Blue Highways

 I don't know what it is, but the older I get, the less in a hurry I am, and I have never been one to be in a hurry, but I'm taking time to stop and smell the roses.  Or was the case today, the azaleas, the wisteria, the dogwoods, the redbuds, well you get the picture.

M and I are on our way to Hilton Head Island (HHI), South Carolina.  If you know us, you know we go over there a couple of times a year, spend a week or two and then come home, and count the weeks until our next trip.

On almost all our trips, we leave Tuscumbia, head southeast on Ala 157, join I-65 south to Birmingham.  Once we meet I-20, we head east to Atlanta, head south on the I-285 loop, drive underneath a runway and taxiway at Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport, then take I-75 south to Macon.  We usually spend the night in Macon, and after a heart Waffle House breakfast, head southeast on I-16 to Savannah.  Just before we hit Savannah, we head north on I-95 for about 20 miles until we come to US 278.  Yes, the same US 278 that goes through Cullman.  We proceed east on 278 until we cross the Intercoastal Waterway until we are on HHI.

I told you all of that to set up today's story.

We left Tuscumbia about 8.30 this morning, doing about 275 miles or so to Macon.   About Muscadine, Alabama near the Georgia line, I said to Marilyn, "I really don't feel like driving through Atlanta today.  Let's get off at the Carrollton exit and work our way cross-country."  Well, she was all for that, so we played with the GPS and found an acceptable route.

Do you know who William Least Heat Moon is?  He wrote a book in 1982 called Blue Highways.  I was 25 at the time and bought the book after hearing him on a radio show.

According to a biography I found online, I believe it was from the New York Times, it read, "Blue Highways (1982) is a chronicle of a three-month-long road trip that Least Heat-Moon took throughout the United States in 1978 after he had lost his teaching job and been separated from his first wife. He tells how he traveled 13,000 miles, as much as possible on secondary roads, and tried to avoid cities. These roads were often drawn on maps in blue in the old-style Rand McNally road atlas, hence the book title. Living out of his van, he visited small towns such as Nameless, Tennessee; Hachita, New Mexico; and Bagley, Minnesota, to find places in America untouched by fast food chains and interstate highways. The book records his search for something greater than himself and includes memorable encounters in roadside cafés."

Ever since then, some 43 years ago, I have wanted to be like him, just wander the Blue Highways.  I mean seriously, doesn't that sound like a blast?

Anyway, today we took the "Blue Highways."  After exiting I-20 onto US 27, we headed south and went through Carrollton.  A nice city still considered part of the Atlanta Metropolitan area.  After another 30 miles or so we came to the charming town of Newnan, Georgia, population of about 44,000, which shocked me when M looked it up.  It looked and felt like a small town.  We drove on some of the side streets, everything was clean, and every flower imaginable was in bloom.  Some things like the forsythia and tulip trees had already turned green.  But the azaleas were resplendent in all their colors, the dogwoods, and redbuds made their trees standout.  Even though it will choke a tree, the wisteria was ever present, giving lavender flowers to the unsuspecting trees.

The yards were manicured, most of the trees had leaves.  I had driven through Newnan once before, but really didn't pay that much attention, but today, my goodness, did I mention the court square, spotless and beautiful, I was pleased to see the "Reese Opera House" on one of the corners.  If you don't know why that pleased me, ask me later.

I left Newnan speechless.  I think I did manage to tell M, "If you ever want to move to Newnan, it is ok with me."

One thing we learned, Newnan is one of the most popular cities in Georgia for Hollywood.  Literally dozens on movies and television shows have been shot in Newnan.  I certainly see why!  One last thing, Newnan is the hometown of author Erskine Caldwell, author of one of one of the great American novels, "Tobacco Road."  It is also home to one of the funniest writers ever to walk the streets of Georgia, Lewis Grizzard.  He died a number of years ago but is one of my all-time favorites.

About 45 minutes later across southern Georgia countryside, we came upon the city of Barnesville, another city that looked like it had on its Sunday best.  A town of just over 500, we learned Barnesville was at the turn of the last century, the buggy-making capital of the United States.  They made buggies for everyone from farmers to presidents.  One the automobile took hold, they still made chassis.

The little town hosts three festivals a year, and even though the first one is still a month away, they looked ready for it to start this weekend.  One thing about Barnesville that made me smile, I started seeing palm trees.  This makes me very, very happy.

It was 4.30 or so when we got to Macon.  We tried out a new restaurant, at least new to us, and it was fabulous.  Give you a hint, I had a grilled pimento cheese sandwich with bacon and tomato on rye.  There were no words to describe it.

There were still a couple hours of daylight left, so found the directions to Rose Hill Cemetery.  Turns out it was only five minutes away.  This huge cemetery dates to 1840.  It has a large confederate section for those veterans, and thousands of other graves spread out over 1,400 acres.  Bur M and I came to find two specific graves.  Two brothers.  Duane and Gregg Allman.  After consulting the map, we found their graves fairly easily.  In a fenced off area alongside fellow Allman Brothers band members Berry Oakley and Butch Trucks we found Duane and Gregg.  A somber moment for the creators of hours of satisfaction listening to their music.  (I wrote about one of their songs, In Honor of Elizabeth Reed last week).

We made it back to our hotel just before the sun set.  It was a marvelous day filled with adventure, wonder, great food, and paying respects to great musicians.

It is amazing what the Blue Highways can teach us.  You just never know what you will find.  I can't wait for the next trip.