Crossing the U.S. in 13 days. A great adventure !

Saturday, Oct. 15, 2007 we flew into Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. and picked up this pretty little Lexus. Hope it turns out to be a "sweet" ride ! We're off..........

Yes indeed. We really were at the Atlantic ocean (at the beach near Melborne, Fl.). It was VERY windy and we didn't like Florida much. It's too flat and you can't see anything. We're heading for Georgia.

We hustled right on out of Florida and into Georgia. We had some pretty good BBQ at a place called Sonny's in Valdosta and stayed in Macon for the night. We traveled north the next day and stopped at a few interesting places including this neat antique store in the hills northeast of Atlanta.

We stayed the next night in a great Marriott Courtyard Inn in Chattanooga, TN. Actually, we stayed in great Marriotts for all but 3 nights thanks to a wonderful "hook-up" named Nalani and our personnal "reservationist" Lani. Boy, are we spoiled . . . but in a very good way ! (Major props to those two ladies.)

The view from Lookout Mountain above Chattanooga is pretty impressive. This mountain was the site of a very significant battle during the Civil War. The North prevailed and took over the city along with control of the Tennessee River. This set the stage for the Northern army's march south to Atlanta.

There were many artifacts and much information at this site. One sign said that 12,000 men died during the 3 day battle on this mountain. The mountain lies half in Tennessee and half in Georgia.

Here's a couple more photos taken on Lookout Mountain.

Tuesday morning (10-18-07) we headed north from Chattanooga and stopped in a little town of Tracy City where we found the Dutch Maid Bakery. It seemed like the perfect spot for breakfast. . . .it was! Talk about backwoods Tennessee. The next several photos were taken in the bakery/cafe. It was here we sampled our first "grits". Folks have been buying bakery goods and eating breakfast here since 1902.

Fruit and grits ! That's where it's at . . .

Nice clean preparation area !

Ilene's sitting in her Lexus in a driveway that she could probably get used to real quick. Just one of many lovely homes / estates that we saw in the south.

We just happened on to "The University of the South", which was a really attractive old school in Suwannee, Tn.

Ilene and her new friend (Jason Day) at the Cedar Ridge Farms stable (see below) near Shelbyville, TN. Tennessee walking horses are certainly a big and beautiful breed with an incredible high-stepping gait. We just drove into this place and the guy was more than happy to show us around and talk to us for an hour.

The 4 photos below were taken at Stone's River battlefield near Murfreesboro, TN. This battle was the bloodiest of the Civil War. 81,ooo soldiers squared off here and 24,000 of them died during 3 days of battle in Dec 1862. Note of interest: No southern soldiers were buried in this or any other national cemetery since they were traitors to the union.

The battle site. Stone's River Cemetery.

Civil war cannonballs. (How many?)