I’ve a tendency to treat the US as 2 coast lines with a vast intervening space of nothingness, pretending perhaps it has reverted to its intended desert, and deserted state. But that is, in fact, not entirely accurate. The few times I’ve ventured into the Heartland, I’ve been surprised. Surprises from the most recent trip were:

  1. Salt Lake City

    Loved Salt Lake, wish we could have stayed a week. Of course my impression of Salt Lake is: Jxxxx’s house, Jxxxx’s kids, Jxxxx’s tree house, Jxxxx’s coffee shop.(more on that later) Jxxx is a very cool IMCer I met a few years back, who is also involved with the Utah Greens (no groaning in back you!), and helped draft consensus into their formal charter.

  2. West Virginia

    West Virginia is gorgeous. Hit me like finding out S. Dakota was gorgeous. Really really rolling green hills, cut through by streams, almost wet enough to feel like a temperate rain forest. In some ways even the belching smoke stacks of refineries, and dark gaping mouths of mining shafts were picturesque, reminiscent of a much earlier environmental struggle, the green and black contrasted, no subtleties like global warming, and toxic genetic mixes like the industries of Boston. That and we found a radio station playing Pete Seeger’s “Whose Side are You On”, which makes a lot more sense when you’re actually driving through coal mining territory.

  3. Lawrence, Kansas

    sten told us it was the only liberal town in Kansas, and on the far side of the state, which is where we wanted to end our day, so we stopped there. (not to be confused with Liberal, Kansas which is just over the Colorado border). We didn’t know anyone there, so we camped. Got in too late to see the town. But in the morning we drove around until we found the downtown. A great walking downtown, independent bookstores, an infoshop (we were told, but it must have been closed, anarchists don’t get up that early) multiple coffee shops, and a great breakfast place with world class huevos rancheros. A happy little college town. Of course across the street from the breakfast place was a shop called “Surf City” which had wet suits in the window. Not sure what that was about.

  4. West Philly

    West Philly is sort of short hand for blighted neighborhood. Conventional wisdom says its been a tough pocket of resistance in Philadelphia’s general economic boom. Apparently this is intentional. Its an old neighborhood, original built as a retreat for the wealthy, it was the first Philly suburb. Which means its filled with gigantic, gothic houses (like SF’s painted ladies, but much bigger) And people have been moving in, and buying homes, and renovating them, and actually forming neighborhood groups, that have kept prices down, and gentrification out, and such. Until these last 2 years, when apparently people finally noticed there was a good thing going on, but its still a neat place. Lots of bikes, a “bike church”, and an anarchist convience store with good coffee.