Day 10 - 5/19/07 (Atlanta, GA)

Well, it finally happened. After nine days of driving I hit my first bad weather. It rained for about an hour as I left Savannah headed for Atlanta. The windshield did finally get clean though and considering the near perfect weather I've had the whole trip, I had nothing to complain about.

I got to Atlanta at about 12:30 and met my friend, Davi, for lunch near his work. After we caught up and he went back to work I headed to downtown to check out the Georgia Aquarium. It's just a few years old and I was told it was supposed to be amazing. It did not disappoint. The amount of fish they had there were great, the set up was great, and the attractions were great. Of the 6 or so different corridors you can choose to enter, the one I chose to go into first was also the best. It was one of those where you walk through a glass tunnel that is inside the aquarium so you are surrounded by the water as if you are in it. My first thought was that if this was a crappy scary movie about killer sharks then at any moment the sharks would start banging into the glass until it broke and the tunnel was flooded. My second thought though was about how cool it was. There was a little boy behind me in the tunnel he screamed every 5 seconds as another big fish swam overhead, thinking that it was coming for him. It was pretty cute and funny...at least until it became annoying a minute later. One other feature worth mentioning was the 4-D movie they had there. It was clearly meant to entertain kids (a fact the lady who sold me the ticket did not think worthy of mentioning to a 29-year old guy who was clearly there alone), but it was still good. Besides being projected in 3-D, the theater was set up with props to make it seem more like you were there, like drops of water falling from the ceiling whenever a splash on the screen happened, or puffs of air coming out at your feet to correspond with parts of the movie. All in all, I enjoyed my time at the Georgia Aquarium.

Right outside the Aquarium was the Coke Museum, which was really there just to taunt me. The original Coke Museum had just closed and this new one that was being built is opening next week. So I was not able to go check it out. I don't really like coke, or any carbonated drink for that matter, so maybe this was payback for not purchasing their product.

With a few hours to spare and nothing planned, I considered driving over to the Carter Presidential Library, but then saw the CNN Tower and decided my time would be better spent there. I took a tour of the building and studios. It was as you would have expected...kinda cool to see the studio where they filmed the news, but not too much else.

Finally it was time to drop off the car. After 10 days of driving I said goodbye to the car that took me cross country and hopped on the MARTA (the Atlanta metro service) to the airport for my flight to DC. I don't know how I made it on the public transportation with all my crap...but I survived. I quickly realized that car travel was just so much easier than air travel. The airlines computers were down and they had to fill everything out by hand. People were not happy, including me, and I was convinced my luggage was going to get lost. After an hour of standing in line and not really going anywhere with my frustration growing each second, I decided I wasn't going to let this ruin my trip. I thought back to the good times I had and forced myself to breathe calmly. It was a good trip...

That's it for my driving portion of the blog. Check back on Tuesday for a quick update on the final weekend in DC and for some final thoughts!

Fast Facts:

Today's Mileage: 302
Total Mileage: 4,018

Today's Gas Price: 3.05

Day 9 - 5/16/07 (Savannah, GA)

Today I finally hit the eastern part of the country, Savannah, GA. I got here at about noon and quickly jumped on a trolley tour. I didn't know if I would enjoy it or not, but thought it was the best way to see the town and then I could decide what I wanted to do from there. It was definitely interesting and I saw a lot of historic buildings, etc...but I'll be honest; I dozed off from time to time. It was just such a nice day and I had just been driving for 4 hours or so...and I as I sit on the trolley with my arm hanging over the side and my head in the sun I started nodding off. I'm sure it was nice though, really.

When it ended I went down to the river and got some fish at a restaurant with a great view of the river. I also drank a local beer called Savannah Fest. As most of you know, beer is not something I enjoy, but just thought it fit with my meal and the surroundings.

Tonight I went to the Savannah Sand Gnats minor league baseball game against the Columbus Catfish. I had never been to a minor league game before so I was pretty excited about the experience. There were about two or three hundred people there. They have different gimmicks each night to get people there. Tonight was "business women" night; if you have a business card, and are a female, you got in for free. I don't know how well it worked though, as I didn't see any groups of women there. Mostly the crowd was made up of one t-ball team, a few couples, some father and sons, and some people I think just went to have something to do. There's a small bar in the bleachers with a patio deck looking over the field that was pretty cool. The biggest cheer of the night came in between innings when two kids were racing around the bases and the one in the lead fell perfectly on his face right before home plate, like in a bad movie, and lost. The best Gnats shirts I saw people wearing in the crowd were these two that each had the gnat logo and either "I'm buzzed" or "Bite Me." I ended up leaving the game after 5 innings. The Gnats were down 3-0. They ended up losing 5-2 and dropped to a league worse 10-29. Oh those Gnats...

After the game I went to a few bars in the historic district and River Street to see what the local scene had to offer and to watch some basketball. The highlight of the evening was when my fish and chips dinner was delivered and saw that the chips portion of the meal were essentially Mojos!!! Mojos potatoes made a certain way and are only made properly at Shakey's Pizza Parlor, a pizzeria mainly in CA...but also in 3 other states, including Georgia.

What did I do with the rest of my day? I tried to figure out how I am going to get home all the stuff I bought at the distilleries! I fly to DC tomorrow, meaning I just can't throw everything in the back seat of the car anymore. I brought two of the bigger items to the UPS store and had it boxed. I was going to ship it but decided to try and carry it with me on the plane, despite its awkward shape and size. I want to bring everything with me versus shipping it, not because I am cheap and didn't want to pay to have it shipped (ok, maybe that's part of it), but rather because I am just like a big kid and want to be able to play with my new toys as soon as I get home, not wait for it to be shipped by ground. After over an hour of creative packing, I was able to fit everything, but my bag is way overweight. I'm hoping they'll let it go. It's not like the good old days when I would put all the heavy stuff in my carry on, knowing that the carry on didn't have a weight restriction. Now I can't take the heavy bottles of alcohol I bought out of my checked bag and into my carry on. Being able to bring your own alcohol on the plane...those were the days, huh?

Fast Facts:

Today's Mileage: 217
Total Mileage: 3,726

Today's Gas Price: $2.89

Day 8 - 5/15/07 (Bardston/Loretto, KY, Corbin, KY, Clinton, SC)

Today Kentucky presented me with two of my favorite things, bourbon and the Colonel's chicken. Originally I was only going to go to the Makers Mark Distillery, but the Jim Beam was only a few miles away and figured I couldn’t pass that up, so I made it my first stop. The “tour” wasn’t really anything. I watched a short movie and then there’s a self guided tour and you never go in any of the working buildings. Instead you just view replica machines and read plaques about what they do. There is a tasting at the end though. The two I tasted were from the small batch collection, Baker’s and Basil Hayden’s. They were pretty good. The small batch collection is significantly better than the regular Jim Beam label.Next I went up to the Makers Mark Distillery. Now this tour was cool. This was a lot more interactive than the previous two. We got to go and see the huge vats where the corn, barley, and wheat mash was fermenting. I saw this at the Jack Daniels Distillery too, but at this one the tour guide encouraged us to stick our hand in the vat and taste it. We did this in three different vats, each one being at a different point in the fermentation process and therefore tasting differently. Most people just stuck one finger in. I stuck in my whole hand. After a visit to one barreling warehouses we went to the bottling and saw the bottles filled, labeled, and finally hand dipped in the wax. At the end of the tour we had the option of buying a souvenir bottle and dipping it in the wax ourselves. Of course I did this, but unfortunately, I chose the wrong person to offer my camera to, as the picture she took was about 15 seconds after I had already dipped and spun the bottle and placed it down to cool. Ugh!!! I almost paid the $15 to buy another bottle and do it again so I could get a shot of it, but finally convinced myself that it was ok, life would go on…After the distilleries, it was time to finally travel down to Corbin, KY, where KFC was born. The “museum” at the first ever restaurant definitely left a lot to be desired. It was pretty much some display cabinets showing newspaper articles, old menus, advertisements, and pictures of KFC through the years. You may think I'm being ridiculous, but the story of KFC is actually a great one. I won't go into it all now, but ask me sometime and I'll tell you how the Colonel went up and down professionally his whole life and didn't actually start becoming a success until he was 60. The first KFC was actually called “Sanders Cafe” and there was a full replica of the original kitchen from 1930 where the Colonel created his famous recipe. I don’t know if this is a site I would recommend to the average person traveling through Kentucky, but I loved it! After looking around and taking pictures, I bought some lunch, original and extra crispy. I also bought a great shirt that simply says, “I ate where it all began.”

I was hoping to make it all the way to Savannah, GA after Kentucky, but my extra time at Jim Beam and the time it took to fully savor the friend chicken threw my schedule off. So I began my drive through the Appalachians and into North Carolina and South Carolina for my first time. I made it to Clinton, SC by sundown, which is where I am right now, about 200 miles north of Savannah. Tomorrow morning I will finish the drive and spend the bulk of the day in historical Savannah. Check back then.

Fast Facts:

Today's Mileage: 482
Total Mileage: 3,509

Today's Gas Price: $2.87

Day 7 - 5/14/07 (Lynchburg, TN, Mammoth Cave National Park, Bardstown, KY)

(Note: I know it's been a few days since I posted. Please be aware that I finally caught up and added something for each day below).


Wow…today was awesome. I discovered two new places I would be ok living if I ever had to leave LA to join the witness protection agency. The first would be Lynchburg, TN, the home of Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey. I took the tour, compete with taking notes, and it was great. Learned a lot about the process, and the different products the company offers. The whiskey originally ferments and produces 124 proof Jack that is later watered down. There was one point where we were invited to smell the 124 proof whiskey as it was being “mellowed” through ten feet of charcoal. We opened up the barrels and the smell of alcohol was so strong, I think it may have gotten me drunk for a few seconds….so I lifted it again and took a second breath…

As some of you may know, Lynchburg is actually a dry county, as it has been ever since prohibition. Actually, Jack Daniels (real name Jasper Daniels) had a bar in Lynchburg but closed it during prohibition and never opened it again, instead focusing on the distillery more intensively when prohibition was lifted…so something good came out of it. Now the only place in the whole county that alcohol over 7% can be purchased is at the distillery (and that has only been the case for the past 12 years).

After the tour, I ventured to the gift shops. Big mistake…I was like a kid in a candy store. They had everything Jack from bar stools to BBQs to pool tables and much much more. I bought a few things to decorate my bar and the backyard...ok, maybe more than a few things. Let’s just say if you come to my apartment there will be no question whether or not “Jack Lives Here” (as they say in their ads).

From there I drove up through Tennessee to Kentucky to hit up Bardstown, the home of Jim Beam and Makers Mark. On my way I ran across Mammoth Cave National Park. I had some extra time so I got off the interstate and drove through the park. It was striking how different this national park was from the ones in Utah. Both beautiful in their own way, but yet so completely different. I think this is where Kentucky-ians must go for vacation. The road leading up to the park must have had 30 different attractions; water parks, golf, a wax museum, a dinosaur museum, a haunted house, just to name a few.

The second place I would like to live is Bardstown, where I am right now. It’s so perfect seeming. A small little city, with small streets, big lots of land, and big houses…not to mention it is the home of 4 different bourbon distilleries, including Jim Beam and Makers Mark. I found a bed and breakfast that I wanted to stay in. It was about $40 more than I would have spent at a motel, but I decided after a week of motels I should go for it. It’s a beautiful house, complete with rocking chairs in the front, which I am utilizing right now as I write this and drink some bourbon (really, the rocking chairs on the front porch is what sealed the deal when deciding to spend the extra money on this place). Across the street from this bed and breakfast is the home of Stephen Foster, who wrote My Old Kentucky Home. This phrase and a picture of his home is the symbol of Kentucky on its official State Quarter released by the US Mint.

I ended my evening at a bar a few blocks away simply called “Bourbon Bar” which had all types of bourbon imaginable. I had a few dinks recommended to me by some bikers who were sitting at the stools next to me. It’s a great little city and I may have to buy some land. Tomorrow I check out the actual distilleries and try to restrain myself form buying as much as I did in Lynchburg.

Oh, and I got an offer for a summer internship at a Johnson & Johnson’s company, Advanced Sterilization Products. I haven’t officially accepted yet, but I will soon, so if any of you want to offer me bundles of money to come work for you, I suggest you do it soon.Fast Facts:

Today's Mileage: 244
Total Mileage: 3,027

Today's Gas Price: $2.79

Day 6 - 5/13/07 (Memphis, Holly Springs, MS, Lynchburg, TN)

Since it was Sunday, most places in Memphis opened later than they normally would. I used this time to follow through on a friend’s recommendation to go to “Graceland Too.” Graceland Too is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I actually wanted to go at 2am, just because I could, but I just didn’t have the energy. Graceland Too is a person’s house in Holly Springs, MS (about an hour southeast of Memphis). This guy has collected thousands upon thousands of Elvis memorabilia and has over filled his house with it. He then opened his house up to tourists and gives the tours himself. This guy spoke with such a deep voice, trying to impersonate Elvis, that it sounded like he had something in his throat It was so bad that I felt I had to clear my throat just to help him out, which I found my self constantly doing without even knowing it. This guy was definitely sketchy. His son is named Elvis Presley and he must have told me 20 times that his son looks like a twin to the real Elvis. Another good story he told was that after 30 years of marriage his wife told him that she was tired and he need to decide if he wanted to be married to her or to his Elvis connection. They are now divorced. If you have the time, I definitely recommend going for the pure shock and outrageous factors. It was well worth it. I would recommend not going alone though. I knew I was safe because I knew hundreds of thousands of other people have passed through the house safely before me, but I still thought it was within reason that at some point he would opened a door and the remains of the body of his last guest would be there staring at me.

After Graceland Too, I went back to Memphis and went to the real Graceland. It was interesting. Not so educational or crazy or anything, but pretty cool. The house is smaller than I thought it would be. I was picturing a huge mansion. Don't get me wrong, this house was big, but not masion-esque. It was funny to see all the different room decors Elvis had set up. I especially liked the TV room in the basement that had a bar, large couch area, and three TVs for viewing of different shows. Of course, everything was in the original 70’s design as Elvis left it, making it more of a period piece than anything else. Upon leaving Graceland I saw a huge accident right in front of the driveway, undoubtedly caused by some passersby who were gawking at the house instead of paying attention to the road.
I ended the Memphis portion of my day at the National Civil Rights Museum which is at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. The exterior of the Motel is kept exactly as it was when King was killed. The museum portion is in a new building attached to the motel. I thought it was really well done. The museum takes you through all different times in the Civil Rights movement dating back to the early 1600s. It was easy to go through, and the exhibits were great and there were many life size replicas of buses, counter sit-ins, and much more. Without realizing it, the museum spins you through the new building and ends in the actual Motel, looking out the window of MLK’s room, looking right at the walkway where he was shot. Again, a definite must do.

Now I am in Shelbyville, TN, right outside of Lynchburg, TN. For those of you that don’t know, Lynchburg is home of Jack Daniels and first thing in the morning I will be driving there for a tour of the distillery. Jealous?!

Fast Facts:

Today's Mileage: 375
Total Mileage: 2,783

Today's Gas Price: $2.87

Day 5 - 5/12/07 (Little Rock, AR, Memphis, TN)

Like everyday so far, my day started with a drive to the next location, in this case Little Rock, Arkansas, which was beautiful and lush, especially compared to Oklahoma. I wanted to go to the Clinton Library located right next to the Arkansas River. After going through it, I thought it could have been longer and more detailed. The only time I was at the Reagan Library was when it first opened…I was probably 13 then. I don’t know if it was because I was small and stupid back then or not, but I recall the Reagan Library being much bigger. Nonetheless, I really liked the Clinton Library. It was interesting both from the presidential aspect, and from the fact that many of the events made me flash back to my high school and college days when Clinton was president. I found the Middle East sections particularly interesting/difficult, considering I lived in Israel for a total of a year and a half or so during Clinton’s presidency. I forget sometimes how close (at least how close it seemed) the world was to peace in the Middle East. Now we are in such a different place and I can only imagine how incredibly different things would be today if peace was reached in 2000.

I spent the next hour or two walking around Little Rock. The downtown area was like a ghost town. Admittedly, it was a Saturday, but it still seemed eerily empty. I considered staying in Little Rock for the night. There was a concert at an amphitheatre at the Arkansas River. It seemed like it was going to be cool until I noticed all the Disney Radio signs and then found out that some band I never heard of, The Jonas Brothers, were performing…anyone know them? I also considered staying to go to a minor league game, but in the end, Memphis beckoned.

When I got to Memphis my friend Eileen put me in touch with her friend Heather who lives there. It was very nice of both of them and Heather offered to let me crash at her place and take me out for dinner and drinks on Beal St. For those of you that haven’t been, Beal St. is like a smaller more tame Bourbon St. in New Orleans (I would think…I’ve actually never been). We went to a bar where there was a blues band playing and got some BBQ. I had been craving BBQ since getting to Arkansas earlier in the day and was happy to finally be eating it. The atmosphere at the bar and outside on the street was great. The whole evening was a lot of fun. The quote of the night came on the trolley home when, in my continued quest for good BBQ, we asked a Memphis resident next to us where the best BBQ in the city was and he responded, “in my backyard.” Unfortunately, this response was not followed by an invitation to try some of his backyard food.

Upon returning to Heather’s apartment complex (which was a huge lot of townhouses and an apartment building, much like a Park La Brea set up) I learned that Elvis’ first home in Memphis was actually in one of these buildings in her complex. How about that for a full experience? It was really great of Heather to offer her place to me and really helped me out. Thank you.

I would also like to congratulate my friend Dave Denicke who called me while I was driving to Tennessee today to tell me he was engaged!!!

Fast Facts:

Today's Gas Price: $2.89!!

Today's Mileage: 481

Total Mileage:2,418

Day 4 - 5/11/07 (Kansas, Oklahoma City, OK)

Today was supposed to be a pretty boring day. Driving about 680 miles, mostly through Kansas, didn’t really evoke any excitement…at most maybe some hopes I’d see some cool Wizard of Oz references on the side of the road, or, if I’m really lucky, Superman and Smallville.

Kansas wasn’t as flat as I expected it to be. Definitely no mountains, but there were hills, a lot of green as far reaching as I could see. It was landscape I had never seen before, at least not that vast. While it wasn’t the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen and I probably wouldn’t volunteer to drive it again tomorrow, I did enjoy doing it. The highlight of Kansas occurred while I driving on the interstate, as ‘they’ call it. I saw a small plane fly by and crop dust this farm right next to the road. How Kansas is that?! If it wasn’t for the fact that I was driving with one hand and eating Doritos with the other, I would have been able to react faster and take a better picture, but this one will have to do.

To make things more interesting, I took a detour I found on http://www.byways.org/. This site has a lot of scenic side trips that if you are driving cross country, I recommend you look into, especially if you don’t have a lot of time and just want to drive by something cool. This particular byway took me on a 60 mile side route into a farming town of Kansas. It was crazy to go down this small paved road for so many miles and see only the random house or farm. The only roads coming off the road I was on were dirt roads. I stopped a few times to get out and walk around. When I did, all I heard was silence and some birds chirping… in my tv/movie influenced mind, the birds reminded me of that scene in Shawshank Redemption when Red goes to the haystacks to find the box. I did hit a small little town while during this byway and, with the same thinking as the previous example, it reminded me of Clark Kent’s Smallville home, complete with the high school mascot painted on the water tower.

One final thought on byways…they aren’t major roads, so anticipate problems. As I got to the end of this byway I found a sign saying the road I needed to take was closed because a bridge was out. I assume this was due to last week’s tornado in Kansas, but I’m not sure. Fortunately, I was able to easily find another way out by backtracking my path a bit over the past half hour, but it could have been much worse.

Oklahoma was the end of the day. It was definitely flat, and minus a nice sunset, not so great to look at. I was planning to go to the Oklahoma City Memorial in the morning. I noticed that the website said the outside memorial was open 24 hours and remember thinking how ridiculous it was that it actually said it was open 24 hours…who would go in the middle of the night. By chance, I drove by it on my way to my motel around 11pm and there was actually a good amount of people there walking around. I was shocked and decided I needed to get out and explore further. The memorial was really well done. It not only looked nice, but you can feel the weight of what happened just by looking at the different aspects of the memorial…such as the large gates bordering the memorial with a reflecting pool between each side, one side labeled 9:01 the minute before the bombing when life was innocent, and the gate on the other side labeled 9:03, the minute after when nothing would be the same again. They also had chairs lit up to, regular size ones for every adult that was killed and 19 small ones for every child. I spoke to the Park Ranger, who is also there 24 hours, and he said that he has seen people there at all times of day and at all times of the year. Pretty remarkable.I ended the evening at my first Waffle House eating grits. Finally, congrats to all my friends graduating today at Marhsall!

Fast Facts:

Today's Mileage: 715 (by far the longest day)
Total Mileage: 1,937

Today's Gas Price: $3.05 (gas prices are finally going down. Thankfully, motel prices are dropping as well.)