Daytona Beach

Today is our first day in Daytona Beach and it is great to be by the ocean. Felice and I took an hour walk on the beach and it was so peaceful. Walking in the surf was strenuous and made up for all of the exercise we have missed over the last two weeks. Later in the day we headed out to New Smyrna Beach and checked out the city. We wandered down to the beach and then to the stores. Usually we have very poor luck finding anything of interest at gift shops in beach towns, but for some reason, we found some great stuff. Our finds will save us a lot of time shopping once we return home. Tomorrow is another day in Daytona and then it is on the road again. While we are having a great time, we are looking forward to circling back to the west and gaining the three hours back that we lost coming east.

Tybee Beach (Savannah) and on to Daytona

We headed out this morning to Tybee Beach, which is about 30 miles east of Savannah. It is a nice little beach town right on the Atlantic Ocean. It has a historic fort, Fort Pulaski and a lighthouse that you can climb. Of course we didn't climb it. It seems like a great place to spend three or four days basking in the sun. Here is a shot of the beach looking south. Hopefully you can see the parasailer in the distance.

After our beach outing, Felice and I headed down to Wilbur-by-the-Sea (next to Daytona Beach) to visit with Uncle Stu and Aunt Jane. We look forward to spending some real quality time with our family as well as some quality time on the beach since we are a three block walk from the beach. We probably will hang around for a couple of days, so we likely won't post for a couple of days. Gary and Felice

Savannah

We left the nicest hotel room we have had so far to go to Savannah. This time Felice had her toughest task because there was an added criteria that she need to achieve in a hotel room and that was that the room had to have digital high definition television so that I could watch the University of Arizona football game. Tough task, but she accomplished it. Of course the first hotel we went to didn't have digital tv, but accross the street from the hotel we found a synagogue and an old one at that. Apparently Jews settled in Savannah in the 1700's just like in Charleston. Once we got to the appropriately accessorized hotel I breathed a sigh of relief. We then headed into Savannah. Mostly we wandered the downtown area and hung out by the bay. It is a beautiful area and the weather was wonderful. Felice wanted to make sure we had seafood while here so she asked a local where he would go for seafood. His reply, "I would go to Red Lobster." I guess we were on our own and wound up at Anna's. The meal was good and now it is back to the hotel for the game. On our way out of town, we found an interesting place, that I have pictured below.

Leaving Atlanta area

We headed for Charleston this morning and I decided that since we were passing by the city of Augusta, Georgia, site of The Masters, that we should stop and check it out. So we left the freeway and headed into the city. Although I thought it was a good idea, it turned out to not be very fruitful. The Augusta Country Club is a private club and frankly, we couldn't even find the private gate to gawk in. The best we were able to do was to drive on some of the blocks near (but not part of) the country club. The city is a pretty normal one, but I imagine the city must go crazy during The Masters. Then it was on to the freeway. During our travels, we have fallen into a pattern. Felice does a Google map for our next stop and gives me the directions as we approach each turn. Once she gets me started, she proceeds to research hotels and call seeking the best rates and amenities. Today, Felice had a particularly frustrating time of it since certain areas of the city of Charleston are very expensive. When it was time for my next turn, she was on the phone and I had to wing it. So I made the turn, but then got off the freeway and pulled over to consult with her once she was off the phone. It turned out that my stopping place was a gas station with gas priced at $2.999 per gallon. I just couldn't pass that up eventhough I only needed half a tank. We got started again and got to the hotel. Once we relaxed, we dove into the downtown core of Charleston and checked out the city. We walked 5 miles today (flashback to NYC) and found the city to be charming. I thank Felice for allowing me to use an hour of our walking to be on a board meeting/conference call. After some window shopping, we had a nice dinner at Sticky Fingers Rib Restaurant where we had a rib sampler of 4 different styles of ribs. They were St. Louis Rub, Sweet Carolina, Kentucky Bourbon and Original Carolina. We were stuffed, but felt like we walked off the dinner before dinner. On the way back to the car, we found an old (I mean old)reform synagogue founded in approximately 1792. Thought about attending Friday night services, but we were not exactly attired appropriately (shorts and short sleeve shirts) plus we would have had to wait an hour for the service to begin. On the way back to the car we found a cute little art gallery specializing in local artists. As I walked in I immediately saw the work I wanted. Turned out that we liked it so much, we bought all three of the artist's abstract oil paintings on canvas. Because we expressed an interest in all three, the proprietor offered us a package deal. Like Felice's dad used to say, "If one is good, three is better." We are back in the hotel, planning our time in Savannah tomorrow. We have surpassed 2,500 miles so far and it is conceivable we could get to 6,000 miles before we return.

Green room at the Opry

While on our tour, we were in the green room and I found a picture of Kristin Chenoweth during her 2011 premiere at the Opry. I thought I would share it as Kristin has been a favorite of ours from her Broadway performances as well as television.

I thought Lauren might enjoy seeing her, especially at that venue.

Atlanta

Onward to Atlanta with a first stop at the World of Coke. Very interesting cross between an amusement park and an infomercial for Coke. Really enjoyed it. They even have a 4D ride, kind of like Captain EO at Disneyland. Here I am pictured in front of the vault where they store the Coke secret formula.

After the World of Coke it was on to a local downtown restaurant called Stats. We had a very nice meal and then it was off to Atlanta Olympic Centennial Park. Very cool space. We are spending the night outside of Atlanta in Conyers, Georgia and will be on to Charleston, SC tomorrow. A couple of observations. Bumper-to-bumper traffic in downtown Atlanta at 7:30 in the evening. Crazy, and crazy drivers. With a speed limit of 55 mph, once the freeway opens up, certain drivers travel at very fast speeds, like 90 mph. Some of those were truck drivers. Traveling between cities is an interesting challenge as there are a lot of semi-trucks driving between the cities. You have to worry about trucks pulling out at any moment and impeding your progress. Have to be on your toes at all times. It made the 300 miles driven today a bit difficult, but we got here in one piece. Be well and hope to post from the eastern shore very soon.

Nashville

The Grand Ole Opry in Music City, Nashville is the Mecca of country music. Although Opryland was closed down by the Gaylord Corporation, the Grand Ole Opry lives and thrives as we found out on our tour today. Although we are not fans of country music, the tour was interesting and a worthwhile stop. I have enclosed a picture of the stage and I am sure that if we were afficianados, we would have been moved when we stood on it, especially the grail of the wooden circle take from the Ryman Theater.

By the way, when we purchased tickets we got to use a senior citizen discount (over 55 years of age) for the first time for us. So this was a moment for us. Speaking of moments, when Felice and I were at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis looking at the ducks, Felice had a discussion with the hotel historian. He explained to her that people come from far and wide to see the duck procession so they can check another item off their bucket list. Somehow I just don't think I see watching ducks march in a southern hotel an item worthy of my bucket list.