The Best of 2021 I Experienced
(On the Road)
2021 for me was the year of the road. I put about 20,000 miles on various vehicles on drives to the Bay Area, Las Vegas, Denver, and Austin, with a few trips to Dallas thrown in there. After 2020, I could no longer spend so much time stuck inside - and with the chaos that is flying in a post-pandemic world, there’s something remarkably freeing about just getting in a car and driving.
So that’s where my “bests” come from this year - from the perspective of being on the open road, with a Big Gulp in the cup holder and an album blaring from the car stereo. Enjoy!
Best Roadside Meal
I can’t say that I’ve ever driven very far for the sole purpose of having a meal, but I swear by the practice of stopping in small roadside towns and sitting down for a local specialty. Although the first burger I ever had was an In-N-Out burger, the California roadside specialty pales in comparison to the Mexican food you can get in border towns like Yuma
and the barbecue you can get in any small town in Texas.
The barbecue was easily the highlight of my trips - ordering a brisket plate, taking some leftovers, and picking at it on the road is definitely the move - and my favorite place I stopped was Watson’s BBQ in Tucumcari, NM.
I stopped in Tucumcari for gas on the way from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City and vaguely recalled the name from an old Clint Eastwood movie from the Dollars Trilogy. I didn’t mean to get food, but if you ever find yourself driving along the interstate, take some time to stop there. As someone who grew up a vegetarian for 17 years, I can quantify exactly how I much I missed out on in those years after tasting their brisket.
Best Overnight Stay
The main route I took from California to Austin went through Phoenix, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, and Dallas. I had never been to Oklahoma prior to 2021, so I got to cross the 42nd state off my list. Oklahoma City was by far my favorite place I stayed this year - I caught an NBA Finals game steps from Chesapeake Arena (is it still called that?), had the best bowl of pho I’ve ever had at Pho Lien Hoa, and had a great night
out on the town at R&J’s Supper Club. The appeal of the city definitely stemmed from the fact that two major interstates cross through it, so you get a good mix of locals and drifters downtown.
Best Experience
While I was staying in Austin, I had a buddy visit me from Vegas. While he was in the lounge in Vegas, he scored us two tickets to the Red River game. The only problem? The game was in 12 hours in Dallas. So, naturally, we hopped on the road at 4 am and drove up to the State Fair to check out the game at the Cotton Bowl.
A take I always used to dislike was when people claimed that college football was better than pro football because the players cared more. The pacing and quality is objectively better on television in the pros, but I think the difference is the fans care way more in college. For anyone who saw that game, you’ll know what I mean when I say that it felt like a Shakespearean tragedy seeing the sentiments shift from the first half to the second from the Texas endzone. You may not believe me now, but honestly, I knew that they would blow the lead the whole time. But in a stadium full of drunken, boisterous fans, isn’t it hard not to believe?
Best On-The-Road Album
I’ve concluded that prog rock was essentially made for road trips. Nowadays, I listen to nothing else on the road (other than Russian top 100 hits if I have company). I would have never found this artist on my own - each time you search “Earth and Fire” in Spotify, it suggests Earth Wind and Fire. But my favorite album of the year was called Atlantis by Earth & Fire.
I feel like my generation tends to overlook the music of the 1970s. The hippies and stoners have the 60s, the nostalgia bait is all about the 80s and 90s, and we grew up with the 2000s so it’s firmly ingrained in our formative tastes. The 70s feel like one big come-down, but Atlantis preserves enough of the psychedelic elements that one would expect from an album from the 60s.
Other honorable mentions are Hot Rail by Calexico for a more border-rock feel and Rock Orchestra by Esperanto for slightly more traditional ballads.
If I had to give one piece of road tripping advice, it would be to get off the Interstates as much as you can. When I was driving through New Mexico, I deliberately avoided getting to I-40 as fast as possible and experienced some of the most beautiful, isolated landscape I’ve ever seen. For some stretches of road, you know there isn’t anyone within an hour of you in either direction. You’ll see isolated Indian reservations, national parks, and what looks like the areas they test-drive cars in for commercials.
Anyway, in 2022, I’m going back to flying.
Hope you all had a wonderful year, and I look forward to writing much more in 2022!