thejoshuastravels-blog

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Cape G

Just an easy hour and a half south down I-55 you will come across a small town of about 39000 people and probably double that in farm animals.  One of the first places I have seen that has a cattle farm across from the Wal-Mart!  Although, you can be fooled by the small population, the town has many amenities and activities.  Being that it is a river town, there are similarities to St. Louis and similar towns.  The river walk has been redone and has a very nice walkway to stroll along the Mississippi.  Supported also by a Safari park, Aquatic Park and Casino… you can find a lot to do.  

My wife and I took a day trip to an area just west of Cape Girardeau, named after a French Officer stationed there in the 1700’s.  We spent the day with friends celebrating their first baby with a wonderful gender reveal.  

There is something that never ceases to amaze me about the southern hospitality of some of our rural areas.   You are hard pressed to find anyone that is rude or acting out of class in the communities. It is something that is lost in the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities. Honestly, we could all use a lesson in hospitality.  

Now on to the food! Accompanied by many game hunters, there was a plethora of tasty treats.  From a beautifully prepared Venison Back Strap wrapped in Bacon with a green pepper… to a Venison Summer Sausage with Jalapeno.  The food was absolutely wonderful and the cooks/chefs more than happy to see us enjoying every bit.    I look forward to many more get togethers in CG with our friends and their growing family.

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San Diego… “Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means a whale's vagina.” Ron Burgundy Circa 2004.  In reality, San Diego was claimed for Spain in 1542 by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.  Some 200 years later the first settlements began in what is now California’s second largest city.  

It is not my first time in San Diego, but that doesn’t stop me from getting excited for another trip. I have spent enough time there to get the hang of the place and still feel like I’ve only seen 5% of it.  This trip was different due to my wife being able to make the four-hour flight from STL.   There is nothing like seeing the world through someone else’s perspective and I was excited to see San Diego through my wife’s.  

Fist Stop La Jolla! What can you say about La Jolla to someone who has never been?  Beautiful, vibrant, hip, ocean views and expensive.  Californians like to say they pay the sunshine tax, but that doesn’t really explain it.  It is not for the faint of heart, but if you can stomach the expense, you will have paradise in your view.  

We took a taxi to Grand Colonial which is a stately hotel overlooking the La Jolla bay and some of the most beautiful natural and unnatural cost line in California.   The bay has an underwater park, sea lion sanctuary and descent enough surf for beginners or better surfers.  The people are friendly and for the most part transplants themselves, each one asking where we were from and giving their condolences for us going back!  Most of the weekend we spent eating, shopping and lounging.  

One of the places we dived into was Whisknladle https://www.whisknladle.com  The yelp reviews do this amazing restaurant justice… the food was sublime.  Starting with the Bone Marrow and moving into their local fish, wow what a combination of flavors.  The other notable place that we sunk our taste buds into was Sushi Ota in the Pacific Beach or PB area of San Diego http://www.sushiota.com  The head Chef Ota came to San Diego in 1982 and have sampling the local Sea Urchin, which he found to be the most flavorful in the world, he settled in PB and brought his amazing Sushi to San Diego.  We dropped in without reservations, which I highly recommend reservations, but the host was able to seat us.  The only caveat to our impromptu dinner was to finish within an hour…. It was tight but worth it.  

San Diego is a tough place for restaurants, cost and the finicky nature of customers means if you’re not producing great food… you won’t be here next month.   So, I encourage you to try different things out and not be too caught up on keeping to the mainstays.  I have yet to have a bad meal in San Diego…

[thejoshuastravels-blog]

Nashville the city by the bay... or is it the city that doesn’t sleep or is it....... Well it has been one for the bucket list for a while and when the wife had an opportunity to go to the Country Music Awards, I just had to tag along.

Southwest Airlines flies a direct St. Louis to Nashville flight, duration one hour, so I packed a bag and headed out.  

When I first arrived, I was really taken back by how nice the airport is… yes, the airport is nice! Go figure coming from St. Louis, we notice when other cities are outdoing us.  The other thing is the drive from the airport to downtown or Broadway.  It is a city of tree’s and Nashville does an amazing job at keeping the country air in the urban environment.  

We ended up booking a room at hotel Noelle, which was centrally located a few blocks from Broadway where all the country music stars have set up their outrageous drinking holes. The hotel was great… my wife was super excited about the automatic black out window shades!  Other than that, it’s a hotel.  

We had a few things that we planned for the next few days, we wanted to hit Broadway and check out the roof top bars, also Third Man Records (the home of Jack White of the White Stripes), The Indian Motorcycle Dealer and the local BBQ.

Broadway didn’t disappoint. Although I am not the country music fan that some of my peers are, the scene was electric.  Streets filled with leather boots, linen shirts and fancy belt buckles.  Most of the streets were moving fast, with people coming in and out of the local establishments. We ended up going to a few of the bars, but once you go to one… you have pretty much done them all.  That is except for Tootsies, which has a real down and out country music bar feels to it… you can just see the years of beer, liquor and smoke that has scared the walls with memories.  

Third Man Records, was and is a destination that if you are a music lover, you shouldn’t miss.  The store front is small but they fill it to the brim with a smorgasbord of goodies.  I grabbed two t shirts to commemorate my visit and off we went.  

The Indian Motorcycle dealer was pretty straight forward, though my wife was the interested party here. She looked around and found a few shirts that signified our visit and off we went.  

BBQ, well here we go. I have a pet peeve with STL BBQ especially their Brisket.  IF you’re a Brisket lover, and a fan of the Texas BBQ scene it is abundantly clear that STL has it all wrong.  We use Brisket Flats which traditionally are the lean part of the brisket and leave the Point at the store.  While, that may serve the regular STL BBQ buyer, we deserve better.  In most if not all Texas BBQ joints, if we are to buy Brisket we get a choice of Point (fatty) or Flat (lean) which is the right way to do Brisket.  So, we come to Nashville and to my surprise…. Brisket Point is on the menu!  So, we gobble up some Brisket, Turkey, Pork and a few amazing sides and grab an uber to the hotel…. Its nap time!  

The trip was fairly quick and I can keep drawing on about the town, but all in all, it was not so impressive compared to other “hot” cities in the US (Austin/San Diego/New Orleans/New York/Miami).  

[thejoshuastravels-blog]

What makes a Distinguished Gentleman? Is it the hair? Is it the facial hair? Is it the shoes? Is it the cloths? Or perhaps is it more?

September 30, 2018 was the sixth ride for the multi nation group.  The foundation started in 2013 with 11k riders in 145 cities across the world.  As we stand in 2018, the ride surpassed all previous years.

The DGR has the not so simple goal of bringing Men’s Health to the conversation, more specifically Prostate Cancer.  With 164k new cancer diagnosis per year and 29k deaths, it is a worthy topic.  

If Cancer wasn’t enough for these dapper gentlemen, they have picked a fight with Men’s Suicide Prevention.  Citing 3:4 suicides are men, with one suicide per minute, we are in for a full twelve rounder!

In the current atmosphere, it is that much more important to devote our time to causes that can help make this a better world.  What better way to bring awareness to these causes then to put on our favorite suit and take a beautiful ride around the city.

The ride started at Laurimar Sculpture Park in Sunset HIlls early in the morning, before the sun set in.  140 riders gathered and began the meet and greet.  We drank coffee, made conversation and oggled each others bikes.  As the sun started to make its move on our external temperature, we mounted and rode out.  First stop was the Flying Tiger motorcycle shop, followed by The HIstory Museum and than Motor Europa.  It was a stunning display of cotton, wool and steel.  We reveled in the cause and the camaraderie of our fellow bikers.  When the day finally came to a close, it was with a full heart that we departed until the next year.  

Although the ride was a single day adventure, perhaps the cause is an everyday battle.  I for one am willing to lace up for it, are you?

#Ducati #BMW #Triumph #Harley Davidson #Norton #Musket #Janus #Distinguished Gentlemen Ride

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The Distinguished Gentlemen Ride

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The new adventure starts!

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First pair of shoes!

At 39 I had two choices, one was to deny my mid life crisis, the other was to embrace the wave.  I made my choice, it was a 2003 Yamaha 650 V Star.  

What a wonderful machine, it was quick and sleek.  The color was perfect, the sound was sonic and the look was exceptional.  Unfortunately, the brakes were horrible, the lighting was sub par, the seat height was vertically challenged.  Even with all the positives and negatives, the bike was a absolute blast.  

When I first approached my wife, Danica, about the possibility of buying a motorcycle, she was not without her observations.  Her acceptance of my mid life crisis was secondary to the fact that over the last eight years I continued to tell her how dangerous motorcycles are.  Fact is, my wife has had her motorcycle license for >10 years.  A fact, that she likes to remind me of on a consistent basis.   Nevertheless when I approached her with the thought she was open.  We discussed the want and the fascination that I developed later in my late thirties.  What we decided upon was a bike that both of us could ride.  Even though my wife has had her license for such a long time, she did not own and has not owned a motorcycle.  Our budget was <3k and the bike had to be sound mechanically and safety wise.  

The craigslist search has begun!  I started my search on the garage sale website with the aforementioned parameters.  One lazy Saturday morning, we found it.  I made a quick text message and off we went.  The gentlemen selling the bike was very affable and couldn’t be more honest, which as a great way to start the day.  We started the bike, did a quick walk around and negotiated the deal.  Within the negotiation we discussed my inability to ride the motorcycle home, as well my wife’s.  He graciously agreed to ride the bike to our home and off we went.  I can’t say all the thoughts going through my head, but definitely a mix of excitement-scary-nervousness would be a close approximation.  

Within the first few days, I was riding the motorcycle in our yard to get comfortable while not being on the pavement.  Within two weeks, I had my permit and started out on the neighborhood roads.   It was here that I really solidified my enjoyment and love for the ride.  I want to share our travels with you.  Hopefully you can share in that and share your adventures too.  

Josh