Tennessee turnaround

 

Of course, Ann is the DJ of our road trip and makes sure our songs sync with our destination.

We're staying in the Johnny Cash suite Air B n B. Great little place in a sketchy neighborhood.

First stop was to Centennial Park to see the Parthenon. Ann and Charlie took a break on the beautiful sandstone benches.

This exact replica of the Parthenon is a structure from the 1897 Centennial Celebration in Nashville. They built this to celebrate the technical and social progress of the new age. Nashville has the reputation of being the Athens of the South. Who needs Greece when we have grits?

It was so nice to see spring flowers in full bloom when it was 31 degrees back home today.

The park had a small lake to walk around. It was surrounded by beautiful trees that looked like cherry trees. 

 

Our next stop was a belated birthday dinner at Urban Grub a place recommended by our Air B n B host. We had homemade mini biscuits with homemade butter and jam to start and a cocktail to toast our first vacation dinner eating food that was not fast cooked or premade.

Ann had the shrimp and grits and I had a double cut pork chop marinated in agave mustard and topped with smoked peaches. We shared the oven baked asparagus. It was delicious!!!!

We at outside on the patio and Charlie fell asleep during dinner. He was tired from all the sightseeing. He did wake up in the car and try to eat my leftover pork chop out of the "to go" box but I caught him just as he was sticking his face in to take a lick.

Ann really wanted to see the Grand Ole Opry so we drove off to find it. It's actually just a big building right next to a giant mall across from a Dave and Busters. It wasn't as grand as we expected.

Had to take the tourist picture by the giant guitar to prove we were here. Stay tuned for more adventures from Nashville. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow.

Driving, driving, driving...

We spent the entire day on the sunny, concrete highway traveling north to Atlanta. We left at 9:00am, had a quick fast food lunch in the car, listened to a really bad book on audio and stopped for gas many times.

We hit traffic in Tampa and again in Atlanta so we didn't arrive to our hotel until 8:30pm. Dinner was cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs stolen from breakfast and wheat thins.

Best part of the day was all the texts and calls with birthday wishes. Not a typical celebratory day but still grateful for friends and family, excellent car snacks and a comfy bed to sleep in tonight. Stay tuned as we make our way to Nashville tomorrow!

Last day in paradise

Charlie was happy just to sit all day in the chair and watch us read our books in our favorite hotel hangout spot.

We waited to venture out to Siesta Key Beach at sundown to avoid the crowds and feel the famously soft sand under our feet.

Although it was windy and we had to wear our masks, this did not stop us from enjoying our last day in Florida. We watched the terns and gulls soar around us and tried to savor this sliver of time.

A beautiful sunset on our last day in paradise. Tomorrow we hit the road to Atlanta. 

 

The fun never ends in Florida

While Randi was taking a nap trying to rest and recover, Ann was outside with Charlie. The fire alarm went off but Randi was in such a deep sleep that Ann had to call her on her cellphone to wake her up. Since she was in pajamas, it took her a minute to get presentable. She groggily staggered out to the secret pool area they had found and waited out the alarm. The trucks sped by with their lights and sirens but there was no real fire. Just another fun day in Florida!

Since Ann hasn't felt better we drove back to have her tested again for COVID. We drove to Siesta Key Beach to await the results and to see the beach from afar. Test was positive so back to the hotel we went after a quick stop...

Donna and Jack told us about a takeout fish sandwich place so we dined "ala car". The food helped us cheer up a bit from the test results.

This was our scenic view from our lunch car window of Turtle Beach. If you squint real hard, you can imagine the waves and sound of the ocean. After this, we went back to the hotel where a huge thunderstorm rolled in so Charlie and I got to take a walk in the rain while Ann slept in the room. 

 

Frozen in Florida

So that allergies reaction I had from all the pollen in Savannah turned out to be COVID. An hour before Sarasota I decided to take a home test kit in the parking lot of a Starbucks. It was not the BinaxNow brand and it immediately turned positive so I figured it wasn't accurate. To be sure, Ann found us an open quick test site that closed at 5:00pm so I drove like Mario Randretti and got us there with 5 minutes to spare. I tested positive and Ann tested negative. 

Charlie in his nook of our hotel room. He's been a great traveler and sleeps wherever we tuck him into his bed. Luckily, I found a nice Homewood Suites with a kitchen area and close to Walgreens and Publix. I've been masked up, resting and taking meds hoping Ann doesn't get it too. This will be a miracle if she doesn't as we spent hours in the car as I sneezed and coughed my way to Florida. So far she's still testing negative. 

We found a deserted spot outside our room to isolate and get some air. Wearing a mask in 90 degree weather isn't fun but the breeze helps. Stay tuned for more of our exciting adventures!

Touring Savannah (part two)

 

Patriotic citizen of Savannah

We took a 90 minute historic trolley tour around Savannah. Learned lots of new facts about live oaks and second story entryways on buildings. One awkward moment we had to endure was when the woman right in front of us projectile vomited out the trolley window. We switched seats quickly.

Lots of historical guests popped on board. This is Robert Smalls, who gained his freedom from enslavement by selling secrets to an American ship captain after he stole a boat to escape his fate. Juliette Low also hopped on board to tell us about the Girl Scouts.

The last remaining cotton exchange building that shut down for good in 1956.

We saw Spanish moss on live oaks, Forrest Gump's bench location, buildings where famous movies were shot, almost 22 park squares throughout the city, the church where MLK gave his "I have a dream" speech before he headed to Washington DC. It was quite a tour!

A 45 minute wait for lunch here sent us to a small Chinese food place instead. We had amazing steamed dumplings. I guess the south knows how to serve up food from the far east.

We spent our last evening here walking on the river with Charlie. Had dinner outside watching the boats and people go by.

All the hotels here have lobbies adorned with beautiful art and cool artifacts.

This woman is about to fly into the river.

The scenic fountain that was mesmerizing to watch.

Art abounds all over this beautiful city.

The famous waving girl statue. She represented a real person who raced to the shore to greet each ship as it arrived in Savannah every day for over 25 years.

Sunny Savannah (or the beginning of our travels with Charlie)

 

Over the bridge into beautiful Savannah in record time.

Funny story time: As we posed with Charlie in the stroller, people walking by kept starting at us. I thought that they were looking at how cute Charlie was. As Ann turned around to take my picture, she looked at me and started laughing hysterically. She said, "They're not staring at Charlie, they're staring at you!" Turns out I had the top three buttons of my blouse undone and it was wide open! (must have happened when I set up his stroller) 

Ann and Charlie loved looking at the geodes on display in the lobby of the Riverside Hotel.

Dinner was at a tiny corner pub. Chicken pot pie, sausage rolls and beer. Charlie liked the pot pie the best.