#tbt Spring Break: Around the US in 34 Days #MBsociallydriven

SPONSORED/ UNPAID 

Quick: 5 images that sum up a circumnavigation of the US. Is that even possible?

I chose the four EDGE corners of the contiguous 48 states.

On 3/26/2014, I embarked on a road trip art project to drive around the perimeter of the US. I planned to document it by time-lapse captures out the passenger side. [Which I did, but the footage makes me nauseous, and I still can't deal with it]. There were 34 days of actual driving the route, and an additional 28 days of social detours, including my 40th high school reunion:

We are all almost 60 in 2014, and we are looking good!

Along the way, I met up with some blogging friends:

Meet my good friend Blueberry Pie!
This was the evidence of my meet-up with Connie at Pannikin Coffee & Tea in Encinitas, CA.
She wrote about it better than I ever did!

Patti is represented by a sunset of her home town on the Florida coast.
Again, Patti said it better!

With Joyatri at Veggie Galaxy in Cambridge, MA.
Joyatri's writeup.
Linking up with Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week

Here I am after meeting up with Citizen Rosebud.
I'm wearing a purple scarf that she gave me and I'm posing with Seattle lilacs
(which I had been pursuing since the stay with my mom back in early May -- her's hadn't bloomed yet).
I'm sure Bella wrote about the meet-up, but I can't find it.

You can see my adventures in driving on my On the Edge blog (because why have one blog when you can have seven?)

In 2019, I'll have another school reunion to drive to.
(My high school is Emma Willard, in Troy, NY, a private girls' prep school).
This time, I plan to circumnavigate Canada (plus Alaska)!

(Just roughly plotted this. OMG, what am I thinking!!!!)

Do you take a vacation to see places or people or a combination of the two?
Link and tell!

#tbt Spring Break: Fripp Island, SC #MBsociallydriven

SPONSORED/ UNPAID 

My mom takes an ultimate Spring Break -- every January, she leaves the "Lake Effect" Snow Belt of central upstate NY and "snowbirds" on Fripp Island, South Carolina until Easter-time.

-- You know it's coming... my 9 second #MBsociallydriven slide show:

Want to create your own mini slide show? It's made from geotagged Instagram images, US locations.

Click on THIS LINK while on your smart device, enter your zip code, choose five images from Instagram, et voila. 

I've had the pleasure of visiting Fripp a couple of times. Mom has a villa with beautiful wide sandy beach almost directly out her back door. Oh how I yearn to live with a view of the ocean!

If I had the time and energy, I'd add the time-lapse from this view. Maybe later...

Transport me here NOW!
Linking up with Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week linkup
and Catherine's #SaturdayShareLinkup

You're never too old for a Spring Break! Where do you want to be right now?
Link and tell!

#tbt Spring Break: NYC #MBsociallydriven

SPONSORED/ UNPAID 

The #MBsociallydriven phone app is still working, so I will keep feeding you 9 second slide shows!
Want to make your own? It works if you look at this post on your smart device and click through on this link: http://sociallydriven.mbusa.com/ YOU CAN USE IT FOR ANY US ZIP CODE! (I just tried it on my "home" town. OMG! What insanity have they unleashed in me?

Anyway, on the subject of FEEDING, in a New York 9 seconds:

Featured eateries:
Untitled at the Whitney, 99 Gansevoort Street (haven't eaten there, used solely for a Title image!)
Empire Biscuit, 198 Avenue A, btw 12th and 13th
Pizza Suprema, 413 8th Avenue, btw 31st and 32nd
William Greenberg, 1100 Madison Avenue, btw 82nd and 83 Street

Oh, New York, no many places to eat, so little time!

For the slide show, I used the most photogenic and easily accessible Flickr/Instagram images that I had on hand. Here are some additional spots that Severo and I like to haunt:

Breakfast:

Tops Diner (in NJ, but if you fly into Newark on a red eye...)
500 Passaic Avenue, Harrison, NJ 07029

Pies-n-Thighs, 166 S. 4th Street at the corner of Driggs Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211

Lunch:

[sorry, no food picture -- or are you relieved?]
Katz's (Severo's all time favorite)

Dinner:

Lobster Roll, Lobster Elote, Salad, Lobster Mac-n-Cheese

Red Hook Lobster Pound (check website for locations)

(Still looking for a photo) Grand Central Oyster Bar, Grand Central Terminal, 89 E 42nd St, Lower Level

Dessert:

ChikaLicious Desset Bar, 203 E. 10th St. btw 1st and 2nd
Here is a post devoted to it from my Dessert Safari blog.

Momofuko Milk Bar, "Crack Pie"

Wicked Chocolate and Fig Ice Cream
Jacques Torres, various locations

(I could go on and on -- check my Dessert Safari and Glutton's Progress blogs)
Linked this post up with Catherine's #saturdaysharelinkup

The City? The Beach? Where is your fantasy Spring Break?
Link and tell!

#tbt Spring Break: Austin, Texas #MBsociallydriven

SPONSORED/ UNPAID 

SXSW, Austin's mega-festival of Interactive, Film, Music, and Comedy runs March 10-19.
How convenient that it coincides with some Spring Breaks! 
St. Patrick's Day is always during the festival, so you can imagine the zoo that is 6th Street (where there are lots of clubs and bars). They block off the street, open containers are allowed, and it's mayhem.

My first foray to SXSW was with Severo in 1997. Here we are with Beatle Bob.
Beatle Bob for the win in pattern clashing. I look sedate in comparison. 

I could prattle on and on about my love for Austin.
Instead, here are some links to posts I've already written: on SpyGirl, on The Glutton's Progress, on Dessert Safari.

Austin was on the list of official Socially Driven cities, so here's the 9 second mini movie (don't blink):

(The components, also mini).

Legacy text about the #MBsociallydriven campaign:
So, what's YOUR version of [insert city name]?
If you live in or plan on visiting NYC, LA, Chicago, Austin, Miami, or Denver, Mercedes-Benz is inviting you to share your city in a simple and artistic way on Instagram. It's easy—you create a quick (but beautiful) animated album of 5 of your best geotagged photos and upload it to Instagram. Then, you share your album on your feed with the hashtag #MBsociallydriven—and your photos might be featured on the Mercedes-Benz website! Get busy, the deadline is March 5.
[OOPS. MISSED THE DEADLINE -- the app still works, though. Access it here from your smartphone].
MB suggests these guidelines:
Because this is a Mercedes-Benz brand initiative, please avoid posting the following types of photos (as much as we love them): competing car brands, celebrities, outdoor murals and graffiti, images that primarily focus on tattoos, advertising, and profanity.

I still have the link open for YOUR neighborhood slideshow over on my Los Angeles post.

If you don't have a smart device, a GIF builder is a good way to create a DIY slideshow.

I recently used Imgflip, it was easy.

The link-up here is for this month's #tbt: SPRING BREAK

#tbt Spring Break: Miami with #MBsociallydriven

SPONSORED/ UNPAID

This is about the time I was detoured off US1 in downtown Miami and found myself in the Arts District by total serendipity! I guess my internal Art GPS was functioning.

What was I doing in Miami?
I was driving around the US -- literally! (Read about it here).
One could say that my March 27 - May 27 road trip was a VERY long Spring Break.

So, it's April 6, 2014, 8:30am, I'm approaching downtown Miami and US1 is blocked off. Oh no!
(My #ontheedgeUS mission was to circumnavigate the US on interstates and US highways as close to the perimeter as I could get).
There's a bike thing going on.
What to do?

After a few stops and starts, and lots of looking at the phone map, I figured out a route back to US1.
But then I started seeing wildly painted buildings:

Maybe I wouldn't get the Cuban breakfast that I'd been craving since I'd awoken, but surely there would be a decent coffee place. Artists REQUIRE coffee.

Success.
I found Panther Coffee.

I got Iced Coffee and a slice of Spinach Quiche:

Yum!
(linking up with Catherine's #saturdaysharelinkup)

I sat outside and soaked up the ambiance.

At the same table, there was a older man discussing "business" with a teen and her mom.
A family pulled up, and approached him, he asked them to wait, "I'll be with you in ten minutes".
All very strange.

Meanwhile, next to the bathroom, Panther had a wall where anyone could clip invites or business cards.
I added some of my cards:

Later, as I was leaving, the puzzling machinations of the mysterious man were made manifest.
I saw him with the teen, camera in hand.
Ah. Fashion shoot in the Arts District.

Legacy text about the #MBsociallydriven campaign:
So, what's YOUR version of [insert city name]?
If you live in or plan on visiting NYC, LA, Chicago, Austin, Miami, or Denver, Mercedes-Benz is inviting you to share your city in a simple and artistic way on Instagram. It's easy—you create a quick (but beautiful) animated album of 5 of your best geotagged photos and upload it to Instagram. Then, you share your album on your feed with the hashtag #MBsociallydriven—and your photos might be featured on the Mercedes-Benz website! Get busy, the deadline is March 5.
[OOPS. MISSED THE DEADLINE -- the app still works, though. Access it here from your smartphone YOU CAN CREATE A SLIDE SHOW FOR ANY US ZIPCODE!].
MB suggests these guidelines:
Because this is a Mercedes-Benz brand initiative, please avoid posting the following types of photos (as much as we love them): competing car brands, celebrities, outdoor murals and graffiti, images that primarily focus on tattoos, advertising, and profanity.
[OOPS Graffiti. Fail.]

I still have the link open for YOUR neighborhood slideshow over on my Los Angeles post.

If you don't have a smart device, a GIF builder is a good way to create a DIY slideshow.

I recently used Imgflip, it was easy.

The link-up here is for this month's #tbt: SPRING BREAK

#MBsociallydriven: Exploring My Los Angeles, Part 1

SPONSORED, UNPAID 

I’m partnering with Mercedes-Benz to share my version of Los Angeles.
I used a special MB provided App to create this slide show culled from my Instagram feed.

THAT went fast, right?
Hey, kids, slow it down for us OLD PEOPLE!!!!!

Here are the individual photos, which you can linger over at your leisure:

The obligatory cliche Venice Beach shot. 

Chasing a giant spool on the I-105 for my #dailytruck project.
Pay no attention to my hazardous driving skillz.
The App didn't "recognize" any of my Waterlogue images, so I gamed my IG and added a source image.

Dave and Phil Alvin sketched at the Ruth B Shannon in Whittier.
I got their autographs on the sketch after the show!
This image may disallow my entry, are the Alvin brothers "celebrities"? Is a sketch of celebrities OK?
Shoot, I was thinking of doing a "My Oscars" one today...

Food. Had to include a food shot.
These Kranse Cakes are awesome and I want one NOW!
Copenhagen Pastry, Culver City. Read a detailed review on my Dessert blog.

The Mobile Studio in the back seat of my car.
I haven't been #lunchbreakfashionsketching all that much lately. I'm needing a rest period.

Wow, these photos are like a tour of my various blogs!
That's My Instagram for you, EVERYTHING in one place.

[Nerd alert]
My Inspector SpyGirl study of what the App liked on my IG.
Did not like the new multi-image album nor the Waterlogues, among other things. Why didn't it like "BOOM!"? So sad! It liked Severo a lot, that's for sure. And my #COTDstyle shots. And all the "Good morning"s.
[I made screenshots of my IG feed. The App goes back only one month. It also loads the images in reverse chronological order. Unable to rearrange images for the slideshow].

You're welcome to click on image to see bigger.
Orange √ = top App picks
Red √ = all other picks
There is some overlap at the top from gaming IG after I first tried the App.

So, what's YOUR version of [insert city name]?
If you live in or plan on visiting NYC, LA, Chicago, Austin, Miami, or Denver, Mercedes-Benz is inviting you to share your city in a simple and artistic way on Instagram. It's easy—you create a quick (but beautiful) animated album of 5 of your best geotagged photos and upload it to Instagram. [Once I get the green light, I'll add the link to the App. You have to connect through your smart device]. Then, you share your album on your feed with the hashtag #MBsociallydriven—and your photos might be featured on the Mercedes-Benz website! Get busy, the deadline is March 5.
MB suggests these guidelines:
Because this is a Mercedes-Benz brand initiative, please avoid posting the following types of photos (as much as we love them): competing car brands, celebrities, outdoor murals and graffiti, images that primarily focus on tattoos, advertising, and profanity.


[Nerd Alert part 2]
Check out the City Colorways on the MB site --
ALL THE NYC VIDEO COVERS ARE BLACK AND WHITE! And Miami is all blue! SO WEIRD!
Also, it looks like every city got its own font. Pattern Recognition, people. Pattern Recognition.

Ready to rediscover your city?

If you DON'T live in one of those 6 cities, share your local 5-image slideshow here!
If you can think of an existing App to make the slideshow, please mention it in the comments.
HAVE FUN! LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR EFFORTS!