Days 15 through 25- California Dreamin’ Becomes Reality

What makes a place good enough to be labeled “perfect”; is it the scenery, the people, the cities, the nightlife, the location, all of the above? Well, there is no such thing as “perfect”, but the closest thing to it is California. I have only dreamed of going to California since I was a kid, and finally at 22 years old, my dreams became true. I briefly spent two days in Las Vegas, Nevada before arriving to the Golden State, but I am not even going to talk much about my time in the Sin City, because I found it very over rated and, for lack of a better word, tacky. I live an hour from Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods so I felt no need to gamble in Vegas, and frankly, I like the Connecticut casinos better than the ones in Nevada. The only bright spots of my time there was seeing the comedian Carrot Top perform, and he was hilarious, eating lunch at the 5 star restaurant at the top of the stratosphere tower with its amazing view, and meeting up with a long time friend there one night, who later joined me to go to some beaches in the Los Angeles area later on in the week.

Ok, now back to my amazing time in California. My first four days were spent in San Francisco and the Bay area. The night I arrived there, I had a featured performance at a coffeehouse on the famous Haight Street, which was the hippie Mecca in the 60s and 70s. I was happy to finally be able to perform in California, because I have a huge fan base out there, plus it was always a dream of mine to perform my famous poem “California Clone” in the state it was written about. The show was a huge success, and the people I met there were some of the most down to Earth individuals that I have ever encountered (not to mention most of them were smoking weed right in the coffee shop!). Also during my time there, I explored the beaches and parks near the Golden Gate Bridge, met up with some long time friends in Berkley, visited Alcatraz, and enjoyed driving on some of the windiest and steepest roads in the world. I also went to Golden Gate Park (which is San Fran’s version of Central Park, except better), and saw Gavin Rossdale (the leader singer of Bush) perform for free, and during that concert, I noticed how chill and carefree all the residents of that area were, and how well I fit in around them. The second I stepped foot in SF I fell in love with it; the feeling I get in that city cannot be explained with words, but it felt like home there to me, and I am seriously planning on moving there in the near future.

I then drove along the Pacific Coast all the way down to Los Angeles, and the scenery of the coast along the way was unbelievable, in such towns as Big Sur and San Luis Obispo. I have never seen beaches and coasts with such amazing cliffs and rocks and sand dunes before, and it was truly breathtaking. When I finally arrived in LA, I explored most of the SoCal beaches, including Newport, Laguna, Hermosa, Venice, Malibu, Santa Monica, and Long Beach. Venice beach was amazing for people watching and I have never been to a place with both such eclectic people, yet beautiful scenery together as one.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a huge baseball fan, and that I HATE WITH A PASSION the east coast teams that play near where I live. I have been a diehard Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim fan for the past 10 years, and I have always dreamed of going to a home game. Well, that dream became true this week also. I was literally in tears when I walked into Angel Stadium for the first time, because firstly, I was in awe of finally being there in person, but also because of the memorial to their pitcher Nick Adenhart in the front of the stadium who died in a car accident in April after being hit by a drunk driver. The memorial was a very touching sight to see, filled with Angel’s caps, rally monkeys, RIP signs, pictures of him, and other items. I paused there for a moment of silence before entering the stadium and going to my seats, which were right on the field directly behind the Angel’s dugout. I sat next to a really awesome guy from California who shared stories with me the entire time, and it was so surreal cheering on with a stadium of fans routing for the same team, because I am definitely not used to that when I go to Angels games in New York and Boston! When Vladimir Guerrero and Bobby Abreu hit home runs, the fireworks went off behind the center field wall as I was slapping high fives with everyone around me, truly an amazing experience I will never forget. The Angels beat the Rockies 11-3 that night, and I was happy to see my team get a win.

Sadly, while I was in LA, Michael Jackson had passed away, and the news was all over the place since I was right in the area. Now, regardless of what you think of his personal life, you cannot deny the fact that he was the king of pop and is one of the most amazing singers and performers of all time. He is truly an inspiration to many musicians and performers, including myself, and will be greatly missed. I stood in line for an hour to visit his star on the walk of fame in Hollywood to pay my respects, and then briefly visited the street his house is on in Beverly Hills, but the cops had it blocked off. I was truly impressed with how utopia like Beverly Hills seemed, everything about it was picture perfect, and I ended my time in Hollywood by taking my picture in front of the Hollywood sign in the hills. My final stop in California was San Diego, which I was also impressed with, while dining outside in the Gaslamp district and walking along the beach with the Mexico border in my sight.

Being a performer and traveling the country definitely has it perks, because I get to see the world while doing what I truly love, but it also has it cons too, because when you finally find a place that you could call home and could spend your entire life in, it is time to leave and go on to the next city and state. With that being said, I am extremely sad to leave the best state I have ever been to, but I will be back soon, and hopefully next time I am back, it will be to move here instead of just visiting. A very interesting thing happened to me while I was coming into California from Nevada; the state sign was missing so there was no official “Welcome to California” sign when I arrived! Obviously, this made me upset at first because my goal is to get my picture next to all 50 state signs, but California would have to wait till the day I actually left the state. But then I thought of the symbolism behind this; I will be seeing “welcome to California” the moment I am actually leaving the state, which to me shows that even though I am leaving for now, I am truly welcome back there whenever I wish, and that I never have to really say “goodbye” to the Golden State, because California will soon be my proud new home.

The beaches, the mountains, the forest, the hills, the big cities, the little towns, the food, the climate, the location…all these things make California amazing…but especially the people, their personalities and laid back attitudes, is what truly makes this state as close to perfect as one will ever find. I’ve been an East coast resident my entire life, and even though I have been on the west coast for only a little over a week, the Atlantic has nothing on the Pacific; the west coast is where it’s truly at, and it’s going to be hard to come back home and have it truly feel like home there anymore. California, I will be back soon, but until then, I’ll miss you and you’ll be in my dreams until I can make you become a reality again.

Days 10 through 14- The National Parks of New Mexico and Arizona

Dry…Hot…Silence…Serenity…Unworldly…Perfection. What I have experienced in the past few days in the deserts and mountains of the southwestern parts of the United States are beyond words, yet here I am writing a blog about it. Whatever is written in this blog will do my experiences no justice, because even a published poet and writer such as myself cannot describe the beautiful mix of tranquility and madness, the perfect blend of calm and chaos, the equilibrium of ugly and utopia, that I encountered in New Mexico and Arizona. In a nutshell, one must experience what I have for themselves in order to fully appreciate it, but I can only hope that these words and pictures will offer enough evidence to prove to you that some of the most amazing natural places in the entire world can be found in these two states.

After leaving my 3 night stay in Texas, I arrived into Carlsbad, New Mexico, where I spent several hours exploring the Carlsbad Caverns, which are the biggest caverns in the entire country. I opted to take the natural entrance into the cave rather than take the elevator down, so my journey began with a 45 minute walk through a zigzag maze all down a very steep 80 story decent to the bottom of the cave, which was very hard on the knees, but thankfully I’m doing this trip at 22 years old instead of 62. I have been to several caves throughout the eastern part of the US before, but the Carlsbad Caverns are unlike any other. Taking the natural entrance into the cave allows you to truly appreciate and comprehend the massive size of the cave, and the natural beauty of the various stalactites and stalagmites left me speechless. Spending several hours down there makes you forget what planet you are even on, because I have never seen anything else on planet Earth so surreal, yet magnificent at the same time that looks like the things I saw in the cave.


After leaving New Mexico, I was off to Arizona. First I briefly went to Montezuma’s Castle, where you can gaze through the windows of the past into one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. This 20 room high-rise apartment, nestled into a towering limestone cliff, tells a 1,000 year-old story of ingenuity and survival in an unforgiving desert landscape. Marveling at this enduring legacy of the Sinagua culture reveals a people surprisingly similar to ourselves.

I then visited Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. With one of the world's largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood, multi-hued badlands of the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites, and displays of over 200-million-year-old fossils, this is a surprising land of scenic wonders and fascinating science. This place is called “the painted desert” for a reason; the hills look like someone took a paintbrush and went over them with various shades of reds, oranges, blues, and grays. I said to myself that this was the most beautiful place I have ever been to, and that was true until I drove a little up north to the Grand Canyon.






When I walked to the cliff’s edge and saw the canyon spread out before my eyes for the first time, my jaw literally drop and I shook my head in disbelief as a tear of joy fell from my eye, because nothing this beautiful should even exist on this planet, it’s simply just not fair. Honestly, the Grand Canyon is probably just as big as or maybe even bigger than my entire home state of Connecticut, so I wish I had more than just a couple hours to see more of the canyon. But what I did see of it was the most beautiful thing my eyes have ever laid upon, and I will definitely be coming back in the near future to explore more of it for several days, including hiking down to the base of the canyon and whitewater rafting on the Colorado River. But for my first time there, I was quite content with just sitting on the cliff’s edge and taking it all in.


I was amazed and how drastically different the climate, scenery, and landscape alters in Arizona by just driving a little over an hour up north. In southern and central Arizona, there are many cactuses and sand covered mountains, yet up north, in Flagstaff and above, I felt like I was right back at home in New England or upstate New York, because of all the pine trees, greenery, snow covered mountains (yes, in June), and quaint little mountain towns. The beauty and diversity of Arizona impressed me a lot and I can definitely see why many people come here to live after they retire. Hell, I may have to retire extra early and move down here soon myself, because I fell in love with the state and didn’t want to leave.



Like I said before, there’s not much else I can say about my experiences at these 4 national parks, because words would not suffice the experiences. I can only try and let the pictures do some of the talking, but my only advice is to get out and explore these places for yourself, because you will then feel the way I feel and be enlightened, inspired, and awakened like I have to the true beauty and tranquility of the desert and mountains of the southwest. Out here, I was able to clear my head, but it was only filled with more questions about the origins of the planet, because I do not think that things this beautiful were made my accident over time; I think that some sort of God out there must be an amazing artist, and He used the southwest as His canvas.

Days 6 through 9- Everything is Bigger (and Better) in Texas!

There is a state where everything is BIG, and where personalities are larger than life. This state is known as Texas to some, and as cowboy country to myself and many other people from the north. I honestly had no idea what to expect prior to my arrival in the Lone Star state; a part of me assumed I would see just cowboys on horses sharing the highways with huge Ford trucks, attempting to run my little Toyota Camry I’m traveling in with a Connecticut license plate off the road. Another part of me was a little apprehensive of performing a show in this state (or even talking to many natives here outside of the cities) because of my previous notion of their conservative, over religious, and right wing beliefs, and how much that clashes with my own lifestyle and viewpoints. However, this is one state I’ve been wanting to explore for a real long time, so I did not hesitate for one second to cherish my time here.

About an hour after arriving into my hotel in Dallas, it started to downpour, so I sat in front of my hotel window all night and watched the most beautiful thunderstorm and lightning I’ve ever seen. The sky was orange, purple, blue, and black all at once, and lightning would stretch in the sky for miles before crashing to the ground. It was truly something magical and very inspiring to witness right before my very own eyes. The next day I woke up early to begin exploring the city, and had lunch at a fabulous place called Tillman’s roadhouse, which was voted for having the “best fries” in the city. The restaurant was not only beautiful inside, but it also had some really amazing food, and some pretty unique French fries. I then went downtown to visit the JFK memorial, and I was not impressed with it at all. It basically looks like a big white Lego block, and I felt like something nicer should have been showcased for such a great president who lost his life in that city. Then I thought to myself, if one of the George Bush’s got shot or killed, Texas would make a whole shrine or name a town after them, yet since JFK was a democrat, all he gets is a Lego block!

I then went to a very nice area called Pioneer Park, which is a nice place to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city. I also treated myself to a new Dallas Mavericks shirt at the fan store in their arena since the Mavs are my favorite NBA team. Then a couple hours later I had my show, and I must say, that night was one of the best nights of my life. I’ve had much bigger audiences than the turnout that night, but the people that were there were really supportive and the whole group of us went out after for drinks at an English Pub (yes, an English Pub in the heart of cowboy country). There, I sucked down some bottles of Dos Equis and we all shared stories of our travels, of our love for poetry and spoken word, and how Yankee boys and Texans are all not that different from one another after all. That night will be one that I will never forget, and I was honored to be treated to such nice southern hospitality and Texas charm. In the midst of all the smiles, laughs, and stories being shared, one woman constantly turned to me and kept shouting in a joyful manner, "Welcome to Texas"....well, with the help of her and my other new friends, I definitely felt very welcome and almost at home.

The next morning I left Dallas to head to San Antonio. On the way there, I stopped through Austin to check out the University of Texas campus (which I was really impressed with) and an area in town called 6^th street (which is a big nightlife, bar, restaurant, and entertainment area). When I arrived to San Antonio, I explored the world famous River Walk for awhile, sampled some Tex-Mex food, and just took in the beautiful scenery. I then walked over to the Alamo, which also had to be one of the most beautiful landmarks I have ever seen. Early the next morning, I briefly visited Mission Concepcion, then took a boat ride on the River Walk; the perfect, picturesque ending to a perfect time in a perfect state.

Overall, Texas surprised me in many ways. First off, I knew it was one of the biggest states in the country, but you don’t really have an appreciation or understanding of that until you drive through it. At some points I would be driving for 8 hours straight while looking at the very same sight (desert and mountains and oil pumps) with no signs of civilization at all, and even though this was extremely beautiful and serene, it also tended to be redundant at the same time. Moreso than the landscape, the people here surprised me more than anything. The negative stereotypes of the citizens here (from my experiences at least) are hardly true at all. The people of Texas are just simple folk who enjoy the good things in life, and the majority of the people I met here were not narrow minded or shoving Bibles in my face or extremely right wing at all. And even the people I met that I may not share the same views with, we embraced the things we had in common rather than dispute and debate over topics we disagree on, and as an outsider looking in, that’s more than I can ever ask for while coming to a new part of the country for the first time. In a nutshell, Texas was definitely one of the most diverse, interesting, fun, and just plain awesome states I’ve ever been to. I never thought I would say this in a million years, but I love Texas and I would actually consider moving down here at some point. Can’t wait to come back to the Lone Star state again, but until then, I continue my travels out west to New Mexico and beyond, and I will not rest until I can dig my toes in the sands of the California Coast. Adios and Gracias, Texas!

Days 4 and 5- final moments in Memphis, and cherished time in Arkansas and Tulsa, Oklahoma

Very few people had such an impact in the world like Martin Luther King Jr. did. When I hear the word “hero”, his face is one of the first to always pop in my mind. Before leaving Memphis Monday morning, I stopped by the Lorraine Motel, where he was shot outside of his room on the balcony of room #306. The motel is obviously closed now for renting rooms out, and it is now part of the Civil Rights Museum. Walking up to the motel was one of the most eerie moments of my life. The motel itself feels like it’s haunted and it obviously has had no upkeep in over 40 years, but I think the look and condition of the motel at present day is the epitome of the tragedy that happened there in 1968. There is a very silent and depressing vibe outside of the motel also, and one can’t help but to shed of tear while staring at that balcony where a reef of flowers hangs in his honor.

After leaving there, I was on my way to Clarksdale, Mississippi, right at the crossroads of routes 49 and 61, which is often named the birthplace of Blues. I stayed at a place called The Shack Up Inn, which has to be one of the best kept secrets in the entire country. The entire inn is composed of about 10 different run down, vintage shacks, each of which used to be slave homes over 100 years ago. The only differences between the shacks from then and now are that electricity and running water were installed, as well as some more modern bedding; other than that, it’s about as “hick” of an experience as you can ever have. I stayed and had a photo shoot here last year also on my way to New Orleans, and it was one of the most interesting experiences of my life, so I decided to stop by again. I think the term “Southern Hospitality” was invented right here in Clarksdale, because of how nice the employees are at this inn, and I definitely found true inner peace and tranquility while relaxing on the front porch of my shack while listening to some Blues music, watching the Mississippi sunset, and sipping down a few beers. This is how life should be, and it’s a shame most people will never get to experience this beautiful way of simple and carefree living.

My next stop was Tulsa, Oklahoma, but on the way there, I stopped through Little Rock, Arkansas for lunch. I pride myself on knowing a lot about geography and various places, but I’ll be honest, Arkansas is a state I often overlooked and never really thought about visiting, just because I never really hear much about it. However, I quickly realized this state was a hidden gem, because the state has so many unique things to offer, from the natural hot springs to the Ozark Mountains to city and night life as well. I ate lunch at this great German restaurant in Little Rock and I wished I could have stayed longer, but I’ll definitely be back again in the near future to explore the state some more. I had my first show of the tour Tuesday night in Tulsa, OK, and it was a huge success. I was the co-featured performer at an open mic with Babs Martin, who is also an amazing musician and poet who I am a fan of, and the venue was packed and I got a lot of positive feedback, so I’ll definitely make plans to perform there again next year.

Now as I write this blog, I am staring out of my hotel window at the beautiful and impressive Dallas, Texas skyline. I just got here about an hour ago and I can’t wait to explore the city and perform at my show tomorrow night, so my next post will be coming this weekend and will talk all about my adventures in Dallas and San Antonio, Texas, as well as Oklahoma City. Stay tuned!

Day 2 and 3- North Carolina mountains and Tennessee

Many people, including myself, have always wondered what a Heaven on Earth would look like. Well, I think I just found it in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. Driving through the blueridge parkway is an experience unlike any other. Everywhere you turn is a picture perfect postcard scene. All you can see is mountain ranges stretching on to the horizon, and the only sound besides an occasional passing car is the chirping of birds. I have never experienced true bliss and beauty like this before. The road is so high up in the mountains that you can literally touch the clouds. This is heaven on earth.

I started the day on Saturday by going to Grandfather Mountain state park, which offers the best views of the mountains and the area. There is a swinging walking bridge that is exactly 1 mile above the ground level, and the lookout cliff on the top of the mountain is almost 6,000 feet high! The view from the top is absolutely breathtaking and I could have easily spent the entire day there.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.

After leaving the mountain, I began my 2 hour drive in the Appalachian Mountains to Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville is a very awesome, free spirited, liberal, artsy town in the middle of nowhere, nestled deep in the mountains. I briefly stopped here to people watch, grab a bite to eat, and bar hop. I can’t wait until I have the chance to come back here, because it definitely felt like home to me and I can see myself living there one day.

On Sunday, I first drove to Nashville, Tennessee for lunch. I stopped by for a quick beer at the world famous Tootsie's Lounge, where many famous country musicians and other celebrities are often spotted. The purple building definitely stands out among the rest on the street.

My main destination for Sunday was Memphis. I have been to both Nashville and Memphis last year on my 2008 tour, so I knew exactly what I wanted to see and where I wanted to go this year when coming here. I got to Memphis and went straight to Beale Street to enjoy what makes Memphis one of the most amazing and fun cities I’ve ever been to. Beale Street is basically the little brother of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but it still has a lot to offer. The entire street is flooded with neon lights and live blues and country music is pouring out of every bar as you walk by. And best of all, you can drink outside on the street!

As I write this blog, I’m staring out of my hotel window and looking at the beautiful Mississippi river and the bridge going over it that crosses into Arkansas. That very bridge will take me to my next destination and allow me to continue my journey out west. My trip has barely begun, but I can already feel that I am at a place very far from home, and the memories from these past few days will be cherished for the rest of my life.

Day 1- Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina

I’ve done trips and tours similar to this one plenty of times, so why does this one feel so different? Why does this one feel so special? This is my first time going out west, and ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of driving cross country to California, to dig my toes into the sands of the beaches of the pacific ocean, to see the deserts and Rocky Mountains, and to find the real America. Hours before leaving for my 40 day-long trip, it still hadn’t hit me that I was actually going to be away from home for such a significant period of time (previous tours never lasted longer than 17 days).

Around 7 PM I drove around town saying goodbye to some of my friends and family and promising them amazing and funny stories from my travels for when I return. I left my house around 8:30 PM and around 9 PM when I saw the welcome to New York sign, it finally hit me then that I wasn’t going to be in Connecticut again for a long, long time. A pleasant surprise awaited for me in New York City when driving through; fireworks were going off along the Hudson River and seeing those burst in the night sky with the picturesque George Washington bridge and New York skyline as a backdrop symbolized to me the epitome of beauty and amazing memories I would be having on this road trip.

I drove straight through to Baltimore, Maryland and met up with my long time friend / fellow spoken word artist Poet of Pain. He is the guy who produced and made all the music for my debut CD, and I wouldn’t be where I am in my career right now if it wasn’t for him.

After driving all night, and seeing such odd town names in Virginia such as Triangle, Dum Fry, and Manassas (is that really pronounced “man asses”???) I finally arrived to the “welcome to North Carolina” sign as the sun began to rise. The main point of interest for day 1 of my tour was to sight see Raleigh and the Durham / Chapel Hill area. I’ve been to North Carolina many times but for some reason have never been to this area of the state, and I’ve always wanted to see UNC and Duke. I was really impressed with the beauty of Duke’s campus and honestly, the architecture is so impressively magnificent and majestic there that it made Yale look like a community college. University of North Carolina was really enjoyable also because of a nice park it had on campus and also because of how college oriented the town of Chapel Hill is right near the campus. The college town reminded me of Bloomington, Indiana a lot (where University of Indiana is), so I instantly fell in love with it, and all the little bars, cafes, stores, and restaurants that made up the area really bring life and energy to the town and college, and make it a must stop visit for any young adult.

I ended the night by attending a festival called “first Friday” in downtown Raleigh, which (as the name suggests) takes place on the first Friday of every month, and it pretty much is an excuse for the town to go wild, party, and drink, which equals fun times in my book. To make a long story short, good times were had, and new friends were made.

Day 1 down…only 39 more to go : )