ORDER NOW -
Wherever Books Are Sold!Boomer Travel. Food. Laughter. Breaking the Empty Nest Rules!
It may not be a language all of its own, but it’s pretty close. So we tried to learn a bit of the local dialect… with less than stellar results…
CONTINUE READING >>
See more photos and read our full adventure >>
It may not be a language all of its own, but it’s pretty close. So we tried to learn a bit of the local dialect… with less than stellar results.
See all of our Newfoundland adventures!
Visit our GypsyNester YouTube Channel!
Join us in California where we had the opportunity to see what happens when a new car is launched!We were blown away by the wildest performance art group ever, drank liquid nitrogen cocktails, supped on fare from THE Top Chef – then chatted with him – and were among the first to see a brand spanking new car design! What a night!.. CONTINUE READING >>
Because of the great time we had on our glamping adventure in the Venza last year, our friends at Toyota asked us to come to their big unveiling of the all new 2014 Corolla.
This was to be quite an event, with performance art group Fuerza Bruta providing the entertainment, and Top Chef: All-Stars champion Richard Blais in charge of the food.
With no idea what to expect, but a big dose of curiosity about what happens at an extravaganza like this, we immediately accepted the invitation.
Seemed like something a GypsyNester might like to get a peek behind the scenes at, but we felt a bit like fish out of water as we entered the enormous Barker Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport.
The huge hanger had been transformed into something akin to a car museum, displaying pristine Corolla models from the past fifty years, crossed with a nightclub, filled with flashing lights, techno music, and some sort of translucent cubes suspended from the rafters.
Bars scattered throughout caught our eyes, since their tenders were busily stirring stainless steel bowls of what looked to be some kind of witches brew.
Clouds of what appeared to be dry ice fog were swirling and catching the colored lights. Of course we inquired, and the answer came back — liquid nitrogen margaritas.
Pouring the negative 300 degree liquid into the margarita mixture flash freezes everything as the nitrogen evaporates off, leaving an amazingly smooth slush.
The method is used in molecular gastronomy, the science of food preparation, something that Chef Blais often incorporates into his creations.
WATCH: Your GypsyNesters interview Chef Richard Blais about food, family and liquid nitrogen!
Armed with our nitro-cocktails we were ready to make the scene, and next thing we knew people were defying gravity inside the suspended boxes using an innovative mix of dance and gymnastics.
Fuerza Bruta had begun. At times it felt a little reminiscent of the old go-go dancer cages back in the sixties… extremely modernized.
While our attention was directed upwards, buffet tables in each corner began serving dishes showcasing Chef Blais’ interesting variations on some traditional Southern and Mexican fare, such as licorice grits and rock shrimp tamales.
We tried a little of everything, ribs, guacamole, kale coleslaw, all the while trying to figure out where the actual unveiling of the new Corolla would occur.
We thought we must be onto something when a giant curtain bisecting the room began to open, but alas, the new space was empty. Somehow everybody instinctively knew to fill the space in and we walked, mystified, into a huge empty room. That’s when Fuerza Bruta kicked it up a notch.
WATCH: The wildest performance art you’ll ever see!
One whole wall was covered with a shimmering silver screen and two performers once again defied gravity as they ran, jumped, and tumbled across it perfectly perpendicular to the wall, parallel to the floor.
But this was also serving as a distraction, because a final surprise was in store.
We noticed a clear sheet of plastic, stretched drum-tight, overhead and covered with a thin film of water. This became the canvas for the troupe’s pièce de résistance.
Instantly four dancers splashed and frolicked while it was lowered to just inches above our heads.
As the music pounded, colored lights caught the waves and shot prisms off the droplets flying from the gymnastic gyrations.
Truly a sensory overload.
The building of excitement in the room was superb because before anyone could catch their breath somehow, out of nowhere, a sleek, red 2014 Corolla was lowering down from above.
Then her blue, silver, and white comrades came in from the sides. What an entrance.
It is not very often that a successful car model gets a significant makeover, but this was certainly not the same old Corolla.
Having driven the 2013 version, we could tell that as soon as we saw it, and even more so once we sat behind the wheel. We may not be car connoisseurs, but we know groovy when we see it.
Once things had settled down we noticed the food tables had been transformed into dessert stations. Like any good Top Chef, Chef Blais can throw down some pretty serious sweets.
Before the evening ended we got a chance to speak with him, and try one more of his creations, liquid nitrogen blueberries and cream. He was great, fun and personable.
But then he has to be to get noticed around his phenomenal desserts.
David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com
Toyota may have invited us to this event, but, as always, all opinions are our own.
Your GypsyNesters interview Chef Richard Blais about food, family and liquid nitrogen!… Enlarge Video >>
We met up with THE Top Chef, Richard Blais at the 2014 Corolla Elevated Launch Event in Santa Monica, California.
Listen in as he dishes about his liquid nitrogen cocktails, why he’s moved to California and how to pack the perfect kids’ picnic on the beach!
Click here to see more on this bangin’ event!
Visit our GypsyNester YouTube Channel!
We’re excited to announce we’re hosting round #58 of Travel Photo Roulette!For each round a new theme is chosen, and independent travel bloggers are asked to submit their photos. Then a winner is chosen to host (and judge) the following round on their website!
Do you have a photo to enter? It’s EASY and you get a shot at hosting this very popular contest on your site!
Don’t have a photo to enter? Check in often to see some amazing photographs – by the world’s best independent travel bloggers – and please, PLEASE, PLEASE help us pick a winner by leaving a comment about your favorite shot!
We’re excited to announce we’re hosting round #58 of Travel Photo Roulette! Thank you so much to Getting Stamped for choosing our photo of beautiful St. Augustine in their excellent theme “As The Sun Goes Down.”
Our winning photo!
Travel Photo Roulette was started by Jeremy at Living the Dream as a way for travel bloggers to showcase their best photography.
For each round a new theme is chosen, and independent travel bloggers are asked to submit their photos. Then a winner is chosen to host (and judge) the following round on their website.
Here’s some inspiration:
 This show on the West Coast of Florida has mermaids singing, dancing and even eating apples underwater. If one is lucky, a manatee or turtle will join in on the fun! |
 At the Equator in Ecuador, the Intiñan Solar Museum teases tourists into balancing an egg on the top of a nail. After about an hour of lip-biting work, Veronica succeeded. |
 In Indiana, this man turned a baseball into The World’s Largest Ball of Paint |
 A classic American West cheese-ball — the Jackaloupe! |
We LOVE cheesy attractions. Everyone who travels has seen them – those quirky, remove-a-buck-or-two-from-the-tourists wonders of ingenuity. Sometimes they are full productions, others are side-of-the-road pit stops. Often, there are amazing people and stories behind the scenes. Moments like that are our favorites. Show us yours!
The rules are simple. The hosting blogger is the chosen winner of the previous round. The new host chooses a theme for the next round and bloggers can submit a single entry based on how they interpret the theme. The time frame for submissions is one week. At the end of the week, the host blogger chooses the winner for that round and said winner repeats the process on their own blog. Readers can always try and sway the host via comments during the contest, but the host is free to give as little or as much weight to people’s opinions as they wish.
Entering is easy. Just leave a comment below with a link to the image you’d like to submit and a caption or description of the image to help flesh it out. Once you’ve added your comment, we’ll add the image to the submissions. Don’t forget to check back during the week to see the other submissions and join the conversation by leaving comments for others. We’d love to hear what you think.
The contest runs for a week, starting June 6th and ending June 13th (Thursday to Thursday). The winner will be announced within a few days of the end of the contest and the selected blogger will then host round #59.
Please do your best to keep your images to a medium size and be aware that anything larger than 700px wide will be reduced in size to fit our site layout.
The following is a list of the previously played rounds of the game and the hosting blogger for each. This list also doubles as a winners’ table as each topic host won the preceding round. Click the host’s link to go directly to that entry to see some stunning photographs from the chosen term/phrase.
1. Nov 4–10, 2010 – Living the Dream – “Animals”
2. Nov 17–24, 2010 – Skinny Backpacker – “Road Signs”
3. Nov 29–Dec 6, 2010 – Dream a Little Dream – “Street Art”
4. Dec 8–15, 2010 – Flashpacker HQ – “Festival”
5. Dec 17–24, 2010 – Over Yonderlust – “Landmarks”
6. Dec 26–Jan 2, 2011 – Don’t Ever Look Back – “Beaches”
7. Jan 5–12, 2011 – ThePlanetD – “Portraits”
8. Jan 15–22, 2011 – Travel with a Mate – “Motion”
9. Jan 26–Feb 3, 2011 – Johnny Vagabond – “Water”
10. Feb 8–15, 2011 – Ken Kaminesky – “Urban”
11. Feb 21–27, 2011 – Travels of Adam – “Friday Night”
12. Mar 7–13, 2011 – Itchy Feet Chronicles – “The Journey”
13. Mar 19– 25, 2011 – Brendan’s Adventures – “Changing Seasons”
14. Apr 4–10, 2011 – Shutterfeet – “Storytelling”
15. Apr 13–21, 2011 – 10 Times One – “Piousness”
16. Apr 26–May 4, 2011 – Beached Eskimo – “Learning”
17. May 21–27, 2011 – Travel Junkies – “Architecture”
18. Jun 1–7, 2011 – Destination World – “Transportation”
19. Jun 8–15, 2011 – Living the Dream – “Paradise”
20. Jun 21-28, 2011 – Vagabond Quest – “Clothes”
21. Jul 4-11, 2011 – The Unframed World – “Symmetry”
22. Jul 16-25, 2011 – Beached Eskimo – “Home”
23. Jul 31 – Aug 7, 2011 – BackPackerBanter – “Inspiration”
24. Aug 14 – 21, 2011 – WanderingTrader – “Darkness”
25. Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2011 – Finding the Universe – “Tranquillity”
26. Sep 12 – 19, 2011 – Fearful Adventurer – “Food”
27. Sep 23 – 30, 2011 – Adventures of a GoodMan – “City”
28. Oct 06 – 13, 2011 – Globe-Trekking.com – “Reflections”
29. Oct 17 – 24, 2011 – Scene With A Hart – ”Framing”
30. Nov 9 – 16, 2011 – Vagabond Quest – “Silhouettes”
31. Nov 26 – Dec 3, 2011 – Hecktic Travels – “Music”
32. Dec 11 – Dec 18, 2011 – Globetrotter Girls – “Love”
33. Dec 25 – Jan 1st, 2012– Man on the lam – “Humor”
34. January 8 – Jan 15 – My Walkabout – “Winter”
35. Jan 15 – Jan 22 – The Art of Slow Travel – “Blue”
36. Feb 6 – Feb 13 – Ten Times One – “Depth of Field”
37. Feb 22 – Feb 29 – Runaway Juno – “My Glorious Digital Nomad Moment”
38. March 7 – March 14 – Nomadbiba – “Sunshine”
39. March 24 – 31 – Travel With Kat – “Local Character”
40. April 10th – 16th – The Travel Bunny – “Street Scene”
41. April 23rd – April 30th – Adventure Crow – “Spirit of the Country”
42. May 7th – 14th – Food Travel Bliss – “Evening”
43. May 17th – May 24th – Matt Gibson – “Adventure”
44. May 30th – June 6th – Flashpacker HQ – “Once In A Lifetime”
45. July 23rd – July 30th – Skinny Backpacker – “Surreal”
46. August 10th – August 17th – 2away – “Smile”
47.
Aug 27 – Sept 2 – Bridges and Balloons – “Excellent Splendour of the Universe”
48. Sept
8 – Sept 15, 2012 – The GypsyNester – “What the ?!”
49.
Oct 22 – 29, 2012 – Runaway Juno – “Sweet”
50.
Nov 12 – 19, 2012 – GQ Trippin – “Play”
51.
Dec 15-22, 2012 – Breakaway Backpacker – “Face”
52.
Jan 14-21, 2013 – Fly, Icarus, Fly – “Serendipity
53.
Feb 1-8, 2013 – Travel Transmissions – “Lost in Thought”
54.
Feb 15-22, 2013 – Wanderlusters – “The Natural World”
55.
Mar 17-24, 2013 – Travel Junkies – “Patterns”
56.
April 25-May 3rd, 2013 – Living the Dream – “Your First Time”
57.
May12-19th, 2013 – Getting Stamped – “As The Sun Goes Down”
58. June 6-13th, 2013 – The GypsyNester – “Cheesy Tourist Diversions”
Don’t forget to talk about #PhotoRoulette! Here’s a sample tweet:
I entered my best “Cheesy Tourist Diversion” photo to this week’s Travel #PhotoRoulette! Check it out! http://bit.ly/11uoMJQ
Keep up to date with this week’s Photo Roulette by following us here: Facebook – Twitter – YouTube – Google+ – Pinterest – StumbleUpon – RSS – via email
Hit us with your best shot! We can’t wait to see your submissions. Good luck everyone!
#22 from Adam of Getting Stamped: The life size statue of Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli,from the TV Show “Happy Days” cast in bronze is worth the trip to Milwaukee alone. I give this attraction two thumbs up!
#21 from Noah of Somewhere or Bust: The Sound of Music Bus Tour in Austria is the cheesiest tourist diversion in the world, especially with all the great beer gardens and the possibilities of exploration on foot or by bike. But my wife made me. Even better is that all of the people who live in Salzburg think that The Sound of Music is the name of a bus company. They’ve never heard of a movie called The Sound of Music.
#20 from Gadi and Tun of Being in Awe: We are getting cheesy and dirty in mud bathes of Moon Water Cave in Yangshuo, China
#19 from Kris of The World is Our District: Being in one state is soooo boring…especially when you can be in four at once! Four Corners on the Navajo Res in Arizona/Utah/Colorado/New Mexico.
#18 from Natasha of World Wandering Kiwi: I went to the Isle of Man for the famous TT Races and although I’m not at all into motorcycles or motorsport I got quite carried away by the excitement! Here’s a cheesy pic of me posing on some random stranger’s bike (you’ve never seen so many motorbikes in one place).
#17 from Poi of No Place To Be: Think of all the amazing trash you can buy for your friends from this place! Well actually, no. It’s the same as the rest of the stuff on the strip at inflated prices! The world’s biggest gift shop (apparently).
#16 from Josh of Traveling 9-5: In Chiang Rai, Thailand the popular tourist restaurant is called “Cabbages and Condoms”. And, yes, they have mannequins at the door whose attire consists entirely of…condoms.
#15 from Jennifer of Jennywise Arcade: Provincetown, MA- This cheesy tourist diversion stops summer revelers in their tracks year after year- and more Barbies (and kens) keep on joining the party!!
#14 from Alexandria of Fluent in Frolicking: The tour guide made me do it! 
#13 from Noel of Travel Photo Discovery: Totally cheesy is this princess riding in a pineapple float – its a horsey dung pooper float and her escorts are the horsey pooper scoopers
#12 from Adrian of Travel Destination Search: This giant ice cream cone in front of a gelateria in Lisbon looked so tempting, we just had to take this photo!
#11 from 2foodtrippers: We love cheese when we travel more than we love touristy spots. Here’s a photo of one of our favorite cheese shops, Neal’s Yard Dairy, in London. Cheers!
#10 from Cam of Traveling Canucks: We took this photo yesterday while in Gravenhurst, a small town in the Muskoka region of Ontario. This is the world’s biggest Muskoka chair. I don’t know why anyone would want to take a photo beside a massive wooden chair, but apparently we’ve become the type that pulls over the car in order to do so. My how the times have changed!
#9 from Craig of Flashpacking Around the World: We had this picture taken at the Terracotta Warriors at Xian. You pay to get your photo taken in front of a painting of the warriors in a room to the side of one of the pits. It was tacky, cheese, but we just had to do it.
#8 from Tom of Travel Past 50: I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t get any cheesier than the “World’s Biggest Ball of Twine” in Darwin, Minnesota. Thousands of people drive out all the way from Dassel, Minnesota, 4.9 miles away, every weekend just to see it and be photographed with it. Eat your heart out all of you who think your photo of you in front of the Eiffel Tower is hot stuff.
#7 from Suzanne of Boomeresque: Sometimes the tourist contributes to the cheesiness of the moment. Here, a blogger (moi) confers with FDR while Winston Churchill looks on. In self defense, I maintain that this sculpture called “The Allies” on Bond Street in the Mayfair section of London, England is a cheese magnet.
#6 from Heather of Ferretting Out the Fun: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is chockablock with cheesy tourist attractions. One of my favorites is an animal park called Alligator Adventure. Billed as “the reptile capital of the world,” advertisements for the place can be found all around town. The star attraction is “Utan,” a gargantuan Siamese crocodile thought to be the largest in the U.S. Meet Utan!
#5 from Ted of Traveling Ted: Thank you for giving me an opportunity to post some cheesy photos.
#4 from Charli of Wanderlusters: We were road tripping around the west coast of the USA and found ourselves in a saddlery & western wear shop….as you do. We came out $200 out of pocket and sporting these stylish fashion statements! Well….when in Rome!
#3 from Tash of Jouljet: Has to be Larry the Lobster! On a roadtrip in South Australia – a must detour to Kingston to see him, to jump out of the car, and get a photo with him! A must!
#2 from Jeremy of Living The Dream: Everyone loves the mascot Haibo for the Shanghai World’s Fair. I think? Right? Right?
#1 from Abigail of 1,000 Miles On My Own Two Feet: In a wax museum, I feel like a somebody either glamming up with Marylyn Monroe, locking arms with Brad Pitt, or even staring down Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector (of course in real life, my knees would be wobbly to see all these celebs!). Here I am with Jack Black in the Hollywood Wax Museum in Branson, Missouri!
YOUR TURN: If you’re not submitting a photo, please, PLEASE, PLEASE help us pick a winner by leaving comments about your favorite shots! – David & Veronica
Anyone who has watched M*A*S*H has heard of Busan, South Korea, although on the show it was called Pusan.As we learned from Beijing formerly being called Peking, early western visitors to East Asia couldn’t seem to get their Ps and Bs straight.
As one of the only areas… CONTINUE READING >>
Anyone who has watched M*A*S*H has heard of Busan, South Korea, although on the show it was called Pusan.
As we learned from Beijing formerly being called Peking, early western visitors to East Asia couldn’t seem to get their Ps and Bs straight.
As one of the only areas during the Korean War that never came under control of North Korea, it served as a temporary capital of the Republic of Korea. Guess that’s why Hawkeye and the gang went there on their three-day passes.
We only had a one-day pass from our ship, so we had to make the most of it. Busan is the busiest port in South Korea and fishing is a big part of all of that maritime activity. This has created one of the biggest fish markets in all of Asia. We couldn’t think of a better place to start our day.
The enormous Jagalchi indoor market covers three floors, but the fish selling spills out into the surrounding streets too.
On our way inside, we passed through this makeshift overflow market and got a first-hand look at the cleaning and preparation of the seafood.
Inside the huge building, the displays were more controlled with aquarium-type tanks showing off the catch of the day.
A nonstop fresh supply of water flows from tank to tank until it spilled over onto the floor and down into drains. This way all of the stock is kept not just fresh, but alive.
Walking through we encountered every sort of sea creature imaginable, many that we not only had never seen before, but we couldn’t even begin to identify.
Then out of nowhere one of the fishmongers began to introduce us to a number of the critters. Without understanding a single word, we had quite a conversation — and a good laugh.
WATCH: Our new friend shows us around the incredible fish market of Busan!
After covering the the entire ground level, we headed up the stairs. The second floor houses traditional restaurants – complete with no shoes allowed – that serve up freshly caught specialties.
Where else could we dream of having lunch?
Once again the language barrier was high, but we managed to point and gesture and soon food began to arrive. Then more, and more, and so on.
Dishes appeared with the traditional Korean pickled vegetable dish kimchi, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, seaweed, broccoli, hot peppers, sliced garlic, peanuts, and a couple things that we couldn’t identify (this was beginning to look like a theme for the day – and we love days like that).
Then out came an entire flounder that was most likely alive a second earlier. Finally a little stove was placed on the table with a boiling pot of garlicky broth, fish parts and herbs — we had entered food nirvana.
From the fish market we waded into the heart of the city. The crowded streets were filled with vendors and, even though we just ate, we had to try dongnae pajeon — a Korean pancake of sorts.
But this was not anything like what the word pancake conjured up in our minds.
The good old International House of never made any scallion, chili pepper, and seafood flapjacks.
More than stuffed, we were in desperate need of a way to work a little off. Climbing The 40 Steps sounded like it might help. While there is a staircase with exactly forty steps (yes, we counted), the name more generally refers to the area around them.
The working class neighborhood around the stairs has been restored to look like it did just after the Korean War.
Statues depicting street life as it was back then have also been placed around the district. Since the renewal, tons of shops, bars, coffee houses, and restaurants have sprung up, perhaps detracting from the authenticity of a 1960s post war look, but making for a cool place to stop for a cup of joe.
After our coffee break we were thinking that forty steps probably wasn’t enough to make a dent in our earlier calorie consumption, but a climb up to The Busan Tower might do the trick.
We walked up a steep path through Yongdusan Park that came up on the back side of the tower.
While the tower stands over three hundred feet high, we didn’t feel the need to go to the top because the view from the hill couldn’t get much better.
In front of the tower there is a giant clock made of flowers that gave us, and just about everyone else in the park, a great photo op. After a few snaps we made our way down the hill via a long stairway and escalator that leads to the downtown area.
We messed around, checking out the shops and mugging for pictures with statues, until we noticed that we might be pushing things time wise.
We like to squeeze every last second out of a place when we visit, but we sure didn’t want to be AWOL when the ship sailed. Time to find that bus stop.
We learned a valuable lesson in big city bus travel; the stop for the opposite direction is not always right across from where we got off in the morning.
After a brief panic, we found a tunnel under the road and made it on the bus, along with a handful of other last second stragglers headed for the ship.
We jumped off at the dock and ran aboard just before the gangplank was pulled up.
David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com
Click here for our full live-blog as we traveled with Holland America aboard the ms Volendam – through Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Japan
enlarge video
This place in Busan, South Korea is HUGE and we had no idea what half the stuff is – then we we’re rescued by the funniest fishmonger ever! Isn’t he great?… CONTINUE READING >>
Busan is the busiest port in South Korea and fishing is a big part of all of this maritime activity. This has led to one of the biggest fish markets in all of Asia. We couldn’t think of a better place to start our day.
The enormous Jagalchi indoor market covers three floors but the fish selling spills out into the surrounding streets too.
Both inside and out are jam packed with every sort of sea creature imaginable, many that we not only had never seen before, but we couldn’t even begin to identify.
The second floor also houses a traditional restaurant – complete with no shoes allowed – that serves up freshly caught specialties. Where else could we dream of having lunch?
We’re live-blogging this trip! See where we go! https://www.gypsynester.com/asia-cruise.htm
Visit our GypsyNester YouTube Channel!
Not a frequenter of biker joints, I don’t have a motorcycle license and renting scooters probably doesn’t count… who am I kidding, I’d never actually been to a biker bar.So I didn’t know what to expect and, certainly not out of a place with a name like Poopy’s, other than a sense of humor. And… CONTINUE READING >>
We are proud to be Illinois Mile Markers – thanks to Enjoy Illinois for making this adventure possible! Click here for our full adventure down The Great River Road.
Not a frequenter of biker joints, I don’t have a motorcycle license and renting scooters probably doesn’t count… who am I kidding, I’d never actually been to a biker bar.
So I didn’t know what to expect and, certainly not out of a place with a name like Poopy’s, other than a sense of humor. And THAT they have.
Billed as “Illinois’ Biggest Biker Destination,” it turned out that Poopy’s in Savanna is way more than just a biker bar. What began as a motorcycle parts shop has evolved into everything anyone who’s ever thrown a leg over a Harley could want.
I felt that I’d be safe if I went in at lunchtime, what kind of trouble could I get into that early in the day?
My main goal was to fill up my belly, wet my whistle, and get out of there alive — no one wants “She died at Poopy’s” on her gravestone –but I was immediately sidetracked by the museum-like quality of the place. Literally hanging from the ceiling were the coolest, wildest motorcycles I’d ever seen! Lunch was put on the back burner.
Things changed rather drastically out back and I quickly determined that wild shenanigans were no stranger to this part of Poopy’s domain.
A band was setting up on the concert stage and the outdoor food shack was just opening.
Further on, Skid Mark Stadium, featuring cage matches involving fighters of all sizes, was being readied for the summer season. I may have missed the midget wrestling (that’s what they call it, not me), but I saw the pictures.
Feeling like inside was more my speed, I sat at the bar and was handed the funniest menu I’d ever seen. If one doesn’t think about it too much, that is.
Nothing like a good laugh to loosen me up. It gave me the courage (well, that and a beer) to start chatting up the natives around me. They were so much fun!
Once the Harley dudes found out that this was my first visit to a biker bar, I was told that I had to see the back room where I found myself smack in the middle of some inking action.
Yup, “Biker Destination” is not a term thrown around lightly — folks come in to get their tattooing and piercing needs fulfilled as well.
I was given a live — and quite unnerving — demonstration as the hilarious, and exceptionally nice, tattoo guys injected ink into a lady’s leg. Something I’d never thought I’d be witness to with my fear of stabby things.
And, no, I didn’t get inked — this post is not called “Fear Conquering and Getting a Tattoo.”
Click here to see our full adventure down The Great River Road
Veronica, GypsyNester.com
Thanks to Enjoy Illinois for making this adventure possible! Our opinions, as always, are our own. 
YOUR TURN: Have you ever been to a biker bar?