I'll be doing this road trip report in multiple posts because it's going to be quite picture heavy and I'd like to take my time taking you on our weekend adventure. We left out Friday afternoon close to 2 p.m. I had no clue where we were headed or what we were bound to see. All I knew was Jesse told me our final destination was Lookout Mountain in Tennessee. We would be spending Friday night in Albany, Georgia and Saturday night in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We packed into the car and headed out. Our very first stop was in Greenville, Florida. The birthplace of Ray Charles.
Located in a local park off of Highway 221/90 sits a beautiful bronze statue of one of my most favorite musicians, Ray Charles.
We took our photos and hopped back in the car and continued on our way. After stopping in a small town and sifting through a thrift store we got back on the road. We weren't driving for long when we came across this dilapidated bull.
After we snapped our photos of the bull we headed to our nest stop, Johnny Donutseed. Situated in front of a run down, but still in operation gas station off Highway 59 in Lloyd, Florida. Definitely a great example of classic American Kitsch.
We grabbed some drinks for the road and continued on our journey. It would be some time before we got to our next destination. My husband has this funny way of getting me pumped up to see what he's planned. We drove down this residential, small town road. All he said was "I'm looking for a stop light and a church." I said "You mean like the right there", as I pointed to my right side. He excitedly said "YES"! He pulled into the church parking lot and said "Look over there! Yard whales!" As he pointed across the street. This family has a few ginormous whale statues and quite few small dolphin statues in their yard. This one is located in Tallahassee, Florida.
This would be our final stop in Florida on the way up. We then hit Georgia. I'll tell you, driving through all these small towns really makes you feel like you've gone back in time. It's such a nice switch from what my normal day to day is with traffic jams, people everywhere, noise all around you. We come to our first stop in Georgia. The Big Oak. This was such an amazing site to see and not one, single photo I took can give this tree the due justice of seeing it in sight. Every tree climbers dream. The perfect oak and such an old relic and beauty she was. Planted in 1680, the only words that come to my mind are, "If this tree could talk".
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| Amara standing next to The Big Oak. |
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| Jesse standing next to The Big Oak. |
After a few blessed moments with the tree we really had Georgia on our mind...and our next stop.
Georgia wouldn't be Georgia without some kind of homage or memorial to Ray Charles. Myself being the music nut I am and the Ray Charles fan that I am, my husband knew he'd do good with this surprise. I give you Ray Charles Plaza. A city park themed and decorated accordingly in memory of Ray Charles. This park included swinging benches that were perfect to cuddle up with your sweetheart on while you watched the giant, slowly rotating, Ray Charles statue. Oh and did I mention that this park pumps out Ray Charles music all Night & Day? You see what I did there? Anyways, we didn't stick around as long as I had hoped or wanted. The sun was beginning to set, we were ready to grab some dinner, and the gnats were getting out of hand.
We had reached our destination for day one in Albany and it was time to find Jesse a bathroom first and foremost, and our hotel. We drove to a nearby KFC for Jesse and passed a few painted turtles along the way.
This brings us to the end of our Friday drive. Part II and III should be posted tomorrow and I really hope you enjoy the photos and our adventures. I have some friends who have asked for assistance on planning similar roadtrips. Most of the stops Jesse plans are found on Roadside America. Figure out how long you want your trip to be, pick a final destination and then fill it in with different attractions along the way. It's fun to journey out and see different things. Take in some of the history places around you have. Go see and learn about the world around you. You won't regret it!
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