Woke up at the Charleston RV Park to a torrential downpour! Poor Jerry had to connect the Casita to the car and disconnect the electrical, water, etc. I held the umbrella and did my jobs of making sure everything is safe in the trailer and have all my navigational equipment in the passenger seat. We left early, about 8:30 and headed west on Hwy 78 toward Atlanta. We decided to take the highway as opposed to the interstate. It was easy and wonderful. The rain continued and Jerry had to dodge huge puddles in the road now and then. The homes ranged from tumble down shacks to beautiful plantation looking homes with manicured yards.
Walterboro was very sweet and we drove down the highway past brick homes and wooden Victorian ones. Churches everywhere. "If you don't climb the mountain you can't see the view", "God is good all the time". As we slowed down in towns we could hear the bells ringing. Sign, "boiled p-nutz" hand painted on a sign leaned against a mailbox... Denmark another small town 37 degrees at 10AM. Bare trees and pines with smaller trees in between that look like dogwoods. They have dried pinkish colored leaves still hanging on them. I wonder if they are dogwoods. They have a dogwood festival here. Lots of bird nests in the bare trees. Agriculture, looks like cotton and corn is grown here. Brown stubble now. Listening and laughing to "car talk".
Called Aunt Jerry in LA to thank her for our Passport America membership. We have saved a lot of money with her kind gift! We had a wonderful talk comparing notes on our travels.
As we headed west the terrain began to change to slightly rolling hills and taller trees with large outcroppings of stone
The rain started to slow down by Augusta as we switched to the interstate (I 20). Saw a bunch of daffodils near Madison that really reminded me of Riverbend. Got to Atlanta a bit early so we got off I 20 just west of town and took the 78 through Lithia Springs, douglasville and Villa Rica. We found a flea market in a storage place. Jerry needed a nap so he slept while I shopped...Many of the storage units were open and folks were selling out of them! It worked really well. We have been noticing that the cemeteries are covered in flowers and I found out they are silk and are sold for about $25 for a very nice bouquet.
Just not what we do in the west I guess. There were several stalls that sold these. I found a beautiful, youngish lady selling soy candles and soap out of a double sized one. She says she does a pretty good business and just loves doing it. Now I want to make soap and candles!!! I bought a light scarf (it's cold here!) and a bar of soap (she puts a loofa sponge in each!).
Back on the road and hungry so in Douglasville we started to see restaurants and pulled over next to the railroad tracks. Walked across the road and found the "Gumbeaux" with a long line in front. Jerry had to ask and we found out that it is the best restaurant in Atlanta! (and we are 40 min. from Atlanta!) They explained that the line was because it was just opening and they do not take reservations. We were told it would be worth the wait and it was! We split the shrimp and grits (that everyone in South Carolina said we must try) and it was wonderful! Jerry is not a grits guy(or polenta for that matter) so I got all I wanted. It was made with three cheeses and ummm ummm good!
We arrived at Sandy's house just past Villa Rica and talked and talked! I met Sandy in 1995 in Dallas at an orthopedic convention. She was a surgical nurse. I visited in 1999 for the Atlanta Convention and we have seen each other in San Francisco, New Orleans, and San Jose. She and her husband visited us a few years ago in Salyer. Her sweet husband Bill died in 2005. Sandy drove out to the north coast (she understands us!) a couple of years ago and we three plus my friend Laurie Garrison had a great road trip to Seattle for a conference. Sandy and Laurie attended and Jerry and I played around the San Juan Islands. Laurie's husband picked her up for the ride home and Jerry, Sandy and I went to Victoria, B.C.! We had a wonderful time and became even closer!
2/24/13 Sunday
We went out for breakfast at Sandy's favorite breakfast place, The Trading Post. Everywhere we go everybody knows her. After breakfast we did her Starbucks run. There they even knew what she wanted!
Jerry needed to see Bill so we stopped by the cemetery It is a beautiful place.
The grass is all brown and it has became a source of joking between Sandy and Jerry. The grass all looks dead and Sandy says it is dormant Bermuda grass. Jerry doesn't buy it! He says it's all dead! We even went to a golf course and the grass is brown except the greens. We drove around Atlanta and went to the Oakland Cemetery where Sandy's great grand parents are buried just across from Margaret Mitchell who wrote Gone with the wind.
Sandy's great grandparents
Margaret Mitchell on the left
Monuments to the confederate dead. The lion is from 1894. His head is resting on the confederate flag.
My favorite fountain of all time.
A peaceful beautiful place...Sandy drove us all around Atlanta and the surrounding areas. So many beautiful buildings and homes.
The capitol of Georgia
Back to Sandy's and we walked her yard. She lives in a brick ranch style house on a country road. The railroad track is just across the street.
That's an Amtrak train!
Jerry and I are so used to trains we sleep great. Chinese for dinner at a place with more choices than we have ever seen!2/25/13 Monday
We walked the mall with Sandy and her sister-in-law, Vickie. We did 2 miles! Then IHOP for breakfast and then Starbucks! These southern girls know how to do it! We next went to Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta and found the brick Sandy had bought us back in 1996!
This is the statue of the fellow who invented coke. Note Sandy's drink of choice!
We were spellbound by the largest tank in the world!
First we walked through a tunnel and then.....
Sorry it's so blurry...
The baluga whales aren't very photogenic because they are soo white!
Poison frogs. So brightly colored we didn't believe they were real until they moved. I have video!
For an early dinner we went to "Six Feet Under" a pub and cafe right across from the cemetery! It was great and we met an Atlanta Roller Derby girl! Kristi is a non skating official for the Humboldt Roller Derby!
A day off, just sittin" around catching up on stuff....
Sweet Sandy's sweet cats
For weeks I had been trying to catch up with a friend I made at St. Joseph's in Eureka. She was a Physician's assistant for the heart surgeon for over a year. She left for other great adventures just before I retired. I knew she was from the south so somewhere in Alabama I called her to see if we could meet. We tried Tampa and Chareston but had finally settled on Atlanta so she could see her brother who lives here. Sandy, Jerry and I met Jodi at the Gumbeaux Restaurant in Douglasville, just down the road from Sandy. Neither of the local girls had been there but Jerry and I had on Friday night!! The ladies hadn't met but you'd never know it. Medicine is a great friend maker! We had a wonderful time and I think Sandy and Jodi each made a new friend. Poor Jerry never got a word in edgewise!
We talked for hours and got home at 10:30!! The latest on the trip!
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