dad woke me up. It was 2:15am so I really only got 3 hours of sleep. In the shower I got soap in my eye and the sting wouldn't go away and hurt like hell for over an hour. After leaving I realized that I forgot my phone charger and had to turn around to get it. I still got to the airport around 3:30 for my 5:15 flight and truthfully that is probably the least amount early I have ever been to a flight...and still when I got there I had to stand in line for 20 minutes because security wasn't open. And I was not searched at security! Seriously, that is a first in a loooong time! I didn't have any liquids and I guess my shoes this time didn't pose any threats. I was kind of nervous because I didn't have round trip tickets and I know that can set them off sometimes. But I got through with no problems!

There was a set of twin boys on my flight wearing shirts that said "Thing 1" and "Thing 2". Just sayin.

I got on my flight and slept most of the way to Phoenix. I opened my eyes and all I saw was desert. It was pretty awesome. When I got to Phoenix I headed to the gate on the boarding pass, which was all the way at the other end of the airport...I got there are there was nothing on the sign and no one at the desk...I checked the board and the flight had been moved to a gate pretty much exactly where I started...great.

So my day started kind of cranky...

But, despite the fact that my feet are now KILLING ME Seattle itself is so far totally amazingly awe to the some. AND while I did get lost a lot I didn't get lost too much. You think with the amount I drive and travel I would have some sense of direction, but really I have ZERO. But I did way better at staying on track then I did when I went to Amsterdam. So I think my map-reading skills are getting better...

Anyways, enough about all that!

So I checked my bag into the hotel and took off. I didn't really have a game plan, but the hotel way kind of sort of close to Capitol Hill so I decided to start there. First up was the Seattle Museum of Mysteries which had info on bigfoots and ghosts and such. How can I pass that up, right? Then I headed to Volunteer Park to check out the free conservatory.

After that I took a break at a coffee house while it rained a little. So Seattle-esque, right?

Then what to do after coffee but stop for a burger. My coworker said Dick's was delicious and she was correct. Word to the wise, you have to pay for ketchup, but it's only 5 cents.

My final stop in Capitol Hill was to look for the Jimi Hendrix statue...which took entirely too long because I was on the wrong side of the street and there was a construction truck parked in front of it...

After that I took a walk through the downtown area where I saw a building with walruses on it and took a much needed break at the Seattle Art Museum. By break I mean they had a coat check (I carried my heavy camera bag and laptop around all day) and bathrooms and a little bit of air conditioning. Much needed. The museum was great though. A lot of modern art which was my favorite and a cool installation in the lobby made of old cars (which made me totally miss my Spindle).

After that I headed off the pier to check out Ye Olde Curiosity Shop and their crazy creatures, and stopped for lunch #2 at Ivar's where I had some clam chowder on the pier and chased around some seagulls.

Then it was on to Olympic Sculpture Park in Belltown. A great collection of outdoor sculptures!

I walked around Belltown a bit, including passing by the iconic-to-Seattle-music Crocodile Cafe. Then walked to the Space Needle, but didn't go up to the top yet.

I was going to try to find dinner but since I had already eaten two lunches I wasn't that hungry. But the museums around the space needle were all closed and I just was looking for something else to do. But I still have trouble witht he whole going into a restaurant and eating alone thing. So I didn't...

And...now I am EXHAUSTED! But it was a tons of fun day! And tomorrow I get to do it all again before driving to Alaska!

i might be on this.
just sayin'

OHMYGOD, I am sooo ready for a vacation...but not really ready...it doesn't help that I am at my parents house and they do not have Word so I can't open my travel docs on their computer to print/map and I can't access the internet from my computer (OK, that may be my fault for stealing their router...) But screw it! I'm going to go repack and get 2 hours of sleep.

I leave for Seattle on a 5am flight tomorrow...spend 2 days in Seattle, drive up BC to Hyder, Alaska and back, spend three more days in Seattle and then fly to New York City for the big hot dog eating contest! Sooo excited!

Heather and Mr. Bo are sad that I am leaving...

(p.s., Heather water my plants! And photo blog what goes on while I am away!)

Tonight was Drag Queen Bingo at Hamburger Mary's as a benefit for Project 891 Theatre Company...

one.

Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale, Summer 2009

two.
These are the photos from the photobooth at Meredith and Joe's wedding...

Today was my nephew Dylan's christening...

More photos here.

Sunday morning I headed back to the hotel bright and early for Joe and Meredith's day after wedding brunch. They had wonderful food, even though I didn't even realize that my French Toast was stuffed until halfway through! (How I miss that? Who knows...)

They also had some wedding cake, which was awesome because I didn't get any the night before (too many desserts!)

Glen got really turned around on the way there and JoeJoe decided to keep wearing his hat.

Friday night was Joe and Meredith's wedding! It was a great day! No...it was a crappy day but the wedding was awesome! Seriously, it went from pouring rain in the morning to hot and muggy later. Blah. But anyways...

After driving 20 miles for over an hour and a half I made it to the wedding with 15 minutes to spare! We grabbed some seats but JoeJoe was a bad usher and didn't tell us where the programs were. The ceremony was beautiful and just the right amount to not feel like it was way too short but not be left wondering when it would be over. They did a ring blessing and nailed together a box with a bottle of wine and letters to each other that they will open in 25 years.

After the ceremony cocktail hour began! We chatted and drank and grabbed appetizers. The dude with the tray of something with bacon on top offered me one and then probably saw me light up at bacon and told me to take another. Good thing I did as he never came back.

We were then seated. Seriously, this is the second wedding this year where I was seated next to an empty chair. Can we make me feel more single? The good thing, however, about being seated next to an empty chair is that I get to steal their champagne AND chocolate covered strawberries :-) We made our dinner selections (I got chicken) and had our entree and gnocchi and salad and lots of desserts. YUM.

And then it was time to dance, dance, dance! Well, dancing got more fun as people got drunker and were more willing to dance. IE JoeJoe who became not only willing to dance but also to wear a silly hat and play with a blow up guitar...

Best feature of the wedding though was the photo booth! We got some seriously rocking (and somewhat scandalous) photo booth pics! We weren't told until later that Joe and Meredith would be receiving digital copies of everything we took...(photos of those to be shared later once I get my hands on some digi copies.)

And at 11 they brought out trays full of McDonalds' cheeseburgers!

It was a really fun night and luckily Jen is always willing to lend her fiance to me to dance with, because I like to dance. Andrew rocks.

Wedding photos here!

1. Thursday night Heather and Alyssa and I headed over to the Moon for mimosa Thursday.

2. This is what happens when you put the wrong soap in the dishwasher. Just sayin.

one.
Last night I picked up Mat from Target in the pouring rain in exchange for him buying me chocolate. It was a fair trade. We then watched Camp because he had never seen it and he is an actor and it is about theatre camp.

two.
I should bake a cake. What is your favorite threadless shirt?

three.
How much cleavage is too much cleavage for a wedding?

four.
I will not buy any more camera equipment. I will not buy any more camera equipment. I will not buy any more camera equipment. I will not buy any more camera equipment. I will not buy any more camera equipment. I will not buy any more camera equipment. I will not buy any more camera equipment. I will not buy any more camera equipment.

five.
I think I say it too often that this man is a genius. But he is. And I love this engagement session. And this top photo is amazing.
FYI.

six.
In the last week I have had a dream where I was engaged and everyone kept fauning over it but I was pissed because I didn't want to be engaged to the guy and was trying to get out of it and one about the crackbaby from Trainspotting.

seven.
Also amazing.

eight.
I am not ready for my vacation but I am sooooo ready for vacation.

nine.
MySpace is laying off 30% of its employees. I wonder if they found out they were fired by Tom removing them from his top friends?

one.
Friday night I met up with Chelsa at Julius Meinl for dinner. My goat cheese salad and black forest mocha were yummy. We caught up a bit but called it an early night.

two.
Saturday I had a photography job in the morning but it didn't go so well as it was pouring rain and I was supposed to take photos outside :( Hopefully Friday I will be able to do more, although I had been looking forward to having the morning off. :(

I spent the rest of the day ironing laundry in an attempt to get the living room to look less like my closet. Heather's family dropped by and they took us to Frasca for lunch. I had the most delicious omelet ever. And since the mimosas were bottomless I had three... Then we went to Volo for dinner and had more wine and my peaky toe crab salad was yummy (although the avacado cream on top was a little too lemony) but it was small but that was OK becasue I was still full from the omelet.

three.
Sunday I spent most of the day cleaning and now the living room looks less like my closet and my bedroom looks pretty because I hung art and photos. I made stir fry for dinner for Chelsa and Heather and rhubarb muffins because my coworker had given me rhubarb.

four.
The cat is sometimes cute and sometimes naughty.

five.
Heather's reaction to the dress I bought for Friday: "Woah, boobies."

six.
I will stop buying camera equipment. I will stop buying camera equipment. I will stop buying camera equipment. I will stop buying camera equipment. I will stop buying camera equipment. I will stop buying camera equipment. I will stop buying camera equipment. I will stop buying camera equipment. (Except I DO need a new backpack to hold everything in...)

seven.
Oh, and justs to secure the google ranking:
WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN WALTER PORN

Sunday (as in LAST SUNDAY), our third and final day of road tripping around Missouri started in Springfield. The World's Largest Fork was definitely the world's largest fork. And the giant paper cup, while merely an entrance to a Solo cup plant, was quite impressive...even if we had to kind of illegally park it in a not really driveway out front to capture it on digital film...

We drove from there to Marshfield to see a beautiful scale rendering of the Hubble telescope...where I totally went down a one-way street the wrong way where a local saw me and stopped his car to watch me as I turned my car around to park to opposite way...But anyways, it was well worth the stop!

At a gas station in Doolittle we saw the Cookin' from Scratch Chicken Car...literally a car with a giant chicken coming out of it! Awe-some. We almost stopped for lunch there too, but alas it was a bit too early to think about lunch.

In Rolla we stopped at a replica of Stonehenge and managed to take the stupident route ever to get there.

From there it was off to find the cute A&W happy family, also in Rolla...and then the EPIC CREATION that was the World's Largest Rocking Chair! This thing was massive and perhaps the world's largest world's largest thing I have ever seen!

We stopped for lunch in Cuba and checked out the Route 66 murals that are all over the town and then stopped at yet another Sinclair Station that was closed. So we headed off to another gas station where we saw a giant pink elephant! The guys there told us we could climb it but a) there was no feasible way to do so (and believe me we tried) and b) it didn't seem quite sturdy enough to make that as brilliant of an idea as it seemed.

Our final stop was another Sinclair station...and it was not only open for business but also had the famous Sinclair Dinosaur still intact! Sweet! Brian bought me a Sinclair Dinosaur of my very own! Hom and Flopsy are BFFs now!

We hit the road back and I met up with Andrew and Sarah for dinner. We got frozen yogurt and noodles and co (because we forgot that Sunday Night + campus town + summer break = nothing on green street being open). Andrew got a rice Krispy treat and tomato soup and decided to combine them...

I then headed home and almost fell asleep on the road way too many times. But I made it back alive. That's what counts.

Missouri Road Trip Day 2 Photos Here!

Missouri Road Trip Photos Here!

1. My internet was nonexistant last night through this morning. :-( I think we need a new modem and/or I need a signal booster thing for my computer. I will blog day three of the road trip eventually...You can see a peek of it here...

2. I have no dresses that fit well. I need a new one for Joe and Meredith's wedding on Friday. I think I am going to a christening next weekend too. I think I was supposed to get an invitation. Maybe I should check the three mailboxes out front and determine if one of them is mine...

3. Tomorrow I am going to make more money for less than a day's work than I think I have ever made in a week.

4. I should write my novel. My experiment in getting myself to write more has failed. It wasn't really an experiment, just a notion.

5. I keep forgetting how much I have to do! My July 4 deadline for myself will not happen.

6. Tuesday Mat made me pick him up from work then made me move over so he could drive home. We got pizza at Piece which is right down the block and I introduced him to the wonder that is pizza with mashed potato and bacon topping. We went back to his place and watched Iron Man, which turned out to be about five hours long. Well, he watched it and I edited photos. So is life.

7. Heather keeps cracking up when she comes home and either finds me sitting on the floor of the living room or sitting in my bedroom listening to the TV even though I can't hear it. We need furniture.

FYI, Missouri radio plays three songs:

1. Lady GaGa's Love Games (I want to take a ride on your disco stick...)
2. 3OH!3's Don't Trust Me (do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips...)
3. Miley Cyrus's The Climb

***

After the hot dog eating contest Brian and I hit the road for some more awesometacular adventures! We explored Kansas City (both in Missouri and Kansas) a bit, first hitting up the World's Largest Soccer Ball! FYI, it's on a creepy little road that if you go just a bit too far on seems to all of a sudden turn into an abandoned highway. That's probably not what it is but it's what it seems like. You're all of a sudden on a bride overpass of the highway. Creepy, cool. After that we tried to stop at a Sinclair station for gas, but alas it was closed down.

Next was the garment district where, just like in New York City, there was a giant needle and button!

At this point I was getting hungry, and Brian was feeling good to eat again, so we stopped off at the Town Topic, another of the top picks from Hamburger America! It was a great little place and the ladies at the counter seemed kind of disgusted that Brian had just eaten in a hot dog eating contest and kind of happy that we said that we'd saved room for their burgers! The burger was delicious and you can never go wrong with a place that serves tater tots!

From there we found a giant old-fashioned Iron and headed off to find one of the coolest things EVER: The World's Largest Shuttlecocks! FYI, if you try to climb them an automated voice recording will tell you not to. Not that we would ever ever do such a thing.

We then left Kansas City and made our way south to see the World's Largest Coal Shovel. FYI, a coal shovel looks nothing like a, say, snow shovel. But it was huge and metal and very impressive! We found a giant mushroom, although it was on the opposite side of the road, and a miniature church that definitely wasn't the smallest I've seen but was cute and small none hte less and was situated in a park.

At a gas station we found a crapduster with a spinning propeller...

Then we stopped for a treat at a Superman museum that doubles as an ice cream parlor! I have to say it was pretty awesome. Not only was the ice cream delicious, and the "museum" spectacular, but the service and customers were polite and friendly. It felt like a real neighborhood haunt where everyone in the whole place will come together to chat!

We next found our way to a pair of giant hands. FYI, there is a parking lot for it. FYI² there is a staircase for it. FYI³ we found neither before parking on a side street and climbing up the side of the hill they live on. But they were giant and kind of cool.

Finally we made our way in the dark down some gravel farm roads and found a tiny church behind a gate. And that may very well have been the smallest church I've ever seen.

By then it was dark and a bit too late to continue for much longer, so we made our way to Springfield where there were apparently three conventions and therefore no hotel rooms but we managed to find a place to lay our heads for the night.

Missouri Road Trip Day 2 Photos Here!

Missouri Road Trip Photos Here!

Saturday I woke up at around 8am and enjoyed the hotels continental breakfast. Actually I just ate cereal and then kicked myself when I saw that around the corner they had biscuits and gravy that I missed! Brian skipped the breakfast, he didn't want to eat anything before his big competitive eating debut!

We had some time so we headed off to Lee's Summit to see a restaurant that supposedly had a giant pepper flying a plane on its roof. It did have the plane but I saw no pepper.

All we had time for was the one stop as we had to get back to Overland Park for the day's big event: the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest! The contest was one of 16 qualifying rounds to pick competitors for the biggest eating event of the year that will take place on July 4 at Coney Island! For the second year in a row I WILL be at Coney to watch! I am so excited!

I am glad we headed over when we did because a big crowd was starting to form! Brian went to check in while I staked my claim in the front row. He wasn't originally going to compete but when I saw earlier in the week that there were spots open I sent him the info and he signed up.

George Shea, the commissioner of all things Major League Eating and emcee extraordinaire took the stage and the event began with an amateur contest between Sam's Club employees.

I was getting nervous because as the contest began, Tim "Gravy" Brown was nowhere to be seen. Tim was the big named competitor of the day and the frontrunner to take home the prize (and a totally awesome guy btw). Luckily about halfway through the Sam's Club contest I saw him arrive.

I texted Brian, who was hanging out with the other competitors in the back, and told him to go up to Tim and tell him that we're friends. I think their conversation went something like:

Brian: My friend Val said to say Hi.
Tim: She's not here is she?
Brian: Yes.
Tim: No she's not.
Brian: Yeah she is.
Tim: Where?

Can you tell I work the circuit a little too much? Just a bit maybe.

Anyways. After the amateur division, the professional contest was set to begin. All of the competitors were called up one by one...and there were a LOT of competitors! I think there were thirteen in all! They all got their liquids ready. You can tell that some of them have studied the pros by bringing in their own drinks. Once everyone at the table was set, Shea counted it down and off they went eating!

Tim looked like he got a slow start, purposefully pausing, stretching, before diving in. By that time another competitor down the row had already dunked a handful of hot dog and was pushing its remnants into his mouth. Soon though Tim was off dunking and smooshing buns and dogs into his mouth!

It was a crazy exciting contest! It seemed that almost everyone was in it to win it! At one point it seemed like it could have been almost anyone's table to take. Tim Brown was going for it with all his might and you could tell he was pushing himself as far as he humanly could. He wanted and needed to win. When it was announced that someone else was ahead of him he kept going and his whole face turned shades of red and green and he kept eating well past the point anyone should ever be eating.

In fact, as everyone was eating so ferociously they nearly ran out of hot dogs! Nearing the end you could see them taking plates away from those who said they wouldn't finish and placing them in front of the ones who were still gunning for the gold.

As the contest drew to a close it was still up in the air. But in the end he came out victoriously: Tim "Gravy" Brown won with 32 hot dogs in ten minutes!

So, how did Brian do? Well...I think with a modest five and a half dogs he ended in dead last. I felt bad as I had assured him that the qualifier I saw last year there were a few people who just came out to say they'd eaten and ended up only eating one. But this year was different. It's getting tougher and as competitive eating becomes more and more popular, more and more people want to be a part of it. But Brian still enjoyed his experience. And five and a half hot dogs in ten minutes is nothing to sneeze at.

Afterwards I waited around as hordes of fans asked Gravy for autographs before congratulating him on his victory. He was still shocked that I made the trip out, but really, I will drive almost anywhere anytime for anything.

I even offered to give him a lift to a contest if he ever needed it...(in a discussion at work we have decided that I am more than a fan, but not a groupie (it was determined that in order to be a 'groupie' I needed to be sleeping with everyone) but am now more like a roadie. Although stalker probably does fit best...)

Hot Dog Eating Contest Photos Here!
(OK, so there is something wrong with the thumbnails! I don't know why they did not render and/or upload! But I can't fix it until I get home from work (and then only if the internet in my apartment actually works!) but the photos are there, I swear!)

Missouri Road Trip Photos Here!

Friday morning I woke up at 5am and was out the door around 5:45 on my way to Urbana to pick up Brian. I couldn't tell if the Starbucks on the corner was open and the second one a few blocks away was but I couldn't find easy enough parking. I need to buy coffee. I picked up Brian around 7 and we hit the road to more dangerous trying to fimn stuff while I drive driving! Our first and only stop in Illinois was the World's Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville. I'd seen it before, but as ketchup is probably one of my favorite inventions ever, it is probably one of my favorite roadside attractions ever. Brian had never seen it and remarked that it would be more impressive if it was actually filled with ketchup. And I agree. But I love it none the less. And then it was off to St. Louis!

I had lots of awesome stops planned for St. Louis but we didn't have time to see any of them, so we pretty much skipped the town other than for lunch at Sweetie Pie's, a soul food kitchen thatI am pretty sure was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The smothered pork was amazingly delicious and the place was so sweet and even though it was a cafeteria there was a guy who came by and took my tray for me to my table.

We decided to move on from St. Louis after that. Navigating city traffic always puts you a little behind and we had so much else to see. We went to Clayton next to see a giant shoe made from shoes and then Columbia to see a statue of Beetle Bailey. We were on a renegade mission, putting dimes into parking meters and running to take photos and bask in the awesomeness of everything just to get back to the car as the meter was about to expire. A girl was studying at the Beetle Bailey statue and I didn't want to ask her to move so I tried photographing around her.

Next up we headed to Sedalia, where we saw a neat little museum devoted to the area's railroad industry, complete with some cool artwork on the railroad itself! While in Sedalia we made a stop for lunch #2 of the day, The Wheel Inn, and partook in their claim-to-fame specialty: The Guberburger. The Guberburger is a hamburger topped with lettuce, tomato, and...wait for it...peanut butter! It was quite tasty and all in all I was much more surprised that I ate a burger with lettuce on it than that I ate a burger with peanut butter on it!

After filling our stomachs yet again we hit some back roads to see two world's largest things: the world's largest pecan in Brunswick and the world's largest goose in Sumner! The pecan was cool and the goose was amazing! It was one huge bird!

Our final stop of the day was Chillicothe. Have you ever said that something was the greatest invention since sliced bread? Well, you have Chillicothe, Missouri to thank for that as it is the home of sliced bread!

From there we hit the road to Overland Park, Kansas where we had a hotel for the night. We were going to just order a pizza from the room, as we were pretty tired and wanted to get to blogging! But, low and behold, what was right outside our hotel? A Winstead's! Winstead's is a hamburger joint that was named one of the best burgers by George Motz in his book Hamburger America. Luckily it was still open for another hour! I got a double with cheese, a chocolate milk shake, and a half and half, where they give you BOTH fries and onion rings! Everyone should have that!

Then we checked into our Settle Inn hotel to retire for the night and get ready for the big day ahead...

Missouri Road Trip - Day One Photos Here!

1. Bah, so many photos to go through before I can blog! Hopefully tonight or tomorrow though!

2. Heather and I got sushi for dinner. FYI, I ate sushi with roe on it and a hamburger with lettuce on it this week. I am still alive. I do however have a bad cold and sore throat. I blame the lettuce.

3. Last night me and the guy at the liquor store had a conversation with Heather to try to convince her to not take up smoking. Heather, do not take up smoking. She then made me go to the sex shop next door with her.

4. I am like a professional or something.

5. I can't believe my Seattle/Hyder/New York trip is only two weeks away!

I spent the last three days roadtripping Missouri! The trip was total awesomesauce and I am exhausted! I'll be posting a recap and tons of photos hopefully tomorrow. For now here's a peek at everything we saw!

one.
My blog has felt neglected lately. :-(

two.
Sunday I went to watch Chelsa's choir concert downtown. When I got back Heather said she wanted to get end tables from Pier One and asked if I could drive becasue she had crap in her car. I didn't want to becasue it was a cubs game night and i would have had to have given up my parking spot. But I did it. When we got back we could not find parking and decided to try the spot in the back (which we actually do pay for). While trying to park I got my car wedged up against the side of the garage. So then it was so tight of a space that I scraped it going either way. I kind of had a break down and cried and hyperventalated and yelled at Heather for making me move my car. I couldn't move it until the girl next to us came back and she moved her car so we could get in. My car looks like shit but I probably won't get it repaired. The garage has more damage.
Then Heather and I got sushi.

three.
Monday night I went to a Sox game. It was a good game, but we left early. I had a hot dog with lots of ketchup and funnel cake which curbed my craving for it!

four.
Tuesday I saw a mouse. He was kind of cute.

I went to the burbs to do wine tasting night at WineStyles. MK was there and so was Scott, but Joe and Alina and others were not. Just the three of us. I totally got ten for ten without cheating at all. I didn't cheat, I swear. Then I went to MK's and we drank more wine and hung out for a while.

five.
Wednesday Heather and I got pasta at Frasca.
Later Mat and I hung out. I asked him to come over. I told him we could watch a movie. He looked around the living room and said "but you don't have a TV." I thin said "Oh, yeah, you'll have to get that from my car." And then he did. And that is how you get a heavy TV from your car up three flights and into your living room. We then went to Waterhouse because he was hungry. I ate some hummus and got a bad bottle of wine because it was half off. Then we went back and watched a movie but on my laptop not my TV because we would have had to have set the TV up. I fell asleep.

six.
Tomorrow I am going to Kansas City for a hot dog eating contest! There were some extra spots so I got Brian to sign up! No, I did not sign up. I would eat two and throw up. I am a eating fan/stalker not a good speed eater! I think Tim Brown is going to be eating. And I totally just realized I was supposed to email him about something a long time ago. Oops. These are potential things we will see in Missouri:

View Kansas City Road Trip in a larger map

seven.
I told Mat that I wanted a Vespa. Just as when I was saying I was suprised it is cheap he said they are really expensive. Then I explained to him that a basic Vespa was cheaper than my camera. To which he replied "HOW MUCH WAS YOUR CAMERA?!?!?!"

eight.
American Idol auditions are in TWO WEEKS! What should I sing?
p.s. I am totally not uaditioning because I think I can sing. I just want the experience. And it is my last year to qualify.

nine.
Why is it that I usually have no plans and then the one weekend I am gone I get invited to four different events in one night?

I arrived at Mallie's Sport Bar and Grill a little after 2PM Eastern time. A crowd was already forming to see both the calamari eating contest and the to be later revealed new record holder for world's largest hamburger. Luckily everyone was dispersed enough eating and drinking that I was still able to take a prime front and center view of the action!

Before the contest I said hi to Pat (who really needs to stop being surprised when I randomly show up at contests) and Crazy Legs (who surprised me by introducing me by my full name) and Humble Bob. I wished them all luck than claimed my position up front as more people started crowding in.

And then we waited, of course, as giant burger centerpieces were laid, and cups set, and plates and plates of calamari hit the tables. Finally it was time to begin as all the eaters were called to take their places. Besides the favorites of Pat Bertoletti and Sonya Thomas and Crazy Legs and Humble Bob there were some locals and newcomers and even Pat's brother Joe!

They all took their places on stage and before you knew it they were off eating!

Plates and plates of fried squid disappeared. Most of the center players took to squishing the tentacles together into a seafood and breading ball that was devoured. It was hard to keep up with who was winning. The table enders seemed to slow quickly, eating all the way to the end but not at the ferocious pace of Sonya and Pat and Bob.

And as the crowd counted down from ten to one there was seemingly no clear cut winner. They finished their chipmunked particles and counted plates and in the end, with three of them on their seventh plate, the emcee (yet another new one) had to bring out the scale to weigh them in.

In the end it was Crazy Legs (3.4375 lbs.) in fourth, Sonya Thomas in third (6.125 lbs.), Humble Bob Shoudt (6.3125 lbs.) in second, and Pat Bertoletti (6.625 lbs.) in first.

Calamari seemed to me that it would be a hard one to eat. I can eat a lot of calamari myself but I would think the chewiness would hinder the ability to eat it fast. Crazy Legs later told me that his strategy was to ball the entire plate of food into one squished mash like he'd seen done long ago in a cheese fries competition, but in the end he had forgotten to take into account the denser chewier inside the squid provided that didn't allow his theory to work as well as he had hoped.

After the contest we all hung around the bar for a bit awaiting the arrival of the newest World's Largest Hamburger. In the meantime I became enamored with their claw machine. You know those machines with the claws that you use to try to pick up a toy to win? The bar had them for LOBSTERS! How awesome is that? And Jason Erb asked if I was a professional stalker and that probably sounds about correct.

Anyways...a little while later Mallie's brought out all of their burgers from a small child-size offering to their 10 pounder (that is actually on the menu). To finally...all 180 plus pounds of their new record-breaking Guinness-certified world's largest burger.

Amazing! I could maybe eat the pickle on it.

After snapping a few photos I took off back to Chicago, where I promptly passed out. I need to stop doing that.

Calamari Eating Contest Photos Here!

World Record Hamburger Photos Here!

Apparently Michigan is in the Eastern time zone. In retrospect I probably already knew that but it never occurs to me to even check. Luckily, I was alerted to this fact the night before I was driving to Detroitish and therefore made it to Southgate in plenty of time to watch the calamari eating contest!

I woke up at 6am Saturday and was at the Starbucks on the corner by 7. I needed coffee to keep me going. What really is funny to me is that driving the 2 hours to Champaign used to feel like forever and a day but now driving for 6 hours in one go feels like absolutely nothing. Without any stops Southgate would have only been about a four and a half hour drive. But you know me, I can't drive anywhere without making a few stops...

My first stop was to be the World's Largest nose in Grand Beach, Michigan. Unfortunately I got there at about 9:10am and the place it was at didn't open until 10am. I didn't have the time to dally about so I decided to leave it behind. Ah, next time. Luckily just down the road was an ice cream shop with a few cows and a giant ice cream cone! Totally unexpected, it's always fun to run into giant cows!

Most of my afternoon drive was spent stopping at Big Boys. Mind you, I didn't eat at a one of them but I had never seen a Big Boy before! So I stopped at every one I saw advertised :-) I ended up hitting five of them (well, seven, but two of them had no statue to be seen! What's with that?)

My next stop was Ypsilanti where there was a giant cow on the roof of a "dairy." Now, by "dairy" I mean a kind of scary store that didn't have anywhere to park and just had a driveway out front where a kind of scary man stood who would presumably go inside and bring what you wanted to your car... Luckily there was a guy getting "things" in front of me so while he was being taken care of I took some photos and when he left I sped by...

And then we were off to Southgate! Right near Southgate there are two glorious side of the highway attractions! First up was the World's Largest Tire!

And then an oil tank painted like a basketball!

It was a fun afternoon! From there it was on to Mallie's in Southgate to witness the calamari eating contest...more on that tomorrow...

Road Trip Photos here!