i ate one too many veggie dogs. decided to do some camping in between shows. went to a state park in massachusetts. lit a fire and everything.
but i don’t have a fridge in my car so i had to finish all the veggie dogs in one go!
ugh. talk about a stomach ache. oh well. it was fun getting away from the city for a bit.
got to do some sweet hiking.
got to see some sweet views.
and of course a little reading…
-marc
9 million people crammed into a tiny little slither of land. new york city. there’s nothing quite like it. but where else can you “arrive by bicycle” and receive a 15% discount?
i had a blast wondering around the city. best part was the food of course. the apartment show i played in upper manhattan turned out to be a freegan potluck. yum!
i ate authentic chinese cuisine at an authentic chinese restaurant in chinatown.
want to know how to tell it’s authentic? the tsingtao beer in the top right corner.
actually, tsintao’s history is kinda funny. it’s china’s largest brewery but it was founded by german settlers.
i checked out the progress on the new world trade centers while in town.
figured i would need an equally patriotic pose for such a patriotic endeavor.
best veggie dogs ever? crif dogs in the lower east side.
and after two days of aimlessly wondering the city, i took a much needed nap on some marble steps near the bay.
-marc
the new to all my dear friends brand 100% certified vegan pizza.
ah commercialism at it’s finest.
not really though. you can’t pick this pizza up at your local grocery store. how do you get ahold of one then? it’s a hot commodity and the easiest way is to offer me a place to stay when i’m passing through your town on tour.
yum!
-marc
the mysterious whoopie pies of maine. it’s a delicacy you can only truly experience by making the long trek up to maine.
delicious. strange. and sometimes even vegan.
so maine is full of a bunch of lumberjacks right? well, that’s actually not true. at least not in portland, maine. the city is a rich artistic bubble, unknown to most of the united states.
maine is absolutely beautiful. when i arrived, not sure what to do with myself, i headed to the coast to read a book and enjoy the ocean breeze.
i met some pretty cool people after the show that night. we hung out most of the next day. what do you do in portland maine for fun? pinball!
and of course you eat delicious local organic vegan wonders. (that’s rhubarb compote on top of these pancakes) yum!
by the end of the day, relaxing on the dock with my new friends zach and chelsea, i wasn’t quite ready to leave.
but i had a show later that night in boston and so had to go.
-marc
soooooo much delicious vegan food. i’ve been to so many amazing vegan restaurants while on the road. here’s just a sampling of the tasty sustenance i’ve experienced.
i hung out with my friend krissy at the chicago diner in boystown. we used some of the money we made from shadow puppet busking to buy breakfast.
i had french toast with tofu scramble and a side of sausage. even the slice of orange was vegan “;-)
in ann arbor michigan i had the best vegan cheesecake i’ve tasted in my entire life. it was so simple and delicious.
and it’s always nice as a vegan to have something greasy. here i had “chicken” noodle soup, cole slaw, and some sort of barbecue sandwich complete with mystery meat… haha. i think those cubes of bread were suppose to be homemade croutons.
i love it when i get access to a kitchen for cooking. and i think my friends in milwaukee loved it too. i made pizza and soup while there.
and the best vegan treat while on the road? banana car!
seriously i drove by this on the interstate while heading north to wisconsin. wowzer!
-marc
lou a vull. getting into kentucky, i didn’t know what to expect after the cold embrace of nashville tennessee. pronunciation is the key to acceptance in louisville. so here it is:
lou – a – vull
simple as that. apparently there are two pronunciations though, one for in-town use and one for out-of-town use. consider yourself privy to the highly coveted in-town diction. not to be taken lightly!
i’ve been to many chinese restaurants on the road. nothing hits the spot like a little tofu and lo mein. but double dragon ii, aptly named after the video game (their noodles were kick ass), was the first chinese restaurant to offer vegan fortune cookies. usually they have eggs in them and i politely refuse.
one is not sleeping, does not mean they are awake.
hmm… what does that mean? am i waking up while on the road or am i going into slumber? and how about my music… is it blossoming or wilting? i’d like to believe the former on both accounts. but perhaps i should meditate on it for awhile.
i didn’t know what to expect when arriving at the venue. with a name like rudyard kipling, well… mechanical parrots do fit the bill wouldn’t you say?
had the opportunity to hear some very unique instrumentation when rebecca williams hit the stage: acoustic guitar, female vocals, and drums (with brushes of course). it was an amazing performance! the guy behind her on cymbal had jumped on stage as i was taking this picture. for most of her set it was only rebecca and the one drummer. beautiful!
hanging out afterwards with the band hemingway road, i had the opportunity to try vegan yogurt made from almonds! woah!
having the next day off, i explored louisville quite a bit with the very hospitable brian davis, roommate to robbie of hemingway road. we hit up bookstores, record shops & local diners. plus i had the chance to finally cook a decent meal. given access to brian’s kitchen, i cooked up a tasty soup and salad for him and his roommates.
after the delicious meal we went upstairs to smoke hookah with his neighbor.
shawn distributes natural foods to all the major supermarkets in the area. he gave me all sorts of interesting vegan treats to try out while on the road (including the almond yogurt). yum! thanks shawn 🙂
all in all a great time. i really enjoyed my experience in louisville and hope to come back soon for another show. thank you hemingway road and hemingway road’s roommates and hemingway road’s roommate’s girlfriend amanda for showing me such a fun time “;-)
-marc