Philadelpphia. February 2009

So, after 2 hours of sleep in NYC, we pack up and move on to Philly. We had 2 stops at VW dealerships today, but the guys at the first dealership said we couldn't leave until we'd had cheesesteaks at the place that beat Bobby Flay in a throwdown.

Enter Tony Luke's. The cheesesteaks were good, but not the greasy mess I was expecting from Philly. The Italian peppers in oil and vinegar were fantastic though. Also... the garlic cheese fries! The garlic cheese fries!

Pizza in NYC. February 2009

So, after our night of two hours of sleep and driving from Portland, ME to West Springfield, MA to do two shoots at VW dealerships, we decided it would be a good idea to head into Manhattan to spontaneously shoot some footage of the Jetta in Times Square.

After several hours of talking to drunks about hybrid vs. modern diesel technology and John running a red light, we decided to go get some pizza in NYC. It was 2am. Not much was open, but we found this place. Can't remember the name, but it was warm inside and had dough slathered in sauce and cheese.

It was decent pizza. Nothing to write home about. It was definitely more a matter of convenience than it was a planned and researched effort to find great NYC pizza.

February 2009, Portland, ME... and then there was coffee!

After 2 hours of sleep, we get to the site of the shoot very, very early. It's something like 12 degrees outside and there is no one at the VW dealership.

Dane and I shoot b-roll for the project and try to stay warm.

At about 7:30, the dealership owner arrives with a box full of bagels and coffee for all of us.

I've never spent much time on the east coast, but have many friends from there. They go on and on and on about how much better the food is there.

Years ago, I used to play a little game at parties. When a group of people from Chicago were talking with a group of people from New York, I would mention pizza and then watch the chaos ensue. Of course, being a Californian, I got the hell out of dodge before they realized who started this mess.

This snobbery applied to bagels as well. Granted, this is Portland ME and not NYC, but I do have to admit, I'd never had a proper bagel before coming to Maine. The coffee was bland at best, but damn if those weren't good bagels.

It was a cold day... February 2009

It was mid February 2009. I was on a cross country video blog project from Portland, ME to Portland, OR. We left Seattle at 5am and finally made it to just outside of Portland, ME at around 2am. It was cold. Very very cold.

The only thing available along the way so far was a Burger King somewhere along the turnpike. We were tired, cold, hungry and grumpy. This night, we would get 2 hours of sleep after 21 hours of travel!