It's not just the food

It's now less than a week from my departure and it feels like an update is long overdue.

Until now I've mostly raved about all the food I'm going to eat, but delicious street food is - of course - my second love. My first is history. And despite having (finally) made a commitment to Latin American history, those who know me well should know that I've been fascinated by the U.S. in the 1960s from a very young age. So you can be sure that my first journey through the Deep South will also involve some key historical landmarks.

Although we plan to see (a little of) Mississippi and (a lot of) Alabama out the window of a moving vehicle, I can't pass up the opportunity to stop at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. A day later, we'll finish off our stop in Atlanta with a visit to the King Center before we head north through the Carolinas. If anyone knows of any other worthwhile stops along our route, feel free to send me your suggestions.

Just for good measure

I've been dreaming about G'Raj Mahal since the first time I saw it on Eat St. a while back. I'm currently suffering some distress because I want to eat there SO bad, but we only have one day in Austin and I suspect this would interfere with my TX BBQ dinner plans. What do you think? Is it humanly possible to do Torchy's Tacos, BBQ brisket and super-spicy Goan Indian food all in a single day?

So much street food, so little time

As our goal for this trip, we're setting out to eat as much street food as we possibly can in eight days. Now, some of the places we'll be stopping probably don't have much to offer in terms of street food, but I've been assured that Austin, TX is street food heaven. I've been scouring the interwebs looking up potential places to eat, but I think we've decided to leave it up to fate and see what we stumble upon. That said, there is one exception to this rule and that is Torchy's Tacos - Joe's one and only street food must in Austin. So, to whet your appetite for what's to come (and to inform those of you who still seem to think that 'street food' means hot dog stands), here's a little preview of Torchy's courtesy of VendrTV.

12 states, 8 days and as much food as we can possibly eat.

So, here we are in May and my thesis defense is just around the corner. After being buried in work for the last few months, I'm taking a vacation. And it has occurred to me that this is a great excuse to get my blog and up and running again.

In case you're wondering
who Joe is.

My upcoming road trip has been mentioned a couple times on FB, eliciting (occasionally rude) questions. (Yes, Julie Pieterse, I'm talking about you!) So, here is the much-anticipated explanation: I'm headed south. Not surprising, since south is usually my direction of choice, but this time I'm going to the south. Joe and I have eight days to drive from California to Pennsylvania, in what is going to be a  fast-paced, tightly-planned, self-control-free street food tour of the southern United States.

At this point, we've sketched out our route, made a few minor and a few major adjustments, and now we're just ironing out the details. I've provided a map for your viewing pleasure (see below). I'll be flying into Arizona for a little Oaxaca reunion before we burn straight through to Austin, TX. After a full day of BBQ and street food in Austin, we'll head to New Orleans for another full day to be spent wandering the streets and indulging in the culinary delights of The Big Easy. Then it's off to Atlanta (with a pit stop in Montgomery, AL for a couple key land marks), where our goals involve fried chicken and MLK. After a night in Durham, NC, enjoying what I've been assured will the best of company, we'll head north through Virginia to arrive in the bustling metropolis of Hershey, Pennsylvania - just in time to (hopefully) get Joe settled into some new digs.

So, that's where things stand for now and we're pretty happy with the plan. Right now I am happily taking suggestions for driving tunes and food we should eat along the way. You can expect sporadic blog posts between now and June 2nd (when I leave for AZ), and after that I've made it my goal to post daily updates. Feel free to harass me relentlessly if I fail to do so.

View Hershey Road Trip in a larger map