Amy's America

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I’m going home. My grandmother, Maggie’s mom, passed away and my brother Steve and I both want to be there for her. So I have postponed – not canceled – the remainder of my east coast visits and explorations to go straight back to Massachusetts (well, via West Virginia). Trish agrees we can do the Eat. Pray. Love. Charleston. tour in the spring or summer (as do all my other wonderful east coast friends), so her and the kids bid me farewell.

It was a good day for driving – overcast and drizzling off and on. I watched the temperature on the thermometer steadily drop as I drove north. 50…45…42… I drove into North Carolina, by Charlotte (looks pretty cool) and was making good time until traffic came to a standstill – right near
Mount Airy, home of Mayberry and the Andy Griffith Show.

I sat for a while, wondering what the issue was, and grew more aggravated by the minute as my stomach started to growl. I was complaining to my mom on the speakerphone when I thought I spotted a Subway sign at the next exit. She convinced me it was worth stopping for, so I veered off.

I somehow went right past the Subway, but then something else caught my eye: more cows. I heard Tara’s voice in my head, so I had to get a few pictures. I pulled over and told mom to hold on while I hopped out real quick. I snapped a few photos and ran back to the car. Only the door wouldn’t open! The car’s not supposed to be able to lock from the outside with the car on – and it didn’t seem like the lock was all the way down, yet it wouldn’t open. I had no phone, no jacket, nothing but my camera (and cows) – and mom still on speakerphone inside.

I put my face up against the window and yelled, “mom!’ She yelled back, “Amy! Is everything all right? I can’t really hear you!” I tried to yell to her to call AAA but she couldn’t understand me through the glass, so went to get Mark. I just shook my head at the cows, who were staring at me. I was cupping my face to the window, trying to yell to them again when help arrived. His name was Shane, my knight in the white Honda. He offered me his phone, and with my parents still yelling from inside my car, I called Mark’s cell. Luckily he answered the strange number.

Shane helped me explain where we were (intersection of Hwy 21 and Rena Rd.) and Mark called AAA. Once it was confirmed that they would be there in an hour, I thanked Shane and told him I’d be fine. He insisted on staying with me, explaining that he wouldn’t feel right leaving me because ‘rednecks will be stopping and trying to pick you up.’ He was right in a way – people did stop every few minutes to inquire about what was going on – and I appreciated his company. Clearly my car (with its Massachusetts plates) at the side of the road among the cows was the highlight of the day in Jonesville.

We passed time (and tried to forget the cold) chatting about everything from the Red Sox (Shane’s a huge fan – even has a Red Sox screen saver on his phone) and family to work and traveling. He recommended seeing the Biltmore Estate (dubbed America’s largest home) in Asheville when I return to North Carolina. I’ll definitely add it to my list. I’d also forgotten about the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a wonderfully scenic route. While I had a great time talking to him, my freezing body was very happy when Donny arrived – my knight in the white van. (Two knights in one day – lucky me!)

I thanked Shane and bid him farewell, then waited in Donny’s van (trying to thaw out) as he got my car door open – very quickly, I must add. (Thanks Donny!) I waved to the cows, thinking I was now all set. What I didn’t remember until I got back in the stopped traffic on the highway was that I was running on empty… I almost had to call Donny back to save me again, but luckily inched to the next exit and found a gas station. Phew!

I was so frustrated at the lost two hours (and paranoid about leaving the car) that I only stopped for gas the rest of the way. I made it to Martinsburg, West Virginia, where my grandmother, aunt and family live, by about 8:30 pm. Not bad considering…

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Eight hours (not counting stops for gas, food and stretching), 580 miles. All in one state – and I didn’t even drive all the way to the bottom! I really need to remind myself to download another audio book before the next epic drive commences. I have practically every word of every current country song down pat – and practiced several 80s tunes, too (you never forget the words to those – even the ones you hate).

I considered stopping and exploring some of the state parks along the way (Dan recommended some good ones), but my sister-in-law Kelli called and informed me that Hudson and Holden (my nephews) were anxiously awaiting my arrival and would stay up until I got there. I simply couldn’t elongate the journey any more. I didn’t want to torture poor Kelli by having them up too late!

So I had lots of thinking and planning time. I’ve now pretty much reached the east coast, which essentially is home. And for the most part the states there are somewhat easily accessible (at least in comparison to the rest of the country). But I don’t want to just cut the road trip short, beeline it up the coast and bring the trip to an abrupt end. I’ve already done the Miami to Massachusetts 24-hour straight drive when I flew down a few years ago to drive back with Alicia when she was moving home. And that is not a fun non-stop trip. (Never mind the fact that I’m doing it alone.) So even if I don’t dawdle and sight see much, there are still many people I want to visit before I call the trip complete.

I admit I’m eager to get home. I want to get ready for the holidays, and am especially looking forward to our baking and decorating day with all the family/friend kids. (Nick still puts the first ornament on the tree but pretty much stops there, so a few years ago I started having my god-daughters over to decorate it for me and the tradition has grown from there. This year it’s all out holiday decorating and baking with all the kids who want to join in!) And I also know it’s going to continue to get colder the later in the year it gets and the further north I drive.

So I think I’ll just make one last amendment to the itinerary. I’ll proceed as planned as far as Gram’s and Aunt Robin’s in West Virginia, but will go straight home from there. (That also allows me to bring the cat mom wants from West Virginia to Massachusetts. I’m not happy about it, but know it’s the right thing to do.) So it’s just Philadelphia and New York that I’ll skip and I’ll make sure to do them this spring or summer. And actually, I already did New York, so it’s really only Philly I’ll miss.

After determining that, I felt somewhat accomplished and went back to my singing. (I’m sorry, but there’s really no need to play Martika’s Toy Soldiers more than once every few days. It wasn’t even that big of a hit in the 80s.) I also amused myself by watching the scenery – Tara will be happy I saw more cows, but sorry I didn’t have time to stop for pictures – and by reading the billboards. I laughed out loud at the Cafe Risque (‘We Bare All’) signs for the 24-hour adult toy store. Tara and I are always saying we need 24-hour malls, restaurants and gyms, but hadn’t thought of that one. And it’s right next to the ‘Boots and Guns’ store. Wonder if that’s 24/7 too? Of course sprinkled between these are the ‘Prayer Works’ signs and the anti-abortion ads. (Did you know a baby’s heart is beating 18 days after conception? The things you learn from billboards.) By the way, if you’re looking for a field, there are 146 acres available in central Florida. Simply visit www.buymyfield.com. You only get one guess where I learned that…

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I’m just done with Atlanta (like you couldn’t tell). So today I simply gave up. I went to lunch with an old high school friend (Michael Laurino – go see his movie Yellowbrickroad when it comes to a theater near you) and was supposed to then tour the aquarium and finish up Atlanta touristy stuff, but just couldn’t do it. When Mike dropped me off at the curb of the aquarium, I texted Tara to see where she and Delanie were, and then just started walking.

Leaving them to have fun with the penguins, sharks and sea otters, I walked and walked until I found a book store. It happened to be the Georgia Tech book store (sorry Tom), and was exactly what I needed. It even has a Starbucks. I browsed for a while, bought a journal and a hot caramel apple cider, and sat and wrote for the rest of the afternoon. I was able to think about the next few days, make my lists and start planning. I’m taking another brief detour north starting tomorrow. I’m flying back to Massachusetts for a few days, and will pick back up on Sunday (Day 74).

It seems I missed out on one of Georgia’s real treasures: the Georgia Aquarium. Luckily Tara and Delanie had my camera (see slideshow) and Tara’s now going to share the highlights:

I’ve been meaning to guest blog for Amy since she started this trip – and now, being the only one of the two of us to see that which is the AMAZING Georgia Aquarium, here I am.  Del and I finally made it out of the room by noon yesterday and used some combination of instinct and a vague recollection of good signage to find our way to the Aquarium.  Conveniently, it was right across from Centennial Park (worth a visit in its own right).  Delanie and I met as college students, both all ready to be marine biologists (until the reality of limited funding for this type of work set in, hence lives in nursing and conservation education, respectively) and so the aquarium was a perfect afternoon activity.  We planned to spend about two hours there, arrived and texted Amy that we could easily be there until close. 

If you’ve not been, and are in the Atlanta area, come to the Aquarium.  There are five galleries, beautifully layed out, with well designed exhibits that provide a good mix of educational information and wildlife to observe.  The giant viewing window (thank you for making us see it, Dana!) should be mandatory for anyone trying to lower their blood pressure.  We watched for twenty minutes and it felt like five.   The window, with stair-style seating in front, has just two feet of acrylic between you and four whale sharks (delivered by UPS, as the story goes – look what Brown did for them!) and hundreds of other species. 

In other tanks and exhibits, there are river otters, sea otters (one that just arrived this week from Monterey Bay), beluga whales (my favorite whale – how can you not love any animal with a melon) and that’s just the mammal population – hundreds of species of fish, sea stars, jellies, an elusive octopus, anemones, spider crabs, eels, and yes, penguins too (ok, ok, they are fun to watch – I will try to keep my commentary about how bitey and unfriendly I have found them to be in person to myself – that’s for my blog and another day).   We only got lost once when trying to find the predator/prey exhibit on sharks and ended up in an unmentioned art gallery.  The take home of the day:  More people are killed by chairs each year (60-something) than by sharks (less than 10).  So swim in the water with abandon, but watch where you sit.

We repeatedly texted Amy to get her to join us and our enthusiasm for this gem, but I think she found exactly what she needed this afternoon and we all had a great day.

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