There is so much to do in LA that’s it’s near impossible to get to do it all in 36 hours. Now, a lot of it might be possible if it weren’t for the insane traffic on the 405 … at all points during the trip the traffic was at a standstill. I have never seen anything like that in my life!!

So, I haven’t been to LA in years … and I can recall my first trip there quite vividly. I was 19 years old and coming to town for a Bruce Springsteen concert. Needless to say, LA is a great place to visit for the first time but it was a little overwhelming. So many things and so little time.

Although it’s 10 years later, I still had that same feeling when I reached town. I even still got that same feeling when I reached the view of the Hollywood sign, and while walking on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. The good part about this trip is that I would appreciate all the smaller stuff much more this time around. I guess the bad part about seeing so much so young is that you don’t have appreciation (or as much) as once you’re a little more versed in the world and the details of life.

This time I had a hefty list of things I wanted to see and actually got to run through the entire list, thankfully!! I even got to squeeze in time to see on of my dear friends from the industry and formerly Orlando. The trip started by flying into the odd Long Beach Airport as the flight from Vegas wouldn’t go into LAX as much as I would have preferred that option.

From there I checked into my La Quinta by the LAX airport (irony) and waited at the lobby bar for my friends to get there to tear up the town. In just that short time I was able to see a few different sights that were on my list including the Chinese Theatre, Kodak Theatre, and Palladium … which was right across the street from where I was supposed to meet my friend Jenny from Warner Brothers Records.

Jenny, aka J-Flo was the local record company rep in Orlando for the whole time I was at O-Rock 105.9 and we had tons of good times together. Normally record people are slightly shallow and all about themselves and force feeding work down your throat (sorry to my friends in the industry that aren’t like that … Stevo, T-Bird, Johnny Promo, Mark, and the others on that short list) but Jenny was never like that.

I remember on Friday’s she would even come into the station to be on-air with us inbetween the morning show and my show on a segment we called “The Brunch Bunch” … it was 45 minutes of absolute insanity. No format, we just talked about what we thought was funny and topical – and I’m sure it was the topic of many nightmares of my Program Director, Bobby Smith. But, it was awesome and one of those things I know I’ll never forget about being on air in Orlando. Then there were the shows we hit … I remember helping her kid at Projekt Revolution (Linkin Park) Tour when he decided to pull out his tooth!?! Random memories from an awesome person.

So, we were meeting her for her birthday at a bar called “The Well” in Hollywood. And, at first, we weren’t finding her. So, we had some drinks while I texted her trying to see if she was there … no reply. That’s ok, I thought, this is a great bar with killer music and my buddy was diggin’ the hell out of it too. So, there we say enjoying drinks at a vip table when I saw the tell-tale tattoo on Jenny’s arm in my peripheral vision … it’s music notes that wrap around her arm! I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around said hi and then with a moment of disbelief said ‘Holy fuck!!’ Priceless greeting if you ask me!

From there we took some pictures, we had some b-day shots, she introduced me to her friends and I did the same. This is one of those moments where the thought occurs to you that you really miss certain people. Jenny is one of those people. One of the few friends I would trust with pretty much anything! You know when your car is broken down and you go to call someone for a ride – the lucky person has more than 2 people that they KNOW would drop something and help out. I guess I’m a leprechaun then, as I know I have a dozen plus people on that list … and Jenny is one of them.

So, after a year catching up with her was better than awesome.

The second LA day consisted of a great brunch on Rodeo Drive, driving around the viewing spots of LA, hitting Greystone Manner … follow that link and see all the movies this house has been in. By the way, I wasn’t supposed to really be there but I just walked around the place like it was mine and they didn’t question me. I even ended up on the back patio having a drink overlooking the city – again, NOT supposed to be there.

Check the link on crosscountrycarter.com for the full list of places I checked out in LA and see below for some of the photos.

So glad I hit the City of Angels. I wasn’t expecting to have that much fun as I normally think of LA as a pretty phony place – but having real friends there certainly changed my prospective on that town. Next up … the blog from Napa Valley!!

Dinner time.

Carter

 

        

Wow, I’m running behind on this blogging thing. It’s really tough to get this done with such short amounts of time in each city. This blog is recounting what I did a few days back in Las Vegas. Everyone always has that same look when you mention Vegas … like ‘yeaaa… Veeegggassss’, but I used to live there so it’s not quite the same mental forbidden playground as it is for most.

For me, it’s a place to see old friends, coworkers and the most number of Cirque shows on one street in the world. I’ve seen quite a few of them and have not yet seen LOVE (which is the Cirque show based around the music of the Beatles). There was plenty to look forward to when landing – including the huge hook up that I got from The Palms Hotel and Casino. I remember when I lived in Vegas they were building the Palms and it opened shortly before I left.

We all knew it would be a cool spot but I don’t think anyone thought it would become what it did!! That place is amazing with so much to do! I was trying to be good in Vegas on this short trip so sadly I didn’t get a chance to visit Rain Ultra Lounge. The sad thing that I will now always remember if my friend hoping to see my friend DJ AM spin the night I was in town at Rain, but painful  to say he’s now occupying a DJ booth in Heaven keeping the angels grooving and wouldn’t be at the club (in person) the night I was in town.

So, I tried to plan the day and started out by sitting at the sports book and grabbing a drink, tossing $20 into a video poker machine and expecting to get a few free cocktails and loose the $20 bucks. It was then I found out I Tia must be a lucky charm as the first spin I did was right as she texted me … 4 of a kind. $200!! Good start! Then, literally 4 other times she texted me, I got 4 of a kind! I’m not one for superstition …. But I was going to ask her to continuously text me the whole day. I could have paid for a new house at that rate!!

Though I didn’t get to catch up with as many old co workers as I had hoped, I did get to catch up with one of my really good friends Troy. Troy was at Hard Rock Live in Orlando for a while, and then moved up to Boston to run the brand new House of Blues across from Fenway. While peeking on Facebook I found out he was actually in Vegas at HOB running that venue for a little while soooo I got to hang out with him!

We hit a few spots in the Mandalay Bay before he brought me up to the Members Only “Foundation Room” at the top of Mandalay (it’s literally at eye level with the Mandalay sign … UNREAL views). He gave me a tour of the venue I’ve been to a few times, but this time it was much cooler being that I was there with a great friend who knew the ins and outs of the whole spot.

After FR I went LOVE at Mirage and the Revolution Lounge – that place was amazing, as you can see from the pictures. That’s the first place in my life I didn’t mind paying $11 for a cocktail … the view of this place plus watching LOVE was WELL worth the price.

I’m pleased to say I didn’t get a lot accomplished in Vegas. It’s my old home so I wasn’t there as a tourist … I was there to relax and remember. It’s been a while since I’ve been in Vegas and I was pleased just to walk around and recall some amazing moments in my life in a city like that. While I lived there I attended dozens of restaurant openings, a few casino grand openings, countless concerts and vip events and many other parts of my life that I’ll never forget. I can remember being 18 years old and getting off the plane in Vegas as production director of CBS Radio thinking ‘what the hell am I doing here??’. After my limo picked me up at the airport and brought me to the hotel on the strip I was staying at for a few weeks (on CBS) I ran into one of the funniest moments of my life to that point. They wouldn’t let me, a “VIP Guest” check into the hotel because I wasn’t 21 years old.

I’m 18 in this city and literally … can’t do a damn thing. It was such an odd call to have to call my boss to come down from the radio station to check in for me. It was like asking your parents to get you a hotel room on prom night. Slightly embarrassing but well worth it.

So, there you have it … my quick Vegas trip – and What Happens In Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas … for me, it’s just a fun place to escape for a little while from reality but it will always hold a really special place in my heart as the first place I moved for work (outside Mass) and can’t help but say thank you to that city for shaping a part of me.

Well, I type this from a Starbucks in Downtown San Fran … I’m going to pack up and hit a few more spots before pulling somewhere by the ocean to type about LA. Then my Napa trip. Then my San Fran trip!

At the airport at 11pm – flying to Boston for a 1 hour layover before heading to Orlando!! YAY!!!

Peace-  Carter

Numbers!! Casinos I hit: 14, Shows: 1, Bars: 7, Most up: $500ish, Most down: $100, Left: up $159,

        

Good Morfternoon from Long Beach, CA! This is one of my new terms in association with my trip as I’m on the West Coast and a bunch of you are on the East Coast.  

“Morfternoon (Morph-Tur-Noon): 1) The time 2:59 minute window when it’s Morning on the West Coast and Afternoon on the East Coast. 2) The simultaneous window of morning and afternoon. 3) More than likely a strong German beer and/or techno band.

With Morfternoon we could both be enjoying a meal at the same time though different meals … unless you’re one of those people that likes to have breakfast at lunch. I, however, like to have the proper meal at the proper time of day. Wait, that’s not totally true as sometimes I like breakfast for dinner … I know, I’m such a wild-man.

Anyway, I’m here in Long Beach from Salt Lake City. I had some good ideas of things to do in Salt Lake City, but honestly I needed a night of sleep rather than a night of exploration (especially with the next 6 days I have coming up). After getting off the plane in SLC I got my rental car from Dollar Rental Car (thanks to Missy, who was very helpful in offering directions and suggestions for dining) and drove to the La Quinta in SLC – about 10 minutes away from the airport.

I’ve got to tell you, I normally am used to staying in pretty upscale resorts when I travel … the kind you find featured on Travel Channel and say ‘ohhhhhh’ or ‘aahhhhhhh’ … ya know, the noises you hear while watching Forth of July Fireworks. But, being that I just could not possibly do that for a number of reasons (first and foremost, it’s too damn expensive if I don’t have contacts there and 2^nd, I’m only using these are places to sleep, shower and write – why go all out and not be able to use anything?!?) I’ve found that La Quinta is pretty damn swell.

I’ve stayed at two so far with another 3 booked at various stops. The people have been nothing but very nice and informative and the rooms are bigger than places I’ve spend $500 a night for … albeit, the little shampoos aren’t nearly as fancy and they don’t have room service and crap (but both I’ve stayed so far offered suggestions for local delivery if I was so inclined!).

For what I did in Salt Lake City … not much, but got GREAT sleep. I did get to drive to Great Salt Lake, as you can see from the photos as well as try a local place for apparently good spicy chicken wings. I fancy myself a semi-professional hot-wing taster … these were, well average. I ended up with a salad.

Great Salt Lake was really pretty, but other than that I think Salt Lake isn’t really my cup of tea (brewed either with or without salted lake water), and the whole place had an interesting smell that I can’t explain other than that of a plain donut. Yea, I don’t know, that’s what I was getting. And, it made me oddly snacky.

Back at the airport this morning I found that Salt Lake City airport the TSA people there (at least the ones I have the ‘privilege’ of dealing with really took their jobs way to seriously, and without actually doing it properly. The guy who scanned my bag, and subsequently unpacked it on the belt (where he wasn’t supposed to) then scolded me as someone that ‘must not ever fly that often’ … I corrected him saying that one must either ‘never do something’ or ‘not do it often’, but not to do them both at the same time is physically impossible.

He then told me a long dissertation on how to pack my bag … to which I pointed out that my bag is one of the TSA approved bags that doesn’t require the same packing requirements of normal bags. He said I was wrong, and the other person there said I was right. They then had a little under their breath disagreement to which I and the smart(er) one were proved correct.

This whole thing has made me label this SLC TSA the Reno 911 of Airports. The guy even looked like a cast member. Was I being Airpunked?

Anyway … that brings me to my layover in Long Beach. And, I must say, perhaps it’s slightly more difficult for others, but I don’t see what the fuss it about. I believe it was Snoop Dogg that said ‘With So Much Drama In The LBC, It’s Kinda Hard Being Snoop D-O-Double-G’. I’m happy to report that I have found no such drama thus far.

Onto sin city to hang out with some old co-workers from CBS Radio and my buddy Troy from House of Blues Boston (formerly Hard Rock Live Orlando) who is doing some work with HOB in Vegas for a while! GAME ON!! Can’t wait to see the old stomping grounds.

More photos to come!

Hope you’re having a great Morfternoon, and enjoy your bagel and coffee or burger and soda.

Carter  

 

        

Ahhh the West Coast. I believe it was the uber-cool New York rock band Interpol who asked the question “How are things on the West Coast?” … I can answer that question in the form of a blog entry and a type away sitting at Terminal 2 in the San Diego Airport.

And, the simple answer is pretty badass!

I flew out two days ago after a few time zone changes from Mountain/East/Central/East so I was afraid that I was going to be amazingly tired, which I was, but was easily able to fight through it! One of my best friends Anjelica recently did what I’ve been typing about for a while and took a chance. She had been in Orlando for a while and it was starting to get a little stale with work and the whole party scene so she packed up and moved to lovely San Diego. I remember talking to her about it before she went and although she was nervous to make such a big move she agreed with my philosophy which is “Just Try It” … I attempt to never have a regret because of something I didn’t do. You can do things and learn from the potential mistakes, but I never want to have ‘what if I did this’ moments.

Anyway, Anj was cool enough to set up some amazing stuff for me when I came into her new hometown of San Diego. I have a crazy long list of things I can add to the ‘new places’ category. As soon as I landed, we trekked over to Balboa Park, which is where the San Diego Zoo is located … WAY bigger than I thought it would be. It’s not a park, it’s more of a wooded and grassed city in itself. After a long walk through there seeing some awesome sites we checked out the History Of Man building. Much to my pleasant surprise it wasn’t a Chippendales “Caveman” Male Review, rather a badass exhibit of Peruvian history and Egyptian Culture including tons of real mummies. Slightly creepy but amazingly cool. Check out the pictures below to see the building which was so breathtaking I can’t describe it and I’ll allow the photos to do the talking.

After that we went to her new town of La Jolla, CA. La Jolla is a small city about 15 minutes from downtown San Diego that is home to some serious money. It’s surrounded by a few other towns/beaches that are more college friends and economically diverse, but La Jolla seems to be a lot more upscale. She and her friend Gabe warned me it was a pretty nose-in-the-air type city but luckily they showed me around to a ton of places that had their noses properly pointed in the forward position.  

The first place we went was called French 101 … that’s her bar/restaurant. In addition to a killer bar, they have a HUGE bakery in the place. Really cool and amazingly yummy. We had a 4 course dinner which was fantastic all around. In my new and healthy ways, trying to eat mostly vegetarian, I had an incredible smokey “Penne Ratatouille”. Since it was San Diego weather, 74 over a sunset it was perfectly light and pretty refreshing. If you’re in SD or plan on going, 100% go to French 101 – great food, great drinks, great people and surprisingly not expensive (or noses in the upright and locked position).

After that we hit the town for a bunch of different bars down the main strip of La Jolla saying hi to all these people and checking out some amazing bars and lounges all of which had an ocean view. My personal favorite was called “Georges” – it was on the second floor of a quaint strip of shops with a great wine list and amazing view of the ocean from a few stories up overlooking the sand and rocks of the cove. Funny part of the evening … a bunch of us were sitting together and I ordered some wine, and the others followed suit. Gabe asked the server ‘what kind of beer do you have?’ she glared at him and said  ‘I think you know the list … you spilled three of them last night…’. Quick with a reply, Gabe said ‘Oh, right! Which one didn’t I spill? I liked that one … I’ll have the Hefeweizen .’

After that we made our way to the Historic Gaslight District and went to a pretty famous bar called “Whiskey Girl”. Think combination of dance club / rodeo. Pretty sweet! We stayed there for a while and had a few drinks. The joy of heading out to a bar in downtown during the week is it’s so cheap! EVERYTHING was $3.

Day two started off with a trip to the Windan Sea Coffee Shop. Yup, I cheated on Starbucks but don’t hold it against me. It’s literally next to the house, so coffee is a must with a long evening and jetlag. I would have had instant cof…. No, I take that back. I wouldn’t have.

From there we took a walk along Windan Sea Beach (sidenote: the whole first day I thought it was Wind And Sea, not Windan Sea … you can see that mistake, right?) and checked out some of the cliffs. The ocean was really getting strong while we were on the cliffs and saw some amazing waves crashing into the sea walls – you can see a few of the photos with the ocean literally 20+ feet in air off a wall. That sound is incredible… the wave building and rumbling then a loud crash into wall. It’s Mother Nature’s equivalent of the kickoff in football.

Then it was the beach tour. We hit beaches all over the area including Pacific Beach (which I LOVE the area, shops and restaurants everywhere in a really chill environment), Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, and Dog Beach (with puppies running everywhere. I hope to God we can all one day be as happy as all those dogs were running on the beach). A quick stop at Nick’s on the Pier for some lobster and fish tacos before heading back to La Jolla was a fantastic few minutes of downtime. I’m going to make lobster tacos when I get home … never thought they’d be that good – but they’re amazing. Oh, and $3?!?

Back to La Jolla where Gabe taught us how to ocean snorkel. We went into the cove (water = cold) and had at it. I’ve never done anything remotely close to this … hell, I don’t like going in the ocean at all but this was amazing. We saw a bunch of fish swimming right by us and even a few sting rays close to the bottom of the water. We got close enough to touch them, but as soon as you get that close they dart away (which as it swam away all I could think is the teacher from “Finding Nemo”). We did get some underwater photos and as soon as they’re developed I’ll post them.

We had dinner in old La Jolla at this awesome little Italian restaurant … we dined outside because the weather was yet again, amazing. By the way, if this travel thing or the radio thing doesn’t work out – I’m going to be a weatherman in San Diego as my job would be “Today it’s going to be sunny and 74 … looking at the extended forecast, tomorrow through next month will be sunny and 74 with the chance of 73 so bundle up!”

Then we wrapped up our evening at La Valencia Hotel (which is a really really high end boutique resort) for some wine on the deck over looking, you guessed it, the ocean, the local beer and wine place called “La Jolla Brew House” (which had a stout beer to write home about – they used espresso beans and Kahlua in the brewing process)  and a small locals bar called “The Shack”. Then around 1am after we finished at the bar, we hit the small 24 hour Mexican place next to the house for a Shrimp Taco. There is more amazing Mexican here than anywhere I’ve ever seen. Oh, and while you wait for your taco – they give you a giant bowl of roasted hot peppers – jalapenos, habaneros, etc … so yummy but my mouth is still burning like the forest in LA.  The morning I woke up, had an amazing wheat bagel with egg, tomato, fresh basil and feta cheese and headed to the airport.

Overall, San Diego is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life. And, I mean that from a variety of angles … the sites, the sounds, the smells are all relaxing. I don’t know how anyone would ever say “Man, San Diego sure is a dump of a city”. Even non-beach people would love this place.

So, now an insanely busy and hectic few days comes to a close as I sit waiting to board the plane for Salt Lake City. Wish me luck on the rental car as I still don’t have my driver’s license. The more I’m doing this, the more I’m enjoying it … hopefully you don’t mind reading my posts as I noticed they’re getting a little longer.

Talk to you from SLC! And, thanks for all the kind words and notes as I’m going about my adventure.

Carter

        

I’m feeling slightly better after a few days of feeling really sick, so apparently my meds are starting to work. Now, not to say that being sick has got in the way of me having fun at all as it has not. I’m having more fun than one person should be allowed!

There are a few slight downsides to this trip … the first being the departure wake up calls. I have not got more than 5 hours of sleep in a day since the trip started on September 8^th and typically I’m getting my sleep tossed into 3-4 hour blocks. I formerly hosted a morning show in Orlando so I know how to wake up at 2am-3am after only 4 hours of sleep and not only function but be able to entertain (or at least that’s what I was supposed to do … who knows how successful I was).

The second thing is the food! There have been a few times that I knew I was going to eat poorly, like my Crab Cake meal, pizza in NYC and Chicago, and an In-n-Out Burger. The part I wasn’t taking into consideration was the airport food. There is rarely a chance to have a healthy meal at an airport … it’s all fast food and processed nastI’m feeling slightly better after a few days of feeling really sick, so apparently my meds are starting to work. Now, not to say that being sick has got in the way of me having fun at all as it has not. I’m having more fun than one person should be allowed!

There are a few slight downsides to this trip … the first being the departure wake up calls. I have not got more than 5 hours of sleep in a day since the trip started on September 8^th and typically I’m getting my sleep tossed into 3-4 hour blocks. I formerly hosted a morning show in Orlando so I know how to wake up at 2am-3am after only 4 hours of sleep and not only function but be able to entertain (or at least that’s what I was supposed to do … who knows how successful I was).

The second thing is the food! There have been a few times that I knew I was going to eat poorly, like my Crab Cake meal, pizza in NYC and Chicago, and an In-n-Out Burger. The part I wasn’t taking into consideration was the airport food. There is rarely a chance to have a healthy meal at an airport … it’s all fast food and processed nasty-ness. And, with my new lifestyle of all organic food it’s putting a serious hurting on my digestive system. I’ve been on the health kick for about 5 months now and never have felt better … and it’s funny that as soon as you start to put processed foods back in your body, your body tends to not like you very much.

I’m going to try to go out of my way to find better options this whole west coast trip (with the exception of In-N-Out!) and think I’ll be able to do that … this should help everything! And, when I say everything I mean the quality of sleep I’m getting (not the quantity sadly), my health and my energy level. All things that I need to make the next 8 days work out for me!

Today, I’m going to San Diego to hang with one of my best friends Anjelica. She’s been cool enough to set up some badass things including learning how to snorkel, which we’re going out with Tiger sharks and sea turtles! That is yet another thing I’ll be able to add to my ‘firsts’ list. This leg of the trip will also include Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, LA, Oakland, San Fran and Napa … so, that’s a total of  7 cities in 8 days.

Sidenote: as I was arriving at the airport today (which my Mom was awesome enough to bring me even though I had to be here at 6am), we drove to terminal C where JetBlue is located, toward the departing flights. As you know, when you’re leaving, you go to ‘departing’. My Grandmother once told us we had to go to ‘Arriving’ flights because we were, in fact, just arriving at the airport. And, quite literally she disagreed with us from when we got to the airport to when we took off in the plane … the plane we got to by heading to ‘Departing’. I thing she would have continued to disagree, but she got distracted by a bran muffin or something.

Ok, enough for now. I’m going to make love to my Starbucks.

Happy Monday! Talk to you on the West Coast!

Carter

        

Mile Hi! How are you? Hope you’re enjoying yourself a nice little weekend. Me? I know that I am!! I couldn’t hav asked for a more amazing and random trip to Denver, which is where I’m writing this from right now.

It started as soon as I got off the plane. And, this could have easily made it into a bad trip … but I didn’t allow it to happen. Here’s the deal, when I was in Ft. Myers the people at the hotel (which I won’t name) didn’t give me my drivers license back from when I checked in. As I said before I was way to sick to even notice that. I had a killer headache, my ears were totally congested and I just wanted to lay down. So, I didn’t realize it unti I got to the Orlando airport the next morning.

It’s a good thing that I carry an ID card as well as a license, or the trip would have had a very short and abrupt ending …. And that would have sucked rather hardcore. Anyway, I could get on the plane, but without a license I couldn’t rent my car. I would like to thank the folks at Alamo in Denver for trying everything they could think of to help me out. But, it just wasn’t in the cards apparently.

And, now, it was a really good thing it worked out that way. I ended up getting transportation to my hotel in Golden, CO just outside of Denver so I could check out the Jason  Mraz concert at Red Rock Amphitheatre. This is literally the only outdoor venue that was left on my list of places I wanted to see a show. But, before I went to the show I took advantage of the only thing that most people think of when they think of Golden, CO.

Coors Brewing Company.

Yup, the Coors factory is right there, 3.4 miles from my hotel using the crisp clean water from the Rockies … which I wasn’t sure how that worked – but check out the pics. They really use it! It’s right at the foothills of the Rockies and is amazingly impressive. The tour was fun and the beer was amazing. There really is not much better than a really fresh and amazingly cold beer. And, you’ll never have more cold or fresh than straight from the source … and I do mean straight. The beers I got to try (note: PLURAL … BEERS) were straight off the line and tasted amazing. I had Coors Original, Blue Moon, Coors Light and Killians on this fine tour.

After the tour, I was going to grab a cab but m the show I took advantage of the only thing that most people think of when they think of Golden, CO.

Coors Brewing Company.

Yup, the Coors factory is right there, 3.4 miles from my hotel using the crisp clean water from the Rockies … which I wasn’t sure how that worked – but check out the pics. They really use it! It’s right at the foothills of the Rockies and is amazingly impressive. The tour was fun and the beer was amazing. There really is not much better than a really fresh and amazingly cold beer. And, you’ll never have more cold or fresh than straight from the source … and I do mean straight. The beers I got to try (note: PLURAL … BEERS) were straight off the line and tasted amazing. I had Coors Original, Blue Moon, Coors Light and Killians on this fine tour.

After the tour, I was going to grab a cab but my guide said it would be quicker and easier if I walked up the street and caught a cab at a local bar as the factory is huge and difficult for a cab to navigate and find a passenger. I took that suggestion and had a drink in a bar that was located in the first building built of 100% cobblestone … the walls were 3 ½ feet thick. Looking back on it, I wish some of my old condos were made of cobblestone as hearing neighbors isn’t all that great.

I had a conversation with the bartender who lived in Boston for a while and we were chatting about various things when I asked for the number to a cab company. I explained what I was doing with Cross Country Carter and I was trying to get to Red Rocks. She said, well, I’m off in 20 minutes …. I can bring you over. Seriously?? AWESOME!! RANDOM!! AWESOMELY RANDOM!! So, sure enough she brought me over to the venue, where I ended up backstage for a little while talking to Mr. Mraz before the show. Even got to use the outdoor restroom, which I have a picture of (my view, not the production of restroom visit) and that alone was amazing.

But, this venue was everything I thought and then some. It was seriously breathtaking, and not just because it’s like 3000 feet above sea level. I can’t explain how pretty and awe inspiring it was. One of the people backstage that worked for the venue made a good point when he said “most venues this size take about 2 to 2 ½ years to make and perfect … this one is at about 300 million years and it’s still a work in progress.” Perfectly put – that was from James, the backstage security manager and I promised I would give him credit for that line.

Then … onto the show, as you can see in one of the pics (from my second row seats) the stage is literally backed up to the rocks and the hood of the concert shell is all natural. I don’t know if you’re religious … I’m not really, but this is one of those places that makes you think there’s something else up there working some magic. I got to take some pictures from those seats where I saw part of the show, then stage left in the 5^th row where I saw the second half and a few from on stage from behind Toca the bongo player and backup singer.

Check out the pictures and I think you’ll agree that as they say a picture is worth a thousand words but I’m currently at over 1000 words and it doesn’t do these pictures any justice whatsoever in my mind.

 

So, I certainly want to come back to Denver and spend some more time … hopefully this time with a  drivers license so I can explore a little bit more.

And, yes, it is true that breathing is slightly more difficult at this altitude. I can do about 8-10 miles running without much problem but walking to the top fo the stairs at Red Rocks and I was winded to the point of panting!!

Ok, on my way to the airport to head to Boston for a big packing of clothes then the longest non-stop leg of my trip including San Diego, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, LA, San Fran, Oakland and Napa!! Wish me luck!

Talk to you soon and enjoy the videos and photos

Carter

 

        

I’m currently waiting in the airport. Waiting for a few things … one, the 28^th Starbucks Coffee of the trip to kick in. Secondly, waiting for the nasty bagel I just ate to settle so I can take my medication since I’m sick with an ear infection … and those aren’t fun to fly with.

And, last I’m waiting to board the plane for Denver. I’ve never been to Denver so this should be a fun trip all around, getting to see the Coors Factory, getting to hike in the Rocky Mountains and getting to see one of my favorite artists, Jason Mraz, in a venue that is world famous … Red Rock Amphitheatre!!

If you'rew ondering about the medication - I had to go to the hospital as I have come down with a pretty bad cold, which led to an inner and outer ear infection so I'm treating that. Alas, it's not stopping the show. The show must go on!

But, before it does I’ve got to tell you about the last few amazing days I had in Orlando. Yes, I cheated and went to Orlando twice on this trip but that is my home and it’s filled with my friends so another trip was a must. I had great reason to go as my friends D’Agnese, LoveJuice and the awesome James Boyd Band were playing a show at BackBooth in Downtown Orlando. It also gave me some time to try a few things I hadn’t yet done in Central Florida.

For the last year or so I wanted to go to Lakeridge Winery in Clermont … odd thing to want to do, I know – but I am a wine dork and love to learn more about wine, winemaking and vineyards – plus I’ve never had wine with the grape they grow in Florida … so it was a win/win. Well, a win/win/win as I got to bring Tia who had never been to a winery.

The tour was amazing (and free) with lots of great samples at the end (which were also free). I’m typically a big red drinker so these wines were a little on the sweet side for me, but it was honestly a great time getting to try totally different things and try to find out what they would go with. In addition, it was good for Tia since she loves really sweet wine … and shockingly her favorite was a red wine! We ended up getting a bottle of “Southern Red” a very sweet red that you’re supposed to serve chilled … we didn’t have a chance to drink it yet – so that’s a followup trip bottle waiting to be enjoyed.

Another odd side note that I didn’t know … Florida was the first place in the US that produced wine. Who knew? Not me. Yet another odd note – our tour was great, but the tour guide kept referring to himself in the third person. I mean enough that even Bob Dole would have told him to chill. “Doug loves this wine with Doug’s homemade popcorn. Mmm … Doug sure does make some mean DougCorn – that’s what Doug calls it.” At a few points I guess saying his name wasn’t even enough as he pointed to his name badge while saying his name. It said “Doug” and had a smiley face on it … which I’m guessing was a self-doug-portrait. But, alas, even still we did Dig Doug (Atari game … anyone? Dig Dug??)

That fine evening post wine tour and outlet shopping, we stayed at the beautiful Grand Bohemian in Downtown Orlando before heading to the concert and I’ve got to say I LOVE that hotel. Anything we asked for they delivered with no questions (including a fridge to the room, which was pretty funny). We stayed on the private concierge level… if you have the chance to do that – go for it … worth the extra money to have a private lounge and free snacks/breakfast all day.  

We started off the hotel stay by having a glass of wine in the club room and then another glass of wine in our room which overlooked downtown from the 15^th floor in the south-west direction. Great view of the pool from the room too.

Then … on to the show. This was like a badass little reunion for me running into tons of friends, having some cold beverages and listening to some amazing music. I even got to introduce James Boyd Band with SupaDave on stage. Better still – I got to go on stage and sing with the band during the last few songs. I’m a stage whore – it’s true. At least I admit it.

So, overall, a very fun trip going to the hometown and trying some new things. Can’t wait to get back to continue learning more about Orlando as every time I think it’s boring and I’ve done it all, I open a book or tourist guide and realize that after 8 years I still haven’t scratched the surface of things to do. I suggest you try doing that wherever you live. How many times have you said ‘there’s nothing to do here’ or ‘we’ve done everything you can imagine’. I disagree … there’s always something new to try, a different place to go, or a different way to approach the same old routine. Spice it up … enjoy the little things … live more!

A phew photos which include me on stage with Eric Fay, James Boyd and SupaDave (who apparently we stripped at some point since he's shirtless), Lakeridge Winery and a few of me and Tia!



Ok, they’re calling my row. So, an early Rocky Mountain Hi! I’ll post a ton of pictures on the twitter page and update the blog with all the non-twitted photos tomorrow morning.

Until then, be well and happy Saturday!

Carter

(PS since I was amazingly sick the last day in FL I didn't get to do much in Boca or Ft. Myers. At the conclusion of the trip - I'm going to spend a day in each location to make up for that and blog the living hell out of it, including the Caddyshack Gopher Dance …)

        

Wow … I can’t believe what time I had to wake up to make today’s trip happen. I got the wake-up call from my Mother at 3:45am alerting me to rise and shine (which if you realize is actually hours before the Sun was required to do the same thing). I got up, jumped in the shower and attempted to wake up a little for the 90minute drive from Cape Cod to Logan Airport in Boston.

As soon as I jumped in the car, hit the music loud and started the drive I realized my sleepy eyes were burning more than Lindsey Lohan’s crotch and there were no Starbucks to alleviate that sad problem. Alas my DMB CD was my only thing I had assistance from to keep me awake. Usually at this time of the morning I could have no problem making it in about 70 minutes and planned for 80, but what do I get?? TRAFFIC! At 4am … TRAFFIC!!!

I ended up making it to the plane with 6 minutes to spare after parking and the annoying airport run from the car to the terminal. But, who cares – I made it.

Now, I land in Baltimore for a day of randomness! I’ve never been to this city before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I can tell you I wasn’t expecting a 10 minute ride from the airport to the rental car terminal in a bus that had no seats, but I digress. Jumped in my rental car (which was a bright yellow VW Bug) and made my way onto the not well signed streets of B-More. Honestly, I was amazingly annoyed with the street/hwy signs as well as my GPS not wanting to tell me where I was or where I was going, like my GPS was having a hippy moment of freedom or something.

Either way, I made it to the place I was attempting to get (mainly because baseball and football stadiums are large and easy to see and subsequently navigate toward) which was Camden Yards to go to Oriole Park! What I didn’t realize was how close the football stadium was to Camden. It’s literally right across the parking lot – which is a little odd but good for me (easier for pictures).

I got a private tour of Camden Yard thanks to Robert with the Orioles which was honestly awesome.

What I didn't know is that the stadium isn't really that old. It looks 'vintage' like Fenway or Wrigley but it was built in the mid 80's. The brick building that you always see in the photos behind the right field is the BNO Railroad Warehouse. In the early 1900's the railroad built that to house all the product that came into Baltimore from Ohio but once they found that it wasn't profitable in the 50's they closed it down. Then in the 80's, after the building had plenty of time to be boarded up and the windows broken out, and the new tenants being the type that didn't pay rent and had pointy tails the city was going to plow it down. They decided to build the new park around that building in all brick in the old-school fashion.

Something funny was that try tried to clean up the old building but it was so dirty from soot after decades of train smoke, etc they couldn't pressure wash it off. So, there the 1030ft long building was HAND SCRUBBED with acid which took over 33 months to clean up! But, it honestly looks brand new. Seriously amazing story that I did not know!

Back to the tour itself... I was allowed in the Press Area as well as the control room which I guess isn’t normally allowed (especially after they just renovated the room at a cost of $9,000,000 … it looks more impressive to write all the zeros than saying 9mil, right?). They even were in the process of powering up the PA system and allowed me to hit the mic and introduce myself to test the stadium system. That was really fun ... even though literally no one heard it. Then I got to hang out in the Orioles dugout as the Tampa Rays started to do some stretches, which was really cool.

On a sidenote, I was surprised to see E. Longoria … not nearly as attractive as I thought – and I really don’t see what Tony Parker sees in that!

Then obviously I had to check out the food side of Baltimore, which means … CRABCAKES! I love Crab Cakes and have heard nothing but amazing things about Maryland Crab Cakes. With the buildup I thought I might be slightly let down like hearing awesome things about a funny movie but then when you see it … eh, it’s ok. But, this one was not a let down at all. I don’t know how else to describe Maryland Crab Cakes other than lightly binded heaven … and I now can easily declare Baltimore the capital of Crustacean Nation.

Here’s the photostream from my trip!

 

 

 

So, in short, I had a great time, though this is the first time I can say this is probably a city I won’t rush to come back to. The odd thing while I sit at the bar at the airport is thinking this was the ‘worst’ day of the trip … if a bad day for me is having wine and crab oceanfront after hanging out on a MLB baseball field … I have NOTHING to complain about.

Update: Starbucks Iced Coffee count is currently at 21!

Heading to Orlando tomorrow for James Boyd Band, Tia, Universal Orlando and day trips to Boca and Ft. Myers.

Talk to you tomorrow!!

Carter

        

So I'm trying to catch up so I can start fresh tomorrow. But, here's the Flickr Stream from two of the first days of Cross Country Carter ... which are New York City and Washington DC!

For New York City, I had an amazing time and couldn't believe all I got to see in one day. The funny thing is, it wasn't even close to everything I'd like to experience there. I will be going back for the final day of the trip to catch a bunch of the rest of the sites! But, here's what I hit on day one!!



If you're wondering, the highlight was the Empire State Building. From up there you can see sooooo much ... and in addition feel really damn tiny. Lowlight was my lunch at the famous Carnegie Deli. Yea, it was a huge sandwich, which I expected. What wasn't good was ... well the sandwich. I get better meats at Publix. So, at least I got to do it!

And, here's Washington DC. I LOVE this city and would LOVE to go back and spend some serious time there. I plan on going back in the Spring so I can take a run around the basin, and see all the monuments while seeing the Cherryblossom trees. It's about 6 miles all the way around so I'll try to extend it to 10 and get all the way to the White house. But, here's the DC Sites:




Thanks so much for checking it ut! Hopefully you like the pics, and I promise expect many more posts in the next few days. Going to write about my plans for tomorrw at the airport. Going to Baltimore at 6am (which means I wake up at 3:30 and drive from Cape Cod to Boston at 4am. Ouch.

At that ... good night.
Carter

        

I honestly cannot believe how the first few days of Cross Country Carter have started out. First off, sorry I haven’t done a better job on updating this blog but with week one almost complete I’ve found something out.

This is difficult.

Now, the trip itself isn’t that tough … in fact it’s already been one of the most amazing weeks of my life! See by this photo you can tell ... I'm not on cloud 9 - I'm about 2000 feet above it! Yes, indeed, Cloud 9 wants to be on me!



The tough part is finding time to update this blog! I’ve done an ok job with posting some photos to my Twitter page and Facebook page – but the blog is a sit down and write out thoughts kind of thing. In order to sit down and write out thoughts, I need time. One thing I haven’t yet had much of.

But, I’m going to change that from today on and make sure I give you better updates from what I’m doing. Let me tell you a little about my trip yesterday to Chicago, which is trip #4 after NYC, DC and Orlando, shall I?

This was the first trip that I’ve needed to get a rental vehicle and hotel room – which was yet another new thing I got to do on this trip. Oddly enough, of all the travel I’ve ever done, I don’t think I’ve ever rented a car outside Florida!?! But, thanks to Alamo (and my Mom for finding insane rates), this wasn’t a problem at all. In case you’re not familiar with Alamo, you check in and the person at the front desk says “go in the parking lot and pick the car you want … the keys are in it”. Then, literally, you just leave! Couldn’t be easier!

My hotel wasn’t a nice resort as I knew I only had time for sleeping in the hotel … I wasn’t even there for 24 hours! So, I checked in, changed and headed right out. What for you ask? I was in Chicago for the start of the US Tour for U2 – which was at Soldier’s Field. Since I was making good time I got to stop off at the Sears Tower … which annoyingly has now changed names. WHY did they allow that?? It’s known as the Sears Tower – I will never call it by the new name (which happens to be the “Whatchu Talkin’ Bout ‘Willis? Tower’”).

I made my way to Downtown Chicago so I could take a ride to the top of the “Bruce - Yippee Ki Yay M%#$r F&*@er – Willis Tower” but when I went to get my tickets they let me know that the observation deck was currently at zero. So, although I don’t have any pictures to show you from the top … I can give you a nice visual. Ready?? Ok, close your eyes and picture this: nothing. There’s your tour.

I left downtown and made my way over to Soldier’s Field which was only a few minutes from the I’m Not Calling It Willis Tower and saw the stadium. I made my way over and sat in my VIP Club Level Seats (with open bar and all) overlooking the most amazing stage I’ve ever seen!



U2 put on the most amazing stadium show I’ve ever seen. Doesn’t matter if you’re a huge fan or not, you know songs by U2 … you can probably sing at least 1 start to finish without trying. They just have that many songs!

Check out some video from the show:

Here are the rest of the pictures from Chicago!

I’m going to add the older photos to the blog in the morning on my way to Baltimore!

For those keeping track at home, I’m now at 17 Starbucks Iced Coffee’s on the trip so far – which isn’t bad after 5 days. My day 1 bet was over 100… anyone think I can make that in 30 days?

Talk to you in the morning – and I’ll toss up more details about the Orlando trip and a bunch of pictures!!

Carter