(Vegetarian) Memphis BBQ

When Jade and I decided to go to Memphis in 2011, one of the first things I did was research places to eat. As a vegetarian who loves food, I've realized the importance of planning ahead to find satisfying, meat-free local fare. One of the first places my search revealed was the award-winning Central BBQ, an authentic, inexpensive joint with three locations around the city. They offer a variety of meat platters and sandwiches that are all doused in a delectable homemade sauce. Also on the menu is a vegetarian portabella sandwich. I put the place on my list.

Can't make the trip to Memphis? Central BBQ sells their sauces and seasonings online.

We visited the midtown location of Central BBQ during the dinner rush. After ordering and receiving our sandwiches, we took a seat on the outside patio, where a musical duo was performing. Mine – the portabella BBQ – was topped with homemade coleslaw and smoked gouda. It looked delicious. I dug in.

Heaven in a plastic red basket.

The thing is, if I'm going to get sticky-sweet barbecue sauce all over my face, it better be damn good. I hate mess. I hate stickiness. I eat pizza with a fork. But after my first sloppy bite of this portabella BBQ sandwich, I did not care. I devoured the thing. I had sauce on my face, on my hands, on my shirt. This sandwich was INCREDIBLE. Slimy, gooey, tangy, incredible. Not to oversell it, but it may have been the best sandwich I've eaten in my life.

Yes, I clipped back my bangs in preparation for this bad boy.

Jade got a similarly delicious meat option. In addition to the portabella option, Central BBQ offers sandwiches with pork, beef brisket, pulled chicken, and more. If you want to go full-on carnivore, you can choose one of the "just meat" choices. But we really, really recommend the sandwiches.

Jade's sandwich – one of the meatier options.

I'm not gonna lie. There were several times while we were living in Baton Rouge that I considered making the five-hour trip just for that sandwich. It was the highlight of the trip. (OK, Les Miserables – the reason we made the trip in the first place – was pretty great too.) You should go to Memphis for this sandwich. Next time I get the chance, I know I will.

Teaser: Mmmm...Memphis BBQ

Sputnik here. Look forward to a post next Friday about our food adventures in Memphis! This vegetarian BBQ burger was one of the best things I've ever eaten...

I Love You Orlando (The Best Part of Orlando)

ORLANDO! ORLANDO!

Sea World and Disney and Putt Putt Golfing...and UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO! (Apologies if you don't get the Book of Mormon reference.)

We actually started this post out as being about Orlando in general but we realized Universal is the best part and we can write about it for FOREVER.

What makes Universal Studios The Greatest Place On Earth?

Butterbeer!!!!!

1) You'll Forget All Your Problems

How could you NOT when you're on the World's Best Roller Coaster, THE HULK?!

2) You'll See All Your Favorite Things

Comic book nerd? Check out Marvel Superhero Island and hang out with Spidey and the gang! Aspiring paleontologist? Get up close and personal with a T-Rex in Jurassic Park. Harry Potter geek? OMG the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will BLOW YOUR MIND. Not to mention a general celebration of film.

3) Butter beer. 'Nuff said.

Seriously though, it's awesome!

Universal is probably our favorite place in the entire world to visit, and we like visiting a lot of places. In the space of three years we went twice with our friend Ash Tree, once alone together, Sputnik went once with Miller Time, and Jade tried to go twice (neither time successful) with visiting friends. It's now been more than two years since either of us has had a fix and we're going a little crazy.

Nothing beats the hulk...

There aren't many things that get the two of us out of bed at 6 o'clock in the morning (we're both confirmed night owls), but when we're in Orlando, we're up and out the door in plenty of time to get to Universal the moment it opens. (Jade actually did this once after only about 3 hours of sleep. Quote: "Totally worth it.") These first few minutes in the park, as the rides make their first runs and before the crowds start pouring in, are magical. It's a time before the lines, the beating sun, and the obscene hordes.  We always take advantage of this by riding The Incredible Hulk a half-dozen times (100% completely NOT exaggerating). Nothing gets you pumped for an awesome day like a high-speed roller coaster (just make sure you pack the Dramamine). More of us might be morning people if we could ride one of these every day before breakfast.

Where else can you explore Hogwarts, drink butter beer, and ride dragons?

The little details make
 all the difference

Not far from the Hulk is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Hogsmead. Since this part of the park is relatively new (and Harry Potter related) it's always busy. We try to hit it in the morning of off days to avoid the massive amounts of people. (Seriously, they will start keeping people out of this part of the park on really busy days.) The Dragon Challenge, which is actually two inverted steel roller coasters modeled after the triwizard task, is the major traditional coaster but the main event at WWoHP is the Forbidden Journey. This dark ride takes you throughout Hogwarts on a mixed media adventure giving Harry Potter fans a closer look at the magical world. One of the things Universal does exceptionally well is making the queue part of a ride's experience and the Forbidden Journey is no exception. As one of the most popular rides in the park the wait time is frequently well over an hour but no one could possibly be bored as they walk through the castle seeing sights such as the Green Houses, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the Headmaster's Office, and many others. Throughout both the line and the park itself small details, many of which move or make sounds, add to the experience. In the ladies' room outside of the Three Broomsticks you can actually hear Moaning Myrtle as you use the loo.

There is also a station for the Hogwarts Express which, as of earlier this year, carries passengers from Hogsmead (in Islands of Adventure) to Diagon Alley (in Universal Studios Florida). We can't wait to explore the Escape from Gringotts, the Leaky Cauldron, and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes next time we go in this new section of the park.

Ash Tree in front of the Hogwarts Express

But wait, there's more!

As if all of that wasn't enough to fill your time there's a whole 'nother park. The Wizarding World-Hogsmead and the Hulk ride are both part of the Islands of Adventure, arguably the better of the two parks. (So says Sputnik. We'll save the debate for another day.) But don't choose just one, because Universal Studios Florida (that's the other park) has some noteworthy attractions.

The Siiiiiimmmmpsooooonss........and the Mummy

The Simpsons Ride (it replaced the old Back to the Future ride) is well worth the lengthy line (plus, you'll get fun clips from the show to entertain you). The first time we rode it we literally walked out with dropped jaws. And the Revenge of the Mummy is a spooky indoor high speed roller coaster with its own plot line (SPOILER ALERT: avoid the Mummy!). One of the best features of this ride is three separate LIM launches which take the rider from a complete standstill to 45 mph in about 3 seconds.

We ARE galaxy defenders

We kick butt at our favorite ride

But above and beyond all else (as of our last visit in 2012) our favorite ride in this park is Men In Black: Alien Attack. We usually save it for the very end of the day so we can do it over and over and over again. This is not in any way an exaggeration. We once rode MIB 10 times in a row. In it, you ride around an indoor track and shoot aliens on the streets of Manhattan. So it's both a ride AND a game! You rack up points based on the number and kind of targets you hit. DON'T PRESS THE RED BUTTON! Until the end. Then PRESS THE RED BUTTON!  But be careful, right before you leave Agent J might neuralize you if you don't make the cut and you'll forget the whole thing. We've ridden this dozens of times, kind of kick ass at it, and have learned most of the tricks (with the help of the very friendly staff). Not to brag, but we've even unlocked the MIB suit.

And then it's time to go home 

At the very end of the night in Universal Studios Florida there's a lagoon show to close down the park. The first two times we went it was Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular. This fireworks attraction, which graced the body of water for five years, combined scenes from Universal films projected on inflated spheres with various fire, light, and water effects. It has since been replaced with Universal's Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories which opened about a week after we visited the last time. The glimpses we saw of test runs though made it clear it was just as good and definitely the perfect way to finish off an amazing day.

We'll be back

These are of course just some of the highlights of Universal Orlando Resort. It's kind of fitting that one of the attractions we didn't speak of is Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time. Arnold must have been channeling us when he grunted "I'll be back." Hopefully it'll be soon (we actually kind of are already planning our next trip) and we can tell you about all the other amazing parts of Universal then.

~Sputnik & Jade

Teaser

Here's a little teaser of the post we're working on for next week:

Make sure to come back next Friday!

The Wind in the Trees

A few weeks ago I woke up with the Bastille song Pompeii stuck in my head. The refrain goes: But if you close your eyes,
 does it almost feel like
 nothing changed at all?
 And if you close your eyes,
 does it almost feel like
 you've been here before?

As I laid in bed I closed my eyes and thought about those words. The song is talking about the destruction of a city (I think) as a metaphor for a crumbling relationship. Bits and pieces are perhaps applicable to me but in total not so much. However if I only look at the chorus it becomes very apt to the life of a wanderer.  

In all my travels if there is one thing that I've learned it's that the wind in the trees sounds the same everywhere. As a child I would fall asleep watching the shadows cast across my room and wake up to the gentle swishing of leaves. When I was in college I would sometimes imagine the sound of the creaking trees outside my dorm were actually the overstressed boards of a tall ship on which I was having a grand adventure. Occasionally when I was living in Louisiana I would wake up convinced I was back at my parents house because immediately outside the window of my bedroom in both places was a cluster of cottonwoods. I would then be really disappointed that the smell I thought was my mother's cinnamon rolls was actually my roommate's sticky buns (still good but not the same). I had the exact same problem for the exact same reason when I was studying abroad in Vienna minus the cinnamon rolls. Now that I'm in Botswana everything in my life is oh so very different. And yet, on a Sunday morning when I'm lying in bed, if I close my eyes and listen to the wind in the trees it almost feels like nothing's changed at all.

~Jade


Final note: because of schedule changes for both of us, Sputnik and I will now be posting on Fridays

Tears in the Airport

As a nomad I've adjusted to being away from the people and things that matter most to me. I've found ways to make the distance and moving every couple of years bearable because there's no other way for me to live. But I can't deny that sometimes it's hard to be so far away. My current situation (living in Botswana as a Peace Corps Volunteer) has definitely been the most extreme situation but in many ways it hasn't been the hardest. True, I've never been this far from home nor for this long without a visit but through years of wandering I've learned to cope.

It's funny when I think about the first time I left home for good. I sat on the plane leaving Seattle-Tacoma International Airport headed to Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport and I wept. I mean really wept. Thick tears. Snotty nose. The whole shebang. I thought about everything it meant and everything I was leaving. Being separated from my parents, my brothers, my pets. Gaining independence and adulthood. Leaving my mountain, the ocean, and the sound. Surrounding myself with people and a culture to which I was not accustomed. I was excited for what I was about to do but there was an undeniable sadness and anxiety in leaving.

When I compare that to leaving last August it's hard to believe I'm the same person. This is especially true when you consider I was leaving more than just the city in which I was raised. I left my home, my country, my dog, my language, my hemisphere (two of them in fact) and every person I love. There's a world of difference between being on the other side of the country from those things where there's at least the possibility of jumping in the car to drive back and the other side of the world where unless you have a much bigger bank account than I do there's no way home.

But I didn't cry. I didn't think about what I was leaving. I only thought about the adventure ahead. Sure, I had heartfelt goodbyes but they were different. They were "see you in two years" instead of "I don't know when I'm coming back". I long ago learned that if distance matters in a relationship it's not one worth me having.

So I was surprised when a month ago when I found myself tearing up in the Sir Seretse Kahama International Airport. I wasn't leaving this time but rather greeting. I had woke at 6 am that morning to board the first bus from my village to Gaborone. I had been stressed about the prospect of hitching from the bus stop to the airport so I ensured plenty of extra time even though I ended up taking a ridiculously expensive cab. I sat at the floor to ceiling windows in the airport waiting and worrying about all of the details for this visit. It was so concerned about my guests enjoying themselves or things going wrong that I had worked myself into a kind of frenzy. And then the plane landed.

Jade with Papa Bear at
Sir Seretse Khama International Airport

That's when the first tears came but I took a few deep breaths and got myself under control. Then I saw my visitors. Walking off the plane, after 36 hours in transit, were my parents Papa Bear and J-Nutt. I was filled with such joy and relief that had to escape and the only way for that to happen was through a steady stream of saltwater. I waved my arms over enthusiastically through the windows until they saw then positioned myself outside of customs.

Of course customs is a lengthy process and by the time they had finally made their way out I had gotten myself under control again. I flew to the loving, exhausted arms of my family filled with joy to be with them again if only for a few weeks.

It's funny. I always miss my friends and family but I don't think I realise how much until I'm reunited with them. I wonder what my reaction will be when Sputnik comes.

~Jade

The Smoke That Thunders

I have reached the end of my Thursday and run out of time for blogging. So today I will simply give you a photograph of Victoria Falls or, as it was known before the British arrived, Mosi-oa-tunya (the smoke that thunders). Tomorrow when I have more time I will do a proper post. ~Jade

Greetings from the Mini Apple!

Courtesy of TripAdvisor

Greetings all! Sputnik here, and like Jade, I've seen a lot of changes in the last two years. I'm in Minneapolis now, desperately enjoying the summer before six months of snow. I'm going back to school for a Master's degree (more time for travel...but less money, too!) and I'm doing some freelance writing for blogs and businesses.

Anyway, I'm excited to be blogging about some future adventures. Here are some topics you can expect in the coming months:

• Lots about Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Minnesota. You may be surprised how much cool stuff you can find in this neck of the woods.
• The boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Chicago...looking forward to some amazing food!
• Then there's the big one...I'm headed to Botswana to meet up with Jade for our Great Southern African Adventure! So pumped.

Of course, as a grad student, I'll have even less money than I did as a teacher, so look forward to some great budget tips, too. 

I'm very excited to be documenting my adventures again. Thanks for joining us!

It's been a long time...

Since you've seen our smiling face(s)

It's been a long time

Since we've seen a sunny day.

But we don't mind

No we don't

As long as we've got you next to me (us)

Ok, badly paraphrased/altered Cake lyrics aside...it's been WAY too long since we actually did anything on this blog. Sputnik and I are taking action to correct this. We have recommitted ourselves to regular posting. I know what you're thinking. Undoubtably it's something along the lines of "We've heard this before. Two years ago you said this same thing and nothing changed. You've had this blog for years now and we've only seen a handful of posts. You guys suck at blogging!" Or maybe that's not at all what you're thinking. Maybe you're ticking off types of cheese in your head or rehashing a recent fight with your lover or planning your supreme take over of the world. I wouldn't know. I'm not a very accomplished Occlumens. 

Anyway, this time we're for real. We have a plan and intend to carry it through. We've actually even set up strategies for ourselves to make it happen. And we're informing you so you can bug the crap out of us if we don't keep our word. So from now on you should expect new posts every Thursday. 

Some will be by me (Jade) alone, some by Sputnik, and some by both of us. From me you can expect several posts chronicling the trip I just took with my visiting parents around Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe as well as a few musings on travel in general and trips I'm in the process of planning. I won't speak for Sputnik but from the two of us you can expect to hear about the trip we're planning for the end of this year/beginning of next year, a false start trip we were thinking about and the trip we're planning for 2016 (this one is a small but super exciting). 

For now I'll leave you with a picture of a lion picking its nose. See you next week!

~Jade

Mmm...boogers!