November first, at the crack of dawn, we headed out for a two week trip to the south. The plan was to drive down to Orlando to spend a few days with our granddaughters and their parents, and then visit New Orleans for a bit before driving home.
We decided to drive east to Indiana and pick up Interstate 65 and take that south to Mobile. The first day we drove through Indiana and a good part of Kentucky, stopping at Bowling Green. The second day we finished the trip through Kentucky, zipped through Tennessee and slogged through Alabama.
I’ve never made this particular trip and was amazed at how beautiful Kentucky, Tennessee and northern Alabama are in late fall. We drove through foothills (of the Smokies, I assume), and early in the day either clouds or fog ringed the tops of the hills. We had an overcast day, but very little rain, which made the travel quite easy. There was a brief spate of construction just after I took the wheel in Tennessee, but it didn’t last long. Dear Husband was delighted to find an exceptional seafood restaurant a block away from our hotel in Mobile. We opted for just about all the peel and eat shrimp we could eat. I think I might have had hush puppies, too!
The third day of our trip we headed east out of the very tiny bit of Alabama that fronts on the Gulf of Mexico, into Florida. The panhandle of Florida goes on FOREVER!!! The worst part about the panhandle is that every mile looks the the one you just drove, and the one up ahead. A little variety would be nice. I think it might have taken us five hours to go from Mobile to Interstate 75, where we turned south.
We drove to Ocala, another place I had never visited. I researched seafood restaurants in Ocala. They have every kind of seafood place there: shops where you walk up to a window to order, fast food chains that feature deep fried fish, nicer restaurants where you are waited on, and a few really classy joints. We opted for the nicer restaurant, and made our way to the center of town. Ocala is very people friendly. We had almost no trouble finding our way around, and had a wonderful dinner at Harry’s.
The fourth day of our trip we were about 90 minutes from Orlando, and had the day to ourselves before we met up with the kids. We slept in, had a big breakfast and continued south. When we entered Florida, there was a rest stop that had fliers on just about everything you can do in Florida. Dear Husband found a flier on a quilt shop on the Atlantic side of the state. Since we didn’t have any plans, we went fabric shopping. (I know how odd that sounds.) We bought the fabric for a baby quilt I need to make, and DH found several pre-printed panels that would make absolutely adorable quilts. Before I singed the credit card we headed back to Orlando to meet our family
And with that, it’s time for me to hit the hay. Hopefully, I can give you the shorter version of the rest of our trip when I return.