Put on my blue suede shoes, and I boarded the plane

I was looking for a song that reflected the fact that we haven’t had a chance to do any washing for quite a while … “Yesterday’s socks”, “Yesterday’s underwear” … it looks like nobody has ever written anything like that.

Maybe the movie “Groundhog day” has a theme song. I’ll have to check.

Fortunately we did get a chance to put on a load at our AirBnB host’s place today … so we will have some clean clothes to wear tomorrow.

Speaking of washing, I am wearing a short-sleeved tee shirt today in recognition of the fact that we started the day in Memphis TN at 16°C … I don’t believe that I’ve worn this shirt previously so I’m certain it hasn’t been washed … yet somehow it has shrunk.

Maybe that’s got more to do with fried chicken, and less to do with washing 🙁

Also speaking of yesterday, I completely forgot to give the travel update. Yesterday we travelled from Nashville, down through Franklin (the Battle of Franklin, remember?) and then on to Memphis. That was approximately 220mi or 350km.

You don’t need to be a genius to work out the significance of today’s song … we have been in Memphis downtown all day walking around and seeing the sights.

Compared to Nashville, Memphis is very quiet. Hardly anybody around and lots of places are closed. I think it might be a Monday thing.

We fired up The Don II, asked Jolene to take us to downtown, and before you could say “In 5km, be in the second lane from the right and bear right onto the Little Rock exit onto I-34 and then turn left onto Front St” we were here!

The Don II hadn’t even reached his optimal cruising speed of 80mph before we arrived in downtown.

I’ve actually been wondering how many hours I need to do at those speeds before I qualify for a pilot’s license. I’ll have to check that too.

We got into downtown at about 10am and started a self-guided tour of the city.

It’s unbelievable and heartbreaking (actually it’s unbelievably heartbreaking) to see how many homeless people there are in the city. Nashvillle was bad but Memphis seems worse.

In Nashville they hold up little cardboard signs that either try a direct approach (“homeless and hungry”) or a humorous approach (“aliens stole my family”). In Memphis they are much more direct, coming straight up to you and asking for money. I think we have been approached probably a half dozen times.

We parked The Don II in a parking garage for the princely sum of $8.00 and started walking.

Memphis TN downtown
Memphis TN downtown
Trolley car in Memphis TN downtown

You will notice that MBW is wearing a coat and scarf. While it is warmer than it has been, there is a cold wind blowing off the river. And it rained.

On our walk we came to the Peabody Hotel – site of the world famous Peabody ducks. Fortuitously it was almost 11.00am by this time and just about the time for them to make their appearance.

The Duck Whisperer – Memphis TN

The ducks come down from their penthouse at 11.00am each morning and walk the red carpet from the elevator to the fountain, then go back again at 5.00pm each afternoon.

It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me, but hundreds of people turn up each day to see it.

They must be American racing ducks because this is all that MBW was able to capture.

Peabody Hotel ducks – Memphis TN
Ducks in the Peabody Hotel fountain – Memphis TN
Ducks in the Peabody Hotel fountain – Memphis TN

It is a stunning building, over 100 years old.

Ceiling of the Peabody Hotel – Memphis TN

It was also an excellent opportunity to use the rest rooms … you should never let that opportunity go by. I’m pleased to report that the Peabody Hotel rest rooms were very swish indeed!

Following all of that duck excitement, we continued our walk and found the duck walk of fame …

Duck walk of fame outside the Peabody Hotel – Memphis TN

There is also some beautiful street art around Memphis.

Street art – Memphis TN
Street art – Memphis TN
Street art – Memphis TN
Street art – Memphis TN

We continued our walk and stopped for a look at the mighty Mississippi River.

The mighty Mississippi River – Memphis TN

We then went on to the Civil Rights museum and spent a very sobering couple of hours looking at America’s history of slavery, and the civil rights fight to overcome it.

Civil Rights museum – Memphis TN
Civil rights and the fight for equality – Memphis TN
Civil rights and the fight for equality – Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger – Memphis TN
Civil rights and the fight for equality – Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger – Memphis TN
Civil rights and the fight for equality – Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger – Memphis TN
Civil rights and the fight for equality – Memphis TN
Civil rights and the fight for equality – Memphis TN
Civil rights and the fight for equality – Memphis TN
Civil rights and the fight for equality – black Sanitation workers strike for better pay and conditions – Memphis TN

The museum display told the story through to Dr Martin Luther King’s rise to prominence and his assassination in 1968 at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis TN.

Considering that I was born in 1962, it is heartbreaking to think that African-Americans were still fighting for equality and basic human rights during my lifetime.

The Lorraine Hotel has now been preserved as the site of the Civil Rights museum, and kept with the look and feel from the day when MLK was shot.

Lorraine Hotel – Memphis TN
Lorraine Hotel – Memphis TN
Lorraine Hotel – Memphis TN

The wreath in the picture above shows the room outside where Dr ML King was standing when he was shot.

The museum then continued across the road to where it is believed that the fatal shot was fired.

Civil Rights museum – Memphis TN
Civil Rights museum – Memphis TN

We went for a walk down Beale Street – once again very different to Nashville, but I’m sure it fires up at night.

Beale St – Memphis TN
Beale St – Memphis TN
Beale St – Memphis TN

And then we found him. The King.

Elvis – Memphis TN
Elvis – Memphis TN

Elvis isn’t dead – he’s still in Memphis!

Tonight we went to see an old Christmas movie – “It’s a wonderful life” starring James Stewart – at the Orpheum Theatre in town.

Orpheum Theatre – Memphis TN
Orpheum Theatre – Memphis TN
Orpheum Theatre – Memphis TN

The Orpheum Theatre was built in 1890 and was designed as an opera house.

It burned down in 1923 and it was rebuilt in 1927 at a cost of $1.6M. It has a seating capacity of 2,800 and has a Wurlitzer organ.

Famous performers like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington have performed here.

It didn’t survive the Great Depression and was sold in 1940 for $75,000. Sometime after that, it was converted to host movies and live shows.

This blog may be a lot of things, but you can’t say it’s not informative.

The movie night tonight is run to provide support for the homeless, with entry costing 2 or 3 cans of non-perishable food … or $5 each for those of us with no easy access to a supermarket.

There must have been 1,200 people in the theatre tonight.

The walk back to the car was very different to what we had experienced in Nashville. Nashville was crowded, noisy, and vibrant.

Memphis was very quiet and subdued.

Memphis TN at night
Memphis TN at night
Beale St, Memphis TN at night

Tomorrow (Tuesday 10 December) promises to be an interesting day … -3°C To +4°C … and snow.

Might be time to look out those thermals.

Snow? Maybe, but certainly cold – Memphis TN

We got home tonight to find that our AirBnB host – Rachel – had folded all of our washing and put it in our room 🙂

Here is today’s song for your enjoyment: Walking in Memphis (Marc Cohn).

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

Love is a burnin’ thing, and it makes a fiery ring

In a way I’m kind of glad that we have now left Nashville.

I’ve mentioned previously about Jolene’s speech impediment … and she has a real problem saying Nashville.

It comes out as Nasher-ville. Every time we go out, or head home, it’s the same thing. “For the next 23km take the I-40 to Nasher-ville”.

Argh!

We stayed for three nights at Melvin’s place, about 25km out of Nashville downtown. It was a really nicely appointed, self-contained apartment in a nice quiet area of town.

Melvin’s AirBnB – Nashville TN
Melvin’s AirBnB – Nashville TN
Melvin’s AirBnB – Nashville TN

Actually, I wish we could have stayed a few more days in Nashville because it was a really exciting and vibrant place to be.

If you love music – and especially live music – and especially live country music, it is the place to be.

The funny thing is that there is music just everywhere – every bar, every street corner. And they are all good. And they are all competing with each other.

We were in one bar and the band asked for customer requests. In response to the highest bidder they burst into a very good rendition of “Feel like a Woman”.

We went into another bar and the band started playing “Sweet Home Alabama”. Again, very good. Good enough to be on stage.

I don’t have a problem with country music, except that you can only write so many songs about your girl leaving you, or your dog dying …

In preparation for going to Nashville I was listening to a country playlist on Spotify, and some of the more bizarre songs were:

  • All my Ex’s live in Texas
  • You’re the reason our kids are ugly
  • She thinks my tractor’s sexy
  • I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy

Meaningful stuff.

Anyhow, if you haven’t figured it out already, today was a bit of a slow news day.

We checked out of Melvin’s place around 9.00am and headed back down to Franklin.

MBW has read a couple of books about the Battle of Franklin, and the books have included historical facts about the battle, woven into a story.

Nothing much happens in Franklin on a Sunday morning – well, not before 11.00am anyway – and so we had a bit of a wander around. It’s a very pretty place.

Franklin TN
Franklin TN
Franklin TN
Franklin TN

While it is a very pretty township, it seems that it is also a favourite place for the wealthy to live … I think that I read somewhere that Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman have (or had) a house there.

The other clue was that the local hairdresser can name his price in such a small community.

Franklin TN

Richard must be pretty special if he can charge $100+ for a men’s haircut or $150+ for a woman’s.

So after having a wander around Franklin, we had a quick look at Carter House which was a significant location in the Battle of Franklin (AKA the Civil War).

Carter House – Franklin TN
Carter House – Franklin TN
Carter House – Franklin TN
Carter House – Franklin TN
Carter House – Franklin TN

The picture above is of the side wall of one of the buildings at Carter House, and you can see the bullet holes in the side wall – these are from the battle in 1864.

We then had a look at some of the other historical displays around town.

Franklin TN

From there we went to have a look at Carnton House which is another significant location in the Battle of Franklin.

It was a location where the Confederate Army (the South) were trying to get to Nashville, but the United States Army (the North) had set up a blockade as their fighting position.

The Carnton House – owned and occupied by a wealthy farming family – was right where the fighting was happening and it was taken over as a field hospital. At one time it is reported as having 300 wounded soldiers inside the house, and hundreds more in the barn, sheds and on the lawn.

Carnton House – Franklin TN
Carnton House – Franklin TN
Carnton House – Franklin TN
Carnton House – Franklin TN
Carnton House – Franklin TN
Carnton House – Franklin TN
Carnton House – Franklin TN

We did a tour of the house and in the upstairs bedrooms there is still evidence of bloodstains that have soaked into the timber floors … from where the surgeons operated on wounded soldiers.

The Battle of Franklin was reported as one of the last great battles of the American Civil War. There were significant casualties, despite the fact that the battle only lasted for five hours in the afternoon of November 30, 1864. You can read more about it here.

The casualties were so significant because most of the battle was fought in the dark.

After the tour, we pointed The Don II at Memphis which is our home for the next three nights.

One of the “must do” places to eat in Memphis is Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken … so we went there for dinner.

Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken – Memphis TN

Their chicken recipe is a closely guarded secret, and they only serve it in one way – hot and spicy.

And believe me … it was HOT and SPICY!

Dinner at Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken – Memphis TN

Dinner was fried chicken, fried rice, ‘slaw, fried green tomatoes, and fries.

There’s a heart attack on a plate!

So, to explain tonight’s song and the title of tonight’s post …

Johnny Cash (“The Man in Black”) is a big part of Nashville’s history – there is the Johnny Cash Museum there and he features in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

He was also a favourite at the Grand Ole Opry (until he was kicked out for breaking all of the stage lights when he was performing drunk one night). He was eventually invited back.

But tonight’s song is also in recognition of the fact that MBW and I had hot and spicy fried chicken for dinner tonight, and it still needs to work its way through our digestive systems …

So sing along:

… and it burns, burns, burns
That ring of fire, that ring of fire …

Burning Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash).

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

I woke up in Nashville, but it still felt like a dream

One of the things that I am finding very confusing about being here in the South is the sunrise and sunset times.

Sunrise is 6.45am and sunset 4.30pm, so by 6.00pm I feel like I should be crawling into bed. Having walked almost 15,000 steps today only supports that feeling of weariness.

The weather today was a warm start again. We got into The Don II and pointed him at Nashville downtown for a day of exploring the city.

Jolene was reporting a number of road closures in and around the CBD which was a little confusing for a Saturday morning … but Jolene knows best.

We headed down the I-40 (I think … they all look alike to me …) and noticed how gloomy and foggy it seemed. Not a good start for a day of walking around the city.

I-40 into Nashville TN
I-40 into Nashville TN

Jolene turned out to be absolutely correct about road closures. She routed us a different way again to what we are used to, but found our favourite car park exactly where it is supposed to be.

I took my ticket from the machine and hit traffic. Inside the car park. We did a slow crawl all the way up to L5 which seemed a bit odd – I’ve never parked above L2 previously.

We got out of the car and started our walk only to find that there was a Christmas parade on today with some major streets blocked … so we stopped to watch the parade for a while.

Christmas parade – Nashville TN
Christmas parade – Nashville TN

After watching that parade for maybe 30 minutes, we went up to the Ryman Auditorium for our backstage tour. Our Sightseeing Pass entitled us to the self-guided tour, but we paid the extra $10 each for the guided tour – well worth it.

We saw all of the usual backstage stuff including dressing rooms, stage, etc.

Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN

The Ryman started out life as a church, built in the 1890s and is known for it’s amazing acoustics. It is also the home of the Grand Ole Opry which is a weekly music show that brings together seasoned performers and new talent as part of a radio show.

The building was disused for approximately 20 years and was facing demolition, but a number of big-name performers (including Dolly Parton) led the charge to have the Ryman brought back to its original glory and restored. It is now a listed historical building.

It still has all of the original pews … a bit uncomfortable for a long show, but apparently they enhance the sound quality in the building.

We have heard that many performers would rather perform at the 2,362 seat auditorium than at a much larger venue – because of the acoustics and the sense of being connected with the audience.

After the tour we had a quick lunch (fried chicken on a waffle … yum … but we won’t be discussing it here) and then went over to the Music City Walk of Fame park where famous music celebrities have a star in the pavement.

Music City Walk of Fame – Nashville TN
Music City Walk of Fame – Nashville TN
Music City Walk of Fame – Nashville TN

We then wandered over to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – Nashville TN
Elvis’ 1960 Series 75 Fleetwood convertible limousine (gold plated) – Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – Nashville TN
Webb Pierce’s 1962 Pontiac Bonneville convertible – Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – Nashville TN

Lots of crazy going on with Webb Pierce’s car, complete with pistols as door handles and a saddle in the centre console.

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – Nashville TN
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – Nashville TN
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – Nashville TN

After all of that excitement, we did a final wander around to see the last of the Nashville sights including GooGoo’s Clusters …

GooGoo – Nashville TN

… yes, we did buy some, and no, we are not bringing any home :(.

We crossed over the veterans bridge …

Veterans pedestrian bridge – Nashville TN
Veterans pedestrian bridge – Nashville TN
Veterans pedestrian bridge – Nashville TN
Veterans pedestrian bridge – Nashville TN
Veterans pedestrian bridge – Nashville TN
Veterans pedestrian bridge – Nashville TN
Veterans pedestrian bridge – Nashville TN

… and then had a bit of a walk around the city, specifically down Broadway which is where all of the bars and venues are located.

Nashville TN
Nashville TN
Nashville TN

We went into some bars to listen to some live music …

Live music – Nashville TN

Honestly, the music in those bars was so loud that the beat of the drums and bass guitar could be felt through the concrete floors. It could probably re-start your heart if you had cardiac issues …

MBW wanted to look at some boots …

Boots – Nashville TN

… and then we went to look at a full size replica of the Parthenon which was built in 1896 as part of the Centennial exhibition and celebrations in Nashville TN. Pretty impressive stuff!

Parthenon full size replica – Nashville TN

Final stop for the night was the Nashville Farmers Market where we had some dinner … no, not fried chicken, but BBQ 🙂

I love Nashville sign at Nashville Farmers Market – Nashville TN

The little girl in the photo above photo-bombed me … but she was cute so we let her get away with it 🙂

That about wraps up Nashville TN – it’s been a fun place to visit and we would have loved to stay longer. It has some incredible history and the Ryman Auditorium – “The Mother Church of Country Music” – is a place that I’d love to go back to and see some more performances.

I hope that you are enjoying tagging along.

We are heading off to Memphis tomorrow so that should be a blast too.

We will be in Country Music territory for a bit longer yet, so I hope that you continue to enjoy the music choices.

Today’s song is Work Up in Nashville (Seth Ennius).

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

Tonight, I’m gonna have myself a real good time, I feel alive, and the world I’ll turn it inside out, yeah

I’m convinced that Jolene can read my mind. If you don’t know who Jolene is, you will have to go back a few days and catch-up.

Actually, I’m convinced that MBW can read my mind too, but I guess that is to be expected after being married to her for 35 years.

But Jolene and I don’t have that much history, so it’s freaking me out a bit.

I’ll tell you more about that soon.

Today was a bit warmer. 11°C was the temperature the first time I looked at my phone today – around 8.30am.

11°C is quite a reasonable temperature to start the day. Much warmer that -1°C, but still cool compared to Brisbane winter temperatures.

We discovered the reason for the warmer start when we left our comfortable Nashville AirBnB this morning.

Overcast. Rain. 🙁

Not enough rain to need an umbrella, but enough rain that I needed to use The Don II’s wipers … or to be slightly more correct, to find out how to use The Don II’s wipers.

Driving in the rain – Nashville TN

After all of those big, wide, blue Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South & North Carolina and Tennessee skies, that run of luck had to come to an end at some point.

So I figured out how to use the wipers and we set off on a bit of a drive in the Tennessee countryside.

Specifically, we took a drive out to Leiper’s Fork TN.

Now, today’s post needs some participation from you good readers. The question is, what is significant about Leiper’s Fork TN?

I certainly knew of one thing that put Leiper‘s Fork on the map, but then today I discovered a second thing about Leiper’s Fork TN.

So the challenge to you is to post your thoughts on Leiper’s Fork in a comment at the end of this post. There is no prize – only bragging rights and the warm inner glow of knowing something that nobody else did 🙂

Leiper’s Fork TN
Leiper’s Fork TN
Leiper’s Fork TN
Leiper’s Fork TN

After exploring Leiper’s Fork – and believe me, it didn’t take long – we headed off to Belle Meade Plantation for a guided tour.

We travelled on some beautiful rural Tennessee back roads.

Back roads – rural Tennessee

Belle Meade Plantation was originally built in 1807 by John Harding, and the significance of this estate is that they were famous for thoroughbred American racehorses.

In fact, their most significant thoroughbred was called Inquirer, and we learned that out of 142 Kentucky Derby races, only 32 winners were not related to Inquirer. Pretty impressive!

In fact, since 2003, every horse that has raced in the Kentucky Derby can trace its bloodline back to Inquirer. Not every horse that has won – every horse that has raced!

Carriage Room – Belle Meade Plantation
Belle Meade main house – Nashville TN
Belle Meade main house – Nashville TN
Belle Meade – Nashville TN
Belle Meade – Nashville TN

After Belle Meade, we headed over to Franklin TN for a(nother) Segway tour, this time through historic Franklin TN.

Franklin was a significant site for the confederate war between the South and the North, over the use of black African-American slaves.

The battle of Franklin was a particularly bloody war, with 20,000 soldiers from the North, and another 20,000 soldiers from the South. The North had something like 1,500 dead and injured, while the South had around 12,000 dead and injured.

Don’t quote me on the numbers – that’s what we were told.

At one place during the war, the casualties were so tightly packed into a particular area that they died standing up – there was no room for them to fall down.

We saw houses that still show evidence of bullet-holes from the war, and others that had cannon-balls go through ceilings and walls.

Segway ride through Franklin TN

Much of Franklin is being restored back to its historical past.

I’m beginning to think MBW will start referring to me as Calamity Geoff … last night I needed to duck out to the car late – in the dark – and on the way back I stumbled into a hole in the front yard of our AirBnB and twisted my ankle.

The one thing that riding a Segway requires is excellent balance. The one thing that I don’t have is … excellent balance.

Today on our Segway tour, I clipped a concrete step with one of my wheels and the Segway lurched to the left, so I overcorrected to the right and fell off – onto the road 🙁

Twisted knee, twisted ankle, sore neck, hurt pride 🙁 I’ll live though.

After all of that excitement, we made one last stop at Carnton House – another significant historical landmark. Carnton House was used as a hospital during the Battle of Franklin.

We arrived too late for the last tour of the day, but stopped and had a quick look around anyway.

Carnton House – Nashville TN
Graveyard at Carnton House – Nashville TN
Graveyard at Carnton House – Nashville TN

Tonight we had tickets for a Grand Old Opry show at the Ryman Auditorium in the heart of Nashville TN.

We got back into downtown about 5.30pm for a 7.00pm show, so we dropped into Pucketts Restaurant for dinner. We were told that their fried chicken and brisket sliders are very good.

Wrong!

Their fried chicken and brisket sliders were AMAZING! Worth the trip to Nashville just for the food.

The show at the Ryman Auditorium was a country and western concert featuring several well known (and some not so well known) artists – John Conley, Kendall Marvel, Eric Paslay, and Dionne Warwick.

Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville TN

We sat in the nosebleed section with the other cheapskates, but it was still a great show and we are really pleased that we saw it.

I know that I have spoken before about the interstates – they are both amazing and confusing at the same time.

Speed limit signs are only posted with the words “Speed limit 55”. No red circle to attract your attention like we have in Australia – so I tend to choose a speed that is somewhere between the slowest and fastest drivers around me.

Coming home tonight from the Ryman, the traffic was not too bad so we sat on around 70mph for most of the trip. We still had one turkey pass us at something close to the speed of sound, which is a bit concerning.

One of the things that I love about the interstate is that there are no traffic lights, so if you have a straight run from, say Knoxville to Nashville, Jolene will tell you to continue straight ahead for 298km.

I mentioned earlier that Jolene can read my mind. There have been several times now where we have been rolling along at 70-75mph, in the middle of 5 lanes of traffic, and knowing that I need to merge onto another highway in 2km. I have either thought to myself – or possibly said out loud – “what lane am I supposed to be in” and Jolene has responded with “you need to be in the second lane from the right”.

Spooky.

Anyhow it’s late, I’m tired, and my various injuries are starting to stiffen up, so it’s time for bed … and to have dreams of becoming a country and western star and performing at the Ryman Auditorium.

MBW often reminds me that things happen in threes – so tomorrow might be an interesting day 🙁

We are having such a fabulous time here in the South. Other than falling off a Segway and being at risk of being run over by passing traffic, today was a blast!

Driving through rural Tennessee, seeing Leiper’s Fork with my own eyes, eating fried chicken and brisket sliders for dinner, and a show at the Grand Ole Opry was the icing on the cake – hence today’s song: Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen).

PS: Don’t forget to make a comment with your answer on the Leiper’s Fork puzzle …

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

You know I like my chicken fried, and cold beer on a Friday night

I seem to have developed an unhealthy attraction to southern fried chicken.

Regular breaded fried chicken.

Spicy fried chicken.

General Tso fried chicken.

MBW: “What shall we do for lunch today?”

Me: “Fried chicken?”

So to be clear, we do have it with salad … but I suspect that I may have eaten my own body weight in fried chicken so far on this trip.

Fried chicken – Nashville TN

I’m pretty sure that I’ve consumed far too much coffee too. And chocolate. And possibly beignets also.

We stayed at Jaclyn and Katherine’s place last night in Knoxville TN. They finally got home and we had a nice chat with them, then hit the sack.

This morning it was -1°C again. There is a pattern developing that I don’t care for. That’s three days in a row now.

Jaclyn and Katherine’s AirBnB is one of those places where you actually live in their home, use their fridge and stove, etc.

MBW and I generally prefer to stay in places where we have a little bit of separation between ourselves and our host but that hasn’t always been possible.

But it was only for one night.

Jaclyn & Katherine’s AirBnB – Knoxville TN
Jaclyn & Katherine’s AirBnB – Knoxville TN
Jaclyn & Katherine’s AirBnB – Knoxville TN
Jaclyn & Katherine’s street – Knoxville TN

It’s a funny thing – in different countries you sometimes see things that you have never seen before and seem unusual.

This morning as we were leaving Jaclyn and Katherine’s house, a truck stopped out the front of the house, unhooked this huge vacuum cleaner hose, and proceeded to suck up all of the leaves that had fallen into the gutters.

Sucking up the leaves – Knoxville TN

After leaving the house, we took a spin into Knoxville downtown to have a look around.

Once again, nothing is open before 11.00am so all very quiet in the city.

Knoxville TN
Downtown – Knoxville TN
Downtown – Knoxville TN
Downtown – Knoxville TN
Downtown – Knoxville TN

We saw this sign outside a coffee shop in the city that was open. It’s the story of my life …

Sign in Knoxville TN

After deciding that there was really nothing much to do or see that early in Knoxville TN, we hopped into The Don II, pointed him towards Nashville TN and headed off.

Interstate Knoxville TN to Nashville TN

The interstate was pretty quiet and it was a good run – about 2.5 hours.

I mentioned earlier about seeing things that are not common in Australia. On the interstate, it is not uncommon to see a truck towing a number of other trucks all connected to the back of the previous one.

Trucks being towed along the interstate – between Knoxville and Nashville TN
Trucks being towed along the interstate – between Knoxville and Nashville TN

We arrived into Nashville TN around noon today, dropped off our stuff at our AirBnB, and then drove into the city for a tour on a Segway.

Segway tour – Nashville TN

Now I want my own Segway 🙁

After the tour, we went on our own walking tour of the city. What an amazing place, with live music in every bar, restaurant, and venue, with more buskers playing on street corners.

It seems like every second person is carrying a guitar around the street with them.

Nashville TN
Clubs all with live music – Nashville TN
Historical buildings – Nashville TN
Broadway – Nashville TN
GooGoo sweet shop – Nashville TN
Johnny Cash museum – Nashville TN
Broadway – Nashville TN
All shook up – Nashville TN
Nashville TN

Jolene gave us some trouble tonight on the way home from Nashville TN downtown. We asked her nicely to take us home, and we were making good progress despite the traffic – not her fault – and we decided to do a really quick detour to our local Walmart to get some supplies for tomorrow.

The local Walmart is only a few minutes from where we are staying in Nashville.

She got us to change lanes a couple of times, then get onto a new motorway, then we were hurtling down the interstate at the normal 70mph heading in a direction that didn’t seem entirely consistent with my vague recollection of where we were staying …

Then I happened to look down at the screen and Jolene was reporting that we would arrive at our destination in 8.05 hours, after travelling a further 910km.

This was clearly an error and we corrected it by taking control back into our own hands again … getting us to Walmart and then home with no further mishaps.

No more news for today, sorry.

Tomorrow will be having a bit of a trip around the outskirts of Nashville to look at a Plantation house, and something really exciting tomorrow night … but I will save all of that for tomorrow’s post.

Today’s trip looked like this – 220mi or 352km.

Knoxville TN to Nashville TN

We are now staying in Knoxville TN for 3 nights, so I suspect that we will be doing far more walking than driving for a few days. Should be a nice change.

The title of today’s post (and today’s song) is a country and western song and an ode to fried chicken.

One of my boys introduced me to the Zac Brown Band, and I’ve become a bit of a fan: Chicken Fried (ZBB).

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself …

… what a wonderville … er, wonderful … world. Sorry about that.

I’ve felt a little bit like a Sara Lee pastry today – I’m wearing layer upon layer upon layer.

We stayed at Cindy’s AirBnB in West Asheville last night and it was a delightful stay. Our own sitting area, bedroom, bathroom and a little kitchenette area (if you can call a bar fridge and a coffee maker a kitchenette).

We met Cindy as we were heading out to the North Carolina Arboretum and had a brief chat. She told us that we were welcome to use the gas fireplace in our sitting area so we did, and it warmed the place up beautifully.

Cindy’s AirBnB – West Asheville NC
Cindy’s AirBnB – West Asheville NC
Cindy’s street – West Asheville NC
Cindy’s street – West Asheville NC

It was cold again today. I got dressed for the cold and took the suitcases out to put them into The Don II’s boot/trunk and I noticed that he had ice on his roof.

Ice on the roof of The Don II – Asheville NC

Hardly surprising considering that it was -1°C again.

I loaded up The Don II and then went back inside into the warmth of the house and started sweating like a fat kid in a marathon. It is really difficult to dress suitably for both inside and outside.

Layers. Layers are the answer.

We went for a drive into downtown Asheville after we left Cindy’s to have a look for some souvenirs and everything was closed.

Asheville is a pretty little township, but nothing too much exciting happens there.

Downtown Asheville NC

MBW wanted to have a look at the 237 room Biltmore Estate which was built by George Vanderbilt on 8000 acres in the 1890s.

We got there to find that the tickets were approximately USD $100 each to get in a have a look around, and decided that we could spend our $200 better on something else.

Biltmore Estate guardhouse – Asheville NC

Even the guardhouse is bigger than our house!

So we took a spin along the Blue Ridge Parkway instead. It is a really pretty, really beautiville … er, beautiful … drive in the Smoky Mountains.

Sorry again.

Blue Ridge Parkway – Asheville NC
Blue Ridge Parkway – Asheville NC
Blue Ridge Parkway – Asheville NC
Blue Ridge Parkway – Asheville NC
Blue Ridge Parkway – Asheville NC

The drive was truly breathtaking. The photos don’t do it justice.

We got about 10-12 miles along the parkway and then the road was closed, so we turned around and headed back into Asheville NC to find another way to get to Waynesville, where we would enter the 441 to get over the Smoky Mountains.

Let me explain the whole “ville” thing.

Americans are many things, but in this part of the country they are not very imaginative when it comes to naming towns.

Asheville. Waynesville. Greenville. Linville. Tonight we are in Knoxville. Tomorrow Nashville.

We discovered today that Jolene has a bit of a speech impediment when it comes to pronouncing placenames.

Asheville is pronounced “Asher-ville”.

Waynesville comes out as ”Way-nes-ville”.

The Walmart Supercentre is a “sup-per-centre” with the emphasis on the “per”.

We got to Waynesville NC around 1.00pm, found Walmart and bought some supplies for lunch. They like fried chicken here.

Matter of fact, I’m getting pretty fond of it too.

We also bought some potato wedges to go with it. They sell wedges in North Carolina by the wedge.

So the conversation went like this:

Deli lady: “Can I help y’all?”

Me: “Can I have some fried chicken please?”

Deli lady: “Huh?”

Not a good start. And here I am thinking it was her that talked funny.

MBW came to the rescue and ordered some fried chicken, and then asked after the wedges.

Deli lady: “How many wedges would y’all like?”

MBW: “10 wedges please.”

Just for the record, we did have salad with our fried chicken and wedges 🙂

Now I appreciate that I am no fashion statement as we are travelling around, but I have noticed an increasing tendency of North Carolina men to wear bib and brace overalls. Even shopping.

I’ve always been of the belief that nobody can wear bib and brace overalls and make them look good, and that view has been confirmed in North Carolina 🙂

We found a little Baptist Church just down the road from Walmart, and set up there for lunch. It was still pretty cold so we ate in the car.

Lunch at Waynesville NC
Lunch at Waynesville NC

From there, we took off to get over the Smoky Mountains so that we could arrive at tonight’s AirBnB in Knoxville at a reasonable time.

The Blue Ridge Parkway was closed so we asked around and found that the 441 was the next best option. Apple Maps reported it as being closed due to weather, but Google Maps said it was open.

Jolene was confused.

We stopped at a McDonalds for coffee and asked the locals, and they confirmed that it was open. So off we went.

At the start of the 441 we came across an Indian Reservation visitor centre. They confirmed that the 441 was open but that we needed to take it easy and watch for snow and ice.

No 80mph over the Smoky Mountains.

It was a truly spectacular drive, and possibly the highlight of our trip so far.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park – North Carolina end
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – North Carolina
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – North Carolina
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – North Carolina
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – North Carolina
SNOW! Smoky Mountains on the 441 – North Carolina

And then we found it. The Tennessee/North Carolina border.

Tennessee/NC border
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee
Smoky Mountains on the 441 – Tennessee

In the picture above, you can see a big patch of ice on the road.

We got into Pigeon Forge TN around 5.00pm and MBW got to try a funnel cake. I can’t describe it, but it’s the next best thing to having a beignet 🙂

And probably as fattening 🙁

Funnel Cake – Pigeon Forge TN

Pigeon Forge is one weird place. It’s a bit like the Las Vegas of Tennessee.

These are some of the buildings on the main Street.

Upside down building – Pigeon Forge TN
Sideways building – Pigeon Forge TN

Hmmm.

We arrived at our AirBnB around 6.15pm and had breakfast for dinner. Don’t ask.

We were cold and tired and didn’t feel like going out again, and have probably exceeded our daily limit of fat, grease, coffee, and fried chicken … so we had granola and yoghurt and grapes for dinner.

This is what our trip today looked like – 194mi or 310km.

Asheville NC to Knoxville TN

So here we are in Tennessee. And having a ball!

We haven’t met our hosts yet – hopefully they will be home soon and we can get to bed.

The title of tonight’s post and our chosen song is an absolute classic, and in recognition of the spectacular beauty we saw in the NC/TN Smoky Mountains today.

What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong) – 1967. Enjoy!

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

Come on weather man give us a forecast snowy white, can’t you hear the prayers of every childlike heart tonight

I was wrong.

Yesterday I said it was cold, but I was wrong. It was cold today.

Brrrr – Charlotte NC

We woke at around 7.00am to -1°C. On my way to the shower, I opened the door to the outside patio and I can confirm that -1°C is as cold as you expect it will be.

Last night we stayed at Ashley’s house in Harrisburg, a suburb of Charlotte NC, in a Granny flat. Not quite as spectacular as Will’s place the night before, but pretty good. We didn’t actually get to meet Ashley or her husband/partner, but we did get some messages from them so I’ll assume that they exist.

Granny flat at Ashley’s house – Harrisburg, Charlotte NC
Ashley’s house – Harrisburg, Charlotte NC
Ashley’s street – Harrisburg, Charlotte NC

It’s quite funny looking outside, because you see squirrels running around the yard. Not quite what you expect.

By the time we had breakfast and were ready to roll, the temperature had climbed to a dizzying 1°C, and that was about as good as it got for the day.

We wanted to do a drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway today on our way to Asheville NC, so we headed off towards Blowing Rock NC which was the nearest place that we could find to get us access.

Traffic was pretty quiet heading out of Charlotte NC, so it was a nice stress-free cruise along the 16 towards Blowing Rock.

No traffic on the 16 – Charlotte NC

We had a bit of an issue with Jolene as we were cruising along the 16 this morning. If you don’t know who Jolene is, you will need to read yesterday’s post.

Jolene became confused and had no idea where we were. She kept shouting “proceed to the route” over and over, even though we were blasting down the 16 like she had told us to do.

I was beginning to worry that the world had ended and that all GPS technology as we know it had stopped working and we would be stuck in the USA forever … but then she consulted with Google Maps, or Apple Maps, and got her bearings again and we were OK.

So, the usual story of our lives, coffee + cold weather = unscheduled bathroom break, so we were looking for somewhere to stop and spied a McDonalds at a place called Hickory NC.

We figured that it was the right thing to do to buy coffee in return for using their rest rooms.

The team leader at the Hickory NC McDonalds – Stacey – was very friendly and decided that we “looked close enough to 55” to qualify for a senior’s discount … if only she knew 🙁 So we got two cups of bottomless coffee for … wait for it … $1.05, including tax.

That was a little embarrassing, so we searched their menu and discovered that they sell donut sticks, and we thought “it’s a sign!”. So MBW went up to the counter to get two serves of donut sticks and we got them for free because they “stopped serving them at 10.30am (it was now 11.00am) and they could not guarantee that they would be fresh.”

So, two cups of bottomless coffee and two serves of donut sticks – with chocolate dipping sauce – for $1.05 including tax.

Coffee and donut sticks with chocolate dipping sauce – Hickory NC

In the interests of full disclosure, I need to add that the donut sticks that you can see in the above photo were what was left of my serve, after I had already eaten the first 5 donut sticks.

Stacey was keen to ensure that I got my free refill before we left, and came back with a jumbo sized cup brimming with coffee because my “first (small) cup looked like it had a few crumbs in it …”

I was at risk of caffeine poisoning 🙁

So we kept heading to Blowing Rock NC and found it to be a very pretty – very cold – little township.

Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock NC

As you can see above, they had received some snowfall the night before and some cars were covered with snow.

We discovered that there is not only a township called Blowing Rock, but also an attraction/lookout called Blowing Rock, so we headed there for some photos.

Entrance to Blowing Rock lookout – Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock lookout – Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock lookout – Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock lookout – Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock lookout – Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock lookout – Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock lookout – Blowing Rock NC

In case you are wondering, yes, it was cold. Still about 0°C.

So cold in fact that this little waterfall at the Blowing Rock was frozen.

Blowing Rock NC

After seeing the sights at Blowing Rock NC, we decided to jump on the Blue Ridge Parkway to head down into Asheville NC.

Unfortunately we found that most of the BRP was closed due to winter storms, although we did manage to catch a few miles of it … a very pretty drive.

Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina
Blue Ridge Parkway – North Carolina

We stopped for a bite of lunch at the side of the road near Linville NC. Ate in the car because it was still a bit cold out.

Lunch near Linville NC
Lunch near Linville NC

We rode the 221 all the way into Asheville.

I took a wrong turn – actually I turned too early – on the way to Cindy’s AirBnB, so Jolene punished me by taking us on a long winding detour through the bad side of Asheville.

I won’t make that mistake again 🙁

Tonight we went to the North Carolina Arboretum – which is the local botanical gardens. They (apparently) look beautiful during the warmer months, but in winter all of the plants die off, so they make a spectacular lighting display instead.

North Carolina Arboretum – Asheville NC
North Carolina Arboretum – Asheville NC
North Carolina Arboretum – Asheville NC
North Carolina Arboretum – Asheville NC
North Carolina Arboretum – Asheville NC
North Carolina Arboretum – Asheville NC

Photos don’t do it justice – it was spectacular. And cold. I don’t think that the temperature go above freezing (0°C) while we were there, but it was fun walking around looking at the lights with MBW, and talking to all the people with funny accents.

Today’s journey looked like this – 227mi or 363km. A bit of a lazy day really.

Charlotte NC to Asheville NC

Tonight we are staying at Cindy’s AirBnB, and after the arboretum we have come back to the AirBnB and been sitting by the gas fire, thawing out.

I forgot to mention the significance of today’s song and post title. It was MBW’s choice tonight and a reflection on the Christmas lights that we saw tonight.

I know that we are not in Tennessee, but we will be tomorrow … hopefully via the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Near enough is good enough.

Tennessee Christmas (Amy Grant).

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, I’m begging of you please don’t take my man

It was cold today. Really cold.

The forecast was for a range of 0°C to a maximum of 6°C, and when we woke at about 7.00am, it was already 5°C, so I was feeling hopeful … and then I took some suitcases out to the car and I had a reality check.

Back when I was young, conventional wisdom was that if you sat on a cold surface – like cold concrete – you could get piles.

If you don’t know what piles are you will have to Google it, or ask someone. I’m not explaining it here.

When you get into The Don II and he has been sitting out in the cold all night, you can be pretty certain that the leather seats are going to be cold.

Cold like a concrete floor. Cold like the type of concrete floor that conventional wisdom said would give you piles … and I’m not taking that risk because I don’t even know if piles is a medical condition that is covered under our travel insurance policy!

Now two things have occurred together to ensure that the potential piles crisis is averted.

The first thing that happened is that we discovered The Don II not only has seat warmers (because we knew that in advance), but has an option where we can set the seat warmers to come on when the engine is started.

The other thing that we discovered is that there is a button on The Don II’s remote fob that we have not used before, and we found that it allows us to start the car remotely.

That, my friends, is true technological innovation. I can stand inside the AirBnB, double-click the little button on the remote and watchThe Don II flash his lights, honk his horn, and start the motor … all safe in the knowledge that the seats are warming nicely for when I (and MBW) hop in.

So this morning we started The Don II, waited until the seats were warm, and ventured out into the cold to begin our trip to Charlotte North Carolina.

Those seat warmers are amazing – we hadn’t gone more than a kilometre or two and my buns were nice and toasty 🙂

So I mentioned yesterday that we lucked out with our AirBnB. We stayed with Will and Erica and their 3yo son Hogan. Will is a “golf pro” and I’m not sure what Erica does.

They live in a beautiful house in Marietta Georgia. The only thing that could have made it better is if there had been a few centimetres of snow on the ground.

Will and Erica’s house – Marietta GA
Will and Erica’s house – Marietta GA
Will and Erica’s house – Marietta GA

The AirBnB space is called an “in-law” space. Fully self-contained, roomy, comfortable, everything that we could hope for.

Sitting area – Will and Erica’s AirBnB – Marietta GA
Sitting area and kitchen – Will and Erica’s AirBnB – Marietta GA
Sitting area and kitchen – Will and Erica’s AirBnB – Marietta GA
Bedroom – Will and Erica’s AirBnB – Marietta GA

The door on the left in the photo above leads to a private bathroom.

Seriously, if you are staying in Atlanta GA, this is the place to stay. We paid AUD$57 for the night!

So we got The Don II started, got the seats warming, and got on our way.

While I am certain that there are lots of fun things to do in Atlanta GA, we had a bit of an epic trip planned again today so we elected to get on the interstate, still heading east, and a bit north.

It was a bit of a slow start. The weather was a bit gloomy and overcast, and the temperature gauge in the car told us that it was 40° Fahrenheit outside. Now from my rudimentary understanding of the imperial system that I learned up until I was in grade 4 (?) at school, 32° F is freezing, so 40° is not much better.

Google tells me that it converts to just under 4.5° C. Brisk!

Now, please permit me to digress for just a moment. You may have noticed the title of today’s post and wondered if I have lost my mind?

There are a couple of reasons for the song that has been chosen for today’s post.

Firstly, we have been in hillbilly territory for a couple of days now and it seemed like the right time to pull out something appropriate for where we are.

As they say in the Blues Brothers movie, they have both kinds of music here – country and western!

The second reason for the song today is that we have increasingly been referring to our GPS as Jolene. Country and Western music always has a Jolene in there somewhere, and MBW is concerned that Jolene is going to take her man … and in fact Jolene has been very successfully taking not only MBW’s man, but MBW herself all over the south of the United States so far.

We fire up The Don II, give Jolene instructions on where we want to go, and she takes us there. Simple.

So I mentioned that it was a bit of a slow start today. Not The Don II’s fault. Not Jolene’s fault. We encountered the “Monday morning commute”.

Monday morning commute – Atlanta GA

Traffic was slow, everybody was going somewhere … so we sat in traffic and puddled along as best we could until Jolene found us a better way to go.

The trip from Atlanta GA to Charlotte NC was expected to take about 4.5 hours; more with stops.

After a couple of hours travelling, my bladder was sending urgent messages to my brain and then MBW saw those two little words that make her go weak at the knees – “Outlet shopping”. Yay!

Tanger Outlet is in the middle of nowhere near a place called Commerce GA (ironic, I know).

This outlet is like DFO on steroids. Seriously.

Tanger Outlet shopping – near Commerce GA

To get the whole centre in I needed to either take three photos, or do a panorama. I think that there was parking for like a bazillion cars … The Don II is out there somewhere waiting patiently for us 🙁

So we finished our shopping, MBW bought a vest (no surprises there), we used their restrooms, and got back onto the I-85 to continue our journey.

Today was another three state epic journey. Georgia, through South Carolina and into North Carolina.

South Carolina border marker

Thanks Henry McMaster for your hospitality, but we are only passing through.

We did contribute to the economic prosperity of South Carolina because we stopped at the Welcome Walmart Supercenter (Welcome is a place, BTW) and bought some things for lunch – bread rolls, turkey and cheese, plus some more dairy products for coffee and breakfast – and headed on a little further to Greenville SC to stop and have a picnic lunch.

Lunch – Greenville SC
Lunch – Greenville SC
Lunch – Greenville SC

We actually stopped at a park for lunch in residential Greenville SC.

So here is a question – do you know why there are no children enjoying the park?

A: IT WAS TOO COLD!

The Don II was reporting that the weather had gone to a relatively balmy 50°F by this time (10°C) but if you take the wind chill factor into consideration it was about freezing.

Needless to say it was a quick and refreshing lunch.

Back into The Don II, new instructions for Jolene, and we were back on our way to Charlotte NC.

We crossed into North Carolina about 3.00pm and stopped at the visitor centre.

North Carolina
North Carolina

Here is another question: why do you think that MBW is sitting the way that she is?

A: It was really cold and the metal seat was super cold. No toasty buns there, but the remote start and the automatic seat warmers fixed that!

We arrived at Charlotte around 4.00pm and visited the Billy Graham library – a museum dedicated to the life and work of Billy Graham.

They had a live nativity scene going there, starting tonight, so we stopped and had a look.

Billy Graham library – Charlotte NC
Billy Graham library – Charlotte NC
Billy Graham library – Charlotte NC

When they learned that we are from Australia, they were very excited to tell us that they had a kangaroo in the lineup of animals in the stable … like we have never seen a kangaroo before!

By this time the temperature had dropped back down to about 6°C and it was time to head for home.

I have to say that all of those Christmas songs make a lot more sense now, when you are cold 🙂

Tomorrow is a relatively short run over towards Asheville, and a bit of a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We will have a bit of a poke around Charlotte NC before we head off … but that will be tomorrow’s news.

Today’s journey looked like this – 291 miles or 466km:

Atlanta GA through South Carolina to Harrisburg near Charlotte NC

So to finish off, put your hands up all of you Dolly Parton fans … here is Dolly singing today’s song: Jolene (Dolly Parton).

There’s not a lot of people who can wear that outfit and make it look good 🙂

PS Google tells me that Asheville – home for tomorrow night – has a low of -2°C, so you can expect further commentary on the cold.

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through, an’ just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind

Last night we stayed at Emily’s AirBnB in Millbrook just outside of Montgomery Alabama.

Millbrook, just outside Montgomery AL

Emily is a 911 dispatcher and has a really nice little 2 bedroom house in the ‘burbs.

Emily’s AirBnB in Millbrook AL
Emily’s street in the ‘burbs – Millbrook AL
Emily’s street in the ‘burbs – Millbrook AL

There wasn’t a great deal that we wanted to do in Montgomery AL, so we had a bit of a lazy start, loaded up The Don II, pointed him south towards the Montgomery City Centre, and headed off.

The one thing that we did want to do was visit the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (a civil rights memorial). Noting that it is Sunday here, the place was pretty quiet in the city.

Civil Rights memorial – Montgomery AL

It was very sobering to walk around the memorial and understand the ways that whites tortured and killed black African Americans, up to as late as 1950 … and for the most menial of “crimes”.

Civil rights memorial – Montgomery AL

The memorial has a plaque representing each county of each state, listing the names of each African American who was killed (they call it racial terrorism) that can be proven. There were obviously many, many more …

Plaques at the civil rights memorial – Montgomery AL

In some cases it is obvious that whole families were wiped out …

Names of African Americans killed because they were black – Montgomery AL

… and sometimes the names were simply not known …

Names of African Americans killed because they were black – Montgomery AL

… and sometimes there were simply so many killed that it was not possible to record their details …

Names of African Americans killed because they were black – Montgomery AL

… all for trivial crimes …

Crimes – Civil Rights Memorial – Montgomery AL
Crimes – Civil Rights Memorial – Montgomery AL

After the memorial, we wandered into the city to have a look around and discovered it was Rosa Parks day. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a while woman on 1 December 1955 and she was arrested and convicted, resulting in Dr Martin Luther King coming to prominence and a boycott of the Montgomery buses for over one year – the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.

Rosa Parks memorial – Montgomery AL
Rosa Parks memorial – Montgomery AL

We didn’t realise it at the time, but Rosa Parks day was today (1 December 2019) and they were in the process of closing down the city and unveiling a statue in her honour.

Fountain – Montgomery AL
City centre – Montgomery AL
City centre and Capital Building – Montgomery AL

We then went for a walk down towards the river (the Alabama River). There is a great deal of history in Montgomery and they do not hide their history, even though much of it is very sad.

Riverfront – Montgomery AL
Hank Williams statue – Montgomery AL
Slave Market reminder – Montgomery AL

After browsing around Montgomery, we got back onto the Interstate and headed for our next destination – Atlanta Georgia.

On the road to Atlanta GA
Georgia state line

We deliberately tried to stay off the interstate as much as we could so that we could experience some of the rural Alabama and Georgia countryside.

Georgia countryside, off the interstate – Georgia

The roads and surroundings are absolutely beautiful at the moment with the leaves all changing colour and falling to the ground.

We stopped in LaGrange GA for lunch, not long after crossing the Georgia State Line, and feasted on fried chicken and salad.

Tonight we went in search of BBQ 🙂

Here’s a fun fact – in the USA they refer to the main meal as the entree, unlike in Australia where an entree is a starter.

Here is another fun fact – an entree is big enough for both of us, so we normally only buy one meal serve.

Now I know that I’ve previously had a rant about the drivers, speed and interstates generally … one thing that I have noticed is that everyone drives very respectfully, making space for drivers merging onto the interstate and (generally) pulling over to the right if another driver wants to get past you.

Another thing that I have noticed is that drivers seem to drive quite close behind you on the interstate – even at 80-90mph – on the assumption that you will not be stopping.

On our way into Atlanta this afternoon, I was in the fast lane with another car on my back bumper and the cars in front of me stopped quite suddenly … so I stopped quite suddenly. I think that the driver behind me must have been texting or checking his phone because I could see the whites of his eyes when he frantically hit the brakes.

We were really lucky not to be in a nose-to-tail 🙁

I’ve also discussed previously how you can merge from one motorway to another, without slowing down from 80mph. Some of the motorways and interchanges look like a bowl of spaghetti!

As we were coming in to Atlanta today, we were presented with this on the GPS …

Interstate coming in to Atlanta GA

… which looks like this on Google Maps …

Interstate coming into Atlanta GA

… and then turns into this …

Interstate coming into Atlanta GA

Overall, our trip today looked something like this (below) – 225mi or approx 360km. A pretty lazy day.

Today’s road trip … Montgomery AL to Atlanta GA

Tonight we are staying at Marietta, just outside Atlanta Georgia. We’ve really scored the jackpot tonight because we have a fully equipped in-laws apartment in a beautiful suburb – I’ll give you some pictures tomorrow.

While the weather was beautiful in Louisiana and Mississippi, it has been steadily getting colder as we go further north, and tomorrow’s forecast for Marietta is going to be cold.

Temperature forecast for tomorrow (Monday 2nd December 2019) – Atlanta GA

Yep, a maximum of 6 degrees Celsius. Cold enough to freeze the you-know-what’s off a brass monkey.

All of the houses here are centrally heated, so while you can walk around inside in a tee-shirt and jeans, you are not prepared for how cold it is outside.

Me thinks we may need to look out our thermals for tomorrow …

Today was a 23 hour day thanks to the magic of crossing into another time zone, but I’m sure that I’ll get that hour back somewhere around Nashville Tennessee after we have been through the Smokey Mountains … but that’s not for a few more days yet.

We continue to have a blast. Loved Alabama and loving Georgia … particularly when we can get off the interstate and travel through the beautiful countryside.

Tomorrow we head towards Charlotte North Carolina.

We really love to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment. We will even take requests … want more photos of BBQ, fried chicken ….?

Thanks for tracking along with us.

Today’s song is Georgia (Willie Nelson). Enjoy!

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019

Big wheels keep on turning, carry me home to see my kin

Today was something of a multi-state epic journey that the founding fathers would have been proud of … we travelled from Louisiana through Mississippi and up into Alabama.

If we had taken a short detour – or got lost – we could have picked up Florida also because it wasn’t that far from where we were in Mississippi … but getting lost was never an option because of the magic of Google Maps.

We had an early start today … well, earlier than normal. We woke to the alarm at about 6.45am. I made myself beautiful (about 5 minutes), and while MBW made herself beautiful (>5 minutes) I loaded the suitcases into the back of The Don II.

Just as we were getting ready to lock up 3041 Burgundy St, New Orleans LA and hit the road, Danny popped over to say goodbye.

The house is essentially what I would call a duplex, but in Louisiana they call it a ”double shotgun”, so Danny lives in the other half of 3041 Burgundy Street.

Now I am no fashion expert, but while Danny was resplendent in a fluffy red bathrobe, I thought that it clashed with his pink toenails. Anyhow, I’m not one to judge …

We had a nice chat with Danny about his house, living in New Orleans, his job (he is a bartender and makes 20 different flavours of Bloody Marys I believe), and also discussed the ghost that lives in his house … she steals spoons and unplugs appliances apparently. I’m probably glad that we had that discussion as we were checking out and not checking in …

So today’s final destination was Montgomery Alabama and while we were always destined to go through Mississippi, we elected to take the scenic route.

The scenic route started with a stop at Walmart about 20km outside of New Orleans because we had no milk, so we’d had no breakfast and no coffee. And while we can function OK with no breakfast, we don’t function well with no coffee.

Shopping in Walmart in Louisiana is an adventure on its own … the shop carries everything from fresh fruit and vegetables, sandwiches, all the usual tins, bottles, jars and packets of stuff you’d expect to find in a supermarket, through to clothing, shoes, toys, pharmacy and …

Guns for sale in Walmart – but only if you are 16 years or older – New Orleans LA

… guns!

While we were there we decided to buy a cooler bag to carry our cold stuff … but they have never heard of a “cooler bag” in Louisiana so we needed to go through all other possible word combinations to come up with something that described what we wanted (an ice chest, but a soft bag, not a hard container).

That game of charades led us to the sporting equipment department (yep, it’s a mystery to me too) … which led us to the discovery of guns.

Anyhow, we bought our guns … err, sorry … we bought our milk and yoghurt and fruit and cooler bag, and headed off to have breakfast and coffee in the Walmart car park.

Then we went into a service station to top up The Don II for the trip … that was another adventure, this whole pre-paying for fuel before you pump fuel when the pump won’t accept your Australian Visa Debit card so you have to go in and explain your plight to the attendant, who can’t understand a word that you say … Sigh 🙁

Jack Reacher has a list of rules that he lives by (known as Reacher’s Rules), and one of them is to eat/sleep when you can.

I have a similar rule – pee when you can, because once you get onto the interstate you may not get another chance, and at 80mph you need the least number of distractions possible!

What was unusual about our trip today is that it involved a couple of times where we were crossing large bodies of water via a very long bridge. This happened for the first time just out of New Orleans LA.

Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain – Louisiana

What I found most intriguing was the GPS’s advice to “stay on the I-10 East” … like I had any other option! It was that or swim.

In this particular case we were crossing Lake Pontchartrain.

Crossing Lake Pontchartrain – Louisiana

The scenic route Involved getting OFF the I-10 as soon as we could and getting back onto the 90, which took us into Mississippi …

Welcome to Mississippi

… along the beach road …

Coast Road from Bay St Louis MS through Biloxi MS to Pascagoula MS
The Don II on the beach road – Biloxi MS
The Don II on the beach road – Biloxi MS
Beach at Biloxi MS
Beach at Biloxi MS

… through Biloxi …

Biloxi MS

… where we saw some stunning houses across the road from the beach …

Beachfront houses at Biloxi MS

… and on to Pascagoula where we stopped for lunch.

Lunch at Pascagoula MS

Lunch included crab claws, shrimp (prawns), oysters, fish, hush puppies (I can’t describe them), chips and coleslaw.

The beaches in this part of Mississippi are beautiful white sandy beaches and the weather was stunning … although there was nobody in swimming so I assume that the water was cold.

We were told that these beaches were all man-made.

So I’m just putting it out there, but if Queensland Rail wanted to open up an ICT Delivery office in Biloxi MS, I’d be happy to move there and run it for you Alison 🙂

After lunch we hopped back onto the I-65 (that’s the interstate heading north) and crossed over into Alabama.

New Orleans LA through Mississippi and up to Montgomery Alabama
Welcome to Alabama
I-65 interstate heading north to Montgomery Alabama

Alabama highways have a totally different feel about them from other states – lots of wide open spaces and leaves turning brown (although to be fair, the leaves always turn brown at this time of the year).

There were indications from Google Maps that there was a bad accident up ahead on the I-65, and we were keen to see more of the Alabama countryside, so we hooked off the I-65 and onto the I-31 North and went through rural Alabama.

I-31 North through rural Alabama
I-31 North through Alabama
I-31 North through Alabama

Wide open spaces, land that goes on forever, skies as blue as … a millionaire’s swimming pool.

The speed limits are a bit slower that than the interstate (55mph Vs 75mph), but it was all worth slowing down to get a good look at it.

Incidentally, if QR wanted to open an office in Alabama, I’d be OK with that too …

All up we clocked up about 346 miles (550km) today, arriving at Emily’s AirBnB in Millbrook Alabama (on the outskirts of Montgomery AL).

The other day I mentioned the number of RVs that we have seen getting dragged around the USA. This one (below) is not the biggest we have seen – we have seen them with three axles – but it is still pretty big!

RV near Biloxi MS

The other funny thing that we have seen is RVs that are the size of a bus towing a vehicle behind it. Now I know that you sometimes see this in Australia, but in the USA, everything is bigger – RVs don’t tow a little toy car behind them, they tow a full-size Jeep or Ford Ranger equivalent.

Tomorrow we are heading over to Atlanta Georgia, so it will be a pretty slow day – only a couple of hours driving.

Today’s song and the title of today’s post was a no-brainer – Sweet Home Alabama (Lynard Skynard). Turn it up!

Ciao

#G&KTAKEUSA2019