Scribble World Travel Blog

Vehicles Flooded In Arkansas

We drove around looking at some of the Mississippi River flooding in Arkansas.  I wonder why the people in the RV’s didn’t just drive somewhere else?  That sucks.  It makes for some interesting pictures though-all those signs, roads and vehicles under water.

Home Of The Blues, Beale Street, Memphis, TN

I’m trying to think how to describe this experience. At first it kind of reminded me of Bourbon St. in New Orleans, the way all the happening places seemed to all be within walking distance.  The cobblestone street was blocked off to traffic and some very talented young men wowed us all as they would run down the middle of the street doing flips.

There was a great assortment of blues and soul music, as well as rock ‘n’ roll.  There was just so much going on in such a small area.  There was a band playing outside for tips, people wanting to take a picture of you with their computers and printers right there on the sidewalk, a young girl who asked if we’d tip her for her performance if she sang a song for us, people walking around selling roses, a guy selling perfume from a table, a girl trying to sell us beer “to go” as we walked past her shop.

Our last stop of the night was Coyote Ugly where we were greeted with women of all ages dancing on the bar (including a skinny old granny).  My water, which they call a “Wusskey” came to  $3.  I was probably the only person not drinking.

A Real Cop? Wasted Space!

We managed to spend part of the night in the very back of an enormous empty parking lot, not in, but to the left  of a Malco movie theater parking lot in the Memphis city limits.  It was very secluded, dark, and private with tall trees to block others from seeing us.  Aside from our van, this massive lot was completely deserted.

All was well until 3:45A.M. when what I could only assume to be a cop, drove up shining his huge spotlight in our windows.  I crawled to the front seat expecting the usual request for I.D. but instead he stayed in his car and kept the spotlight blaring into my face so that I couldn’t see a thing the whole time he was asking questions-asking what I was doing there, who I was with, where I was heading, how long I was going to be in the area, why I wasn’t at a motel-I answered all his questions sweetly and without hesitation, but all the while wondering why he was being such a dick and continuing to blind me with his spotlight.  I explained our financial situation and he sounded disappointed. That again surprised me-had this guy been hoping for a bribe?  He finally just said, “well ya can’t stay here,” and slowly backed up, never taking the spotlight off us until he was too far away for us to see him or his car.  And that’s when we started wondering if he had even been a real cop.  We never even saw his face, it was a most peculiar experience.

So we left a perfectly good empty parking lot and sought out a new one. We found a few more good hours of rest at an Equestrian park not too far away.

Autozone And The Cool Thing That Picks Up Bolts

We’re resting in a Walmart parking lot in Huntsville, Alabama. The weekly rental places we checked out were insanely expensive. We had dinner at the New China Buffet and it was very good with a nice selection of sushi and my favorite-hot and sour soup, and a great shrimp and zucchini dish.

We had our battery tested at Autozone earlier today after a couple weeks of weak starts, and they confirmed it was a bad battery. While installing the new one for us, the employee accidentally dropped a bolt down into the transmission. Cringing, I thought that was going to be a problem, but another guy went in the store and brought out this extendable thing that looked like an antenna with a magnet on it. It was a piece of cake to fish the bolt out. How many others could benefit from this amazing little tool, I wonder?

I was so impressed, I think the guy was embarassed-he said I could keep it.

Fresh Air At Bean Pot Campground In Crossville, TN

We’re spending a couple nights at the Bean Pot Campground in Crossville, TN.  The cabins are inexpensive but quaint, just what I’m in the mood for. It’s nice to have a quiet secluded place to relax and catch up on all those neglected projects.  We have internet access.  The toilet and hot showers are in a separate building.  There’s a picnic table outside and a wood swing to relax in.  Truely, what more does one need? :)  Although a tea cafe and a health store would be nice, but all this fresh air is wonderful!

Huge Ruby Falls Cave Tour, And Steep Incline Railway

We stopped at the Chattanooga Museum to see the electric map show, but there was a problem with the lights and so it was basically sitting in the dark as a narrator talked and an occasional christmas light flashed to indicate an explosion….but there were no overhead lights so we couldn’t see the details of the soldiers and it was hard to follow.  “Was that a joke?” Chris asked.

Ruby Falls was not a disappointment, we took an elevator about as far beneath the earth’s surface as the Eifel Tower is high, our guide said.  There were impressive formations and a nice long walk to enjoy the cave experience.  We  got to the finale-a lovely underground waterfall, then after 8 minutes the lights, which were on a timer, turned off and it was time to turn around and walk back to the other end of the cave. There was just the one way in and out.

Then, to get the full Lookout Mountain experience, we took a ride down the mountain on the Incline Railway, hopped off for a scoop of ice cream, and then rode back up again.  The Incline has been operational since 1895.

Fat Man’s Squeeze at Rock City, TN

We spent the night up on Lookout Mountain near Rock City Gardens, we started our day at the Starbucks across the street.  Rock City was great, we liked the “fat man’s squeeze,” the bridges and spectacular views. I also really enjoyed the Mother Goose fairytale cave-originally we thought that would be more for small children, but were impressed with all the attention to details- and seeing all the rooms carved into the lengthy cave was just a really neat experience, being in the dark save for the illumination of the blacklights.  I fear our pictures will not do it justice.  It is well worth the trip.

Chattanooga: Tea, Beer, And A Pedestrian Bridge

Life was good in Chattanooga, TN.  We found cheap parking at a nice park and walked across a pedestrian bridge with grand views of rock cliffsides and artful buildings.
We stopped at Greyfriar’s Coffee & Tea shop, where for $2.50 I got my own pot of tea (about 4 cups worth).  It was such a cozy comfortable atmosphere-I daydreamed how nice it would be to live close enough to walk to this place.  I picked up an apartment guide for the area, and the prices were actually pretty reasonable.

We dined at Thai Smile. Then walked back to our van to repark it closer.  Chris went to a brewery with live music and I went back to the tea place to relax and do some reading.  It was one of those perfect days where everyone got what they wanted.

Atlanta Zoo And The Big Bad Hail Storm

Despite the tornado and severe weather warnings for Atlanta, we decided to stick it out one more day to take in the Atlanta Zoo. The gloomy day paid off in that we were able to get up close to the animals without the crowds. We took our time watching the munching panda bears. We watched as one massive gorilla posed for photos, dreaming of stardom…and as the otters charged into the water racing each other in pursuit of tasty fish dinners. Suddenly, it began to sprinkle and it was announced that the zoo needed to close now, an hour and a half early, as severe weather was approaching. I ran to use the bathroom and Chris ran to get the van. By the time I got out it was raining and the wind was picking up. It soon began to pour and then bullet sized hail balls came shooting down, stinging my legs, as I ran for the van.. (Thank goodness for the umbrella!) I thought for sure a tornado was going to swoop down at any moment, we could hardly see two feet in front of us, I fear we narrowly escaped with our lives!

CNN Tour and Historic Atlanta Underground Mall

We toured CNN today, just hours before the tornado swept across downtown Atlanta, right where we had been.

We left our car parked across from the CNN building and walked around the downtown area taking pictures, pausing to read the historical markers and learn about the many monuments.  We found the Underground, where I bought a delicous praline at one of the shops.  There were old cars on display, old painted walls, and the fact that it was underground made it pretty neat, but mostly, it seems this historic place is mainly a place to go to shop and eat-similar to other malls except in architecture.  Chris was disappointed.  The yumminess of the praline had made the trip a treat for me though.

Frogs at Botanical Garden and Fun at High Art Museum

The Botanical Garden made for a nice getaway-it was tranquil and relaxing.  I enjoyed seeing the frogs-the live ones and the statues as well as the many plant and tree species.  Walking along the perimeter of the Garden, I was captivated by something a delightfully floral and sweet.  A whole group of bushes seemed to be radiating this delicate aroma, but as I got closer I noticed all the bees and was content to enjoy it from a distance.  I wish I knew what it was called though, it’d make a wonderful air freshener.

Next we went to the High Museum of Art and spent many hours bumbling around the many exhibits.  There was something that at first glance looked like an unimpressive stiff old blanket.  Figuring there had to be more to such a strange object, I went closer to read about it-turns out the entire thing was made out of tinfoil labels off the top of beer bottles.  That was impressive.  I enjoyed reading the stories and thought provoking tidbits, and also getting a fuller sense of the history behind these objects.

Chris got a real kick out of seeing the old Egyptian stuff, but we could only look with our eyes-cameras were not allowed in a couple rooms.  We were the only two people in one room and a security guard followed us around silently keeping an eye on us.  They really take their jobs seriously, which is probably a good thing, but also rather amusing!  Sometimes we would split up and then the guard would go back and forth trying to keep an eye on both of us

Georgia Aquarium And The New World of Coca Cola

After purchasing City Passes, our first stop of the day was the Georgia Aquarium. We got a couple good pictures, but it was an overly crowded and hectic experience with pushy children everywhere-frantically shoving one another to get to the front to take pictures with their cell phones… It’s strange to see knee high kids carrying cell phones, what’s this world coming to?

Deepo’s Undersea 3D Wonder Show was great! I just loved that singing shark-”no one wants to be a shark’s friend.”

We took a short walk over to The New World of Coca-Cola which was right next door. I convinced Chris to go up to the 2nd floor first rather than go in order. That way we could start by sampling a handful of drinks now, give our taste buds a chance to re-orient themselves, and then go back and forth every so often between that and the other attractions…..versus what most people did-waiting until the end to start sampling more than 60 coke products from around the world-after a while your taste buds get overloaded and they all start tasting the same.

It was a very high fructose corn syrupy day, but honestly it was fun. I liked a minty tasting one from Djibouti called SunFill Menthe the best. Chris remains loyal to his favorite-Vanilla Coke.

Honking Security Guard In Montgomery Alabama

On a whim, Chris drove us to Montgomery, AL.  It was nearly midnight when we arrived at a Walmart, but we went in to buy some water and reparked in the back of the parking lot which was nearly empty.  Chris crawled up to bed, and I was just about to join him when an overzealous security guard came shining his bright lights and honking at us.  I rolled down my window and he sounded downright gleeful, rich with “power” as he told us we had to get out of there, no “hangin’ out.”  I was upset by his rude demeanor and said they wouldn’t be getting any more of our business.  He said, “don’t matter” and continued to circle us and honk until we left.  Even though we’d only bought water, I was tempted to return it on account of this guys lack of manners and the ridiculous 10% sales tax they charged.

Anyway, we’re in a Baptist church parking lot now.  1:43 AM

Continued 4 A.M’ish-  Sadly for us, we were again awoken around 3A.m. with a spotlight shining into our vehicle.  I rolled down the window and fished out our I.D. for the cop.  At  least this was a nice guy, he just needed to make sure we weren’t felons on the run since there would be children soon arriving at the church’s daycare. We decided to move on and found a park, where finally we were left undisturbed and slept a few more hours.

We walked around the Montgomery capitol building and toured the Civil Rights Memorial.  It was $2/person, there was information about some of the victims of hate crimes, a 20 minute video, and a wall where we typed our names-pledging to defend equality & soon our names joined the other names flowing down the screen.  A touching experience.

We have met some very nice people on this trip, and that Walmart employee was by far the exception.  At Costco, a guy noticed our cargo rack was kind of awkwardly tilting to one side and helped me re-center our cargo.  Then he fished a bungee cord out of his car and strapped that on to help stabilize it. He said he felt better about it now. I just thought that was extremely kind of a stranger to take the time to give a darn about someone he’d never see again.  The women are friendly too, I get a lot of smiles, hellos and “how are you’s?” which I’m not used to at all, just from walking past someone in a store.  Southern hospitality at it’s finest.

Georgia SNOW?!? First Snow Since Minnesota!

We awoke on Saturday, March 8th to find it snowing! It went from being in the 70’s yesterday to cold enough to snow.  Bah-humbug, but at least we didn’t have to shovel. We extended our stay at the Western Inn another night rather than drive in this weather.  I shivered my way over to the grocery store across the street which was an unusual experience because everything was at cost, plus 10% So my groceries added up to $20 and then they added $2 to that-it was a lot less expensive than a regular grocery store, I like that method.

Warm Springs Hunt and FDR

We followed the GPS coordinants for 2 warm springs in the area, the most notable of which was at a BoyScout camp out in the middle of nowhere. We walked down the hill to a swamp carrying the laptop which said it was right under our noses…the swamp?  The water felt the cold temperature one would of expect of a swamp.  We headed back to the van and continued driving.

Today we explored the Little White House formerly occupied by FDR-admission was $7/person.  It was informative and brought this former president to life in, showing off his many accomplishments such as stabilizing the banks during the depression, introducing a rural electric initiative to encourage people to stay in the country (he was convinced country life was a better way of life than living in the city, but it was quite a bit harder without affordable electricity and other modern amenities), aiding the peacetalks, helping people with polio seek relief from their discomfort in the warm springs.

Then we went to the historic pools museum, once again hoping to find a functional warm spring to use, but all you can do nowadays is stick your hand in to feel the temperature as it bubbles up into a trough.  The guy who worked there said there had been a warm spring at the boyscount camp, but you have to swim out to the middle of the swamp to feel it.  I’m not quite that adventurous.

We’re spending the night at the Western Inn in Manchester, GA. It’s pretty nice-king size bed, microwave/mini fridge, cable, bathtub/shower with great water pressure and plenty of hot water, plus high speed inet access- $39.99 plus tax.

p.s. It’s raining again

Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Bridge Built By Former Slave

We checked out the Georgia Music Hall of Fame today.  It was quite a collection and one could easily have spent the better part of a day there.  We read about and listened to all kinds of music, watched a film about Georgia artists, and there was a Otis Redding Exhibit as well as other theme-style rooms.

Heading toward Warm Springs, GA We pulled off the highway to see a historical wooden bridge on the side of the road that was built by a former slave. It was in a pretty area and so peaceful, I could have spent the whole day there too… A gentle stream, a park like setting surrounded by trees, a cement picnic table.  Lush and serene.

Cheap Entertainment at a Walmart Parking Lot

We spent the night in a Walmart parking lot in Dublin, GA.  They had nicer than average bathrooms and it was a clean store, which closed at midnight.  We bought some Oreo cookies and rented American Gangster from the Red Box machine, for just a buck, and watched it on the laptop in the van, as it rained steadily outside.

Savannah Georgia-A Good Walking Town

Driving around the cute town of Savannah was not fun-traffic and too few parking spaces led us into the visitor center’s over-crowded parking lot where we drove around for 20 minutes waiting for someone to leave.  Walking is the way to do it, although a horse-drawn carriage ride would have been lovely. We stopped to watch as a magnificent workhorse drank from a trough in the middle of a square and a mother took her child to pet him.

We walked along the riverfront and watched the big boats and noticed the cobblestone road, and a struggling lady in high heels who was being encouraged, by her friend, to take her time.