The Parent Swap

Savannah, GA - Atlanta, GA - Memphis, TN

Miles: 653
Stops: 2
States 4

One of our earlier mornings was also Mom and my last together. Day 5 of the drive began from Savannah at 8am with a quick stop to fill a leaking tire. 4.5 hours later we arrived at Nicole and Jim's for lunch, where I got to see her new bling and eat yummy lunch. The drive was relatively uneventful, but rainy and we arrived in great time.

Next on the day's agenda was going to the airport to drop Mom off and pick up Dad. The Dad portion worked out, while Mom had to wait a very very long time for her flight after AirTran blamed "her agent" for not booking her a seat assignment. I call BS on that one and blame them for overbooking the flight. She wasn't happy but she did get a round trip flight out of it, which I quickly pointed out can be used to visit me. Or for me to visit home. Dad and I didn't discover this little hiccup until we were about 20 miles into Alabama having a quick dinner. Other than that delay, the plan worked out beautifully.

We had set off from Atlanta about 4 and were about 10 miles from Birmingham by 5:30 local time (6:30 PM EST). I was a little confused by our on-the-road time change, but it ended up making the drive seem a lot less painful. We were getting gas somewhere in the middle of nowhere Alabama at about 8:30 Central time, on our way to drive through Tupleo, MS the favorite son of which is none other than The King himself, Elvis. I continued to drive, while we listened to the utterly appropriate Forrest Gump Soundtrack along the way. "It Keeps You Running", "Sweet Home Alabama", and "Running on Empty" were particularly fitting. We really had a great time driving, and Dad took over in Tupelo for the last 100 miles. I actually can't believe how enjoyable the physical driving of all of this has been. I haven't been antsy in the car but once, when Mom and I were stuck in traffic north of Richmond. Goodness that feels like forever ago.

So Dad and I drove a total of almost 400 miles and found our way to a hotel in downtown Memphis. We passed a lot of beautiful countryside along the way and while I'm glad I don't live in Sumton, Alabama- I am glad to have been able to drive through it once in my life.

Comments about Part 1

I decided my titles needed some changing because after today's drive (which I will get to), I wanted to reiterate that this trip is really two trips in one. Part 1 was not just Day 1, but days 1-4.5 during which Mom and I traveled from DC to Wilmington and then on down the coastal plain through the Lowcountry to Savannah. After ending up in Atlanta, where my father joined me for our part of the journey, Mom was on her way home to Rhode Island.

Dad and I are embarking on Part 2, which is a Blues roots tour through the Delta. Driving first to Memphis, then down Highway 61 through Clarksdale, Cleveland, and to Greenville, Mississippi- all important sites in the development and history of the Blues. We will then cross "east Jesus" Texas and land in Austin to finish up the trip and move me out of my car and into my apartment.

So really this is two very different vacations wrapped into one. It has developed as an idea over almost an entire year, only recently becoming the way in which I move myself to Texas for school. I read an article in National Geographic Adventure last August about the Blues trail, which planted that portion of the trip in my mind. Once I knew I'd have to drive to Texas, Mom wanted in on the fun so we added the southeast and made it a road trip supreme. Anyway, the next few entry details one entire day, today, August 13.

Gardens of good and evil

Charleston, SC - Savannah, GA

Miles: 108
Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes
Stops: 0

The third leg of this little roadtrip was a mere 108 miles from Charleston, SC to Savannah, GA. It took us 2 and a half hours and about a quarter tank of gas. There was more gorgeous countryside along the way. Arriving into Savannah was a relief, because it was (to us) a particularly hot day. The hotel is beautiful- a great old building with impressive decorating and a back hallway that smells constantly of barbeque due to the restaurant downstairs. We had arrived in town in time to change for dinner, enjoy a glass of wine in the lobby, and wander to our restaurant destination Bistro Savannah.

First impressions of the city were less than enthusiastic, as we were walking along a relatively commercial street that had several empty storefronts and little historic flare. All this changed once we found ourselves at Bistro Savannah. We have a saying in this family; the "Top 5 Meal". This is what we use to indicate superior culinary experiences wherever we may be. There are absolutely more than 5 meals that one of us would characterize as a "Top 5" but, you get the idea. Anyway, Bistro Savannah definitely earned this designation. We had a great truly bistro table by the window and ordered the shellfish pot for an appetizer. The meuniere sauce was made with onions and parsley and it was phenomenal. I had halibut that was excellent, Mom had quayle off the tasting menu proving that you truly should always ask even when you know your request is not likely to be obliged. A half-bottle of wine and the best strawberry shortcake either of us had ever had later, we were raving. The ultimate compliment was requesting to take a copy of the menu. Once back in the room, there was more Olympic swimming and gymnastics including Michael Phelps' 9th career gold medal in the 200m Freestyle.

This morning we had breakfast, I studied Stat, and we went off for our trolley tour of historic Savannah. This is when we got a better sense of the city's squares, history, and charm. The well-restored buildings are interspersed with newer buildings in some blocks, while other blocks are almost entirely early architecture. Savannah experienced numerous fires that destroyed early structures and others were torn down in the early part of the last century. While 23 of Ogelthorpe's 24 original city squares remain, 13 of Savannah's 56 major historic structures were torn down between 1933 and 1956. In 1955 when a local funeral home owner was going to tear down a home for a parking lot, seven Savannah ladies raised the money to purchase the Davenport House. They spent the next 13 years restoring the interior to its period appearance, founded the Historic Savannah Foundation, and are credited with jump-starting historic preservation in the city.

After an afternoon of boutique browsing, we relaxed with a glass of wine before dinner at the Olde Pink House on Reynolds Square. The meal didn't hold a candle to last night but the dessert was excellent. As were my shrimp and grits. Now we're back watching Olympic beach volleyball, waiting for swimming and gymnastics before bed. An early wake-up call awaits us tomorrow morning because we're driving to Atlanta to have lunch with Nicole and Jim.

24 Hours in Charleston

Before I detail our (relatively short) drive from Charleston to Savannah, let me first describe our short time in one of the eldest towns in America. Like I said before, we were greeted with champagne upon check-in. Building on the idea that Uncle Mike had introduced us to the night before in Wilmington, we picked two places to dine that evening. The first, Cypress, was our destination for drinks and appetizers, while 82 Queen would be our dinner location.

Note: We freshened up before going out for our walk, drinks and dinner, which is a term that I never truly understood until I spent a serious amount of time in the South. Multiple showers a day are necessary in this heat but as that is impractical, one rinses off in the shower or washes her face 2 or 3 times per day to avoid looking like a wet rat. Anyway, this is off topic and real Southern women would probably say that I just don't have that "glow" versus "sweat" thing down yet.

We strolled around the historic district of Charleston where there were a large number of fantastic windows and doors to photograph. Anyone who knows me well or has traveled anywhere with me knows that I like interesting doors and windows. The one posted here was my favorite, the rest will go up elsewhere. We found our way to The Battery, which we would later learn was really a landfill for early Charlestonians. It was also not where the first shots of the Civil War were fired from as the history is popularly retold. In fact, Fort Sumter was fired upon from three smaller forts on the mainland and the harbor, quite a distance from the Battery. Despite all this, there are canons and statues honoring the brave Confederate soldiers pretty much everywhere.

Arriving at Cypress was like walking off a street in historic Newport into the new trendy spot in Manhattan on an off night. It was impeccably decorated, mixing modern style with the colonial architecture of the building. The food was excellent. Mom had an eggplant Napolean and I had almond-fried Brie with cranberry chutney. She also had a sweet tea mojito which won the drink competition, even though my Sauvi-Blanc was excellent. And yes, I'm going to be a foodie for a minute because that's part of what this little adventure is about. Yummy yummy food. 82 Queen was excellent, although I had barely enough room left to eat a third of the buttermilk fried chicken I had. Mom's shrimp and grits were excellent and (despite the unnecessarily loud French Canadians next to us) the experience was wonderful. When we returned to the hotel, we had coffee and cookies, Mom fell asleep and I watched Michael Phelps and Company beat the French in the 4x100 Freestyle Relay. The race was incredible, and while I tried, I couldn't stay up for the Medal ceremony. I will say, the French anchorman had the same dazed-and-confused look on his face that most of the Patriots did after that stupid helmet catch lost them the Superbowl.

This morning, we ventured out for a Carriage ride (my Mother's weakness). Eric, our driver and Assault and Battery, our dear mules provided shade and education for an hour long jaunt around the historic district. Apparently these two particular mules don't like the barn staff very much, hence their names. The ride provided a much-enjoyed commentary on early Charleston, its architecture, and society. Below is Rainbow Row, the longest continuous set of colonial buildings in the country. Our driver did skip from the early settlements in the 1670s and 1680s straight to the Earthquake of 1886, conveniently missing that pesky "War Between the States". In reality, the funniest part of Eric's talk was about Charleston's many churches and bells. During the war, the city gave its church bells to Vicksburg to be melted down into ammo for the Confederate army, with the guarantee that for every one bell they gave, they would receive two at the war's end. Provided that the South won. As can be expected, it took a while to get a few of them back.

Finally, we toured the Edmonston-Alston house, which contains 90% original furniture, making it one of the more authentic Charleston homes. The house was gorgeous, obviously an important piece of old Charleston and well-restored. But the coolest part was the joggling board. An interesting, rocking bench-like apparatus that can not easily be explained with words.

The Lowcountry is Beautiful

Wilmington, NC - Charleston, SC

Miles: 175
Time: 3 hours and 30
Stops: 1
States: 2

Our night out in Wilmington was a traditional Bodine family affair. Drinks at George's with Uncle Mike and Aunt Anne's favorite bartender followed by dinner at the Phoenix Cafe. We got home in time to watch Michael Phelps win his first gold medal in Beijing, in the Men's 400 IM. This morning, we walked along the water in Wrightsville Beach, just down the road from Wilmington. It made me wonder why I was traveling so far from the ocean.

But before all of that, I woke up around 5:30 AM to notice that it was still dark out. I thought of Nicole and Jim in Maine, and the fact that I knew Jim was planning his proposal for this morning. I didn't know it would be this particular day, but I figured as much since I hadn't gotten the phone call yet, I knew he was planning on a sunrise, and tomorrow is their last full day up there. So when I woke up at 5:30 and noticed the darkness, I took my phone and held it in my hand before I went back to sleep, knowing that if Nicole called, I would wake up. I got up around 7, no phone call. But I only had to wait 24 more minutes until the funny picture of her showed up on my cell and she got to tell me she was engaged. What made it all the more hilarious were her first few words, "you've been scheming for months, you skank". She meant it with love, and it's true. Jim then got on the phone with me to thank me for my efforts in misleading my roommate, which I (of course) was more than happy to do. I love weddings.

Since nothing can ever go exactly according to plan (what would be the fun in that) I realized just before we took off towards Charleston that I am required to have four semesters of a foreign language in the same language for my graduate degree. While I understand the value of this requirement, I was planning on making good use of my Rosetta Stone for working on my Spanish. Having an extra class every semester I am at LBJ will be a major increase in coursework and it's most frustrating because of the surprise. Nowhere on the website is the requirement listed (that I could find) and this is the first I'm hearing of it- exactly 11 days before orientation. Needless to say, I was frustrated for the first hour of the drive but I'm feeling more relaxed now. I have to focus on studying for stat right now- one thing at a time.

The drive to Charleston (minus the strip malls in Myrtle Beach) was beautiful. The "low country" has a charm and peace about it that was enjoyable to drive through. No traffic, no honking, no cities, just country. Green country. The bridge that led us into Charleston was magnificent and the hotel is charming. Good southern hospitality has already made a difference in my blood pressure, since we were offered champagne even before we were offered our room keys.

417 miles to 4819 Whitner Lane

Miles: 417 (one tank of gas!)
Time: 8 hours and 15 minutes
Stops: 2
States: 3

Started out from Rachael's apartment where we said goodbye (tear) around 8am. When I arrived at the airport, I was still feeling the negative effects of several gin an tonics courtesy of one Matthew Curtin the night before. A coffee and a bagel later, I was good to go. Mom arrived on time, and we set off from the airport with a packed car and lots to chat about. We hit our first traffic jam at exit 166 on 95 after clearing the Beltway with ease. The posted sign said "Slow between Exits 166 and 160". That 6-exit slowdown turned into a two-hour battle with drivers of various states trying to get to the beach. Traffic was heavy to Richmond but we were through and making our first stop a little after noon. We took turns reading out of our tour books about Charleston and Savannah's history, prepping ourselves for the touristy portion of the drive, all of which is in the opposite direction from Texas.

The next 18 hours or so will be spent in Wilmington with Aunt Anne and Uncle Mike having dinner, drinking wine, eating cheese, and seeing the "reason they moved to this town" - the beach.

Errands can be fun.

Yesterday had to be one of my most productive days in a long time. The number of things that I accomplished between when I woke up at 9 and when I left the house to see friends at 7:30 is incredible. It makes me wonder how I functioned working 9-5 every weekday, because a lot of what I accomplished had to be done during normal business hours, or was made significantly less annoying because I was doing them during normal business hours.

First of all, I called my lender for my UT student loans. Having been lucky enough not to have to deal with loans as an undergrad, this is uncharted territory for me so I have needed a lot of coaching. Apparently I now have two additional bank accounts to handle my loan money. One is with the "loan servicer" and one is a savings account with University Federal Credit Union (UFCU). The woman at UFCU told me that my loan is "dispersed" on August 19 and will go directly to UT, which will deduct my tuition, fees, etc. from that amount. Then they will reimburse me the remainder of my loan and (I'm almost certain of this) charge me a FEE. So not only do I have to call someone to tell them what I want them to do with that money, when I tell them what account I want it in, they charge me to put it there. Ridiculous. Anyway, figuring all that out and realizing I didn't actually have to do anything yet was accomplishment number 1.

Next, I dealt with GEICO which was surprisingly easy. My car insurance is $30 cheaper per 6 months now that I'll be living in Texas. Excellent.

I applied for a change of address with the United States Postal Service and while I have generally been happy with the USPS in my life, I don't quite understand why they need to charge me $1 to "verify" my address change. Whatever, it's $1.

Next on the agenda was reading the last bit of the stat work I started the night before. Check.

Rachael and I then drove to Catholic so she could be productive and buy her Law School books and hole punch her European sized paper from her Polish classes. And let me take this time to talk about how very happy I am that I am not going to law school. Those books do not look fun. Even a little bit. I used to laugh at Nicole for going "ooooo yay!" when she had to read books about Yellow Fever, but at least they had interesting covers. My books will most certainly not be hardcover embossed leather with gold writing. They look like something out of Sherlock Holmes' personal library. Very un-fun.

Next was the fun part of the day, which involved us going to have lunch with Peggy and Kate (Office of Undergraduate Admissions bosses/friends). It was weird being back on campus during the summer, seeing all of these kids going on tours. They look unbelievably young, which is to be expected since they are all 17 or under. It was also odd to walk into the Images office that Rachael and I (and the rest of our friends) essentially lived in for Summer 2006 and not know any of the kids working there. But we aren't that old because there were still pictures on the walls that were taken in both of our apartments.

Next was a trip to Kinko's ($50 to print out the rest of my stat reading) and Jiffy Lube ($50 for an oil change during which they topped off the washer fluid brake fluid, radiator fluid, checked the tires, vacuumed the interior, and washed the windows. I also received a receipt for a free car wash.

After a stop at Giant for supplies I got back to Rach's and baked a cake and made baked ziti for dinner. We then brought the cake to Charleton to say goodbye to the boys who are leaving for Alaska this morning. In blue icing on top I wrote "Please don't die in Alaska!" but by the time we got there, it just said akljeafija lsd fja Alaska!