July 16th. Madrid to Newark.
And so we set off on this undertaking. Doubts have long since been cast aside whether this trip will happen or not, flights, car and a hotel have been duly booked and if anything has been forgotten, it’s too late now. We say goodbye to Madrid on a hot Wednesday morning with a stodgy sandwich, a grumpy barman and two awful cañas of San Miguel, San Miguel is awful at the best of times, but when it’s the first poured after spending the night festering in the beer lines, it’s like necking a can of cold beer at party only to find there’s a cigarette butt in it. Anyway we fly to Newark having watched a series of ‘House’ and a film with Michael Caine about flushing diamonds down the sewer – not one of his best but he is a great actor. We passed through Customs and Immigration painlessly, I was afraid of this bit as I crumble in the face of authority, I mean, would they really believe that the purpose of my visit was to drive across the States in search of cheap beer, motels and women and not in that order. We were picked up by Bob and Debbie. Bob is the lead singer in an excellent rock and roll band – ‘The Trash Mavericks’ who have visited Spain and have played in ‘The Irish Rover’ (from now on referred to as the ‘Rover’. We drove through Newark and out to their town and were immediately surrounded by all sorts of ‘Americana’ – Shingle houses, clipped lawns with the stars and stripes hanging from the porch, trucks, pick-ups and a bewildering array of overpasses and underpasses, but this is what it’s about. We stopped of at a liquor store to pick up some beers and what a shop! The selection of beers for sale was very impressive (understatement) with, apart from the main beers, a huge selection from the micro breweries, something which is on the increase over here and something I have decided to investigate and research, though at the time of writing this I’ve totally forgotten what they were. We then visited Bob’s house and were treated to a view of his collection of memorabilia/curiosities what have you – everybody collects things to some degree or another and sometimes it can show an interest, a concept or an extension of your state of mind. I know this because I collect ‘stuff’. I don’t want to say anything about Bob’s collection because I also think it can be a private thing ( I didn’t take photos) but suffice to say it is one of the most interesting, colourful, stimulating and thought provoking mix of bits. And who can leave Debbie out! As the rest of the house is her domain and her touch can be seen in her carefully chosen motifs and icons around the (incredibly comfortable) house and garden – yes, quite an introduction. We met up with Sammy and Matt from the band and headed off to ‘Harolds’ Deli. on 3050 Woodenbridge Ave., Edison, NJ. Bob (a 'Schtarker') has been raving about this place for years as he is a 'Schticklucher' and now was the chance. Nothing could have prepared me for the mountain of pastrami and roast beef that arrived and after a visit to the pickle bar, we sat down to construct sandwiches, I could barely finish one. But it was delicious and was washed down by this curious American drink – Root Beer, a sort of precursor to the soft drinks of today. Back to the house with a happy 'punam' and some friends and neighbours turned up for what was a pleasant and entertaining evening, Kevin, the other member of the band turned up after work and made his inimitable contribution. It was great (understatement) to be with these guys and their friends ( I believe we’re supposed to say ‘Buddies’) in their own town. People were met, stuff was talked about, addresses were exchanged, hints were given for the trip, beer was drunk, we cracked open a bottle of Patxeran that we had brought as a present and lo and behold, everybody loved it, so it lasted twenty minutes. Then, a curious thing happened, it was getting dark and suddenly all these luminescent sparks started flying out of the lawn, I began to think the mix of Pastrami and Patxeran had finally unhinged my delicate mind but no, these are fireflies or lighting bugs and apparently as children you would catch them and squeeze the glowing juice out of the sac the flies carry and smear it on your forehead or whatever, one particular guy would chomp on mouthfuls just to have a set of teeth and a tongue that glowed in the dark. We had to make a quick beer run to the nearest bar, another new experience. A lot of things about the States are simply – It’s just like on the telly – Ha! Well the party wound down and Sammy dropped us off to the Airport for the next leg (thank you Sammy). What an introduction to the States – Thank you Trash Mavericks. So we went back into the airport at about 02:30 and most of it was closed, just a few displaced travellers like ourselves trying to get some rest on the impossible chairs which were designed NOT to aid rest or sleep but after the pastrami, beers and patxeran, a few hours slumber were guaranteed.
And so we set off on this undertaking. Doubts have long since been cast aside whether this trip will happen or not, flights, car and a hotel have been duly booked and if anything has been forgotten, it’s too late now. We say goodbye to Madrid on a hot Wednesday morning with a stodgy sandwich, a grumpy barman and two awful cañas of San Miguel, San Miguel is awful at the best of times, but when it’s the first poured after spending the night festering in the beer lines, it’s like necking a can of cold beer at party only to find there’s a cigarette butt in it. Anyway we fly to Newark having watched a series of ‘House’ and a film with Michael Caine about flushing diamonds down the sewer – not one of his best but he is a great actor. We passed through Customs and Immigration painlessly, I was afraid of this bit as I crumble in the face of authority, I mean, would they really believe that the purpose of my visit was to drive across the States in search of cheap beer, motels and women and not in that order. We were picked up by Bob and Debbie. Bob is the lead singer in an excellent rock and roll band – ‘The Trash Mavericks’ who have visited Spain and have played in ‘The Irish Rover’ (from now on referred to as the ‘Rover’. We drove through Newark and out to their town and were immediately surrounded by all sorts of ‘Americana’ – Shingle houses, clipped lawns with the stars and stripes hanging from the porch, trucks, pick-ups and a bewildering array of overpasses and underpasses, but this is what it’s about. We stopped of at a liquor store to pick up some beers and what a shop! The selection of beers for sale was very impressive (understatement) with, apart from the main beers, a huge selection from the micro breweries, something which is on the increase over here and something I have decided to investigate and research, though at the time of writing this I’ve totally forgotten what they were. We then visited Bob’s house and were treated to a view of his collection of memorabilia/curiosities what have you – everybody collects things to some degree or another and sometimes it can show an interest, a concept or an extension of your state of mind. I know this because I collect ‘stuff’. I don’t want to say anything about Bob’s collection because I also think it can be a private thing ( I didn’t take photos) but suffice to say it is one of the most interesting, colourful, stimulating and thought provoking mix of bits. And who can leave Debbie out! As the rest of the house is her domain and her touch can be seen in her carefully chosen motifs and icons around the (incredibly comfortable) house and garden – yes, quite an introduction. We met up with Sammy and Matt from the band and headed off to ‘Harolds’ Deli. on 3050 Woodenbridge Ave., Edison, NJ. Bob (a 'Schtarker') has been raving about this place for years as he is a 'Schticklucher' and now was the chance. Nothing could have prepared me for the mountain of pastrami and roast beef that arrived and after a visit to the pickle bar, we sat down to construct sandwiches, I could barely finish one. But it was delicious and was washed down by this curious American drink – Root Beer, a sort of precursor to the soft drinks of today. Back to the house with a happy 'punam' and some friends and neighbours turned up for what was a pleasant and entertaining evening, Kevin, the other member of the band turned up after work and made his inimitable contribution. It was great (understatement) to be with these guys and their friends ( I believe we’re supposed to say ‘Buddies’) in their own town. People were met, stuff was talked about, addresses were exchanged, hints were given for the trip, beer was drunk, we cracked open a bottle of Patxeran that we had brought as a present and lo and behold, everybody loved it, so it lasted twenty minutes. Then, a curious thing happened, it was getting dark and suddenly all these luminescent sparks started flying out of the lawn, I began to think the mix of Pastrami and Patxeran had finally unhinged my delicate mind but no, these are fireflies or lighting bugs and apparently as children you would catch them and squeeze the glowing juice out of the sac the flies carry and smear it on your forehead or whatever, one particular guy would chomp on mouthfuls just to have a set of teeth and a tongue that glowed in the dark. We had to make a quick beer run to the nearest bar, another new experience. A lot of things about the States are simply – It’s just like on the telly – Ha! Well the party wound down and Sammy dropped us off to the Airport for the next leg (thank you Sammy). What an introduction to the States – Thank you Trash Mavericks. So we went back into the airport at about 02:30 and most of it was closed, just a few displaced travellers like ourselves trying to get some rest on the impossible chairs which were designed NOT to aid rest or sleep but after the pastrami, beers and patxeran, a few hours slumber were guaranteed.
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