"Remember the Alamo" - Southern States  DAY 7 - Fri., 15 March 2002

We awoke at the traditional 6 a.m., and were on the road per the usual times.  By 7 a.m., we'd crossed over into Georgia, and the fog was replaced by pleasant, but not overbearing, sunshine. We stopped into Augusta, but nothing jumped out as being noteworthy in the ten minutes we wandered around the downtown, so we hopped back on the freeway.  

By a few minutes after 10 a.m., we'd rolled into Altanta.  The town is, of course, huge.  Since the boy was last in Atlanta in August (he just forgot to bring me), we opted to show me the tall buildings that were already on the way to the focus of town (in his pea brain), CNN Center, and the various areas of the Centennial Olympic Park (commemorating the 1996 Olympic games hosted in Atlanta).  They did the tried-and-true sponsor a brick thing as part of their festivities (and to rake in some cash, no doubt), had the Five Rings fountain (shut off for repairs), and a view of the Georgia World Conference Center across the street... the site where companies apparently hold conferences and stuff.  And, I not only felt welcome in Atlanta, but found why I can't buy a Pepsi here to save my life.  There was even some government building, but we were too lazy to see which one (city hall, state capital, comic book shop; you decide).

And off we went to Macon.  Just outside of town, we passed a lovely speed trap.  It began with a motorcycle officer on the right side with his radar gun out, pointing it out way, then put it into the pouch, and with a flash grabbed a black Chevy Tahoe and stopped 'em for speeding.  Thinking we were safe, we all sped up again, only to find another officer in the center divider doing the same thing, and three cars on the right shoulder with three county sheriff's deputies cars behind 'em with the lights going.  It was quite pretty, even more so considering they weren't stopping us.

So, Macon.  In the interest of a point, I will offer no comment on their fountain spewing pink water.  As you may recall, I offered an observation about the "First Baptist Church" event noted earlier, while in Tennessee.  It seems that Macon's principle export is religion, and a drive through the downtown just added to my confusion.  Sure, we have the Methodist church, and the Lutheran church.  We even have a church-looking post office and a Catholic church, not pictured.  But then we have the Baptist churches.  I found three in a two-block area, and quit looking.  We have the First Baptist Church, the First Baptist Church, and the First Baptist Church of Macon... which tells me they were in Macon first.  When did the other two arrive?  And how did the First of Macon feel about it?  Figuring the issue wasn't going to be resolved soon, we left.  We did see a neat white house, but not sure what it was, and didn't care enough to look into it further.  

Between Macon and Valdosta we had 150 miles of nothingness.  To pass the time, sometimes we'll pick a car to act as a pace rabbit, and we'll follow them at their speed for as long as we can.  Today's turned out to be two brunettes from Wisconsin driving a yellow VW Beatle.  The passenger smiled at the boy (probably out of politeness or fear, not interest, of course), and that was enough.  That, and they were making excellent time, reaching speeds upwards of 90 MPH in their little bug car.  After nearly 50 miles, they won and were allowed to escape when we stopped for gas.

I would admit there are some elements not included in these updates, and I'd like to share a few with you now...

1. The boy doesn't like to stop.  I have the bladder of an infant peep, and need to stop often.  While the boy will allow me this basic dignity on occasion, it's rare.  During one of our arguments on the topic today, he applied a short-term solution that pissed me off something wicked.  Not only was it demeaning, but the issues of walking  and removing the "solution" in a socially appropriate manner is very difficult.
2. You may be wondering how a ten-inch tall duck can see all of the action during the drive.  We have ways.
3. Yes, we forget what day it is.  That's where dry-erase pens and a mark will convey the day, date, and Trip Day Number at a glance.

We reached Florida at 2:30 p.m., and pushed forward to Jacksonville by 3:30 p.m. Obviously, we had to go further than Jacksonville, just because of how much driving I figured the boy and I would need to do tomorrow.  The loop bypass kept us out of Jacksonville, taking us no closer than this to the city (neither of us minded).  Once we started down I-95, we saw signs talking about St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S.  Which made sense, given the early Spanish occupation of the area (now Florida) in the 1600s, and the obvious Catholic-sounding name.

So, we stopped in.  The historic landmark signs disappear five minutes away from the freeway, which took much of the adventure out of the trip.  We did locate one place advertising itself as the Fountain of Youth.  And true to form, it's 5:01 p.m.  So, we head back to the freeway, passing this classic-looking structure.  Is it a Spanish mission?  No.  A museum, historic center, visitors center, or something equally clever?  Nope.  It's the St. Augustine newspaper office, located, cleverly enough, at One News Plaza.  Believing all of the fun of this town has turned to nothing (although the brunette playing with the dog near the fountain was something, just not much of something), we headed for the freeway, passing a Taurus full of small children waving as their grandmother drove (Virginia plates, don't ya know).

Fate took us right beside Daytona Beach, and given we were already there, we stopped in a bit.  Their welcome sign was quite inviting, I must admit, but the Daytona Speedway was a bit on the anti-climatic side; I'd expected more.  And since I didn't find it, we headed off, after I look in on the Barnes & Noble (across from the speedway) and momentarily set my gaze on a dark-haired girl lost her in book, but I'd probably just be distressed if I'd ever discovered it was probably something witty like Hair Care for Dummies.

Back in the car, and we finally settled on a location that wasn't too far of an early drive tomorrow to reach Miami... leaving us in Titusville.  Go team!  It wasn't all bad, really; it's right down the street from the Kennedy Space Center, the hotel clerk was actually pleasant (only the second time on this trip, after Gallup's stop at the end of Day 2), the girl in Wendy's was a bit cute, although her eyebrows didn't match her hair color (small town oversight, to be sure), but she had wonderful hazel eyes, and that's not something easily overlooked (pun unintended). 

And within minutes of getting back from dinner, the boy's out cold.  Of course, I was going to wake him and suggest he stay up three hours after eating as suggested by various dieticians and other health care professionals, but it was humid outside, and I didn't want to be left in the car, so I kept my big beak shut, and after I get this saved, I'll be climbing into my own bed (yea!) for sleepy eyes.