You Be (Road)Trippin'

I just returned home from a really great weekend reunion with Spain friends in...drumroll please...the great state of...Kentucky! Yes, Kentucky. I've only ever driven through it, but now after spending a solid two days with some of its finest residents, I can now say that it is a wonderful place. I'll be posting who I actually got to see while I was there later on this week, but first I want to talk about the process of getting there. That's right, the road trip. I drove the six hours each way on my own, and I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit. The trip went straight south all the way through the great state of Indiana, through Louisville as I entered Kentucky, and then on to my destination in Lexington. This is a special part of the country we call home, let me tell you. Here's a few distinctive features of a great road trip to Kentucky.

First, I started the day on a breakfast date with my mom. Granted, not all road trips can begin this way, but I highly recommend it. She coincidentally was meeting her sisters in the city for lunch, so she came a few hours earlier to see me first. It was wonderful. We ate at a place called Sweet Maple Cafe in University Village (the neighborhood just north of mine) and it was deeeeelish.

The next key to a great road trip is the food. Every road trip needs road trip candy. I had my quintessential nerds and gum (I'm a chain chewer). Plus, you GOTS to make a stop at an unhealthy restaurant. This time, I chose Culver's. Culver's, Chik Fil-A, and Sonic round out my trifecta of best road-trip-lunch-stops, and this one was just south of Indianapolis. Not only was it a great excuse for consuming lots of barbeque sauce, it was a great opportunity to people watch. I have to say that I saw one pervading theme: poorly fitting denim. It was everywhere. People of Indiana, get yourselves to a GAP store IMMEDIATELY.

Finally, the best part of a road trip is, of course, the radio. This drive had lots of great ads for things that people in Indiana are interested in, like fishing boats and GED completion courses. One thing I loved about this particular drive through the Midwest was that just about every other station I scanned to was a country music station. This is something that brings me back to my roots as a hick Wisconsinite as well as summers in Indiana visiting Karley and her friends. There was a lot of Blake, a lot of George, and a lot of Tim. Not to mention the classic rock stations that I don't have in Chicago. It was nice to hear Tom Petty again. When I wasn't listening to some good homestyle music, I perused the pop stations. I think I heard The Lumineers' Ho! Hey! more times than I can express. (You all need to chill on that song. It's great, but give it a rest.) After that, I did what every roadtripper does: indulge in the guilty pleasure music. You know what that means. Justin Bieber. Ha! Oh yikes. I'm a little ashamed to admit that instead of switching the station when the song below came on the radio, I turned the volume up just slightly. It couldn't be helped.

You know you all love it too.

And now you have all the ingredients for a great trip to Kentucky. Plan your weekend soon!