Cross Country Carter

La La Land

2009-09-30T18:05:00Z

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

Vegas Baby ... VEGAS!

2009-09-29T02:41:00Z

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,

Not So Great Salt Lake

2009-09-26T21:14:00Z

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

San Diego!! Sun and Sand and Sea and Stuff!

2009-09-23T20:03:00Z

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

Lets find out if, infact, the West Coast is the best coast

2009-09-21T13:02:00Z

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!

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

A great big Mile Hi, from the Mile High City... Denver 9/19

2009-09-20T16:44:00Z

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.

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

ORLANDO!!! HOME!! But, I'm not even 1/2 done with the trip...

2009-09-19T20:15:00Z

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 …)

Baltimore ... the city of, um, not much but baseball and crabcakes

2009-09-14T23:32:00Z

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

Finally Photos!!

2009-09-14T01:57:00Z

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

Chicago ... the not so windy, windy city!

2009-09-14T01:01:00Z

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

Day 3 ... where am I?

2009-09-12T16:46:00Z

I’m writing to you from a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet while munching on some Blue potato chips. Ok, I really wish that I had the chance to have my laptop open the whole trip! Sorry I didn’t get a chance to post to the page yesterday, but if it counts for anything I did actually write a post. I’m on day #3 of 31 during Cross Country Carter and I’m really in a great mood. Well, tired, but a really great mood. So far both of my flights have arrived late night and the next departed early the next morning. I’m at 5 hours of sleep over two days. I’m ok with that since I have plenty of awesome memories already in just the first couple of stop.s

The first two days could not have been in more different cities but they equaled two stellar day trips that got me amazingly excited about the next few weeks on the road. But, let me tell you about yesterday in our nation’s capitol, Washington DC. I honestly did not know what to expect getting off the plane as the only time I was in DC I drove in with my family (and that was over 15 years ago, mind you). This time I fly JetBlue into Dulles International Airport.

If you have never been to DC and plan to just do the sites I seriously recommend not getting a rental car – they’re some of the most expensive in the country I’ve found. In addition to that parking is a total pain in the ass so you add up your expenses quite quickly before actually doing anything. Instead there is a really nice shuttle that takes off right from terminal 4 (which is where JetBlue is fly to) and brings you to the Metro DC subway. Total roundtrip cost: $22 … cheapest rental I could find: $109. Pretty good savings for a day.

Navigating the city is pretty easy and they apparently offer like 10 different tour buses to choose. Save the money on that and take a bus. They all go the exact same place and the trolley I took was driven by an angry war vey who made awful remarks about every country except the US. Example?? “This is the World War One memorial … see those little hearts? They’re some tourist thing for South America … I don’t know why they put them here. Not like they helped with the war. I don’t think they should have put those there … doesn’t make any damn sense.” An actual quote. Another one: “The first battle of WWI was an air mission with the Brits, but obviously there were American soldiers helping with that battle, or they wouldn’t have won the mission.” No, I’m not kidding.

Anyway, got to see some amazing sites and partake in some awesome people watching. I decided to play a game and count the little American Flag lapel pins on guys suits and although I wasn’t paying close attention I did manage to count quite a few! I’m a big fan of the political scene so this was a treat for me. I was in absolute awe standing in front of the White House and the Capital Building just knowing the immense power those two building have over the day to day operations of the world. I planned on greeting every older looking person in a bland suit with “Good afternoon Senator,” as I’m sure I would have been correct at least once.

So, here is what I got to see in DC yesterday

Smithsonian, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Reflecting Pond, Capital Building, White House, Ford’s Theatre, a bunch of other stuff, 42 US Flag Lapel Pins, and 3 different Starbucks that resulted in 3 Iced Coffees (making the current tally for Iced Coffee at 7 in two days … already on my first for the day on the plane). I dined at a ‘power lunch’ stop called Aria, which was really good. Had a red pepper crusted halibut and didn’t have any wine … also didn’t spot any power players which made this a power-free lunch (with the exception of the protein I got in the fish).

Off to Orlando today to hang out with Tia. What’s on the schedule?? Nothing actually … and I’m totally cool with that. Tomorrow I’ll be attending a private acoustic performance with the band The Fray at the Social in downtown Orlando thanks to my friends at Miller Lite and MGD 64. Since it’s Orlando Restaurant Week hopefully I’ll try someplace new that I can report back on!!

Excited to land … excited to see people … excited about what might happen! Touchdown in Otown in just 1 hour and 50 minutes! I’m going to upload all the pictures this evening.

Hope you’re having fun with whatever you’re doing today and I’ll check back in during Cross Country Carter later tonight!

Carter

New York City

2009-09-12T16:38:00Z

No sleep for the wicked, as they say. Day one is in the books and what a way to start Cross Country Carter. Honestly I was sure what to expect but that was an amazing day in New York City. It took a little while to get used to the subway system – which wen you’re only in town for a day it’s not a good thing to ‘take time’ to do anything. Alas, it was a quick learn.

Once I did learn to navigate the system, thanks to my trusty Metro System iPhone app, it was a breeze to catch all the sites I wanted to take in and actually quite a few more! It’s pretty overwhelming to land in a city you haven’t been to in years and get off the subway in the middle of Times Square to start a month long travel trip.

It was at that point that it really sunk in … I’m actually doing this! I wandered around the world famous Times Square looking at all the sites, going into shops and stores and more than likely totally looking like a tourist. By the way, few places I can think of have better people watching than Times Square if you’re into that.

From there I literally stumbled upon Ground Zero at the World Trade Center. This was not really what I was expecting. It almost stopped me in my tracks as I saw the massive amount of space where the buildings used to be not just a hole being filled in for the memorial. I grabbed my camera to start to take photos and only took one. I just had an odd feeling that this shouldn’t be a kodak moment … something this monumental should not be a tourist attraction, so I didn’t treat it as such.

I got to check out Carnegie Deli (sandwich was in fact huge but painfully overrated … meat was a little dry and the bread was decent at best. At least I can say I went), NBC Studios where the Today Show is filmed (and a subsequent stop at the wine bar next door which was pretty cool), Radio City Music Hall (where ironically the VMA’s will be held on Sunday … might go after Chicago since that’s a light day for me), Central Park (where I walked around for 45 minutes, sat on a bench and had some Starbucks Coffee and wrote out some postcards) and the Empire State Building (which is tall … really really tall).

Some things I realized on day one … although having a game plane is good, don’t overplan. My Mother will hate me saying this but if I stuck to the plan I had in my head I wouldn’t have seen anything! It was so much easier to get around than I thought I would be. Also, custom made Chuck Taylors are not suitable for walking around NYC all day. And very important: no matter how much battery time you think your phone has, when your snapping pictures like a Japanese tourist the whole day … that sh*#$ gonna die. Period. No ifs ands or buts. I had to go buy another iPhone charger and sit at a Starbucks while it charged for a while. Sidenote: I got another coffee out of it so it’s ok!

Also accidentally found Macy’s where the parade goes by … went in said Macy’s and it’s HUGE. Literally the belt section in that Macy’s is larger than the Macy’s on Cape Cod – not kidding in the least bit. And, something also pretty cool – as I was getting set to go back to the airport I was trying to find the A train and found it at Penn Station … which apparently is inside Madison Square Garden!! I got to walk around the inside of the lobby of MSG for a bit before heading back to the airport.

Today, woke up sore and early for another day on the road. Today, I’m heading to Washington DC to hit a bunch of sites, though it might be a slow day since it’s supposed to rain ALL day. I forgot about that whole ‘bad weather’ potential thing.

So, here’s a rundown of what yesterday had:

Times Square, Ground Zero, Empire State Building, Fashion Week Mercedes Tent, Macy’s, Carnegie Deli, NBC Studios, David Letterman Showroom, Central Park, Madison Square Garden … there are more, but those are the ones that certainly ‘count’.

TOTAL ATTRACTIONS/SITES DAY 1: 10 (good start!)

TOTAL STARBUCKS COFFEE: 4 (good start!).

Off to the Nations Capitol … today armed with flip-flops (and Starbucks #1 of the day, #5 overall). Expect to hit about 10 more landmarks today depending on the weather. Or, I might just spend a lot of time in the Smithsonian and knocking on the door of the White House asking for an umbrella with the presidential seal.

Til later - Carter

And, so it begins!!

2009-09-08T10:07:00Z

Wow … it all comes down to right now. I just woke up in the living room of my parents house in Lynn, MA (just outside Boston) and immediately grabbed the iPhone to look at my TripIt app to see if I screwed up the times of this flight and missed it.

But, luckily, nope that didn’t happen. My first flight on JetBlue for Cross Country Carter takes off today at 9:44 to New York City!! I’m really excited about starting the trip but to be honest a little nervous/overwhelmed. I think if I had someone I was traveling with it wouldn’t be as bad as I would be able to share some of the responsibility with, alas that isn’t the case.

There are quite a few cities where I’m meeting up with friends and such but either way, I’ve got a LOT of things to remember – and being that many of these cities are totally new to me that just adds a little more of that ‘um, what?’ factor. I think that’s part of the excitement though … and once I get past the first day I’m sure I’ll be fine, it’s just a little different!

A lot of people are equating this to a road trip … I can see what they mean, but with a road trip you control your own schedule. Feel like stopping … stop! Feel like staying a day? Stay! Doesn’t work that way with this trip – I know today I leave Boston at 9:44 and have to leave New York at 10:46

If you want to follow my entire itinerary you can do so via www.tripit.com and search for “Cross Country Carter” or enter the email carter@crosscountrycarter.com if that doesn’t work – then shoot me an email and I’ll send you an invitation so you can see all the things I’m doing, cars I’m driving, places I’m stay and current reservations I hold.

Well, I’ve got to jump in the shower and get ready! By the way, the whole time I typed this I had a big stupid smile on my face. I’m quite surprised I’m actually doing this! The idea came up – it started happening and I don’t think it’s really sunk until 5:38am when I rolled over and thought “f%#&”.

Wish me luck and make sure you’re following me on twitter (at www.twitter.com/carterspage) as I’ll be posting tons of pics and randomness from NYC in just a few hours! Also, email me if 1) you’re in NYC or 2) you have some last minute suggestions!!

My current visits (time dependant):

WTC Memorial

Central Park

Rockefeller Center

Radio City Music Hall

Carnegie Deli

Empire State Building

Times Square

Broadway

Wall St.

Some Shopping

And Statue of Liberty (which I don’t think I’ll have time for – but I do go back another day)

Game time friends. Where’s my coffee??

Happy travels, be it air or sea or land or just in your head while you’re working from your desk… sometimes those are the best vacations

CARTER

www.twitter.com/carterspage

www.myspace.com/orockcarter

www.facebook.com/CartersPage

carter@crosscountrycarter.com

Trip By Numbers

2009-09-06T14:01:00Z

I’m not a fan of numbers for the most part. In fact, in school one of the only subjects I consistently sucked at was math – math or any kind. And, ironically it was the only subject I even put effort into and still couldn’t make it happen (everything else I could skate through and typically get an A).

Today, on the other hand, me and numbers are like peas and carrots. I shall present to you my trip by numbers! When I started the idea of Cross Country Carter I wasn’t sure exactly how to do this but I scribbled out some ideas and I put a goal of hitting 20 cities in 30 days. Well, to prove that I wasn’t that good with numbers it turns out it was actually 31 days … bonus day before I even started! SWEET!

My trip starts on Tuesday September 8^th … I will be landing in NYC at pretty much this time (9:15am) on Tuesday. Therefore I present to you my first number: 48 hours. That’s the countdown until I take off on this amazing 31 day trek across the country. And you say across the country eh?? Where are you going?

Well, that list is rather long as the next number is number of cities I’ll be visiting: 23!! Yup, 23 cities in 31 days – might even be more if I can squeeze a drive in some of the multi day trips but I might try to slow it down and really enjoy the trips I currently have scheduled rather than add more.

So, with 23 cities, you know I’ll be flying quite a bit (by the way, thanks for the recommendations – I’m taking extra vitamins as well as additional vitamin C and Zinc to build up my immune system. In addition to that I’m taking an aspirin every day to thin my blood … all that flying and altitude changes make me a little more weary of blood clots!), but what exactly is quite a bit?? Good question – one that I can easily answer as I’ve added everything up:

40 different flight segments – shortest is 189 miles (Boston/NYC) and the longest is 2697 (San Fran/Boston) – for a grand total of 32123 miles! That’s pretty impressive pulling out a crazy average of 1036.22 miles per day. Wow … I’m even surprised about that one! I didn’t realize it would be that much. I don’t know the total amount of airtime, but I’m going to figure that one out later so I can give you the total hours as well as the average time I’m going to be on a plane. At the end of the trip I’m going to give you the total time I was in airports – I think that would be an interesting number.

Thanks to JetBlue these flights aren’t costing anything because of the All-You-Can-Jet Pass… but if I were to book every one of these flights today it would come at a grand total of $4938.00 (plus tax and airport fees – which would be closer to $6000). The JetBlue All-You-Can-Jet Pass was only $599 and there were not additional taxes or fees! Not a bad deal at all. At that price my prices work out to:

Each Flight Segment: $14.97

Each Mile: $0.01864

That’s pretty damn good if you ask me!!

Some additional numbers you might be interested in:

Flight Changes/Cancelations: 14

Times I had to call JetBlue: 11

Number of Landmarks I Intend To Visit: 62

Time Zone Changes: 36

Total hours I’ll be home: 14 (mostly to grab more clothes)

Number of sleep hours (not on a plane): Roughly 12

Potential Number of Priceless Memories: Ummm … I can’t find the little “infinity” sign. So, I’ll just say a bunch.

Talk to you tomorrow … the official pre-party day!

Carter

Rock You Like A Hurrican

2009-09-04T18:06:00Z

Oh man!! It’s Friday and a long weekend. That should be reason enough to be excited … but right after the long weekend waves goodbye over the horizon I get to go on a month long trip around the country! Um, yea, I’m slightly pumped like old Reeboks right now (c’mon you’ve got to remember these … I had a pair in grade school and yes I was smashingly awesome).

It’s difficult to stay focused right now on the things I’ve still got to complete … remember that feeling like the last day of school before Summer vacation? That’s pretty much what I’m feeling right now. Even doing that little bounce in my chair like “let’s goooooo already!” Hard to say what I’m most excited about right now, but there have been a few changes and city additions and something awesome that was much unforeseen in Orlando. So, I guess I’m just all around excited.

On a non-travel related note I was just reminded by Tom Sorrells, meteorologist for Local 6 in Orlando, that 5 years ago Hurricane Francis rolled through Central Florida. Hurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the very busy 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It came just 3 weeks after Hurricane Charley tore through CFL and we weren’t really even cleaned up from that.

At that time I was still on air at OROCK 105.9 and needless to say, when a hurricane comes someone still has to be at the radio station. Well, that ended up being one of the more fun weekends on the air that I can recall as myself and Jody and Scott (from the creatively titled Jody and Scott Show) ‘hunkered down’ in the studio for pretty much 3 days straight. While we were there we continued to play music and keep listeners updated with information about the hurricane, shelter, water, electricity etc.

But, in addition, we chose to go on and do pretty much whatever we wanted and that was just have fun with it. All the other channels were all about that ‘scare’ delivery making everything sound aweful and painfully ominous but we went in the other direction by taking calls, encouraging hurricane parties and WAY overusing the term ‘hunker down’. Another really fun part for me was since I am the only person that had any actual news/newsradio experience I would do the news. But rather than let me know when, Jody and Scott would play the news music whenever they felt like it and I’d have to do a full news report.

That was really fun (and pretty damn funny on-air) as it would happen in the middle of a song, a conversation, a phone call … whenever Jody felt like hitting the button. I really wish I had a tape of that as I remember it being really funny, but at the same time I got pissed a few times as I was mid-sentence and then the music starts – gotta drop what I’m doing and go to news delivery. Sidenote: We didn’t have food so we raided the vending machines until we found the one Chinese food joint that would deliver … in a hurricane. Something awesomely comical about that too.

I can tell you though, having do that for a long period of time really does make you go a little crazy without sleep. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to stay up and stay focused for days at a time. I have a feeling that I’m going to need to recall some of that focus on this trip. There are 5 days on this trip, in a row, that I only have sleep time on the plane. But, at the end of it – I know it’s going to be worth it and there should be tons of memories I get to store in that filing cabinet in my head which already has so many insane memories of things I’ve been fortunate enough to do in my 28 years on this rock.

And on top of the memories, who knows what else will come of it! Excited about the ample opportunities … to say the least!!

Be well and talk to you tomorrow- Carter

I'm Alright, Nobody Worry 'Bout Me.

2009-09-03T19:41:00Z

I currently have a song stuck in my head. That’s not abnormal, I should mention, since I listen to music about 6-8 hours a day. Honestly, I’d much rather listen to music than watch TV fo sho. But the song I currently have stuck in my head is because of an added leg of my trip which will be a huge addition to the list of things I’m pretty sure not many people have ever done but have probably thought about (well, at least if you have a slightly warped mind like myself).

The song: I’m Alright by Kenny Loggins.

This morning I woke up thinking of what other random things I could do and the idea came to me while looking out the window to the golf course in my backyard (which is Ocean Edge by the way, beautiful place on Cape Cod). I jumped on my computer to do some research and found out that Caddyshack, one of my favorite movies of all time, was actually filmed in Boca Raton FL at the Boca Raton Resort Country Club. (SideNote: By the way, if you haven’t seen that movie you must. I mean it’s almost to the point that if you can’t use “It’s a Cinderella story” in the voice of Bill Murray from that movie in normal conversation, I don’t want to talk to you.)

No, my plan isn’t to go play the golf course … that’s not that random.

No, instead I plan on sneaking on the golf course and recreating one of the scenes that makes me smile every time I think of it. Seriously … EVERY time. I am going to go do the gopher dance while pumping Kenny Loggins “I’m Alright”. You might think I’m kidding … but I’m not. And, yes, I’m going to video tape it. I have been known to rock the gopher dance at nightclubs, restaurants, the beach, etc… now I get to do it at its birthplace.

Yea, I know … I’m slightly crazy. But, think about it – how many people do YOU know that can say “I went to ‘Bushwood Country Club’ and did the gopher dance?” Not many I can promise you. But, I will be able to say just that. In my head it’s already done … and if it looks how I picture it, this will be YouTube gold.

Oh, and that’s pretty much the only thing I’m doing in Boca … the dance, and I’m leaving.

On the other side of things, my to-do list is slowly getting smaller and much more manageable. I’m going to have my final trip itinerary by this weekend and it will end up being more than 20 cities in 30 days which is really amazing. The hotel/car rental booking will be a pain in the ass but luckily my Mom is coming to Cape Cod this weekend and she has kindly offered to assist. Now, I would never ask her to help, but she’s one of those odd people that LOVES to plan stuff. Like, overly plan things. Not in a bad way … just a, um, planned way. I on the other hand prefer to be spontaneous, though I will certainly be planning at least the skeleton of each trip as I need to have a plan of what I’m doing but leaving most of it up in the air.

I can’t wait to get this thing going!! There are so many different things I’m excited about on this trip … a few stand out for certain. I’ll talk about those tomorrow. Off to go practice the gopher dance. My thought is if I’m doing … it’s going to be an exact recreation, move for move. I shall make you proud, gopher.

Til then – I’m alright, nobody worry ‘bout me. No words spoken (or sang) have ever been more true, Mr. Kenny Loggins.

Carter

Ps – I’d like to be honest and say sorry to Kenny Loggins who I frequently mistake for Kenny Rogers, who has great Roasters. I’m done now…

Oh yea ... that swine flu thing!

2009-09-02T21:22:00Z

Wow … soooooo much stuff to get done today. Well, I guess that’s probably the reason why I am just now getting a few minutes to sit down and write today’s entry.

Being that I only have a few days left until I go, it’s quite unnerving knowing what I still have left to accomplish. Luckily I can take a quick break on the balcony here on Cape Cod with a cup of Starbucks Iced Coffee and write for a few minutes. Try to clear the brain before I go back to the ultra-extensive list of stuff that has to get completed today.

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the website tripit.com but, if you’re not go check it out!! It’s like your own personal travel assistant. You can keep track of flights, hotels, rental cars and more … and it can all be sent to your phone. If you’re a frequent traveler or have an upcoming trip with multiple stops I seriously suggest you sign up for that site. Best part, it’s totally free! I’ll have a link on tomorrows entry so you can see my exact itinerary … feel free to meet me at your local airport with coffee as I think I’m going to need it.

As we speak I have a few pages open with different rental car companies trying to secure vehicles in the cities I know I’ll need them. Trying to get as few as possible – but that will still be quite a few! In addition, as much as I love to do random stuff I want to have a few ideas on where to go for food and what attractions/sites I want to see … now these won’t be set in stone at all but I want to have a rough idea on what to do.

By all means, if you’ve got any suggestions of places to check out, please shoot them my way! The more assistance in any shape the better off I think I’ll be.

I’m also have a tough time figuring out exactly what trips are ‘musts’ and which are a little more optional. There are two trips right now that I’m going to cut by a day so I can squeeze in an additional city or two. When I was on the phone with my Mother this morning she said ‘how many cities are you currently at? You have to make it to twenty … you told people twenty and they’ll notice.” She’s certainly correct about that (and she’ll be glad to know, plenty of other things too).

There is no doubt that I will make it to at least 20 cities on my trip … if it works out it might be more than 20, which would be, in my mind, pretty astonishing!

I guess I as for your permission for a potential hall-pass on completing the trip … and that would be if I contract Swine Flu. Seriously!! They’re saying 90,000 people will die from Swine Flu this year and I’m hoping not to be on that list. And, if one person on the plane has it I do have a chance to get it … by the way, I’m trying to fit in the term ‘when pigs fly’ as I find it right on point with this conversation, but just telling you I was thinking about it works, I suppose.

Oh, good, and surprising news: after some research, airplanes do recycle air – but it takes a while for the air in the cabin to fully recycle with fresh air from outside at cruising altitude. I don’t know why I thought the air just moved around the plane. So, it’s a little cleaner than I thought – but not clean. I offer a suggestion that everyone should do: Wipe EVERYTHING down when you sit down. I’m bringing disinfectant wipes and wiping my seat, the seatback in front of me, the armrests, the seatbuckle, and yes, I will wipe down the poor schmuck who is stuck in the middle seat.

Sidenote: It’s not even swine flu, so please stop calling it that. That’s good for press reasons, but it’s actually called “H1N1” … I think that’s an abbreviation for something, I just don’t know what. I personally use it as: “awww Hell1 No1!” I can say that … I used to work for an urban radio station and grew up in the ghetto so it’s ok.

Sidenote 2: I was just talking to Tia who said “You can’t get swine flu … if you do, you ca’t come back here”. Hmm … I was only thinking of the potential negative of death … didn’t even think of that part! More reason not to get it. Haha1 N1

Sidenote 3: I think when I rent cars, where you have to initial in the 29 boxes or whatever, I’m going to use the initials J1C1 … I think it’s fitting.

Anyway, sorry to cut this a little shorter than normal but I’ve got to get back to work so I can make sure I’ve got some good stuff to talk about and show you on the actual trip, ya dig?

Have a wonderful and fulfilling day and evening.

Talk to you tomorrow when hopefully I'll have a little more time (and might even try and sneak in some golf!)

From the cockpit, I'm your pilot, Captain Random

2009-09-01T19:20:00Z

One week. Not just a song I happen to enjoy by “Barenaked Ladies (the best thing to happen to Canada since You Can’t Do That On Television, by the way), but a measure of time. That is exactly how much time I have left until Cross Country Carter begins! One week. There’s still so much stuff to do and quickly the hours are flying by like those comfortable and convenient JetBlue Airplanes.

Last night over a bottle of wine and momentary lack of logic I scribbled out some changes and additions. Rather than waking up this morning thinking that those plans were absurd, I pressed 8 on my cell phone (which is speed dial to JetBlue) and booked a ton more odd travels. So a few things to add but the gaps are being filled like a jelly donut.

So, today I booked a few things that I had already planned, and made some changes. The changes include an extra day in Orlando – rather than leaving the 10^th I’m going to stay through the 11^th and head straight to Chicago for the U2 concert from Otown. I’m also adding Salt Lake City for a day so I don’t have to fly all the way from San Diego to Boston and back to Las Vegas in the same day. This will help on the jet lag (see yesterday’s entry for some interesting thoughts on jet lag … and hamsters) I think and I’ll get to visit a city I’ve never seen.

I’ve been getting some questions as to what is the most random leg of the trip. I think there will be two… and I’m looking forward to them both a lot (as I love randomness ).

Trip 1 is to Los Angeles. Now, I’m going to LA to visit some friends (Including, Thaddeus Brown, Jess Mack, Warner Brothers Jenny aka J-Flo and The Sexy Savannah … who actually gave me the name The Carter Experience!) for a few days I am going out there on a different occasion for one reason. In-N-Out Burger.

Yes, I’m literally flying from one place to LA jumping in a cab and heading to the In-N-Out Burger that’s 2.4 miles from the airport, getting an animal style double double with cheese, animal style fried and a Neapolitan milkshake and going back to the airport. In-N-Out is a cult type place if you’re not familiar with it. They have a really small menu, but hundreds of menu options. You have to know what they are to get them … if you want to see some of the insider info on the amazing menu check out this article!

The other one is food related as well (good thing I’m walking a lot of this trip … more unhealthy food than I have had in ages – but worth it!). I’m going to fly in the morning from Boston to Buffalo to have lunch at the original home of the Buffalo Wing! I love me some spicy buffalo wings and I’ll get to have the first. Finish lunch, back to the airport on a plane to have dinner in Chicago. And then back to the airport and onto my next full day destination.

If I have the chance to do this odd and random stuff why shouldn’t! This trip is all about trying and experiencing new and exciting things. Seriously, think about that … who can say they jumped on a plane and flew roundtrip 6000+ miles for a cheeseburger? And, who can say they experienced two legendary restaurants in two different time zones in the same day? On both of those … not many people, I’m sure. But, I will be able to say that I did and that makes me amazingly happy. It’s life and it can be as wonderous and exciting as we make it and I think I am upgrading my life status with this trip, wouldn’t you agree?

Speaking of diving in with both feet, I want to say congrats to my friend Dusty who just moved from Orlando to St. Maarten to attend Medical School. Talk about a sweet place for school!! Ironically JetBlue does fly there so maybe I’ll have to fly out for a congratulatory high five … welcome to the club of living life kid!

If you’re thinking about trying something new, or changing yourself for what you think is the better … please try it. The first step is the hardest, obviously, but it’s one could change your life. I firmly think that the risks are worth it no matter the result. At least you’ll be able to say you tried.

So, take the jump … “Leap, and the net will appear” (Jason Mraz – from the song ‘Make It Mine’)

Talk to you soon, friends! Carter

ps ... yea, my hair looked like that when I woke up. I went with it ... got some interesting looks at Starbucks.

Pardon me, do you have the time?

2009-08-31T20:09:00Z

It’s Monday which means in 8 days I’ll start my voyage to 20-Cities-In-30 Days. One thing I’ve realized over the past few days is that for a month straight I’m going to honestly be confused as to where I am and what time it is.

There is no way to avoid this – in a 8 days stretch I’ll be in 7 cities encompassing every damn time zone. Should I even bother to change my watches and get on a different time zone? According to some doctors for short term travel its not worth attempting to get settled as jet lag apparently can take a while to recover from. I think I’ll probably change the watch – but not to get used to the time … just feel like it’s east coast time with an odd light pattern.

Sidenote: I think we should all start referring to everything in Mountain Time Zone. Here’s an example of how this conversation would go:

Sally: “Say John, do you happen to have the time?”

John: “Yes Sally I sure do. It’s 11:45” then while looking directly at into her eyes in a deep and slow voice “Mountain Time”.

Try it. This could be fun … in fact I’m going to only give mountain time no matter where I am from now on. Oh and if you’re a dork like me and want more information about time zones, where they are and why they are around, you can click here. I like useless information so I was on that page for like an hour. I seriously need a hobby.

Ok back to my pending confusion and ample jet lag situation. I was trying to figure out some remedies for jet lag for when I come back to the East Coast after a week on the west coast. According to this BBC article, I might have an interesting option:

A recent study in hamsters showed that sildenafil (known commercially as Viagra) aided in a 50% faster recovery from shifts comparable to eastward travel experienced by humans and was effective starting at low doses.However, this use has not been tested in humans and is considered an off-label use by the drug's manufacturers.

Not sure I’ll use that suggestion but that’s pretty interesting. Hmm, so I guess the only thing that will be hard is sleeping (rim-shot). By the way, why the hell did someone conduct this study? And, did the study hamsters fly anywhere good to get this jet lag? Do they get frequent flyer miles?? I have a great visual of little hamsters with bomber jackets and goggles flying those single propeller World War II style planes. Go ahead, picture it … it’s kinda cute. Now picture them doing scenes from Top Gun.

If you want to check out the whole article, which is oddly fascinating, click here. Anyway, I think we’ve had enough of the hamster conversation (but good luck getting that visual out of your head. Right now my little hamster is singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin” to his little girlfriend hamster).

At the moment I’m trying to finalize all my plans, update the website, co-ordinate with friends on what we’re doing, book hotels and rental cars, and learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which is a total pain in the ass. Let’s see, I talk into a microphone and attempt to entertain people for a living … this isn’t really my cup of tea. But, it’s an interesting thing to learn and since this is an experiment about growth, I’m all about it! So much to do on my little to do list and I’m getting seriously short on time. This is when it gets a little difficult to focus, but I’ve got the blinders on! I think it's time for more coffee ...

You getting excited? I am!!

Hope you’re having a great start to your week and I hope you find the time to do something new and exciting along the way.

Carter

1 Guy, 1 Bag: A Story Of Love and Friendship

2009-08-30T17:19:00Z

SAY HEELLLLLOO TO MY LEETLE FRIEND!

I’d like you to meet my travel companion for a majority of the upcoming Cross Country Carter trip. It’s my travel case! I don’t have name for it or anything, yet, but being that I’m flying a ton and it is an actual carryon bag I’m going to be spending more time with this over the month than any one person it will have a name by the end of the trip.

If they happen to make me check my little bag buddy because of lack of overhead space it’s going to be as distressing as Tom Hanks in Castaway with that volleyball … WILSON!!! WILLLLSSSSSOOOOONNNNN!!!!

This particular bag is quite amazing – it has so much more space than it actually looks like. In case you’re wondering, it’s a High Sierra roller bag. They typically make camping stuff and it’s very lightweight and insanely durable. I can thank my friend Johnny Damon from the New York Yankees (and more importantly, formerly the Boston Red Sox) for that bag. He gave me that as a gift for playing in his celebrity golf challenge last year. When I got it I was like “oh, um, a bag. Thanks.” I now feel compelled to send him a thank you note, or some flowers, or a puppy as this thing is priceless!

And if you get a moment, please, check out the Johnny Damon Foundation – it’s a great cause that helps a ton of well deserving kids in the Central Florida area.

Anyway, this amazing little bag will come in quite handy on my California/Westcoast leg where I’m in San Diego for a few days, LA, Vegas, San Fran and Seattle… probably over a 1 week period. This will be the only bag getting packed. There is enough space if you know how to properly pack!

One of the best tips I can give on light packing is rolling your clothes up before putting them in your bag. If you “fruit roll-up” style fold your it will literally save 30-40% of bag space. I fit a full week of stuff in that bag on a recent trip down south.

I also like to put a small first aid kit in my Carter –Crapper-Case … aka, a toiletry bag along with a solid bag of quality shampoo and grooming product. Might sound stupid as hotels have stuff as do (most of) my friends when I’m crashing but there’s a lot to be said for consistency of what you use. It’s healthier for you!

Here’s a picture of my toiletry bag and whats in it. This bag which you can get at htis a great one – fits a ton of stuff and you can hang it up in the bathroom or closet! (And, yea, my name is on the bag ... don't judge me.)

If you’d like some other tips and benefits of light packing check out OneBag.com – it’s really helpful and has tons of tips on getting the most out of your trip with the least in your bag!

On shorter trips, I’ve got even lighter packing plans. On my day trips (in-and-out on the same day), I’m not bringing any bag … not even a carry on since I’ll mostly be walking around. Currently, the exception to that rule is Orlando on Sept 10^th as I’ll need to bring board shorts and a change since I’m going to the Hard Rock pool with Tia and don’t want to do lunch after in soggy boards, ya dig?

Overnight trips will be placed into my laptop bag – one small change and the laptop (so I can do my live uStream video feed in the evening for you!).

That should do it for a little bit. Gotta go hit the gym … trying to make sure I’m in decent shape for this trip as I feel it’s like a cruise and I’ll probably toss on a few pounds. It will be well worth it careening around the country trying new foods … but most of these are walking trips so maybe it will even out?? Maybe? Maybe not.

Talk to you in a bit! Love, Carter

(ps: Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. ~Anatole France)