Day 6

The end was drawing near. Boston, home, our own beds, were so close, yet, SOOOOO FAR!

Becky and I got up earlier than Alicia and went down to the Whole Foods to get some fixin's for waffles and bacon. We cut up some strawberry's and raspberry's and had a lovely breakfast on the porch. Then it was time to say good-bye and get back in the good 'ol Honda.

We left at 11. We thought had had planned this perfectly. We would miss the DC traffic and hopefully only catch the beginning of the NY traffic. Traffic in DC was slow going. We made it out of there and in to Maryland around 1 or so... Then we made pretty decent time. We stopped quick for lunch, our turkey and cheese sandwiches with carrots and of course making inappropriate comments about the people at the rest stop. We can be pretty immature sometimes, but, eh, who cares, we had our supply of twizzlers to keep us happy.


Back on the road, and headed towards NY. We got to NJ paid our arm and a leg toll and were on our way to the G.W. bridge. It was probably about 3:45.

We had gotten stuck smack dab in the middle of the traffic. We listened to 4 Dixie Chicks CDS from the NJ turnpike in to NYC. I was getting ridiculously angry and soo frustrated!!! We had no AC, which is really ok, except when you are surrounded by 16 wheelers, and stupidness. Here's me being very, very, very frustrated. Even Alicia is making a face in the corner.


A good 2 hours later, we had finally gotten through the traffic and were headed towards CT. We were doing well, until, shocking! more traffic. I thought it would be best to get some gas since we were low and I had no desire of getting stuck with no gas. We got off at Stamford, and couldn't find gas for the life us. So we got back in to the pile of traffic. It took probably another 30 minutes until we were happily going a nice 60 miles per hour and saw a rest stop. I HAPPILY handed the keys over and took my happy place in the passenger seat. That was at 6.

There were few delays from there. A pretty decent accident did stall traffic for a little bit. A huge 16 wheeler looked as if it had ripped open like a can of sardines and then flipped... not so great. Even worse was a stupid Jeep from NJ who had the dumbest driver ever. Boo her. First, she almost crashed her car in to other cars going about 70 miles an hour, she didn't stop in time, so instead she drove off the road in to the middle ground. She got back in the line of traffic where she then bumped the car in front of her. The driver got out and started yelling, thankfully it was settled and everyone got back in their cars. Once we passed the accident it was smooth sailing to the house. We got home around 9:30/10. The car was pretty much emptied, but there was some stuff left. Tomorrow, I'll start really cleaning and doing laundry and what not.

Well, it's off to bed so I can be ready and refreshed (yeah right) for work!

Day 5

We woke up around 9 and headed out to Huey's, a New Orleans Style restaurant, for breakfast. YUM. There was a little more shopping and then we experienced our first Sox-Hating. We were both wearing our sox shirts and in a candy store we had an older man walk by us, then come back and say, "I shouldn't be saying anything, but I couldn't help it with both you ladies wearing those shirts! I am a proud Yankee fan!" He was so cute. We chatted for a bit. It was nice...

We got settled at the hotel (with the correct rate, yay!) and got on the road to DC. We had been gloating the day before about how extremely well the trip had gone, no snafus and just so smooth. I think we jinxed it.

So we headed out towards DC. I had made this binder with directions divided by each leg of the journey. I made a mistake on our Savannah to DC directions though and instead of going from Savannah, it went from Morrow, GA. So the directions had us going back to Atlanta, and then to DC, which is definitely out of the way. So, Alicia's the amazing girl she is dealt with me and we figured out eventually how to get on the right road (that is after we attempted to find 95 once and turned around - oh that's right, it was the exit AFTER the one where we turned around).

So, we get on 95 and we're going, it's a decent drive. We leave Georgia, head in to South Carolina, pass the town of Coosawatchie and then out of the trunk in front of me flies some black thing, i have no clue what it was. There was then a ping sound, something hitting the car, and we started to swerve a bit. To our right, a driver yelled, you have a flat tire. Oh yes folks. We cursed ourselves good. A nice flat tired near the town of Coosawatchie.

Well, Alicia called AAA and we got someone on the way. Mind you, we both know how to change a flat, but, on the busy highway, we just didn't want to deal with it. At all. So we had about 45 minutes to wait for them. As we are waiting, a police cruiser pulled up behind us and out came a VERY handsome trooper. His name was Perry. We called him (not to his face) "Super Trooper Perry".
Anyways, he and his giant arms told us where the next Wal*Mart was, and said he'd check in on us in a little bit. The AAA guy came with his big belly. He fixed it in no time, and we were on our way to Wally World.

The guy at Wal*Mart was super nice... however we had about an hour to wait. So, we played. The coolest thing about the store was the cookie samples. Oh yes, tons of cookies! Lovely. Finally we were back on the road. I must say, at this point, both of us were wearing thin. Totally ready to just be home... not DC, home.

The rest of the drive was alright. I freaked out at every little sound, but everything was always fine. We stopped to fill up on gas, and grab ourselves some Sonic.

We met "larry the cable guy", who really wasn't as famous as the other guy, but still entertaining. The Sonic on the other hand, not so entertaining. Perhaps it was the rate at which we inhaled the food, or perhaps it was that we hadn't eaten fast food burgers in forever, but whatever it was, it just wasn't right.

We took our icky stomachs to DC. We were totally on our last legs, and the lack of parking just kinda took us over the edge when we got to Becky's. Alicia and I were done with the road trip, but sadly, we couldn't actually be done. We were only in DC! Becky set us up wonderfully in her apartment. Alicia had the air mattress to herself and I got to cuddle with my Beck-1! It was most certainly time to crash.

Day 4

We got up a little to late to have our continental breakfast at the Best Western, but that's OK. We got our sleep. Alicia and I had packed snacks like muffins and apples so we munched on the way.


Ah. Savannah! The place Alicia and I had been waiting for! And totally NOT what I expected, and I think Alicia would agree. The drive to Savannah was relatively short, only 4 hours compared to most of our other 9 hour drives. It was beautiful weather. Route 16 goes right into downtown, a little strange, but good for a visitor. Our hotel was located right downtown, very close to the City Market and the River.

We checked in at 2:00, knowing well and good that check in is technically at 4. I had previously printed the confirmation page, as well as checked to make sure that we had changed the reservation for 2 people instead of 3. Everything was lookin' good on paper. Not so much at the hotel where they had the wrong reservation linked with the confirmation number, and had the wrong rate for the room. I was quite frustrated by this whole issue... it was thankfully worked out by the ever cool Alicia.

We decided since it would be at least an hour until our room was ready to start walking around Savannah. I think that I had imaged amazing houses and shops every where... something a little more classy then what seemed to be before us. First stop, the Lady and Son's restaurant to make sure we could get dinner reservations.

We got them for 8:45 pm. Sounded great. We then grabbed lunch at Belford's in the city market. It was a pretty decent meal. The drinks however, were another story. I have come to find that I have no tolerance for liquor and Alicia learned of her distaste for Key Lime Martini's and their frothiness. The atmosphere was nice in the restaurant, and it was good to just chill.

We then walked all around the river front. River Street is the "known" area in Savannah. It's pretty and some of the buildings are really cool, and obviously it's all really historic.. so that's neat... however, we thought it was weird that for the most part, it was empty and when you walked over a few streets "too far" you would have walked into an area that seemed perhaps, not the safest of spots. All in all, the city is very neat to run around in. There are squares of little parks and then a large park (name Forsyth Park) in the middle. Most of the squares have statues or fountains. As with most cities, you find a few characters out and about.
After walking around for a few hours, we headed back to the hotel to crash for a bit before dinner.

We made it to the restaurant a little early, but it was alright, we were seated a little early. Paula Deen is Alicia's FAVORITE person (there may actually be a tie between her and Wentworth Miller, and of course, moi). She was hoping to run in to her idol, but alas, Paula was a no show. The menu looked wonderful. There were many appetizers, and about 10 entrees. At least 5 of them had shrimp so that was a no go for me... and about 8 of them were seafood, so Alicia's was out on that. We decided on the buffet and fried green tomato appetizers. They came over with some wonderful hoebread (quite like a pancake) and a delicious cheesy biscuit. The tomatoes were yummy too, except they had this spicy stuff on them, which was a little too much. We then went for the buffet. Ready? There was fried chicken, stewed chicken, steak, mashed potatoes, green beans in a butter bath, grits, gravy, lima beans, collard greens and my personal favorite, mac and cheese (i was the first to dive in to the new pan that came out). The food, although was delicious, was a little too much for my body to handle. The lack of the gall bladder made me not so happy... but of course, i had to get dessert. The buffet came with dessert but I had been saving myself all week for Paula Deen Key Lime Pie. And it was 100% worth it. YUM.

So we stuffed ourselves silly and then promptly passed out in bed. The beds were wickedly comfortable. And we were out.

PS to our Marathon friends: We "ran" our 26.2 miles along with you. Start at 10:30 we tracked our time, and it should be known, we won the prize. We finished in 20 minutes and 4 seconds. That's right... we won, not some amazing African Runner! :)

Day 3

Today was our lazy day. Lindsay stayed up quite late/early doing some homework (perhaps a view of what my future life as a nursing student may look like). Originally we had wanted to go to church, but that idea was scratched when we all remembered how much we loved sleep.

We actually left the house around 12:30. Lindsay took us on a tour of Jackson. First we saw her school. She goes to Union University... You might recognize the name because a tornado ripped through her school in February this year. We were able to see the new construction going up around that disaster. We learned where the nice Kroger is and where you can go shopping... as well as where most people are spending their Sunday afternoon. The local park was PACKED. Lindsay said that when she had been there before no one was there, but, there were so many people there playing on the play ground, the soccer fields, baseball diamonds, it was insane actually.

Downtown Jackson is lacking some... well people and businesses. There isn't much there, although, it is quite an adorable little town with might I had, the National Barber College (the building looks as if it hasn't been used in 50 plus years!).

blizzard, and i have to say, it was only my 2We then headed to the Jackson Family Fun Complex where Lindsay (the scorekeeper) beat Alicia and I in a round of mini-golf. We're pretty sure she cheated. Then it was off to my first go-kart experience. Not exactly what I pictured, but fun. It was warm out so we decided it was necessary to have some DQ (or Dairy Queen to the uneducated). I got a wonderful butterfingernd DQ experience, and I loved it more then the first). We spent hours at DQ just talking and then decided to finally head over to O'Charley's.


Alicia is a manager at a local 99 up in the Boston area, and within the past 10 year's O'Charley's has taken over as it's parent company, so she had said early on that she wanted to go to eat there. The food was decent, and the staff was attractive and nice. The bathrooms however were another story. It's all good though.

We headed back to Lind's house and met her landlady who is a bit of a character, but funny and sweet. Then it was off to Morrow, GA where we spent the night before heading in to Savannah. The drive wasn't terrible... long, but good. There were some parts where we were driving through winding mountainous roads that I fee like would've been much nicer to do in the day time without millions of 16 wheelers. But all in all... good day. Soon to see Paula!!!!!!!


One quick note! Good Luck to all the runners tomorrow!!!!!! YAY!

Day 2

Today was a loooong day, yet technically the same length of any other day. We left Lexington around 8. We first got our complimentary breakfast consisting of English muffins, corn flakes and various juices. There was a slight incident when we saw the housekeeping staff digging through the garbage picking out all the Styrofoam cups, just like the ones we were drinking out of. I was quite disgusted, but Alicia just kept on drinking her juice… who knows where our cups had been!

I took the first leg of driving. From Lexington to Nashville, it was about 7 hours. For a good part of the first 4 it rained. It was icky grey and just did not look nice.

Alicia slept, which was really good. As much as I’d like to say I loved driving through there, I can’t say it… it’s all the same, cows and farms, and more cows, and some chickens. I guess I should be thankful we’re not driving through Kansas.

We stopped around 1 at a rest stop just outside of Knoxville and grabbed lunch. We then called our local tour guide, Casey, in Nashville to let her know we were only 2 hours or so away. She seemed so very nice on the phone, and we were so excited for Nashville.



It was sprinkling a bit when we pulled off the sketchy exit in to Nashville. It reminded me a lot of getting of I-10 in NOLA, where you think you’ve just made a terrible mistake, but really, just keep going, and it will be fine. We parked in a garage, and that is when the fun began.

We wanted to wear our going out clothes… but we had no place to change, so we changed in the car. I am SURE the security guard could see us and enjoyed the show. We headed out the door, and outside, where it had begun raining harder and our adorable outfits were just not appropriate for the weather. So we headed back inside to grab sweatshirts and change again. Finally we made it out towards the ice cream parlor because it was the only place we could find with a bathroom. With a strawberry shake and a mango tropical smoothie we were on our way to Casey. She lives right in downtown Nashville, the equivalent of say living on Tremont Street or in Times Square. Her apartment was GEORGEOUS!!!! And she was so nice!

on our own, couldn’t afford, and wouldn’t find easily in Boston. It was fun though. We found some cute things, but at least for me, my budget doesn’t have space for a 100-dollar dress rightShe took us around to some boutiques which were places that we would probably never go in now. We headed back to the “big streets” of Nashville, grabbed dinner and a cute bar place where we had the most ditzy waitress ever, think Ursula on Mad About You.

We then went shopping in the touristy stores around and I don’t know that I have laughed that hard in a really long time! There are a lot of lame yet funny things around, including Alicia and my new man, Elivs!
Alicia and I wanted cowboy boots, and we found a store with a sign that says, “buy 1 pair get 2 pair free” – which says to us, buy one pair of boots get the second pair free. Well, apparently it’s buy one pair get 2 pairs free. So we got each a pair and one for her sister. We headed back to the car to toss all the stuff with us and let me put on my boots and then headed out for some good old Nashville Night Life. We went to the a place called the Stage.


There were a mix of people at the stage, really hip 20 year olds and some not so hip everyone elses. There were men in cowboy hats and boots, and there was a fabulous country singer (who wore really tight jeans, just like a good country singer should). Despite the southern charm rumor, we experienced the same creepiness as we do up North. Boys trying to hit on you by running their hands all over you. Get the message boys; in a cowboy hat and boots you are still being creepy!

We headed out a little later towards Jackson to meet up with Lindsay (Alicia’s sister). That drive I have to say thank god I was not the driver. I was barely able to keep my eyes open. Thankfully Alicia got us here safe and sound.

Tomorrow, we rest for the day and head to Morrow, Georgia (half way to Savannah).

Day 1

We departed from Boston at 2:00 am and made our way to the road. Despite the fact that it was wicked early, Licia and I were ridiculously awake. We chatted for the first hour or two about various things, and most importantly talked about how much we missed our third road companion RadGrl. Sadly, she had other pressing engagements and was not able to partake in the adventure.

I fell asleep around 3 and told ‘Licia to wake me up when we hit the Tapanzee Bridge. Right on time, around 4:40 am she woke me up… just as we were heading in to White Plains. Being from NY, and traveling to the city frequently during my childhood, I always get a bit nostalgic when traveling around familiar landmarks.

We got to the bridge at 5:09… where we hit our first ‘bout of traffic. It took us a good 30 minutes to get off the bridge and be on our way.
We made it to Victory, PA before stopping – a whole 300 miles… We got some coffee and gas, and I took the wheel.


PA is full of farms and cows. I was ridiculous always saying COW! I know ‘Licia got sick of that one. She fell asleep a little later, and I kept driving. We had decided that at 9 we would be stopping to grab breakfast at Shoneys restaurant. A whole 5.99 for a breakfast buffet. Whoo-hoo!

Back on the road, back to more farms. We played about a million cds and sang at the top of our lungs to most of the songs. It was completely delightful. Driving and driving, I felt like we were NEVER going to get to Lexington.

FINALLY we arrived in Lexington. The hotel thankfully let us check in early and we showered and got ready to meet up with Justin (‘Licia’s brother). We hit the VMI around 2:30 and Justin showed us around a little. We went on a tour with a fantastically nerdy boy and learned wonderful things about the VMI. We were then ready for the parade to begin. Let me remind you that it was HOTT out. Ok. Maybe not hot. Nice and warm, probably 75 at least.

Here were the poor cadets in their dress uniforms, wool and wicked hot. Having to stand out in the sun. Turns out at least 12 of them had fainted and had to fall out of line. The parade was cool, and it was fun to watch at the VMI boys running around. There were some QUITE attractive ones.

After the parade, we took Justin and some friends (4 to be exact) to dinner at a pizza place in town. These 5 VMI boys all squeezed in the back of ‘Licia’s sturdy Honda Civic. We were even asked at a light if we were Mexican or from the Circus. No Lie!


Now Alicia and I are back at the hotel. Quite sunburned and completely ready for bed. We’re watching a little I love Lucy to get us ready and then it’s a good nights rest for us. We are off tomorrow for Nashville and Jackson.

Thus far I have quite enjoyed seeing the amazing scenery. It is quite beautiful out in this area, and amazingly historical. Yay! See ya’ll later!!

Interruption....

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog for a special program.

I'm a wanna be hippie that showers presents:

ROAD TRIP TO THE DIRRRTY DIRRRRTY SOUTH 2008

prepare to be dazzled by the wonders of the road.
2 girls, a honda civic and the south.



OH YEAH.

i love a job where....

• you are reminded to wear your red sox gear on tuesday.

• when you walk in on tuesday, everyone is wearing their red sox gear.
  

• all tvs are turned on to the red sox opening day ceremonies.

• the nurses encourage you to eat the free ice cream.

• everyone stops what they are doing to watch the f-16 fly overs, and it's really awesome because you are on the 10th floor with lots of windows.

Oh yes, that's my job! :) GO SOX!