These are my fondest/most mind-searing travel memories from each state. What are some of yours?
Alabama: (It’s the only state where I can’t think of anything, good or bad. This list gets better, I promise.)
Alaska: Sharing a salmon jerky on a bus with a Vietnam vet from Fort Yukon. He comes to town twice a year for a medical check-up. He has a baseball cap with the Intel logo that reads “Jesus Inside”.
Arizona: Running back and forth across Hoover Dam to reach the Pacific and Mountain Time Zones.
Arkansas: Getting room service (club sandwiches) at a Hilton Garden Inn outside Little Rock.
California: Visiting 20 of the 21 Spanish missions from Sonoma to San Diego in three days.
Colorado: The mess that is the Denver airport.
Connecticut: Getting lost and scared in Bridgeport. I had always imagined Connecticut to be all Who’s the Boss?. Bridgeport was the projects, yo.
Delaware: Following my friend’s recommendation and vacationing at Rehobeth Beach– and realizing that this was his way of coming out to me.
District of Columbia: Push-starting my friend Ian’s car at night while a group of ladies of the night cheer us on.
Florida: Skipping the key lime pies and darting straight to the southernmost point in the Lower 48.
Georgia: A hot dog and Coke at The Varsity in Athens.
Hawai’i: Looking back at Maui as I cross the Auau Channel and head for Lana’i.
Idaho: Driving next to the curvy and meandering Snake River.
Illinois: Meeting Sue the Dinosaur at Chicago’s Field Museum.
Indiana: Spending the night in a fraternity house at Purdue. During the summers, everyone slept in a large common room that was called the Cold Box. It was the only room in the house that was air conditioned.
Iowa: Eating a loose meat sandwich at Tastee Inn & Out in Sioux City.
Kansas: Taking a quarter mile detour from Interstate 44 just to set foot in Kansas.
Kentucky: Driving to Kentucky less than an hour after meeting my future in-laws for the first time in nearby Knoxville because, hey, I’ve never been to Kentucky before.
Louisiana: The impeccable service at Arnaud’s Restaurant in the French Quarter.
Maine: Getting a crab roll at McDonald’s.
Maryland: Birdwatching along the Eastern Shore.
Massachusetts: Getting a parking ticket in Cambridge– and getting tracked down in California a year later by a collection agency.
Michigan: Climbing, and running down, Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Minnesota: The SPAM museum. The entire town smelled of Hormel processed meat products.
Mississippi: Visiting the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library. It’s a whole different world down here.
Missouri: Eating Chinese food in a small town, where my Mongolian beef looks identical to my companion’s broccoli chicken. Outside, bored kids are doing burnouts with their cars.
Montana: Strolling the streets of Butte.
Nebraska: Hiding from a tornado in a sports bar in Lincoln.
Nevada: Election night in Reno, in 2008.
New Hampshire: Chatting with a gas station attendant. His girlfriend works at the station across the street. I ask for directions to Boston, which is 50 miles away. He admits that he has never left his hometown his entire life.
New Jersey: An impromptu road trip to Atlantic City, with stops at Wawas along the way.
New Mexico: Approaching Albuquerque city limits and finding almost a dozen alternative music stations and a station dedicated to Tibetan chants. (This was the ’90s).
New York: A pastrami sandwich at Katz’s.
North Carolina: Picking up a case of beer at a Brew Thru, a drive-through refrigerator/liquor store.
North Dakota: Teddy Roosevelt National Park, the most underrated park in America.
Ohio: Learning that Rio Grande is pronounced rie-oh grand.
Oklahoma: Cleaning the wall of dead green bugs on my windshield, grill, headlights, and bumper.
Oregon: Watching The Merchant of Venice at an outdoor theater in Ashland under the stars.
Pennsylvania: Low rolling hills, ad infinitum.
Rhode Island: (Too small to comment.)
South Carolina: Pumping gas at a station festooned with Confederate flags.
South Dakota: The Crazy Horse memorial (in progress).
Tennessee: Learning about the history of country music at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Texas: Flying to Austin for an appointment, only to find out upon arriving that the appointment has been canceled.
Utah: Being served a bologna sandwich on Wonder Bread at a family joint by a waitress with long hair and an even longer dress.
Vermont: Green, everywhere.
Virginia: Reading a novel next to the James River near downtown Richmond.
Washington: Visiting the Hoh Rain Forest.
West Virginia: Bubba, the John Popper-look-a-like who gave me two bottles of Bubba Cola and his matronly sister’s contact information when he learned that I was broke and freaking out.
Wisconsin: Where cheese is the highlight of every sandwich.
Wyoming: The Devil’s Tower.
Image source: Maxichamp
