TRavels with Sadie Part Zwei

After Pioneer TN, we made it clear to Cumming GA where Scott and Debra Douglas reside. Scott is an old sailing/racing buddy of mine when they lived in Long Beach. But alas, their careers took them away from us twenty plus years ago, so we don't see near enough of each other. They live in a very nice community northwest of  Atlanta and the Chattahoochee River runs beside their property. Scott can, and usually does, hunt or fish there every day of his life. Debra has just retired after tearing up the banking world. Her mother Irene, who just passed away, was a top notch cook and would prepare wonderful wonderful Italian feasts when I showed up. Deb has a big binder of her mother's recipes and, I am glad to report, is almost as good as mama. In time, I'm sure she'll surpass her.
So while we were there, we ate, drank, told stories and laughed and then hit the repeat button. If I hadn't been delivering my brother-in-law's car to Florida, we'd still be there. Why would anyone want to leave?
But duty called and south we drove to Gainesville FL.
Next day we finished the southerly leg and drove to Fort Myers and delivered BIL's car. We went back to Cape Coral and stayed with my friend Bud. Bud is a retired TWA 767 captain who used to live in Long Beach. He is the one who got me into flying. While still a student pilot, I used to fly Bud's Trimotor airplane around So. Cal. In case you don't know, Buffy crashed at Fullerton airport about five years back and Bud moved to Florida. He has a 38 foot catamaran in the canal behind his house, got a captain's license from the Coast Guard and takes folks out on charters. We went sailing on the Gulf of Mexico in the ICW, Intracoastal Waterway, and crewed on a few charters.
Next, eating our way out of Florida through NOLA to So. Cal.

Travels with Sadie Part Ein

It was one hell of a nice trip. We rented a Toyota Yaris from Hertz and headed east. The first night was spent in Flagstaff, AZ. We were traveling with Miss Sadie Marie our attack Golden Retriever, so we stayed mostly at Motel Sixes. In case you don't know, Motel 6 is dog friendly chain wide. You simply tell the desk clerk that there is two adults and a dog. They don't ask if the dog is house trained or mean. They just hand you the key(s).

We drove on to Amarillo, TX and stopped at The Big Texan Steakhouse for dinner. Once again, in case you don't know, The Big Texan has a 72 ounce steak dinner and if you can eat the whole thing in less than one hour it is free. If you can't it's over $100. I didn't have a 72 Oz. steak but none-the-less ate heartily. Next door to the restaurant Big Tex has a motel, so we dropped anchor there. It was sixties funky. Not run down, but funky. I really liked it.

On day three, we drove clear to Tennessee. On the way, we got off of the interstate at Fayetteville Rd. in Van Buren Arkansas. We we weren't expecting much in rural Arkansas, but boy were we wrong.  We found Frank's Italian Restaurant and Grill. It appeared to be a nicely refurbished Fazoli's and the food was great. The only downside was Van Buren is in a dry county, yes Virginia we're in the South, so no wine was harmed in the devouring of our repast. But the food was big city, Little Italy caliber. 

We stopped by Graceland after hours and thought that we'd stay nearby and tour Elvis' home the next day. The neighborhood proved to be to rough, so we forged on to Jackson TN. We learned that on long distanced trips, it's best to avoid staying in urban areas and drive the extra hour, or so, and head for the boondocks.
On our way north, we stopped at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green Kentucky. To me, this is on a par with the  Sistine Chapel as far as holy places go. It is part shrine to Zora Arcus-Duntov and part to the Corvette itself.
We continued our drive up to Nashville, Indiana. My friend John lives in a one hundred year old barn out in the middle of nowhere. John lives an idyllic life in this bucolic paradise  and I always try to visit him when I'm in his neck of the woods. There is a huge pond across the lane from the barn that Sadie loves to play in, but it was much too cold for her as far as I was concerned. We went into town, Bloomington, and ate at Max's pizza. We had a Breakfast of Champions pizza. It was very good. 

The next day was Thanksgiving and we drove clear to the magic city of Cleveland, the place of my birth. As my son Dave said to me, this just might be the last time that I go there so it was a bit bittersweet.

Saturday morning, we set off to Florida. After many years of pleading, my sister and her husband finally decided to move to a warmer climate, IE Fort Myers, FL.

Due to health reasons, we stopped in Pioneer, TN at a Comfort Inn. It cost us three times as much as a Motel 6, but it was worth it. 

The next day while driving through Tennessee, we stopped at a Captain D's Seafood joint. Captain D's is best described as an upscale Long John Silvers. Of course compared to LJS, anything is upscale.

Next leg, Cumming, GA follows. The real fun begins.