jasonpettus

I visited Middletown in 1997, to attend that year’s National Poetry Slam. I didn’t have a particularly good trip, so instead of bad-mouthing the city I’ll just end my comments here.

I’ve made two trips to Ohio now, both surreal. The first was for the country wedding of my second cousin, out on their ranch in Amish country (east of Columbus). Reception held at an Amish restaurant, which was my first time dealing with them face-to-face. Those bonnets are curiously sexy, man. Then in 2000 I made this very bizarre road trip from Chicago to attend that year’s regional poetry slam finals in Dayton. Talk about a city created by David Lynch or something! The weirdest, most interesting people live in Dayton, yet the town itself is nothing particularly worth noting; maybe there’s something in the water there? The poetry event was on the edge of town, with nobody but the poets knowing about it; then we all got wasted at this white-trashy hotel downtown. What a strange trip that was.

I visited Providence in 2000 for the National Poetry Slam. It was an interesting historical city, but man, the entire place shuts down like a ghosttown around 6 pm or so. And we were staying in the central city, so there wasn’t a thing to do or place to buy stuff for the majority of the nighttime hours. Plus, it’s definitely difficult to get around there without a car. Not sure if I would just go back on my own again; New England isn’t exactly for this Midwesterner’s tastes.

The last time I was in Indiana was for the 1981 Indy 500 time trials. I don’t remember a lot about the city, but was just enraptured with the history behind the race, the museum there, all the old cars, etc. Got to talk with Bobby Unser Sr., then didn’t realize the importance of it until years later.

Traveled with my family to attend a wedding in Louisville in the ‘90s, and had a great time. Got a chance to get out and see a couple of indie-rock bands, plus take a little tour of Churchill Downs, plus stayed right in the downtown district and ate at this really nice pasta place down there whose name I now can’t remember. Would love to visit again, this time with more freedom of movement.

I visited Knoxville for the 1982 World’s Fair! Ah, I was 13 years old, a total geek…the trip still holds a lot of very wonderful memories for me. I’d love to know what’s now become of all the old fairgrounds, and especially the Sunsphere.

When I was a teen, I visited the northern city of Eureka Springs with my family several times, staying at the Crescent Hotel. This is one of those strange, old, quirky cities, like Savannah, Georgia, full of odd buildings and eccentric citizens; it’s a real treat to visit, if you’re ever in the area. Then in college (University of Missouri), my best friend was from the tiny border city of Blue Eye (population 96; salute!), where we used to road-trip all the time. My favorite memory: getting wasted off honest-to-God moonshine, behind a trailer in the middle of the woods, then going to see the Mandrell Sisters perform in Branson. That is a true story, I swear to God!

I made a visit to Des Moines in 1988 with a friend from high school, to attend his brother-in-law’s bachelor party. A surreal weekend to say the least, bouncing back and forth between used-record stores and strange stripclubs on the edge of the city. I can still remember driving up there from Missouri, just seeing nothing but flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, for hours and hours, and then suddenly the city appearing out of nowhere, like it had been planted on top of the flatness all at once. Would love to go back sometime.

I made a brief visit of Oklahoma City in 1989 with an ex-girlfriend, to attend a friend’s wedding. I don’t remember a lot about the city, to tell you the truth; we ended up getting into the middle of breaking up during the weekend. I do, however, still remember that big cool modern greenhouse thing, although I can’t for the life of me remember the name of it. Definitely worth checking out, though, if you’re in the city yourself.

I went with my college marching band on a visit to Omaha in 1989. What a cool, strange, surreal slacker town this is! I know it’s hard for some people to imagine actual cool, underground stuff going on in the middle of Nebraska, but you should definitely give it a shot if you find yourself in that section of the country.