Visiting all 50 states is not really on my bucket list, but studies show that out of 50 states, 8 is the average number most Americans have visited. The average is 8 for Americans and for Europeans the average is 10 (this last statement is heresay and constitutes wild boasting).
1 Alabama X - Ah, in our early thirties we were coasting through the Redneck Riviera coincidentally around spring break time and my ex cohabitant with his age defying hyperdermis was carded. I wasn't.
2 Alaska - No, but about a hundred years ago, one of my relatives got mauled by a bear up there. Might have even been one relative on each side. People still talk about these bears + their mauling.
3 Arizona X During the Four Corners Manhunt back in the day, my ex cohabitant and myself were in a white rental car, driving out to Hopi and then back north down nearly washed out dirt roads, listening to the Navajo radio stations as one does. Once we had gotten to Hopi, we figured out that the only reason we were there is because growing up I had heard that word "Hopi" way too many times. On the way back north, I was deeply concerned about driving over a booby trap and being blown up under the clouds hanging in the sky. Memorable.
4 Arkansas - Naw
5 California XX God help me. In the 70's and 80's and still a minor. And, to my credit, I didn't run away from home. But I think I got the essence of dysfunctional CA in my novel Idle Opportunities (available on Amazon).
6 Colorado X Sigh. There was that last time, we just couldn't get out of that state (in a white rental car) fast enough. We walked down the driveway, started the car, pulled up twenty feet to the stop sign, my ex cohabitant turned to me from behind the wheel and said, "I am glad we are not staying another day." I sat in silence, still in shock from the night before.
7 Connecticut X Sadly we did not visit Mark Twain's house. I regret this now. This could have been a great opportunity to get into an altercation with my ex cohabitant, who had never and I am guessing still has never read any Mark Twain, about tourist activities while on vacation. In fact I think I started down that road of contention but then somehow I thought that it wasn't worth the hassle and gave up. So it might be all on me that I didn't set foot in Mark Twain's house. I just might not have had enough breath that day to argue hard for the sake of literature. Where was the spirit of Mark Twain that morning?
8 Delaware X ....and I'll leave it at that
9 Florida X - I've always enjoyed Florida. Despite my initial reservations back in 1997 on my first visit, I've found it a wonderful place spend time in. (And I am not one to be found the attraction parks or at the beach.)
10 Georgia X Well, once while in Atlanta I had time on my hands and my ex cohabitant was off to an electricity plant in a white rental car or it might have been a big black ten seater van paid for by GE and so I decided to head to a mall somewhere, maybe in Marietta, for a few hours. As I walked across the street from the hotel towards the shopping center, an African American man came up to me. He was deeply concerned and said, "Why you walking, lady?" I informed him, no worries, that I was just going to the mall and pointed at the building in front of us. "You shouldn't be walking, ma'am." I thanked him for his sound advice.
11 Hawaii Soooo, my Uncle Harold is buried under a breadfruit tree in Hawaii. The consensus in the family is that we don't know which breadfruit tree. Sometimes I think it would be nice to go visit with him, but it's a very vague notion.
12 Idaho X I still remember that lunch stop in Coeur D'Alene. I had a sandwich. With chips. It was pleasant. We got back in the car. It might have not been a white rental car. It might have been red. It was my turn driving and I had heard about the speed limit in Montana. My foot hit the gas pedal once we crossed the state line.
13 Illinois X I had prepared myself well for Chicago. I had even prepared my ex cohabitant well. We went to see the Wright House without having a heated discussion about this outing beforehand. You see, it's all about educating oneself to the manner in which information can be taken in while educating one's loved ones about what they should be looking for in cultural occasions.
14 Indiana X - This is where desperation comes in when planning a road trip, because there are miles and miles to cover and something to make it worthwhile is needed. Indiana Wine Country. Need I say more.
15 Iowa X Spent some time, more than an hour, in Pella, named after Decapolis, which is rather deceptive because the abbreviated place was founded by Dutch immigrants.
16 Kansas - See it was a choice of Kansas or Nebraska and NB won. Primarily because of the sod hut museum-pit stop. Gotta know your priorities when you plan a road trip.
17 Kentucky - Nope. But I still remember this vapid singer at college who was from the state. Wonder what happened to her. What was her name? Can't remember her face but she had thick hips. Liked to chat. Also had difficulty reading music. We think about this differently now.
18 Louisiana X So many great times in this state. There was that NYE on the bayou where Nathan and His Zydeco Cha Chas were playing and the venue hadn't sold hardly any tickets (unfortunately for them). But we had a great time and, yes, they played, "Follow me chicken on out to the barn". And it was the one night of my life when my father danced with me. If I had to live in the states, I might consider living in Lousiana.
19 Maine - X (Post Gluten Intolerance Diagnosis) Now this is where I had done my research. We pulled up to the roadside restaurant along the coast. It had a sign that said, "Lobster Rollls". I led my ex cohabitant to the counter. I watched him eat a lobster roll. I asked him, "Is it good?" and he shrugged his shoulders.
20 Maryland X -- Oh my, out of the fog of the past lodged somewhere in my mind, I once visited Peabody for an interview. I was seventeen and had just returned from an AFS experience in Germany. I stumbled out of the train station, down some ragged streets, fearful of rats leaping out at me, and then gazed in astonishment at the administrator who was not impressed by my stilted conversation. To my defense, I was having a hard time figuring out where the heck I was at that moment. Later I located the waterfront and ate a crab cake.
21 Massachusetts X Saw The Rock at P. Didn't exactly know what to think about this matter. 2+2 wasn't equating 4 and it wasn't for lack of trying.
22 Michigan X (Post Gluten Intolerance Diagnosis) Now this is where, again, I had done my research. We pulled up to the roadside restaurant in Upper Michigan. It had a sign that said, "Pasties". I led my ex cohabitant to the counter. I watched him eat a pasty (pronounced pass-tee). I asked him, "Is it good?" and he shrugged his shoulders.
23 Minnesota - Stayed with well-to-do relatives during my school breaks from conservatory, got dropped off at a mall once with the only twenty dollar bill I owned and it was in my wallet and when I climbed out of the back seat I was told, "Now don't spend ALL your money in one place, sweetie!" Then the Jaguar rolled away and I went to Ross and bought myself a pale yellow skirt suit for nine dollars. Thin cotton with little black swirls typical of the 1980's and the gear of a dentist receptionist. I have no idea what I thought I would eventually end up doing in life and I remember pulling the clothes out of the bag and putting them on like they were a costume. Did I like them? No. Did I think that they looked good on me? No. But they seemed to impart something decent that people would recognize, at least in the midwest. And, in those days, I wore curlers at night.
24 Mississippi X Greenville + Soul Food + 1997 You have to picture it. There we were, once again in a white rental car, and I was looking for soul food and had read Fodor's guidebook. We followed directions to Doe's Eat Place. I was feeling uneasy, given the neighborhood. We pulled up. A truck was parked out in front of the place, in the flatboard bed of the truck was a lawn chair, in the lawn chair was a white man in overalls with a shot gun across his lap. I turned to my ex cohabitant and for the first time in my life said, "Park the car. He's got a gun." (Note: per YouTube evidence these days, there's a sheriff parked out front of the establishment.)
25 Missouri - Nope
26 Montana X Just one of those oddball experiences and memories that made a serious impact on my life fifteen years afterward. I've been writing about it. "At that point, a day after eating Uncle Woody’s famous potato sausages at the family reunion in 1980 on Vickery Ave, Polly was traveling over highway I-90 through the dead of night in Great Uncle Baby Jimmy’s camper on her way to the town of Superior in Montana." Cut to 1997 when, in the dawn of internet, I called a phone number listed in Superior Montana attached to a name that I recognized and said I was looking for my grandmother. She called me right back.
27 Nebraska - Lincoln! Now there was a place, we were travelling in a white rental car from west to east, that hands down me and my ex cohabitant both agreed that it was time for a museum. After hours of flat horizon, even he came to the conclusion that Something Must Be Out There To Look At. I just remember that the cultural and art area had a lot of cement involved, and not just the parking lot.
28 Nevada X There was a time when my father was poet-in-residence in Nevada, teaching at schools. This was back when I was about eleven. He took me with him to NV once during the school year. I don't know what town it was but it was his last day on the poet in residence tour. Just before we got back in the beaten up Ford Maverick to drive to CA, the kids at school decided to throw a farewell party. Keith made sure that I sampled the honey and peanutbutter on a saltine and showed my appreciation of the spread before he got behind the wheel, put on a 9 track tape of Ry Cooder and with great determination headed west.
29 New Hampshire X I remember Vermont.
30 New Jersey X Memorable 40th birthday, just recently came across the photos again....
31 New Mexico X Was rereading my old 1983 diaries and discovered that I went sheep herding in New Mexico more than once during my stay. For all these years I was convinced that I had followed a flock of sheep while on the back of a horse for one day only. Apparently.....okay well I think the time that I ate a can of fruit cocktail while on horseback on a Navajo Reservation in front of a flock of sheep while drivers of the trucks appearing in the far distance slowed to a stop, plumes of dust raising behind them, to make sure that they were not hallucinating, was foremost lodged in my memory and took precedent over the other times when I wasn't eating a can of fruit cocktail on a horse.
32 New York X In 2021 I was all on my own for two weeks, the first visit to the Big Apple unattached, free to decide what I wanted to do or not do and I had a blast walking around and meeting friends and family. Freedom, FREedom, FREEDOM....
33 North Carolina X It was at a Holiday Inn on the coast. They offered activities to guests. I was treading water and the instructor of the water aerobics session, wearing a swim cap and nose clip and lipstick, peppered her class with phrases like "now remember to flap your little angel wings!" She demonstrated this with a big smile while squeezing and blinking her eyes to avoid splashing water.
34 North Dakota - I am afraid not.
35 Ohio XX I occasionally spent the night on a brown plaid couch owned by a family of Jehovah's witnesses who had about ten kids whose names all started with L.
36 Oklahoma - No.
37 Oregon X Classic. 2 am in Denny's in Roseburg. The kind of moment I think is always iconic, sitting behind a mountain of chopped lettuce ("that salad is bigger than your head" my ex cohabitant noted dryly). Every time I am stateside, I just think "there's always Denny's when all else fails".
38 Pennsylvania X Absolutely 100% fail here, yes we had an giant argument in front of the queue at the Independence National Historical Park. I thought we should see the museum, my ex cohabitant thought otherwise. He didn't see the point. I hadn't prepped him because it seemed a no brainer to me. For the life of me I don't know what I missed out on, so I guess he might have made the better assessment.
39 Rhode Island X I believe we had lunch in Providence but maybe we just drove over a big bridge.
40 South Carolina X I'd love to return any time! Three times is just not enough to satisfy my craving for boiled shrimp or boiled peanuts or looking at Charleston and all those handyman vans parked out front, making repair calls on the old mansions.
41 South Dakota X Yes, absolutely -- even had a beer at an American Legion Bar one early evening. It was a quiet place at that moment in time. I had no idea of what to do, but my ex cohabitant handled it well.
42 Tennessee X Oh my, it was raining hard in the Smokey Mountains and there was no turning back the bad tempers in the white rental car either.
43 Texas X Christ. I nearly wanted to jump out of the car and climb the chain mail fence to get into the parking lot of the cruise terminal while holding my luggage in one hand all thanks to the final thirty agonizing minutes of that last disastrous trip to see my ex cohabitant's inlaws who were cocked and loaded.
44 Utah X Bad planning. Spent most of the night driving through this wonderously beautiful state, worried about hitting a deer or more than one deer due to the numerous amounts of deer hanging around the roadsides.
45 Vermont X You see, there was this really fluffly big old cat at the farm that sold maple candy in the basement. A massive cat that was more than ready for the snow. That, my friends, was Vermont.
46 Virginia X Not a clue to what happened there. Nada.
47 Washington X The mystery was finally solved when my step-grandfather showed me the way to the Almond Rocca factory store where they sold seconds. And then I knew where my grandmother had sourced all those goodies......That was a mini Willy Wonka experience. I had no idea that Almond Rocca came in those kinds of variations. I can't wait to go back.
48 West Virginia X See, no idea about this matter of Virginia or West Virginia. Might have stopped for gas.
49 Wisconsin X We didn't see Taliesin. I don't think you need to hear my explanation. Bummer, though.
50 Wyoming X Saw a rodeo there. We were informed that to practice roping a calf, the contestants first drove their mail delivery vehicles real slow down the the shoulder of the road and then jumped out to wrestle mail boxes. At the time it seemed to make sense, in a way, but it also seemed a little extreme.
51 Washington DC There was that evening when we all went to a club and I couldn't manage the noise, the people or being there at all. Now, why did I think it was a good idea? What possessed me? But there we have it: I went to a Club in Washington DC. Let me see, where else did I go to a club? One time in Singapore, once in San Francisco.....it's definitely not a long list. But DC: checkeroo! And I think we all had to leave early because of me.
