This is long. I warn you. Skim through the headings of places/click on highlighted words for photos or don’t read any of it… Have at it. (ha!) It was fun to recap it all for myself… Welcome to my life from May through July.
Much love.
Megan
Lexington, KY:
- Visiting a Shaker Village on our Friday off – I had learned of Shakers in my History of U.S. Sexuality (shout out to Timothy Gilfoyle) and was thrilled to see my textbooks illustrated.
- Touring Buffalo Trace Distillery and Woodford Reserve (personal fav was Buffalo Trace’s tour – fyi). Honorable mention liquor: Buffalo Trace’s RAIN Vodka.
- Cheering on the Bulls in bourbon bars.
- Buying lemonade from these kids:
Lexington Lemonade - Free.
Leopold, IN:
- Working INSIDE Hoosier National Forest = quail, turkeys, turtles, snakes, hawks, deer, rabbits… mud roads with creeks running through them.
We stopped our SUV (yes, there were off-roading moments) to examine.
- Playing Banana Grams while drinking Fat Tire in a hotel bathroom with my coworkers while tornado winds uprooted trees in the parking lot.
- Ordering “vegetarian tacos” and receiving flour tortillas with only lettuce and cheese – really??
- Seeing skeletons of black barns from past tobacco farms.
Posen, MI:
- Going for a run on an island across from our hotel – complete with garter snakes in the trails and a meditative moment inspired by a swan letting the wind direct its gliding.
- Picnic lunches on the lakefront with my coworker Richard – including a stop in South Haven.
Newark, DE:
- Triumph Brewery in Philadelphia, complete with a stellar band playing E. European rock
- Working with a now dear friend Jamie, who happens to love pop music and singing aloud. I now know most songs on the radio.
Baltimore, MD:
- The first of my weeks with my friend Jimmy, who loves Trivia Nights. We pulled off two – replete with excellent East Coast beers.
Team photo.
- Finding a deal on bikram yoga and going each day before work.
- Fells Point gelato – best ever. If you ever go to Baltimore, do it.
- Walks through the beautiful historic district along with driving through most parts of the city.
Toledo, OH:
- Field-side seating at the Toledo Mudhens’ game.
- My partner for the week – Charlie – and I vowed to not use a GPS – and therefore, came to know many random parts of the city. (ha!)
Morning ritual of crosswords and coffee.
- Eating awesome cupcakes for dinner – per Charlie’s suggestion – from Perryville’s cookware shop.
- Catching a firefly in Toledo and finding it in our car – aglow – when we arrived in Chicago.
Bronx, NY:
- Having a site 0.5 square miles → parking each morn and walking all day – glorious!
- With a diverse and Spanish-speaking neighborhood, feeling as if I had left the country.
- Walking the mile from our hotel to the Yankees/Brewers game (Yankee fans actually watch the game – imagine that, Cubs fans).
- Bronx Ale House. Such a cool crowd.
- An evening stroll through Central Park followed by delicious Indian food at Earthen Oven and going out in Manhatten.
- Meeting Charlie’s friends for tapas and sangria in East Village.
Cudahy, WI:
- Crosswords and coffee with Jimmy each morning before work.
- Milwaukee’s Honeypie Cafe – absolutely cannot wait to go back.
- Jimmy brews great beer and – only fitting – loves trying others’ beer. We indulged and visited five key beer spots in Milwaukee and St. Francis. (!)
- Listening to Alan Watts’ lectures.
Dallas, TX:
- A Trivia Night win! My three coworkers and I plus two Dallasites beat a large crowd – our winnings went towards our discovery and love of Braum’s yogurt.
- A visit to restaurant and excellent bar Meddlesome Moth. Worth a trip if you happen into the cement oven that is Dallas.
My favorite weeks have to be Electic, AL; Lexington, KY; Baltimore, MD; and Bronx, NY. The culture of the ‘Deep South’ was beyond my imagination. I could definitely live in Lexington. I could do temporary stints in New York and Baltimore. I just loved them. My time in Cudahy was also great – Milwaukee is a gem, and I look forward to my next visit there.
My locations were good, my partners were incredible. A slew of us went out in early August to celebrate the end of the job (fittingly, to a trivia night) – to toast each other now as friends. It has been a gift to have such jolly fun with an entirely diverse crowd of people. We would never gather otherwise – our interests, personalities and quirks greatly differ – but the long hours we spent together created curiously strong bonds and inspired much laughter. I have so many new, beautiful people in my life.
Finally, a friend inquired, “Megan, from your past four months, is there a common thread that makes all of us United States’ians? What do we share?” A worthy question. As I have time and thought space, I will explore the query and get back to you.
Cheers, Friends. The match has ended.
Reason & Passion 