Aiken SC to Nashville TN: Road Trip

Off to meet the Lorax and catch up with some old and some new blogging pals at the Blissdom Blogging Conference in Nashville.

I hit the road by 5:30 a.m., crossing the lazy Savannah River before sunrise. Cruising the Carl Sanders Highway right on past Mistletoe State Park with hints of daylight dodging the cloud cover. With the fog rising slowly off Lake Oconee, I found the sun sneaking up on me in my side mirror. By that time, I was connecting the dots between Chick-Fil-As and devouring chicken biscuits and thinking of my fantastic niece Emma who loves Chick-Fil-A.

I was listening to Rick Steves discussing 19th century Paris......
as I passed Historic Crawfordville, Historic Buckhead and then Historic Madison. Seriously? Who knew that much history was right here along I-20 in Georgia? Note to self: pack mom in the car and come check out these towns.

When I hit Atlanta traffic, bumper to bumper at 50, 60 mph, I was listening to Carl Nielsen's Masquerade Overture. Who can take that kind of pressure? The traffic! The crescendo! Yikes. My blood pressure and heart rate escalated.

As I navigated the I-20/I-75/I-85 tripartite my music appropriately switched to The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Handel's oratorio from Solomon. I held my head a little higher. Why, yes. Yes I am the Queen and I am coming through. Clear the way.

Finally. The legendary Chattahoochie. She's kind of a screwed up piece of river where I-75 crosses. I moved on to discussing Medieval Piety in Italy with Rick Steves (via podcast) by the time I hit the Oostanaula River, a little pious river herself. As opposed to the Chattahoochie, she makes it quite clear that she is a river. Plain and simple. Riv.Er. I saluted her and motored across while Rick Steves rambled on and on, oblivious to it all.

I spent the next 40 minutes or more arguing with my Droid gps about how to get to a Starbucks in Chattanooga. I performed a few safe and legal U-turns and deftly parallel parked. Grabbed a Nonfat Raspberry Mocha on the rocks and hit the Walnut Street Bridge to get both a great view and some exercise before hoofing it on to Nashville, an hour or two west. Not to mention the great hot dog joint and native Chattanooga ice cream – Clumpies!! – that surrounds the bridge.

OK, my friend. Off I go. The last leg of the journey. I wonder what bodies of water await my crossing? I love driving by the Tennessee River out of Chattanooga with the rocky cliff on my left and rolling water on the right.  Love. It!