Glen Cove, NY through Smithville, NJ

Nick: So as it turns out, Andreas was unable to get his grad school stuff together in time to join us, so we will meet him in D.C. sometime next week. I left to go pick up Brian in Manhattan as he had left the garden with Max the previous night. It was strange to be driving solo. I didn’t like it. United again, we set our course for New Jersey where my senior year roommate Paul lived. After spending a small fortune-

Brian: Did you know bridge tolls could be eleven dollars? It sucks.

Nick: Yeah. Big time. But we made it through them and then found ourselves on what I feel is one of the worst highways in the country. Highway 9. Thousands of stop lights. Millions of pot holes. Also, my co-pilot was out like a light. Also, I’ve never seen so much rain in so short a time. Eventually we made it to Paul’s though, and after some corn hole (I was awful… the platforms were a lot farther apart than I’m used to) and some pork kabob from the nearby Octoberfest, it was off to Atlantic City to see what it might have to offer.

Brian: I’ve never been to Vegas, but I’ve heard that AC is like a miniature version. Yeah, it was quite well lit. I doubt the 5 or 6 wind turbines outside the city generate even a fraction of a percent of the power that city uses. But AC was on the list so we lived it up. Paul took us to a couple sports bars and a cool Irish pub. It was tempting, but we didn’t gamble. All of Paul’s friends were at a local bar called JD’s back in his home town so we left Atlantic City early and headed to meet them. It was there I determined my fate for the next 24 hours.

Nick: Waiter: “What do you want?” Brian: “Hot wings.” Waiter: “Mild, medium, hot, or devil.” Brian: “Devil.” Waiter: “You can’t return those.” Brian: “Bring ‘em on.” Waiter: “That a boy.”
I didn’t think it was the best idea, but we had talked a lot about spicy food in Atlantic City for some reason, and so I think Brian just needed a quick fix. Like how if you get a song stuck in your head, it helps to listen to the song once or twice.

Brian: Big mistake. They were intolerably hot. Being the man that I am, I decided I couldn’t back down to a six pack of boneless tenders, so I ate them in spite of the intense searing sensation between my mouth and stomach. Nick had one of them to help me out; I ate the other five. Stay tuned for the next post to hear about the aftermath.

Nick: Brian and I know our way around a Jalapeño pepper. We’ve tangled with the Habeñero and emerged no worse for the wear. I don’t know what they used to kick those wings up, but even after just one piece I felt like I’d swallowed a coal for the rest of the night. After more corn hole, we left J.D.’s and ventured to the nearest WaWa. It’s like a convenience store with a sleek body kit and spoiler. No, it wasn’t Asian. It was just stepped up. On an unrelated note, the song of the day was “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. Now I can hear you readers saying “But Nick, Brian, isn’t that the song of the trip? Isn’t it therefore, the song of the day every day?” To be honest readers, we were having a little bit of a rough patch with Miley. We saw the music video, which was just awful, and several people on this trip haven’t really been feeling us on this tune. But now she’s back in our hearts, heads and in our radio. Just keep being Miley. Brian and Nick out.