Month: March 2026

I left Memphis fairly early since I didn’t sleep worth a darn. It was nice to leave the big city on a Sunday so I didn’t have to deal with traffic.

It wasn’t long before I was in Arkansas. I hadn’t ever been in the eastern side of the state. I must say…it was flat. Lots of farmland, though I’m not sure what the crops were.

I stopped in Stuggart, AR for breakfast at a tiny hole-in-the-wall called Chit Chat Chew. I do mean tiny. I had four or five folks inside doing the Chat part of the place. They did a good job on a western omelette.

When I entered Kingsland, AR I saw a sign that made me double back to get a picture.

I guess I need to re-watch Walk the Line!

The countryside was pretty since it went from flatland to lots of evergreens with some hills around. Too bad there isn’t a smallish city that appealed to me, however, I did make it to Longview, TX and had dinner at Bubba’s 33, a very active, noisy sports bar. They had a great staff and darn good food.

Turns out I like Longview a lot…it’s a contender.

I did a little more exploring of the Downtown area today. Recent years have given Memphis a bit of an unsavory flavor, but the last couple of years they have apparently done a good job of getting things under control. I can’t say I ever felt uncomfortable during my walks. Of course not being out late at night in the wrong place helps considerably.

Breakfast was at BarDog Tavern a short walk away from the hotel. Had a basic breakfast. What was fun was the board showing a special drinks for March Madness. Look at the pic and you’ll see what was fun…

I ended up having lunch in what is considered Midtown. It’s about five miles from Beale street. Much more residential but with a thriving restaurant/art/theater scene. I might consider switching hotels and exploring it a bit more…we’ll see.

This was my unfortunate attempt to capture the view from the hotel bar from on high of the bridge crossing the mighty Mississippi. And this is what I get for not looking over my photos!

Decided to make my way to Memphis but I decided I could use a haircut and trim along the way. By doing a quick GTS (Google that shit) I found a barber not far off the road on the way way out of Chattanooga.

I stopped in at The MAX Barbershop. I told the gentleman what I was looking to get done and I heard a voice behind me “Mike”? I turned and saw Nik our waiter from last night! I mean what are the chances. Besides being a waiter Nik is a rock climber. I had given him my number the night before in case he ever got out west. He too was in need of a haircut. He actually had his head shaved. I told him he was going to have a hard time keeping his fellow wait staff off him!

The drive to Memphis was all freeway (once again I meant to stay on highways but got redirected to the freeway. I think if you take a break from moving it auto selects the most direct route).

Downtown Memphis is a bit of a challenge to navigate like most cities that have an older history, but I got to the hotel without too much challenge.

I had a good meal at the B.B. King Blues cafe and walked back to the hotel to hae an exciting evening of watching the NCAA tournament.

We started off the morning taking my car to a nearby shop to have the a/c system recharged. It turned out that it was needing a full recharge so hope my a/c will be a bit more efficient.

Nils and Elaine took me to the Top of the Rock at Missionary Ridge, famous for its Civil War history. Besides that it is home to a sprawling housing development with plenty of gorgeous homes.

We had lunch while there and though it was slightly overcast it was still a wonderful view.

Later that night they indulged me by taking me to the Boathouse for catfish and oysters! We had a wonderful time which was enhanced by our waiter Nik. He kept us well taken care of.

Well I thought yesterday’s drive was wonderful and it was….but today was over the top! I took backroads that took me through S. Carolina, N. Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. Georgia was the only state I’d been in previously, so got to check off a lot.

Now that’s not to say the day went by without issue….somehow I managed to leave my go box of leftover bbq…sad face.

The terrain went from rolling hills to the Smokey Mountains. I was on a road that I would have loved to be on the Harley.

The last third of the drive had me go next to the Ocoee river in Tennessee. I reminded me of Slide Rock state park in Arizona and somewhat of the Wenatchee river running through Levenworth, WA. Needless to say it was over the top beautiful.

I managed to get to Nils and Elaine’s house close to 5pm. It had been two years since we’d seen them. Far overdue.

I made use of their laundry which was also overdue!

Today was by far the prettiest drive of the trip. The first place I was curious about was Macon, GA. It turned out to be bigger & busier than I prefer. I should have taken the route through Athens, GA but opted for a smaller highway. It was a beautiful drive.

Greenville, SC is a wonderful town. Beautiful and the right size. Apparently it is home to several colleges as well as Clemson University about 45 mins away. I could see living here so will have to plan on spending some time here.

Dinner was at the highly rated Lewis BBQ. OMG this was so good. Without sauce this was delicious. Just enough smoke to enjoy without overpowering the dish. I got half pound of brisket, quarter pound of both pulled pork and pork belly and sides of mac n cheese and green chili pudding.

I managed to finish off half and boxed up the rest. I would have loved this with the mustard based sauce from before! Lewis had good sauce as well in a variety of tastes.

This was a short drive to Savannah. I got checked into the hotel only to find out their elevator was out of service and they didn’t have any more ground floor rooms…..Damn!

At least it turned out to be a decent, though somewhat threadbare and worn out, room. A couch to plop down on and watch the NCAA tournament.

Even though I’ve wanted to go to Savannah for a long time I decided to stay close to the hotel that evening. In hindsight I missed on on being downtown on a Saturday night! Bonehead…

The next day I made up for that poor decision. I ordered up an Uber and off to the historic downtown I went.

I started off with breakfast….shrimp & grits! Anita couldn’t believe I’d start my day off that way. It was yummy.

The street the restaurant faced was closed to traffic, so it was fun to people watch.

A short walk down the road brought me to Franklin Square. It honors Benjamin Franklin and is one of 22 squares located in the historic section of Savannah. One day I’ll come back and visit them all.

Caught another Uber to a BBQ place called Munchies. This was my first true bbq joint. Their sauce was mustard based and was fantastic. Personally I prefer my ribs falling off the bone but these had a good bite to them…did I mention how good the sauce was?

I wrapped up Sunday evening watching the NCAA tournament. All in all a nice day.

I waited too long to type this up! The only thing that stands out is going to a tanning salon and getting some color. It was a good idea.

Two weeks on the road. It seems so long ago that I left Grand Coulee…and Anita.

So it wasn’t long before I left the coast behind, but not before I went through the towns of Apalachicola and Carrabelle. Apalachicole is a beautiful little town which has a very storied past and Carrabelle is just a pretty, small town.

I turned inland. I wasn’t too far inland, but the lack of the coastline affected how I felt about the land…ah well. In spite of that I found a busy little place off the side of the road for a couple dozen oysters!

What really surprised me was about 20 miles outside of Ocala I started coming across really impressive cleared and manicured pastures. I was clearly coming into the land of horses. I’d read that Ocala was famous for raising horses and I see what they’re talking about. It rivaled anything I’d seen in the Vista, CA area or the areas I’ve been in Kentucky.

The town of Ocala definitely is very pro horse as well with dozens of stores catering to riding and all things associated with it.

I have reservations at a Red Roof Inn. Too bad the room wasn’t as nice as the other property. A leaky bathtub was the highlight. However this was offset by some of the best pizza I’ve ever had.

So this morning’s drive let me see a short area between Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach. I could live there. Good feel through the whole area not to mention I had my first breakfast at a Waffle House in Gulf Shores…probably be my last.

Crossing the bridge from Fort Walton Beach take you into the opposite of before…Destin! It is without doubt the most touristy place I’ve seen on this southern part of the trip. Garish is probably the best description.

I ended up staying the night at The Hotel St. Joeseph in Port St. Joe. It was as nice a room as I’ve had yet but so was the price! Had some beers and nibbles at the Flying Harpoon. Met some good people who said if I wanted good oysters I needed to go around the corner to the Uptown Raw Bar. I did and they were right. No Scott and Andrea, they weren’t as good as Drago’s. I see why you like it there.