Driving Across America: Leg 4.5

Author's Note: I wrote more than one entry last night and this morning, and I added more pictures to Leg 2. Be sure to check those out and read in order.





The 8 hour drive from New Orleans to Roswell could not have been less noteworthy. We passed through some pretty cool areas - crossed Lake Pontchartrain; saw the water tower in Biloxi, MS; drove by Mobile, Auburn, and Montgomery, AL; all of a sudden had Georgia on our minds.

But nothing really happened. I drove for a few hours, Melissa slept. Then she drove a few hours and I slept. We realized we had made a stupid mistake, however. Thinking we would get to the Reid's house by dinner time, we made plans to have dinner with them. However, Cafe du Monde took a little longer than expected, and we stupidly forgot to account for our final time change of the trip, so we didn't end up arriving in Roswell until about 8:30pm. We kept them apprised of our situation and they rightfully decided to eat without us. We pulled up at their house at 8:45pm. I'm pretty sure they thought our 'delay' was due to a late night of drinking in New Orleans, which was not the case. We were back at our hotel before midnight, but just took too long getting around town in the morning after waking up around 8am.

Anyhow, dinner was waiting for us on the table when we arrived. The Reids were, as usual, extremely hospitable. They heated up a marinated chicken, a cheesy hash brown casserole, salad, and some roasted vegetables. It was delicious.

Melissa's Note: This was my first true 'southern cooking' and it was amazing!

I didn't ruin it and tell her that while this was absolutely delicious, it was not exactly soul food. We stayed up chatting and catching up for awhile. We were also treated to a custom made carrot cake from Gail's surprise birthday party from the week before. Apparently, Larry pulled out all the stops for this one. The cake was custom made to look like a movie reel (they are big movie buffs), very similar to the one that decorates the front of the Orson Wells Theatre in Boston where they took many a dates when they first got together. It had the names of many of her favorite movies on it. And the party was hosted by their friends who had a theatre in their basement. Sounded like a blast to us!

The last thing I will mention about Roswell is going to meet a great deal of resistance if Jay reads this, but it has to be said. We unearthed his infamous Bar Mitzvah tennis picture. If any VT AEPi guys read this, you know what I'm talking about. It is just as funny this time! Jay, if you read this, who is this "Mazel Tov" guy that keeps writing all over everything?

Around 11pm we got our luggage out of the car and called it a night. I caught up on my blog - losing valuable sleep in the fear that we might not have internet again until we are back in Maryland, not wanting to turn off my readership with a lack of consistent travelogumenting - and then went to bed. We both had a little trouble falling asleep, so today is going to be an exhausting one.

First stop: lunch in Savannah, GA. We plan to see as much of Savannah as we can in a couple hours before getting on our way to Charleston, SC. Dinner there and some wandering, assuming the weather is good. Then, our ultimate destination is Myrtle Beach, SC, where a friend of Melissa's is house-sitting a mansion for the summer. That will be our home for tonight and, if the weather is good, maybe tomorrow night too. Pending that decision, we will be back in Maryland Friday or Saturday evening/night. Can't wait!