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Posted by Val on September 9th, 2010 at 10:01 am | Permalink | No Comments » |
On my road trip I drove by this giant cross.
Looked very much like the world’s largest cross.
Took this photo out my window as I drove past.
Ran out of room on my card for more.
Site: Giant Cross
Location: 345 Ershell Collins Rd, La Follette, TN (visible from I-75)
Date: September 5, 2010
Giant Cross in La Follette, TN | No Comments » |
Posted by Val on September 7th, 2010 at 12:56 pm | Permalink | 1 Comment » |
Sunday we woke up early and I made the executive decision to cut my trip a day short. I allotted two days to get back but looking over my map I kept thinking I’d probably only end up a few hours from home anyways. So I decided to cut out a few things and just drive.
And drive I did.
I drove a little through Asheville and didn’t see a thing I was looking for. I did have a man wish me safe travels at a gas station because he saw that I was “far from home.” Indeed.
I drove through a bit of the Smoky Mountains. Which were pretty amazing. I’d love to drive through more when I have more time…and when it’s not a holiday weekend. Not sure how traffic is on a normal day or even a normal weekend, but it was a bit crowded.
I drove through Cherokee Village, an interesting little town with a giant wooden Indian. But I just drove through. Because it was insanely crowded and there was also a lot of construction around said giant Indian.
As I wound my way through the mountains I stopped on the side a couple of times to take it all in.
And it was all so beautiful.
And then I drove. Drove. Drove. Drove.
I was a little nervous as my route took me through Pigeon Forge which was horribly slow. But luckily I didn’t hit much traffic elsewhere!
I made a couple of stops…once for an airplane-shaped filling station, once for a giant chicken I didn’t find, and once for a giant chair.
And for Krystals.
And for gas.
I knew I was back in Chicago when I was driving fifteen over the speed limit and was still being passed left and right. Most of my trip everyone pretty much went within five miles of the speed limit. So it is a really good thing that on road trips my normal Chicago road rage seems to melt away and I just enjoy a leisurely drive.
After leaving at around 8am Eastern I rolled into Chicago around 11:30pm Central meaning that I drove from just about sixteen and a half hours. I was pretty tired but I went to my friend’s place to eat a taco, drink some beer (yeah, I drank beer?), and then fall asleep.
Because I wasn’t just ready to go home.
And a vacation isn’t over until you’re home.
VA/NC Road Trip: Day 9 | 1 Comment » |
Posted by Val on September 6th, 2010 at 12:36 pm | Permalink | 2 Comments » |
Saturday was RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival in Lawndale, North Carolina!
Sadie and I left her place early for the drive to the festival. And on our way we stopped for some breakfast to give me my first taste of Bojangles.
We met up with her sisters Carrie (of Travelin’ Thrifty) and Jamie (the other half of the Hungry Sisters) and a whole bunch of others for the day.
We spent the day listening to some awesome bluegrass music and drinking and eating hanging out and moving with the shade and eating the best grilled cheese sandwich ever made (seriously, cheddar, apples, and onions on cheddar bread — delicious).
I don’t like beer so I chugged a bottle of wine I bought at the winery earlier in the week. I may have ended up drinking the entire bottle…
I also tried livermush for the first time! I’d never even heard of livermush until the day before when Sadie told me they’d have it. It kind of tasted like breakfast sausage but I don’t think I need to ever have it again. I still have no idea what it is. And don’t really need to.
The last two groups of the day were really amazing and got us all up dancing. Or maybe we were just really drunk. Or both.
First there was the Steep Canyon Rangers, who were the only group of the day I’d ever heard of before (I don’t listen to too much bluegrass in Chicago) and I even saw them earlier this summer at Ravinia Festival when they were playing with Steve Martin.
The final band was Mountain Heart and they were pretty awesome too.
We set up camp for the night on the side of the festival right between the grounds and some horses and chilled with some music on the guitar and on Carrie’s autoharp.
And then we settled into our tents for the night.
Oh, and North Carolina as stars. I don’t see much of those in Chicago.
VA/NC Road Trip: Day 8 – RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival | 2 Comments » |
Posted by Val on September 3rd, 2010 at 10:41 pm | Permalink | No Comments » |
Sadie had to work this morning but when she was done she raced back home to start our day’s adventure! She got a nice slice of a day in the life of Silly America, and I got a nice slice of NC BBQ (quite literally!)
Out first stop was Korner’s Folly, a house that contains 22 rooms spread out over 7 levels on 3 floors…
To make that happen this included some floors that were cut in half so that they were only slightly taller than us. And there were some pretty slim doors and stairways too!
After our tour of the house we went to get some Lexington BBQ…I had a chopped BBQ sandwich and some hush puppies and fries…
I also had my first experience ever with sweet tea.
And my oh my was that sweet!
Next we went on a little giant furniture tour. First we went to Thomasville and saw the World’s Largest Duncan Phyfe Chair.
Then moved on to High Point to see the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers.
Then saw the World’s Largest Highboy Chest in Jamestown!
We then moved on to other things like a shell-shaped gas station, a cow in the sky, and a big coffee pot!
We took a little time off from touring to pick up some supplies for tomorrow’s bluegrass festival at the Wal-Mart.
Then we headed to the downtown Winston-Salem area for a little street fest with performers.
By then we were kind of hungry again so we headed to Mellow Mushroom and shared some garlic parmesan pretzels and a Philosopher’s Pizza…
And it was delicious.
And now I am stuffed.
VA/NC Road Trip: Day 7 | No Comments » |
Posted by Val on September 3rd, 2010 at 3:47 pm | Permalink | No Comments » |
Thursday.
After a bagel.
After a quick stop at the rest area because Flopsy needed a bathroom break.
After a detour to see a big pencil.
I left Virginia and rolled my way into North Carolina.
I headed out to Mt. Airy AKA Mayberry.
A town devoted to Andy Griffith.
And I met up with Sadie! Sadie is a HungrySister and is awesome and saw that I kind of had not much to do for a bit and offered to let me come stay with her a day earlier than planned!
In “Mayberry” there was a statue.
And a gas station.
And some other stuff.
And a jail.
And a museum we couldn’t take photos in.
We honestly never watched the Andy Griffith show all that much so we weren’t too familiar with anything else!
We were a bit hungry so we went to a fast food place called Cook-Out, which was definitely delicious!
I had a burger topped with homemade chili & slaw, mustard, and onions and a strawberry cheesecake milkshake. And we split some onion rings. It was delicious.
Sadie had to head off to work for a bit so she drove me to the bottom of a mountain and said “drive that way.”
And so I did.
And at the top it was beautiful.
I hiked around a bit and then met back with Sadie in Winston-Salem for a chill night of TV and Taco Bell preparing for the day ahead…
VA/NC Road Trip: Day 6 | No Comments » |
