We ended up leaving "Sing it or wing it" at a reasonable hour and went to bed happily knowing we wouldn't be driving first thing in the morning. We had already planned to try and catch up with some blog stuff the next day, so there was more time to be spent in the city. After checking out (maaaaybe we slept in and forgot that check out was at 11am... but who cares, yolo), we had breakfast at City Cafe Diner – located right next to the Days Inn where we were staying – before heading over to the nearest Starbucks for some blogging. Not much to say about the time we spent there, and besides you probably read it already (right..!?), but we finished around 4 or 5 and decided to move on.
"Born to be wiiiiiiiild!"
It was about time to get some food again so on our way out of the city we stopped for some real southern food at Marsha's Backstreet Cafe. A girl had recommended it the night before, and there she was waiting to seat us when we got there. If you ever end up going there have the chicken fingers - they were amazing!
This pic has absolutely nothing to do with chicken fingers or blogging, but it's one of the few pics we have from Chattanooga....
We gobbled down our food, I ordered some chicken fingers to go and then it was time to head south. After only a short time on the road we passed in to Georgia.
We really have been trying with the State sign pictures, but its not always that easy!
We'd originally planned to stop in Atlanta for a night, but based on our ever changing schedule we decided to skip Atlanta and just drive straight for SC instead.
Shhhhh... Don't tell anyone..
The highway took us straight through Atlanta, so we got to see some of it, and after some heavy arguing with the poor GPS woman telling us the directions and some heavy sweating from the two guys that were trying to figure out which lane to follow (there was like eight!) we came out in the other side safe and relieved.
Many times on this trip we've found the highways to be quite boring and decided once again to get onto some smaller roads and eventually find a place to spend the night. It was pitch dark, the roads were narrow and every time we came to a town there was no town center to be found. They all however were apparently historic towns and after seeing the sign "Historic District" for the fifth time in one hour we were seriously asking ourselves if this was some kinda joke from the American Historical Association. Anyways, when we got to the small town of Eatonton we got directions to a nearby hotel and spend the night there. I was very glad I had my chicken fingers from before, Dan was glad to see a bed and we were both glad to be as close to the border as we were. Tomorrow we were going to the coast again after a lot of time in the mountains and fields!
So after a night in the winner of the 2013 "Damp motel rooms"-contest we felt the need to get out and breathe some crisp southern air. Luckily it was raining... We had a couple of donuts in the car, so those became our breakfast as we set the course for Morganton. We had really no plans to stop in Morganton, so we didn't either. The first destination was to be Black Mountain in North Carolina – so after hitting Morganton we got onto the highway and sped up the steep mountains.
The reason we were going to Black Mountain is not very exciting, but I'm gonna tell it anyway. I can't exactly remember if it was in junior high or in high school, but we got an assignment saying that we were to pick a town in the US and write about it. Of course most people chose NY or LA or Washington DC, but I thought "I wanna write about a place I know nothing about". So I went on Google Maps or Earth or something like that, found the US and just started zooming. And where did I end up? In a little town called Black Mountain in NC. So after doing an assignment on the place I thought it'd be nice to visit it. Which it actually was! It's a cute little town; it has plenty of small shops, a hardware store that has pretty much EVERYTHING you will EVER need and lots of coffee shops and restaurants.
We needed to get some lunch and were recommended a place called Trailhead. Dan had a burger, I think (and I think this because that's what he usually eats... whenever we're stopping for food, if the place has burgers – Dan's in) and I had a portobello mushroom burger which was supposed to be "Like a party in your mouth". It was good, but more like "Having drinks with a friend".
I'm gonna go get another burger..
It was time to leave the cozy feel of Black Mountain and head towards our final destination for the day, Chattanooga! We turned back onto highway 40 which took us to Lauada, and then followed 74 – another scenic byway – through Nantahala National Forest. On the way there we drove through some heavy rain and Dan, being the artist that he is, decided to capture some of natures' finest moments:
This trip is definitely a blessing for both of us and based on the luck we've had, I have a feeling someone is looking out for us and giving us each day as a gift. After taking this picture, Dan's pretty certain that someone is George Washington...
We've done a good job in terms of visiting national forests over here, and some of them are absolutely stunning. Like White Forest in New Hampshire, Shenandoah in Virginia and now Nantahala in North Carolina, that westwards turns into Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. I must say I was tempted to try some real river rafting while here, cause there was a new rafting place around every turn, but we settled for a cigarette and a view of the river.
When we came out from the tall trees the landscape opened once again and again it was a feast for the eye.
Our plan for taking a picture of every state sign we passed didn't work out too well.. but at least we got a couple ;o)
I've learned that whenever I'm reading the map and Dan sighs a heavy "Ahhhhhhhhhhh..." – it's picture time..
Uhm.. Where did the car go...?
We were closing in on Chattanooga and for every mile a certain song played louder and louder in my head. I've linked a version of it here, so you can let it play while reading on ;o)
(From Sun Valley Serenade (1941))
When we hit the town border, navigation wasn't exactly easy. The map we had didn't have enough details and we had really no idea where we were going. The areas we drove through were kinda shady and in some areas it almost reminded me of pictures I've seen of Detroit.
It wasn't nearly as bad though, and it seemed like a quiet place. What we found most peculiar was that between these abandoned buildings were high end restaurants and popular night clubs. Who'd 'a thunk? So we parked the car and took a stroll to see if we could find a place to eat. And what did we find? Oh, yeah! The Chattanooga Choo Choo terminal:
That was really all I came for – and to later sing the song out loud in the city, which I did – but we were still hungry. We saw an old couple that were all dressed up and decided to stalk them for a few blocks. We didn't know if they were going to dinner or just to their car, but at least we could give it a try. And there you go; around a deserted car shop, across a parking lot, under an old bride, through some dead bushes and between what seemed to be two buildings inspired by Coolio's "Gangsta's paradise" lied the Flying Squirrel. A bar/restaurant throbbing with young and old Chattanoogans laughing in happy unison. Thank you old couple that let us stalk you without calling the police on us!
And shortly after, the food was on the table.
We were still a little "meh" about the area so we decided to head south to find a place to stay the night. On the way "out of town" however we found ourselves driving further "in to town" and out of nowhere came downtown Chattanooga. Now, this looked more like the pictures we'd found on Google.. And people say we didn't do our research... Phuh..
As we were driving through the nice streets and passed some of the bars, both of us got really quiet, and I think we at some point realized that we were thinking the same thing. After spending some nights at motels and in small places like This-town-shouldn't-fucking-exist-because-it's-in-the-middle-of-nowhereland, a night in a real town would actually be kinda nice. We went around to a few hotels, found one that was kinda affordable and checked in early enough to still have time for a couple of beers.
I don't know if any of you guys have ever been to Chattanooga, but the nightlife there was pretty good for a Thursday night. We found a strip with some bars and nightclubs and decided (for whatever reason) to go for the karaoke place; Sing it or Wing it. It was packed!
$1 a beer though, is enough to make us stay – and so we did.
Robin: "I really like red."
Dan: "Now, see guys.. That's a true story, right there"
Dette blir mer eller mindre en bildespesial fra Shenandoah nasjonalpark. Allerede halv ni var vi på veien. Etter en kjapp frokost var vi i parken rundt klokken ni.
Dette er virkelig noe å anbefale. turen gjennom parken tar endel timer, men det er virkelig verdt det. fantastisk natur. Utsikten, dyrene vi så; anbefaler at folk tar turen hit. (Ja det er faktisk mulig å besøke andre steder en Manhatten og New York. Det er mulig å oppleve andre ting enn gater og shopping). Dette er virkelig en av de plassene. bildene retferdiggjør nok ikke den hele og fulle opplevelsen, men man kan jo forsøke.
Dette var omtrent det første som møtte oss inne i parken
Utsikten er større enn innsikten...dypt...
OIOIOI! Det ser skikkelig ut som vi faller. Detta bildet bare MÅ vi ha med...
Ved Elkwallow stoppet vi ved et lite opplevelsessenter som bød på info om najonalparken. Da vi kom tilbake til bilen var denne sommerfuglen på plass. Ja nå går nok diskusjonen rundt middagsbordene i de tusen hjem tenker jeg. Hva heter denne?
Kan det være en Laufidium Kvasilompe eller en Filiokius Hokuspokium..? Jeg vet, gjør du?
Det var nødvendig å stoppe flere ganger.
Ved Upper Hawksbill Parking lot vi bilen stå mens vi tok turen opp på parkens høyeste punkt. Hawksbill. 1235 meter over havet.
Turen opp til Hawksbill
Finner dere jordekornet???
Enklere her!
På toppen av utsiktspunktet på Hawksbill ble det en del bilder.
Close...
Campingmuligheter er det også der.
Det ble også flere møter med ulike sommerfuglarter. Disse bildene er nok med på å få igang en ny diskusjonsrunde over kaffen og desserten...
Snegle (ikke brunsnegle)
Hva kan så dette være? Noen som vet?
Etter godt og vel fem timer i parken tok vi av bed Swift Run Gap. Fulgte 33 østover til 29, og fulgte den sørover til Charlottesville. Byen der Virginia University ligger. Etablert av selveste Thomas Jefferson. En mann som nok filk utrettet mer en de fleste av oss.
En ivrig student, og en på vandring på Universitetets område.
Utsikten fra selve hjertet av universitetet. The Rotunda. Her satt Thomas Jefferson bare uker før han døde. Dette var hans favorittutsikt på universitetsområdet.
Noen studerer, andre underviser!
Her er Jeffersons egen beskrivelse av hvordan Universitetet burde se ut og fungere. Under er skoleklokka for ut- og innring.
Etter Charlottesville bar det videre. Vi kjørte østover ut av byen og tok sørover på I-81 mot Roanoak. Ettersom det ikke er motorveiene som er mest interessante, tok vi av der på 221og fulgte den til Floyd. Mye fint landskap her også.
Noen som har sett filmen The Ring..?
Ved Floyd tok vi av og fortsatte på enda en Scenic byway, The Blue Ridge Parkway. Også her bød det på både flott natur og dyreliv.
Etterhvert kom mørket sigende på, og vi var fremdeles laaaangt unna en plass å få sove. Det gjorde ikke behovet for litt pauser mindre.
Hmmm, hva skimter vi her...?
Etter å ha passert grensa til North Carolina, fant vi ut at det beste måtte være å finne et sted å sove fortest mulig. klokka hadde passert ti. Nærmeste alternativ da viste seg å være Sparta. Det som viste seg i Sparta var derimot et hotell med høy pris. siden Alec var såpass våken, (ja det er han som story sett kjører etter kl. åtte), ble han enig om at vi måtte kjøre videre. Vi tok 21 sørover. Rundt halv ett kjørte vi inn i Elkin. Over middels sliten småby. Der fant vi et billig motel, med et av tidenes fuktigste rom. Vanndampen nærmet seg faretruende metningstrykket. Å bevege seg inn med et hygrometer hadde vært en risikosport på linje med basehopp. Men for en innholdsrik dag.
