Gateway to the West

 

We rolled into Saint Louis, Missouri this afternoon.  It was a short day's drive but Janet has a number of relatives here and we planned to stop and pay a visit. 

 It turned out to be a great evening. Janet's aunt Juanita had rallied the troops and put together a gathering of as many of the family members as were able to attend.  It was great so see everyone and share a very nice dinner as well. 

We'll be continuing west tomorrow.  Not sure yet how far we'll get. 

Music City

More often that not, a rain squal has moved through where we happened to be.  One night in particular, thunder, lighting and rain so intense that the lightning and booming were virtually continuous for almost an hour until the storm blew through.  We've driven through a few of those and the rain can be so heavy that it'd be similar to standing under a waterfall.    We pulled into Nashville today and darned if those rain squalls didn't follow us.   Lucky however, we were standing just outside of a bar, each time, in Nashville 's Honky-Tonk Row and it just so happened that the music spewing out was worth listening to.  In order to stay dry, we had to duck inside.  Might as well have a beer and enjoy the music for a spell. 

 I'm not sure if y'all (darn, I'm picking up sum-a-dat southern tongue) are familiar with American Pickers on TV; well we happened to see the episodes where they opened a second store in Nashville.  As long as we're here, we may as well pay a visit…

Nice store. 

 We met a couple from Portland Oregon in the Honky-Tonk district and ended up spending the evening with them, bar hopping and grabbing some dinner.  

Tomorrow, we press on. 

Two Weeks in

Two weeks in to our journey and we finally stopped heading further from home.  We are actually heading north and will continue to do so, while adding some westerly direction to the mix. The end of the road for today finds us in Memphis Tennessee.  

  Memphis is, of course, home to Graceland, Beale Street and the world famous ducks at The Peabody Hotel (I'll have to find out if duck is on the menu). 

 

  

We toured around Beale St. sampling the music, the atmosphere.  We heard some terrific cover music, also a Jerry Lee Lewis impersonator.  Finally we decided to go to dinner.  

We sat down at a place we had selected over the internet as we were driving in this direction. Rum Boogie was our choice because their barbecue sounded great on their website and reviews were pretty good.   Just for kicks, I asked the bartender where we can get some good barbecue.  Surprisingly, the place we were at was 3rd on her list; that made us question our choice.  We sucked it up anyway and ordered.  Food was good; not great, but good. The bartender told us about how much smoke and care they took in their BBQ.  The meat we were served had never seen any smoke. Good enough. 

  

By the time we had finished up, a fairly talented band had taken the stage at our restaurant.  That inspired us to go and check other venues.  Being Memorial Day, Monday, people were probably heading home, so the crowds were down.  The last time I was here, small bands were playing some of the most awesome blues that you have ever heard, down every alley.  Today, all of the music was in the clubs.  

Nice time but brief.  Tomorrow we'll continue north. 

Mud Bugs

Our 5 hour trip from Atlanta to Orange Beach Alabama took a little more than 6.  Part of it was the big semi that had wrecked (lucky for us, heading the other direction) and also the rain squal, so heavy that traffic had slowed to about 25mph from the 80mph we were cruising before the downpour. Also because we were in no particular hurry. 

We just burned up freeway miles so nothing in the way of notable scenery.  

The area we are in is actually several places.  Our hotel is in Gulf Shores. We cruised along the beach and drove through Orange Beach and before we knew the it, we had crossed the state line and we're headed straight for Pensacola Florida. 

Pensacola wasn't in our travel plans (although it's probably a very nice place), so we turned around.  

Janet pegged it perfectly when she suggested that the area looks a lot like a huge "Ocean Shores".  Lots of condominiums lining the beach with the odd hotel thrown in here and there.  Beach access wasn't obvious and parking was scarce. 

 At the state line we saw a place that looked like we needed to visit. Flora-Bama.  There were police stopping traffic so people could cross the street and parking across that street that was accepting donations for charities. 

Flora-Bama was hoppin!  There had to be 4 different bands playing all sorts of different music at various places within the place.  People were heading to and from the beach from there. Sensibly, it seems carrying alcohol to the beach is allowed.  

It's hard to see from the picture but there a million people out there enjoying the Gulf of México. 

 Next stop The Undertow.  A major reason for visiting the area.  They had a crawfish (mud bug), all you can eat, boil for $10.  Worth the drive!  Good eats and good people.  The southern people sure are polite.  It definitely adds to the enjoyment. 

A stop at Tackey Jacks on our way back to the room so I could write this.  

Another nice day and again we've barely scratched the surface.  It, non the less, leaves us with a good impression and we'd happily visit again.  

Peachie

There are at least three routes between Asheville and Atlanta Georgia.  We chose the most scenic.  That took us through the Blue Ridge Mountains, which became the Smoky Mountains, which are all part of the Appalachian Mountains.  The very pretty drive had it all; windy roads, highways, small towns, roadside boiled peanuts and craklins stands, tons of swap meets and just lots of character.  

The drive was only about 4 hours or so, which meant there was no reason to hurry.  It was nice to be able to enjoy the surroundings. 

Rather than head directly to the hotel upon arrival, we headed to the Atlanta Historic Museum.  We were specifically interested in the Civil War   Earlier in our trip, we visited the Civil War Museum at Gettysburg.  I was surprised at how one sided the narrative was.  To set things as right as possible, the southern point of view was an imperative.  

Very interesting.  First I should mention that the primary Civil War Museum was being remodeled.  Although now that the Confederate Flag has been removed, that museum is closing June 1st. They feel that they can't properly depict the history accurately without the Confederate Flag. 

 

The Atlanta Museum's display was labelled "The Turning Point in the Civil Wat".  The information none the less, was far more balanced than that of the north.  Fully educated, we headed for the hotel.  

Atlanta is a big and impressive city. More that half of Georgia's population lives here.  It was getting late enough by now that the beer-time gong had struck and dinner east far behind.  

Tomorrow, we're on a mission to find us some crawdads at Orange Beach Alabama. 

Blue Ridge Mountains

We had a nice, but brief time in Raleigh.  Time to move on.  An easy drive on I-40, heading west to Asheville.  

As we approach, we decide to take a 60 mile loop through the Blue Ridge Mountains before we head into the actual town. It's still early enough and it is reportedly a beautiful area.  We would only be seeing a small part of it  

As we near the Asheville area, we pass an exit that we should have taken, but the signage on I-40 didn't match what google said it should.  Moments later, we realise our error.  No problem, we'll just take the next exit and wind our way back.  Easier conceived than executed it turns out.  We manage to see much of Asheville before we finally find our way. 

Back enroute, we found our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway exit. Low and behold, an Information Center just ahead too!

The very enthusiastic volunteer at the information center loaded us up with maps and enough information that we have kindling for next winter's fires.  He rambled on with directions, pointing here and there as though we knew what he was talking about and we've lived in this area for years.  Ya'd have thunk the stupefied looks on our faces would imply that we weren't really convinced about which direction to go. 

He assured us that we would enjoy ourselves, so off we set with reams of information.  

The main direction sheet had a list of things on it that resembled a pro-rally instruction sheet.  We began to follow it as close as we could.  Things weren't matching up terribly well and many of, no, none of the instructions had directions associated with them.  In fact, most instructions had "mile posts" associated with them.  It should be noted that Janet is sure she saw  3 milepost markers throughout our trip; i have yet to see one. 

It was rather disconcerting.  The landscape was still quite beautiful as we traveled so if you think of it, we could be in a completely wrong place, enjoy it, and never know what we didn't see...  

Up pops one of the points on our list, so we take it.  The road narrows substantially and is much, much more twisty. The speed limit drops from 35 to 15-25.  Still beautiful although now I'm spending most of my time negotiating the road. 

 

 

Suddenly we pop out of the woods into a small community.  We had been hoping to find a bunch of "good 'ol boys" strummin some bluegrass and sippin on some shine anyway; maybe this is it?

Nope, not here.  We finally learned that all of these "instructions" on the sheet were simply waypoints meant only to reassure us we were on the right road, rather that turns to make.  Boy, did we feel silly!

The only thing we could do now, was go around again. That, we did. 

 

 

I guess this is the third try, but we finally found the route we were looking for.  It was as beautiful as advertised but we are spoiled by the mountains of the northwest U.S. Nothing beats that!  

Back in Asheville, we found our hotel and made our to town.  Being the Friday on Memorial Weekend, the town is hopping.  Lots of things to see and do. 

Tomorrow, Atlanta. 

North Carolina or bust

Virginia Beach is an older town from appearances.  Nice. Hotels line the beach as far as the eye can see.   

The streets behind the hotels are lined with restaurants and souvenir shops.  Buffets seem extremely popular; probably to feed the hordes of kids that are no doubt, dragged to the beach in the summer with the family. 

We set sail for Kitty Hawk again today, more determined than ever to make it this time.  And make it, we did.  The first time we could use our National Park Pass. 

 

Indeed, the Wright Brothers had picked out a good spot to learn to fly.  The on site museum was being remodeled but there was sufficient information being displayed in a temporary building and we had already seen lots of information at the Smithsonian. 

  

Pressing on, we had to decide how far we could get before "beer time", which is the timeline we generally use to determine a day's trip.  

We had initially planned on making it to Asheville, North Carolina, up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We had, however, consumed enough time at Kitty Hawk that Asheville would have been a little far. 

Winston-Salem was chosen as the next destination.  Looks like a nice place in its within range.  GPS set and on our way, it occurred to me we were leaving the coastal area and I hadn't yet sampled a soft shelled crab. 

 

We took a lunch break at a nice place in Nags Head where I tried my first soft shelled crab. It even came, served with lump crab mayonnaise.  Two crabs in one!

Now too late for Winstom-Salem, Raleigh was next.  No more stops planned, so a hotel was booked.  We arrived around 5:30; today's "beer time". 

So, we're cruising down the highway and a drop or two of rain hit the windshield.  The rate of increase in drops is very similar to diving into a pool. Before you know it, wipers are having a hard time keeping up.  Not to far down the road, it lets up and we're just cruising with the water spray off of the road which eventually drys up.  

About the second or third time this happens, an alert was broadcast about some severe storm cells moving through, somewhere, that is pelting down quarter sized hail that they guarantee will damage your vehicle. 

We scramble to the maps in an effort to find out that we were, in fact, either in, or heading into the storm.  The land is flat enough that we could see huge storm cells on either side of us.  If the road curved in the right direction, or the cells moved far enough, fast enough, we could be in for some repairs if we couldn't find a bridge to duck under. 

Luck was with us.  We ended up between the storm cells as they move past us in the opposite direction. 

Tomorrow, Asheville for sure. 

First in Flight

Well, we certainly didn't see all of Washington DC, but we did see enough to satisfy our curiosity for now.  We'll be leaving the Alexandria/DC area today to continue our way south.  Although not a direct route, we are headed for Monticello and Kitty Hawk North Carolina.  Where we stay tonight is anyone's guess.  In fact, with the fast approaching Memorial Day holiday, finding accommodations could get a little dicey pretty soon. 

We found Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's estate) and had intended to take the tour.  We started looking at reality once we heard about the 1-1/2 hour wait to get on the tour and the 2 hours it took.  We still had several hour to go to get to Kitty Hawk and, oh, wait, Kitty Hawk closes at 5:00. We'll never make it today. 

  

Reality was setting in and we decided to tour the Thomas Jefferson museum and surrounding area, then move on. 

  

Discussions en route helped us decide to look for accommodations in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Janet is pretty good at searching all of the possibilities as I drive, and she found a screaming deal for tonight.  A two hundred something dollar room, just happened to be on sale for $99.  We booked it.  When we pulled and went to check in, the counter person offered us an upgrade.  It turns out, we have one of the 3 penthouse units, 2-bedrooms, full amenities, kitchen just off of the livingroom, for the same price!  Hell yea!

 The weather is a little iffy… tornado warnings close by and the promise of thunderstorms in our area. Right now it is about 65 degrees and blustery winds.  Guess we'll need to hang on tight tonight. 

(Backup) DC on foot

Long day today.  Up and out of our hotel, we headed for the Metro (the commuter train) and headed for downtown DC.  

 

Our intention was to hire a Hop-On bus and tour the area, however, the Smithsonion Air and Space Museum was just ahead.  A place that was on our list of things to see.  Well, at least my list. 

  

The next attraction was well within walking distance, so off we set. 

 The Capital Building was our next stop.  As we approached the building, they were in the process of securing the location as someone important was due to arrive.  It apparently wasn't us….  We found our way to the Capital tour but not until after we asked directions and still had to cross under yellow caution tape.  Somehow, we're not unfamiliar with meeting obstacles in the due course. 

 

Quite a nice tour. It seems that important person was none other than Mike Pense, the VP.  Just as he was leaving, I did catch a glimpse of him and by the time I managed to get the camera ready, he was walking out.  

 

If you look closely at the picture, you can just see the top of his white hair just past the doorway.  He came into the rotunda area to shake the hands of a few of the commoners.  I suppose that makes us uncommon; he didn't shake our hands. 

Off toward the Washington Monument.  We didn't actually go right up to it. It's big enough to see from much of DC and we had no desire to go inside.  

Before we knew we were at the South Lawn of the White House.  

We continued on to Lincoln Memorial, and finally the White House North Lawn. 

  

Janet has a couple of former coworkers here and had made arrangements to meet them for dinner.  Nice to see them again and Janet has the chance to reminisce. 

My feet are telling me that we walked 117 miles today although I think it is a little less.  Tomorrow we head 'em up and move 'em out.  Let's see where we end up. 

Washington Slept Here

The weather started out a little questionable this morning.  A light drizzle, that from the looks of things, could have gone either way.  The iffyness in the weather helped us decide where to explore today. 

Mount Vernon was George Washington's casa, back in the day.  Quite a nice spread he had there.  About 8000 acres.   The dude had some $$$...  Besides walking the grounds, we had a tour through the house.  Grand place.  He was apparently a rather clever guy that had a lot of varied interests including horticulture, whisky and being president.  

Actually it was a very enjoyable experience Ina beautiful and well preserved estate. 

 

  Mount Vernon 

The rest of the day was pretty low key.  We found ourselves back in the historic Old Town Alexandria in the late afternoon.  This gave us enough time to walk around the area and look at the little shops; also to pick out just the right spot for dinner. 

 

    

It'll be a little bit of an early night tonight as we'll spend all day tomorrow in Washington DC.  You know: tour busses, walking the mall, museums. All of the touristy stuff.