Thursday, July 15
We concluded a great time in Venice, Florida with breakfast and goodbyes to Grandpa and Sharon. We got on the road again with Chattanooga on our mind (wait, that's Georgia huh?, well we'll be close enough... read on and see what I mean).
As we left Florida I got to thinking about my attitude toward this Orange State and I must say, I have reconsidered my position. I thought it would be too hot and it wasn't unbearable and in fact when I was on the beach there was always a nice little breeze.
Then there is the attitude toward the actual beach and the sand. Okay, so while I was on my bromantic date with Praveen (see Road Trip 2010 part 1, Sunday, July11) we actually walked up to this bridge that took us from outside-concert-pavilion-concrete area to the beach. I stopped and took in the scene and thought to myself, "self, this is the first time you will have seen the beach in some time, are you ready for this journey?" Praveen was unaware of my talk with myself and continued over the bridge, so I followed. I stopped before getting to the sand and told him the I wanted to take a picture of what I was looking at. I took several pictures and meshed them together to give you an idea of what I saw.
Not bad for a camera phone huh? So there I am viewing this and thought to myself, "self, its time to take the step into the sand." So, I did. One step off the bridge, then two then three and before I knew it I was almost to the water. I thought, "this is great, I have really overcome something big!" Praveen then took his flip flops off and continued walking...
Okay, so here is when I stopped talking to myself and started trying to prove that I really didn't have an issue with sand (I mean come on... it's sand!). I stepped out of my flip flops and began the progression toward the water. Sure enough, before I knew it I was standing in the water at Jacksonville Beach. I started looking around for seashells and realized that I was actually enjoying
myself. The water began to rise and that was my cue to begin the walk backwards. Praveen stayed put, but I inched my way back to my flip flops. When we got to them, he picked his up and walked further back, put them down and walked back to the water. I was freaking out! I didn't show my anxiety, because I didn't want my new friend to think I wasn't enjoying the talk we were engrossed in, but I wanted my flip flops back on... I resisted the temptation and put my pair with his. We did this two more times before the talk came to a close. The girls approached and so we put our flip flops on and welcomed our ladies. Julie looked at me and said, "if I didn't know any better I would say you are enjoying yourself on the beach." I just smiled. My attitude has definitely changed when it comes to vacationing in Florida because of these couple little moments... thanks Praveen and thanks Julie, for pushing me past my limits. :) Well, now that the Florida part of our trip was done it was now time to head north.
As our drive got going, Julie had a fantastic idea. She said, "Hey, why don't we put the iPod on all music shuffle and see how far we get." I loved this idea, because we have a ton of music and we rarely listen to any of it, so we began the music. I personally think that this "great" idea blossomed from a fear that my podcast (talk radio stuff) was going to be played the whole way, but I could be wrong. LOL!! So the first song comes on... any guesses? LOL... something I put on there for Ava... the Wiggles! We just looked at each other and laughed and then skipped on ahead.
I think road trips are all about the journey and not just about the location we're trying to get to, so Julie and I allowed ourselves spontaneity. So, from Florida to Georgia to Chattanooga, Tennessee! We stopped in Georgia for some peaches, because I wanted to taste them and boy were they amazing!
Food note: these peaches were juicy and sweet! We also got key-lime salt-water taffy and key-lime coconut chocolate treats (so, so very tasty!). We also ate dinner at Chick-fil-A, because we were in Georgia, I mean come on, where else would one eat when in the birth place of the greatest chicken fast food spot.
Julie and I arrive in such great spirits, because we really had fun talking and listening to music, laughing and bonding! We took our time making stops whenever we wanted to and got in a little later than we thought, but Grandma and Jim were still up anticipating our arrival (they love the night life!).
We unloading the Escape and had the grand-house tour and then sat down and enjoyed some really great conversation. It was my first time meeting the both of them, so I really enjoyed getting to know these very important people. Time escaped us, because we all were truly enjoying each other, but when we realized what time it was we all decided to get to bed.
Friday, July 16
After a great night of sleep, we woke up refreshed and much later than we expected. Breakfast was waiting for us and coffee was waiting for me! Mmm, mmm good! The conversations picked right up where we left them from the night before!
Food note: We had a great fruit medley, bagels and cinnamon toast! You have got to love the carb count!
We all hopped into the car and took a tour around this very interesting community. This 500+ housing community has a golf course in the heart of it, but that's not why it is so interesting. This neighborhood is interesting because it is both in Georgia and in Tennessee. The golf course has holes that are in Tennessee and some in Georgia. They have this tennis court smack-dab on the line; one half is decked out with Tennessee colleges and the other side with Georgia. I stood on the line and took this picture! It was a pretty cool moment... I just stood there for a moment and thought maybe you all could just stand here with me for a moment too.
Okay, moving right along!
We drove around and looked at beautiful look-out points and some really big houses in the area and then Jim asked Julie if she's ever been to Lookout Mountain and she said, no, but she always wanted to, so that is exactly where we drove to.
Because we wanted to do so much in this one day we all decided on eating an early lunch. At the base of this mountain, we drove around looking for somewhere to eat when Jim said that barbecue sounded good, so we looked for that. There was nothing around and we were getting closer to our spot. Jim said, "hey there is a KFC... how about that?" I'll be honest, when I am on vacation, I prefer eating at places that are not in my home town, but the pickings were slim and we were two lights from having to go up the mountain. Julie then saw this sign that read "Bar-B-Que Here" and pointed it out! We got excited and turned around, but at this very crucial moment we saw that it was at a place called Soup Bowl so we looked around one last time! The timing was amazing... Grandma, Jim, Julie and me all saw Sweeney's Pit Bar-B-Q at the same time... and there was much rejoicing!
Food note: The barbecue was really good, but the best part of this meal was the fried okra... wow, its been such a long time since I've had really good fried okra! So tasty! I enjoyed every single piece!
After lunch we headed up Lookout Mountain.
We walked around this old battleground and enjoyed learning about the history of this site. It was a very beautiful overlook too, so much green!
We really wanted to take a picture of us and this sign behind us, so we parked in a "no parking" spot and ran over, had an employee take the picture and then ran back to the car... LOL... so much fun!
We then met up with Uncle John, Aunt Connie and their son, Josh for a little boat ride! We (Jim, grandma and the rest of the crew) all got into the boat and began the trip to our dinner spot. The pontoon ride was enjoyable until the "warning" buzzer started buzzing! There was a feeling that things might not go so well and the stress kicked in, along with the fact that most of the people on the boat were hungry!
After a few restarts, the pontoon was good to go and we arrived to our spot, but that is when the waiting began ... (tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock) we waited... (tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock) and we waited some more. After waiting for about 45min (and a scare that we might get rained on when we head back to our vehicles via pontoon) the decision was made to take the trip back to the cars and to eat somewhere else. It never rained, but we did eventually get dinner at some Mexico spot!
Oh, the sleeping in was so nice! We slowly began the day which was thoroughly enjoyable, until we realized that Uncle John and his daughter Whitney had come to visit with us. Even worse yet, they had been waiting downstairs for a while... the rush began (play "rush" music in your head, from like a black & white silent film). We walked downstairs and enjoyed breakfast with everyone. It was a great time of fellowship and relationship building!
Sadly to say, it was time to say goodbye. We packed up our vehicle and headed home. Now, again, I believe that the vacation starts when we pull out of the driveway and is finished when we pull back in, so in my opinion and to Julie's greater need for spontaneity the vacation wasn't quite yet over. We drove and got that picture that I wrote about already (scroll up) after we made a quick stop at Krystals (yum yum yum).
Food note: Okay, here is the deal, I have always wanted to try Krystal burgers since I thoroughly enjoy White Castle and those two places are often compared. Honesty is the best policy... I like the White Castle burger better, but only because after eating it one can cause pain and agony to those in his/her vicinity. No, I'm just kidding, I really like their burgers. And I really like the spicy mustard that White Castle provides, but the Krystal burger was very good!
"On the road again - just can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is listening to music with my friends - and I can't wait to get on the road again. On the road again - Goin' places that I've never been. Seein' things that I may never see again - and I can't wait to get on the road again." We had the listening to music part down... time for the place we may never see again... a winery that we saw a billboard for and just stopped at. It was a really nice stop! Totally enjoyed ourselves eating cheese and trying wine, although I had to limit myself, since I was the driver. Then we went to a place the Julie has never been, but always wanted to visit... Nashville, TN!
We parked and started enjoying the main downtown strip where country music blared from every bar and hokey tourist shops declared that "the King" is still alive! Julie was in country music heaven and soaked it all in! We ate at the infamous Jake's Bar-B-Que which rocked our world!
Food note: I've eaten at Jake's before and let me tell you... There is only one other place that is better than Jake's. The beef brisket and sausage oozed with fat and the juices that God provided to them! There were seven different sauces to use and the sides were Deeeeee-licious! I was in food heaven, oh and Julie really enjoyed it too!
We walked in and out of bars to listen to the different upcoming artists and purchased our "location" magnet. We had a fantastic time together! Our vacation and road trip now had one last stop... home!
We listened to music, we talked about how much fun we had and we both got to rest our eyes a bit. We talked about dreams and our future and we laughed at the little inside jokes that we will now be able to share. We skipped songs that neither one of us wanted to hear and enjoyed the ones that we really liked. I have taken several road trips, but none as enjoyable as this one.
Julie taught me so much about myself on this trip and I can truly say that I am ending this trip at a better place in my life than when I started it. I was stretched and tested and shown new and amazing things and I have a deeper appreciation for my wife. Julie, you are an amazing person and I love you so very much!
