Going Home!

My flight today was not due to leave until 10:30pm so I took my time checking out at 11am but leaving my bags in a pay locker at the hostel and to a ride in to downtown Manhattan for something to do, I wandered around for a while and then took a different Metro back up to near the Hostel but walked through a part of Central Park as I think this was one of the only places we didn’t see on Jerry’s Tour! Back to the hostel I got my bag and took the Metro and SkyTrain out to JFK airport. I had been told it would take me nearly 3 hours to do the journey but in the end it only took an hour or so. Luckily I was able to check in even though it was only 4pm so with about 6 hours to kill I went over to Terminal 4 – which has the largest selection of restaurants and bars and had a couple of beers and some food there and generally mooched around the shops before returning to T7 to go through security and wait for the flight.
We left about 15 minutes late due to the place being a little late getting in but the flight was fine and I had booked a seat right at the back so it was only a ‘double’ rather than a ‘triple’ and had a but more room to move around. The evening meal was typical ‘plane food’ of chicken and rice and then I tried to sleep the next couple of hours until the rather lame breakfast of a coffee and pastry came round just before we circled over London for about 20 minutes before landing. My bag came off the plane fairly quickly and got out to be met by Phil, Ian and Amy who had driven down to meet me. We took a taxi across to the hotel where they had parked the car and were on the road home to Manchester at 12 noon and did really well to make Leigh to drop others off at 3:30pm, so we missed the ‘Birmingham M6 Rush Hour Carpark’. Calling in at The Barton for at last A REAL PINT (or 2!) of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, it was excellent, however the first defiantly didn’t touch the sides!

New York Day 3

I chilled out today my back & leg were giving me a lot of pain today and add to that it was a fine rain drizzle that was coming down, I had breakfast in the hostel and some pain killers the Metro down to the main shopping area with the intention of getting some flight socks for the way home. After going to about a dozen Pharmacies and Outdoor/Travel stores and having no look I gave up and went for a beer and food in the Hartland Brewery which is located in the base of the Empire State Building, then meandered my way back to the hostel

New York Day 2

6:30am Fire Alarm! The fire alarm went off this morning at 6:30am, not that anyone seemed to be in any hurry to leave the building, I got up and quickly dressed and queued to get down the stairs to get out, and was met by the NYFD coming up the stairs, turned out it was steam on a sensor, so I went back to bed for an hour or too before needing to get up for Jerry's City Tour. This is the best value $10 I’ve had it the States. At 11am I and about 20 other hostellers met up with a local retired School Teacher called Jerry, he has been running his Grand Tours for over 13 years and they are excellent. From 11 until 1.30am! we walked, rode the subway, hopped a ferry, and got to know the city in ways many tourists never do. We even went for a vey cheap evening meal in an Indian restaurant for less than $20, which is cheap for NY. Jerry took us to virtually every section and attraction in the city; The Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Greenwich Village, Little India, The Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, 5th Avenue, Ground Zero, The Statten Island Ferry, The Staue of Liberty and even in to the Marriot hotel on Times Square to experience the inside-outside lifts to the 47th floor! A fantastic day out and a tour I would recommend to anyone who goes to NY (and you don’t even have to stay at the hostel to join it – just turn up before 11am on Tuesday or Saturday). The only issue was I don’t think it did by leg any good doing all that walking.

New York Day 1

I started late this morning with a very heavy head! I jumped on the Metro and rode it down to central Manhattan and had a wander around I had looked in the phone directory and found the address of the Scout Office but it turned out to be just the admin office but the did direct me to the Scout Shop which turned out to be on the 4th floor of the Empire State Building so I headed over there and had to get a pass to get in. That was no problem – a driving licence works here! Unfortunately it doesn’t get you further than the forth floor though so I couldn’t sneak a lift to the top! After getting some badges I wandered aimlessly around for an hour or two and came across Times Square and sat and watched the world go by before heading back to the hostel and chilling out for the evening.

Bus to NY

I took the 12:30 Megabus today to New You’re and all went well until we got to the Lincoln Tunnel, just as we got there it got shut down because of an incident in the tunnel and we sat in gridlocked traffic for a good 20minutes until they re-opened it. Once under the river we were dropped at Penn Station and I took the Metro up the 1 line to the hostel. This is the biggest hostel I’ve ever stayed in with over 700 beds but with an average hotel room price of $267 a night in New York I was glad I was paying a lot less than that. The hostel is huge with large bunk dorms but very clean and seems to have had a recent make-over with big lounger settees and a rather smart modern kitchen area. Not sure what to do I signed up for the Happy Hour drinks evening this evening, not having a car any more not having to worry about driving the next day. We met up at the reception at 7ish and we were just given an address of a bar about 2 blocks up the road. It was tiny and there was no way we we’re all going to get in there (there was about 15 of us) apart from that there was some very serious poetry reading being done, a couple of us bought a drink there but the rest moved on to another bar just over the road where we joined them and then we hit another bar, and another… eventually I think I rolled back into the hostel about 3am, a good night out!

Philadelphia

Took the long walk back to the bus stop this morning and waited for the bus – I managed to get the bag on my back like a rucksack and balanced it with my day sack so it wasn’t too bad. We then took the bus back into the town centre and just had a short walk to find the Apple Hostel in the centre of town. We checked in and dropped the bag in the bag store as we were too early to check in and having been loaded with things to do/see we headed off into town.
The first place we went to see was the Eastern State Penitentiary which was excellent. You use an audio guide to wander around the part ruined grounds of the prison, with the narration given in many places by the voices of previous inmates and warders of the prison there are also art installations at various places around the site which gives it a slightly surreal feel to some of them. The nice thing is that it has not been fully restored which gives it a very eerie feel in places. Al Capone was incarcerated here and his cell has been recreated to show how it was made for him which was quite luxurious compared to the general cells for the vast majority of inmates. When the prison was first built it was designed around a central hub and the blocks were arranged as spokes off the centre so that the chief warder could keep an eye on the whole site from on place however as the capacity was increased other blocks have been added which fit in between the others and are not visible from the centre. In the early days the prisoners were all kept in solitary confinement and could spend years not seeing another person even the warders wore socks over their shoes so the inmates would not be aware that anyone else was there. A very harsh place to be. After the Penitentiary we walked over to the Museum of Art, not to go in but because it was made famous for the steps that Rocky ran up! Mark recreated the event while I filmed him on his camera, as did lots of other people every couple of minutes. There are two bronze feet marks that mark the spot where Rocky stood at the top and a large bronze statue of the famous pose down at the bottom to the side of the steps (it used to be at the top but they moved it for some reason). Back into the town centre now for a well earned beer and we found a small bar that had some local lager but it wasn’t too good but the barman directed us to a craft beer bar and we sampled some rather good bottled beers from all over the world. By now it was getting on for 5 oclock so we headed back to the hostel by the way of the SOS Philly Steak Sandwich shop for some food. The Philly steak sandwich – which it the trademark food of the town comprises a sub type roll with thin cut griddled steak covered with American cheese and relish, nice but nothing amazing. Back to the hostel and we joined a group of other hostellers on a ‘ghost’ tour of the city centre, which was really just a slightly cheesy walk around the town centre pointing out various places where people had it the past been killed or died in salubrious circumstances.

Bus to Philadelphia

Took the Metro this morning back into town to the Car park where the Megabus was to leave from. The queue was huge but all was well as 2 buses turned up. The Megabus is just the same as you see in the UK Doubledecker coach and cheap! You even get laptop power and free WIFI on the bus, which worked really well, I’d read some reviews about the quality of the buses and was a little wary at first but in reality they were great and for price were excellent - $8 to Philly against $90 on the train. The bus was soon on the freeway and even though we left 30 mins late we arrived on time at 35th Street Train Station on time. I then took the train 1 stop to Central Philly and then waited for the local bus No.38 out towards the hostel. The bus wound it’s way through the town and then out through some rather run down areas of the town and finally the driver gave me a shout when he got to the stop I needed. He’d obviously seen other backpackers before as he told me exactly which way to walk from the bus stop. I now had a mile walk into a public park to get to the hostel and it would have been fine although I noticed that my new roll along bag seemed to be getting heavier and heavier. Looking down at the wheels I found that one had actually jammed or got stuck the friction had caused it to melt the housing and was now useless. Luckily I only had about a hundred yards to go to the hostel so I carried it the last bit.
Vey quiet hostel in the middle of nowhere, but did get chatting to a lad called Mark from Bolton and as we were both going to the Hostel in Philly centre tomorrow we agreed to team

Washington Day 2

Today I was to finally get rid of the Chevy Impala that has given me so much grief for the last week or so, first I called at a Target store to get a lager travel bag to put all my stuff in. picked a large drag-along holdall for about $40 just the job. I dropped it off back at Jo's then drove the car down to Union Station where the Alamo returns are done. Just made it in time the traffic around Union Street Station is horrendous. After dropping the car and getting lost trying to get out of the car park; confusingly the signs pointing to the rail station are located over the escalators which take you back into the car park. The huge hall of the station is grand and awe inspiring and laid out with smart restaurants and cafés. The 'lines' are actually hidden away from the view of the station user and you could easily be led to believe that you were in some strange temple to food and not a railway station at all. Leaving the station I found the Postal Museum next door. I decided to go a have a look as communications have always interested me and also it wasn't your average run of the mill museum. Whilst only small, it was interesting and I spent an hour or so in here. Coming outside I took a walk over to Captiol Hill and took a couple of pictures. There was a Christian group giving it their all on the lawn in front of the Building complete with bands, staging, world flags and dancers. It was all a bit too much for me and I dropped in a small bar for a pint.

Washington Day 1

I took the Metro this morning down to the centre of Washington today and first stop was the White House – which is as small as everyone says it is. There was some activity on the balcony but it's too far across the lawn to see what exactly was going on, there were certainly a few 'blokes in black suits' knocking about. I walked down from the Whitehouse towards the Mall cutting off the corner and ended up in the Ronald Regan food court – no, I've no Idea why it's called that either! But there was a good fresh food buffet in there so I got a large Salad to go and sat amongst the city types having lunch, almost as good as 'Zorba the Greek's' in Manchester, but lacked the company (Kathryn). I hobbled over to the Air and Space Museum, my back is still giving me gyp and took a look around the various halls here, some were interesting, but many were old and out dated, though from what I've read the Smithsonian Institute (who run the museums are nearly broke but absolutely refuse to charge for admission so this is the price.

Roanoke to Washington

I did the last major run in the car today, and I'll be glad to get out of it. Uncomfortable and bad memories. I drove northwards until I picked up 'the Beltway'; the M60 or M25 of Washington at times it was mad with over 6 lanes each direction all full of traffic vying for to be the next F1 (or Nascar?!?) driver. Eventually I got off it and headed into the Suburb of Woodbridge where I had found there was a HRO Amateur Radio store to get a replacement battery for my radio. Duly bought I set the Sat Nav to take me the shortest route to Joanne's apartment in Silver Spring – this turned out to be straight through the middle of down town Washington. Joanne teaches at the British School of Washington and had kindly offered to put me up for a couple of days (some how I managed to get the days mixed up and arrived a day early!) The route in took me past the Pentagon and past Arlington and then over the Potomac river and into 'the District' proper, after that it was a slow crawl through busy city streets pretty much all the way up to Silver Spring which is right on the edge of the District in the North. I was early and didn't have the exact address in the sat nav so I parked up on a Shopping Centre Carpark and went into a Coffee Shop to use the net. It turned out that the Apartment block was on the very carpark I had parked on.

Blue Ridge Mountains

Today I got off the Freeway and took the Long winding Blue Ridge Mountains Highway, another 'road' National Park. The roadway and a number of Miles either side of it are designated a National Park. The day was cloudy and misty but still warm and actually a bit muggy. I followed the road for a number of hours before peeling of to refill with fuel and then pick up the Freeway to Roanoke and find one of the cheaper motels.

North Carolina and into Virginia

Packed up the tent this morning and took the the road through the Smokies over into North Carolina. Ironically many of the roads through this area were forged by Auto-clubs in the '20's who wanted somewhere nice to take their new cars and was why the park was created – to protect it from commercialisation, just now it's full of cars! At the state line at the summit of the pass is a car park with lookouts to both states. The think I noticed was the sign at the side announcing that this was a place where people hard the right to carry out their 1st Amendment – the right to free speech – as long as you stood next to the sign you could say anything! The road dropped down the hill through a series of sweeping long downhill runs to eventually open out into the Indian Reservation town of Cherokee, which again was a similar idea to Gatlinburg but with casinos as well. I follwoed a road out not really knowing where I was going stopping for some fuel on the way and eventually picked up the freeway northwards. I pulled off at Johnson City for a coffee and internet at a McDonald's and then carried on the now fairly boring freeway landscape for about another hour or so. I pulled off again for a drink and rest again just over the border into Virginia and as I got out searched in vain for my wallet. I knew I had it at the McDonald's but could not find it at all. So back in the car to retrace my steps back to the McDonald's at Johnson City with that horrible sinking feeling in my stomach; what if it's not there? What would I do now? I only had $5 in my pocket and now with going back wouldn't have enough fuel to get to Washington. Luckily when I got back there, one of the staff had cleaned the tables just after I had left and found it on the floor next to where I was sat. She had remembered my accent and finding the UK driving licence in it put 2 and 2 together had put it in the office. When I got back there looking slightly worried she just smiled and went and got it and said 'is this what your looking for?' Phew! So back onto the road again for the drive north again and I drove back up to Virginia before finding a cheep motel to crash in.

Gatlinburg

I drove back down the narrow road to Gatlinburg today. The sun was out and it was a really warm day. The town is in a narrow valley on the edge of the National Park. It's a bit like Bowness but on speed. Everything is geared towards the tourist dollar, however my first stop was to find a chemist to get some tablets for my back which was really stiff today. I hobbled down the main street which seemed to be over-run with Ripley's Believe-it-or-not exhibitions. I got some tablets for back pain and called into the ubiquitous McDonald's to get a drink to wash them down. Then on down the street to see nothing but craft and tack shops selling anything and everything you can think of with the word Gatlinburg on it. Walking back up the main street there is a chair lift to take you up the mountain but the queue was huge and it only takes you up to more shops so I gave it a miss. Dark clouds were rolling in and the wind got up and so I headed back up to the camp site and read and listened to my radio, once again I just escaped the bad weather which flooded out Nashville and many other parts of the State of Tennessee but missed here completely.

To Gatlinburg, via Chattanooga

Drove on today following the interstate South-East then for a confusing half a mile or so dropped into Georgia State, where it must be illegal to buy fireworks as either side of the state border were loads of Firework shops just off the highway in Tennessee. I pulled off the highway just after it turned North-East into Chattanooga not really sure what I was going to find here. I followed a number of signs to something called 'Lookout Mountain' which turns out to be slightly big hill on the edge of town. It also boast having an Inclined Railway and Ruby Falls; the largest known under-ground water fall, which is supposed to be very impressive. On arriving at the Carpark I parked up but found my back was incredibly stiff and sore today and I hobbled over the Entrance. The cost for entry was about $40 and included a long walk through caves to reach the water fall. I certainly wasn't willing to fork out $40 just to see a water fall and to be honest I don't think I could of managed to walk into it any way and hobbled back to the car like an old man to pop a couple more Paracetamol. Back on the road I was ok as long as I kept still and didn't move around too much on carried on up the interstate to the Gatlinburg turn off. The weather forecast was good and as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was here I saw it as an excellent time to camp for a change. Off the Highway I pulled into one of the Visitor centers and asked for advice on where to camp. The lady there told me to head up to Elk Mount Campsite and even told me which site to pick once in there!
On the way up to the site you pass through the area of Pigeon Force (no idea why it's called this) but its a tacky strip of motels, fast food joints and small amusements which has all sprung up allegedly because of the nearby Dollywood; Dolly Parton's very own theme park (Which I had no intention of visiting as numerous people had already told me how cheep tacky and expensive it was!)
Just before the road wound into the mountains towards Gatlinburg there was a large Wallmart to I pulled in to get some tea and supplies(beer) for the night. Wandering around this huge monolith of a store that sells everything I came to the Gun section. Some how I find it slightly worrying. Just out of interest I asked the guy behind the counter what I needed to buy one; “ just a Driving Licence and a Credit Card” he replied with some what of glee in his voice, I declined to buy one but assured him I may come back later! I wandered around and picked a six pack of beer and some snacks and salad stuff and went to pay. At the check out I did the usuall now here of handing over my Driving Licence and card to prove I was over 21 and to pay. The girl was apparently under 21 so she had to call the Supervisor to ring the beer through. This is where I got rather annoyed, the supervisor took on look at my Driving Licence and said she couldn't accept it as “I was an alien” I needed to show her my Passport to prove I was over 21! I remonstrated the fact that did I really look like I was just over 21 or a little over and also asked why my Driving licence would have been perfectly valid to buy a gun but not beer. I'm not sure whether she didn't understand my accent or just was being bloody minded but she asked ofr my Passport again, luckily I had it on me and showed it to her, She then took ages to go though each of the pages and compare it to my driving licence. The dates then threw her; my Passport shows 6/MAR/69 and my Driving Licence shows 6/3/69 (which is the 3rd of June in the US not the 6th of March), finally after explaining this to her she finally asked me “how is Ireland these days?” - “I've no bloody idea... I'm English, from England” I retorted. With that she agreed to sell me 6 small bottles of beer while the checkout girl behind her smirked and smiled at her supervisors bloody minded incompetence & ignorance. Finally out of the Walmart I drove on up Gatlinburg which is a little like Bowness on Speed and out into the National Park to the Campsite.
Unfortunately the (nice) lady at the Visitors Center got the price a bit wrong telling me it was only $10/night, I had $30 on me so I assumed I would be ok. When I got there it turned out to be $17 a night and as I planned to stay for 2 nights I was $4 short. The site is run on a honesty box system where you post your payments into a slot with the site you've picked and your details. There were big warning signs about non-payment and I wasn't going to risk it so headed back down to Gatlinburg I'd passed through before to the ATM, a round trip of about 15 miles just for $4! The site though was excellent and hidden up a long twisting valley in the park. Each small site had an pitch for a tent a fire pit and a bench and table all amongst an oak forest. There were also signs everywhere about keeping all food locked in your car to keep the bears at bay!

Manchester!(Tennessee) and Jack Daniels, Lynchburg

I left Nashville this morning and took the road south out of town towards the Lynchburg and the Jack Daniels Distillery. Just of the Interstate I booked into a cheap motel room in Manchester of all places (although nothing like back home!) I then too the local road out to Lynchburg, the home of the Jack Daniels Distillery. The tour here is free and you start in a large Visitors Centre where you watch a film about the history of the place. Then you a led out a side door onto a 'Tour Bus' which takes you all of 500yds up the road though the grounds. The first stop is the old on site fire station where they have an old REO Speedwagon Fire Truck (yes, the rock group did base their name on a truck of this type) Next to the fire house we were told about the wood which is used to fire the distillery and also to make the charcoal which is used to filter the whiskey later in the process. From here we walked down to the old building which was originally used by Mr Jack Daniels as his office and there we were given a guided tour of the some of the artefacts in there. Next was the spring water source from which the pure water is drawn for the whiskey to this day, next to which is a supposedly life-size statue of Jack Daniels on a rock; so you can pose with him 'on-the-rocks' from here we went into first the distilling tanks and were able to get a heady wiff of the brewing liquor then to the filter sheds where the liquor is filtered through huge 3 story charcoal filtration beds. The tour guide lifted the lids on these beds to allow us to get a good sniff of the filtering whiskey which was certainly heady at this point but with little character. From here the liquor is decanted into oak barrels which are had made still on site and then taken to one of a number of storage sheds to be laid down to mature. Each consecutive barrel is taken to a different shed to ensure that should a shed be destroyed then the whole of this batch of whiskey would not be lost. Barrels are then placed in the storage sheds for a number of years to allow them to mature. Depending on the level in the shed the barrel is stored will affect the colour and taste of the whiskey. Those higher up the the shed will be subject to more heat extremes of warmth and cold. This allows the whiskey to seep in and out of the charred oak barrel which in turn adds to the colour and texture of the whiskey. So a barrel which is lower down the storage shed won' t get as smooth a flavour and is actually sold as a 'Green Label' Jack Daniels and is slightly harsher in taste than the standard Black Label, because of the limited number of these it is only normally available in Tennessee. Next was the single barrel bottling room where bottles are filled and packed on a batch process by hand from a single barrel at a time. You can come to the Distillery and purchase a whole barrel and have your own specially numbered and marked bottles made up. There is a 'Hall of Fame' here for people and groups which have done this. At the end of the tour we ended up back at the Visitors Centre where you get to sample... lemonade!!! Ironically the county in which Lynchburg is situated is a 'dry' county so they can't allow you to try the stuff!. They do have a shop where you can purchase a number of the speciality brands and limited edition versions of Jack Daniels in the corner of the visitor centre, however with the cheapest bottle being over 40 pounds a go I declined. Apparently this is the only liquor outlet in the whole county, you have to go about 10miles out to be able to buy the stuff normally! From the visitor centre I took a short drive down the road to the village/town of Lynchburg which is a sleepy little square of touristy shops around a 'city hall' The old hardware store has been converted into an olde tyme store selling everything and anything you can think of connected to Jack Daniels but the actual stuff itself.

Nashville

I took my time this morning and had a a couple of fresh coffees whilst chatting to some of the other people. Three of the other people there were planning to walk up to Centennial Park to see the full size replica of the Parthenon before they headed off down to New Orleans Festival. We sat in the sun for awhile then walked around the huge Parthenon which looks slightly out of place in the middle of this large Park. Walking back towards the hostel we stopped off at the Café Coco which is apparently an institution in these parts. Open 24hrs a day you can get anything from drinks to snacks to full meals and the food really was good and fresh and 'real' a nice change from all the fast food everywhere. Back to the hostel and I chilled out for the afternoon on the patio of the hostel with other guests some playing a guitar that was passed around for people to show off their Country talents. In the evening I walked out with a couple of the other hostellers to the Commodore Bar where it was 'Open Mike' night. The idea is that people sign up to play a Guitar and sing on the stage. The night started off with the resident band playing a number of songs then another 12 singer/songwriters got up on the stage to give it their all. Some were ok a couple were really good, I'm not really a Country fan but it was a great way to experience the 'Country Music' scene.

Into Nashville

It took me about an hour to get into Nashville this morning and I went to the Hostel listed in the Lonely Planet. It didn't seem too bad so I booked in for 2 nights. The hostel is in a collection of brick bungalows in a semi-industrial area. I took a drive down to the town centre just as a huge storm broke. After realising it wasn't going to stop too soon I looked for something to do indoors. The Farmers Market was just out of the city and I headed over there. The market is a huge long covered market in 3 sections. The central part is enclosed as a food court and I get a coffee in here. The rain had now slowed to a slow to a drizzle, I took a walk around the third of the market which was operating, mostly there were just plant sales, it looks like the market was on a slow day. Next door was a monument of some kind to the history of the USA, large black granite blocks are spaced down a garden, each represents a decade and is engraved with quotes from famous people of the time. Back at the hostel I chatted with a number of the other people there before going to bed

Memphis to just outside Nashville

I decided to get off the freeway today and told the Satnav to avoid them, it took me northwards up though the sticks of Arkansas, the land is flat and mostly fields however every so often there are small copses of fields with farmsteads in them. I had a litle twinge of pain in my back so as I speed through a small village I pulled in to a Chemist for some Paracetamol. Opposite was a restaurant called Piggy P's, as it was already lunchtime I called in for some typical Southern grub of Pork and fries and Iced Tea. I continued on up the small road and suddenly the road doglegged to the right and left and under a strange archway over the road. I didn't realise it but I'd actually travelled up to into Missouri. I didn't get chance to stop at the weird arch, I had a huge truck right up behind me pushing me along and eventually I got a straight bit of road and allowed him to pass. I came across a radio communications store and pulled in to see if I could get a new battery for my radio they didn't sell Yeasu kit but they did give me the name of a store that may over the river in Dyersburg in Tennessee. I drove about another 20 miles up to the bridge over the Mississippi and headed into Dyersburg. I only had the name of the company and wasn't sure how I would find the firm. As I got into the down town area I came across a Library so I pulled into the carpark and used the internet there to track down the company. I got an address for them but my Sat Nav showed it as being about 10miles out of the town. As it was in the general direction of Nashville I headed out there. Unfortunately there was nothing but fields when I got to the 'address'. Rather than go back into Dyersberg I carried on towards Nashville but ended up stopping at a Motel about an hour out as I was too tired to drive any further and my back was still playing up. Across the road from the Motel was the Lorretta Lyne Restaurant and Gift Shoppe, apparently she's a world famous County Star – sorry never heard of her; however the all -you-can-eat buffet was good at only $9 a pop.