Actual departure time: 11:30 am
Oh, well. We are on vacation....
We spent about 8 hours on the road today, more than we expected, but it was a gorgeous day and we saw lots of beautiful countryside, from Georgia piedmont to mountains to farmland. None of us had been to Chattanooga in a while (we waved to Preston and Denise as we passed Cartersville), so it was great to stop there for lunch. TG took us to a hip pizza place where he's taken his debaters before, Lupi's (lupi.com), a locally owned place with locally grown food. Delicious. Then we went across the street to a shop that sold nothing but books, moonpies, and RC cola! I saw a scooter pie for the first time since the 1980s. Also, Connor's eagle eye spotted a gallery announcing the "Art of Soviet Russia." Only Connor, at the peak of his obsession with all things Russian, could find a gallery specializing in Soviet art in Tennessee. It was closed, but we promised Connor we'll call ahead on our way back and take a look. TG's mom would love the artwork -- we peeked inside and the paintings were very beautiful. Many portraits of peasants. I'd love to take photos of the faces -- very expressive.
Keeping us entertained cross-country was Paul Scofield's radio production of Hamlet. "To be or not to be..." in Greece?
No, if there's a guy sleeping under a tree, we must be in Tennessee...
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Thank goodness for Kelli's Garmin GPS unit or we never would have made it out of Nashville -- we got trapped on the wrong side of the river and couldn't make it out without a boat. Thanks, Kelli! We're working on names for the Garmin unit, after listening to her voice. So far we think she's kind of a "Trudy," but Connor's been calling her "Ophelia." I believe this has something to do with listening to Hamlet. Just guessing there.... I told Connor Ophelia wasn't the best choice cause we don't want her going mad and sending us God knows where.
Mark, you would be pleased with Connor's diligence in exercising, even while in the car. All he had for equipment in the back seat was a camera tripod, but he used it to do curls. ;-)
Our final stop of the day was Paducah, Kentucky. TG claims that his father was named the Duke of Paducah and presented the key to the city for his work there with debate. We're not sure of the full story, but TG says that the title is inherited, so we should probably have gone straight to City Hall to make sure they knew of the Duke's return. Connor commented on the state of his lands and people, and said he should collect his back taxes.
We strolled downtown to get a view of the Tennessee River.
We expected Paducah to be a quiet country town, but instead we heard live rock and roll and threaded our way through a big crowd. Car show!! Woo hoo!! We got our redneck on and had a good time.
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(Connor doing his "My name Borat" imitation)
Thanks to Mum's cool yellow pen, we were able to make notes for the blog on our favorite things of the day.
Connor decided to eat escargo and frog legs at the Whaler's Catch, which as you may guess from its name is not in fact a French restaurant but a seafood restaurant. Nevertheless, he pronounced his French cuisine yummy.
And beignets for dessert!
Next stop, Kansas City. Stay tuned!
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