The Great American Road Trip

We just returned yesterday from 9 days of driving around the Southeast U.S.. Some folks like to go one place and stay there for a length of time, and I can enjoy that sort of relaxation at times; but I also feel an urge to see many of sights and places in this vast country that I have not seen and get a feel for those places, their history, their lifestyle, the little things that set apart one area of the country from another. This time we did some of both.



The first few days we visited with family in Kentucky, just visiting family, seeing our 2-month old nephew, and enjoying home-cooked meals. Then we set out to the Smokies, a place to which we often return. This time we spent more time shopping at outlet malls and eating than in the park, but we did take a detour onto the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Carolina entrance to the park and drove through some of the towns along the Carolina side of the mountains that I had not visited before. Just driving along the Parkway with the rhododendrons starting to bloom was enjoyable. We stayed near Asheville one night as well and took a quick look at the little college town of Montreat near Ridgecrest, which is tucked under the forest canopy on the side of the mountains along the eastern continental divide. The World of Clothing in Hendersonville is a unique though somewhat dated outlet with some real deals if you can find what you like in your size. I settled for a khaki cap to protect my head from the sun. The searsucker suits were tempting, though.



Then on to Charleston! The restored historic homes are both majestic and inviting, with very walk-able neighborhoods around them. It is much like Savannah, but larger homes and a bigger area to walk though fewer parks. The city hall has a terrific collection of portraits in the assembly room for the city council that includes Washington, Monroe, Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, and General Beauregard among others of more local notoriety. The parking is not very convenient , and the parking rules unclear to a visitor like me (hence my parking ticket), but once you understand the rules you can deal with it. Good seafood is easy to find. Overall, it gave me a better feel for how very different life in a prosperous seaport was in the South of the antebellum 1800's from the pioneer farmers in Appalachia, where my family roots are.



Overall, we did about 1700 miles on the trip, spread across 9 days: a relatively modest road trip compared to the nearly 5000 miles of our visit to the Grand Canyon. I still think that seeing the country by auto is a great way to travel.