Paula Maia's Wine blog

Unlikely the popular belief, 5 de Mayo is not Mexican’s Independence Day, but a celebration of its heritage and pride.  During Mexican’s Civil War, on May 5th, 1862, Mexicans resisted and won a significant battle against the French army- known to be the best at the time- in Puebla, before they got to Mexican City.

Puebla is pretty much the only place in Mexico that celebrates 5 de Mayo, but here in the US it has become almost a national holiday as well as a marketing gag. In 2005, the US President issued a proclamation calling upon  Americans to observe the date as a celebration of Mexican’s culture and experiences of Americans with Mexican’s ancestry as they do on St.Patricks’s Day and on Chinese New Year’s. 

5 de Mayo is a big party day, where people have an excuse to chow down buckets of chips and salsa with gallons of Margaritas while dancing to the Mariachi. Since I love all of that, and usually don’t need the excuse of 5 de Mayo, I fully embrace the date.

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While Obama was landing, we were taking off to Arizona, where we started our road trip back to New York. The first two days we stayed in Phoenix, pretty much on a ‘Seefood‘ Diet. My favorite meal was the dinner at Parlor Pizza. I loved the design, the excellent kitchen and the great Oregon’s Cab Franc we had.

To get to Santa Fe, New Mexico we drove through the mountains instead of taking the interstate, which was the most scenic part of the entire trip.  After brunch at Café Pascual’s and some chile shopping next door, we continued on until we randomly found Hoffbrau, a steak house in Amarillo, Texas. It turned out to be the best Rib Eye steak of our lives. No wonder, they raise their own cattle!

As we were driving behind a storm the entire time- one that flooded mid-America in record numbers- we decided to spend an extra night on the road, and stayed in Little Rock, Arkansas. Thank God for the shuttle bus that took us to The Flying Saucer, with BBQ Bratwurst and about 1000 different beer labels on the menu.

Next stop was Nashville, Tenesse. Country music, Pulled Pork, Beef Brisket, biscuits, beer and bed! Not really. With no rooms available and relatively still early, we continued driving. Flood and Bin Laden’s death shared the news when we finally checked in Knoxville, at 2am.

Storm gone, we jetted through 3 states: West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and finally had dinner at Lancaster Brewery, in Pennsylvania. That could have been my last supper. Milk Stout with Strawberry Ale, Lamb Burger and a whole Rack of Ribs. 1 week, 11 states and 2754 miles later we were home.

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