I said we wouldn’t come home until Wisconsin cleaned up its act and now one day’s drive from home and you throw us a blizzard? I guess it’s too late to turn back now.

We left Hilton Head Island two days ago and have been swinging north through North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. Our first night got us to Asheville, North Carolina. Nestled in the Appalachians, it is a music city with great restaurants and one incredible gem, the Vanderbilt Mansion called The Biltmore. The tour took us most of the day as the house, all 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms sits on 8000 acres including a farm, village and winery. The house tour was set up as an audio tour with you being treated as a guest of the Vanderbilts being given a tour of the house before the festivities begin. The rooms are set up with mannequins in period dress adding a sense of realism to the tour. This was one of the best if not thee best tour I’ve ever been on.

Late that afternoon, after an extensive wine tasting that got us just loose enough to buy more wine than we have ever purchased at one of these things, we headed north again on our way to Lexington, Kentucky. Arriving late, we unloaded our luggage at the hotel and pretty much crashed for the evening. That is not before I answered several emails and did some road work for the first hour only to realize that the reason everything seemed so dark was that I was still wearing my sunglasses. I might add that I had driven the last half hour coming into town after dark and wearing those same sunglasses. This by itself might speak to being tired, but my darling wife never noticed. Kind of makes me wonder if I can trust her evaluation when I ask her if I look presentable and she replies in the positive.

This morning we headed to downtown Lexington where we stumbled on to a historic homes walk and the childhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln. The homes were for the most part restored and were serving as private residences. Many were incredibly well done. We also learned that Lexington was the home of The Transylvania University! I guess they have to prepare vampires somewhere. Seriously, it turns out it was a prestigious school of higher education established in 1789.

We finished our walk with a tour of the childhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln. the tour guide was very good and gave insights to her upbringing and life I had not realized. Their blended family spawned 17 children. As Kentucky was a slave state and the Todd’s had multiple slaves, the Civil War completely divided the family. Eight of the sons fought for the confederacy, while five sons joined the Union Army. Meanwhile the sisters split between North and South resulting in a truly “divided house.” The end result was a deep rift between family members as well as the tragic end for several of the sons. Mary’s life was filled with extensive tragedy and left her in later years fighting deep depression along with a period spent institutionalized for a diagnosis of insanity.

Our trip is drawing to a close but not without a wealth of memories and experiences, let alone a couple thousand pictures. Beware, if you ever cross us, we may just force you to sit through the entire slide show.

We have been on Hilton Head Island for several days now and have been enjoying the ocean, bike trails and golf, though one must share the course with the alligators. And let me not fail to mention some great food and drinks. It seems the bike trails go everywhere and everywhere they go there is another great food and drink establishment.

Last night we were walking down the block headed for a quick bite when we were invited onto the local free shuttle driven by our gregarious driver, Greg. When the couple that jumped on with us heard us tell Greg our destination, they leaned in and recommended a different spot. Upon arriving at the restaurant, we introduced ourselves and asked Jim and Nancy if they would like to join us. Two hours later, after several drinks and shared appetizers, we had gleaned their life story, including the Jim’s cancer diagnosis. As we were saying our goodbyes, Nancy leaned in and said I can’t thank you enough. Not only was the idea of talking with two strangers something they had never done, Jim had not shared his diagnosis with anyone even though Nancy had hoped against hope that he could find a way. Our conversation had been a positive one and we had both enjoyed each other’s company. To know we had been there to listen, only made our meeting that much more meaningful.

But that was not to be our only encounter. Tonight we headed for yet another establishment only to find ourselves in a different one than the one we had been looking for. Four women were enjoying a lively evening at the bar across from us. Something encouraged me to ask them if this was a girl’s weekend or a night out after work. Within minutes we were in a friendly conversation resulting in a surprising 6 degree of separation experience. They were there from the Cincinnati area as part of a bachelorette party. One of the women was the mother of the bride while another was the mother of the groom. Five minutes into the conversation, upon learning that we were from Wisconsin, one of the women declared that her father-in-law was from Kimberly and her mother-in-law from Combined Locks. “Was there any chance we knew where that was?” Ironically Kimberly was my hometown! Though her father-in-law had likely attended high school with my sister, I had attended high school with his sister and of course recognized the family name. What ensued was another interesting evening meeting complete strangers and leaving as new friends.

There is a moral to these two stories. Even though there may only be 6 degrees of separation, it remains 180 degrees until you turn around and start the conversation. Hilton Head will always be a fond memory for its beautiful beaches, bike trails and golf shared with 8 foot alligators, but its lasting memory will be the benefit of being willing to talk to the stranger sitting next to you. You’ll never know just how much you have in common until you share your story.

We reached our southern point two days ago. Just our luck to leave Atlanta as it got sunny and warm and arrive in Palm Coast, Florida in a typhoon. Of course we will take the blame for the weather. Things improved yesterday afternoon, the ocean settled down and today we rode bikes for the first time and basked in 75 degree weather.

Atlanta was a treat as we stayed with two very dear friends and lazed the days away in their wonderful southern hospitality. As I mentioned before, Stu and Polly were on our river cruise last summer and we had promised to find a way to get back together. This march to the sea, as we are now calling it, afforded us that opportunity. While in their area we were treated to a trip to downtown Atlanta where among other activities, we came close to seeing the new Falcon Stadium. I say close as apparently its one of those things that even a navigator will tell you, “you can’t get there from here.” It seemed we were thwarted at every turn by a closed street, a one way that wasn’t our way or just a conveniently, for someone but not us, construction closure.

There was one extra treat. Stu is the owner of a Porsche and offered to take me for a scenic, quiet slow ride through the local area……I’m kidding. It was scenic and the area was quiet but slow would not be a descriptor I would use. The old cliché, it corners like it’s on rails, was proven true by Stu. As Tom Cruise would say that he had a need for speed, well my need was met and potentially exceeded but I savored every mile and every minute of it. Now, if I could only convince Deb that the cargo room in a Porshe would be as much if not more than my Jeep, maybe, just maybe.

We left for Florida late on Sunday after promises that this would not be the last time we get together and that we would find some way to hold them to the promise. After managing our way through the worst traffic I have ever had the honor of driving in and wondering how this many people could be traveling in and out of Atlanta on a Sunday, we crossed the Florida Georgia line and turned east toward Palm Coast. This city is laid out beautifully along A1A, the highway that hugs the Atlantic Ocean. The Intercoastal Waterway goes right through the city and canals crisscross its streets. We managed the surf and wind of the ocean at Ormand Beach where they used to race cars before moving down the coast to Daytona. We took in John D Rockefeller’s winter home where he eventually retired and passed away. And finally, I got back on my bike for the first time since the surgery and was ecstatic that I was able to ride relatively pain free. That was a major success.

Florida has been great. The striking thing about the area is that everyone is from somewhere else. No true southern drawl and a general attitude that you can’t tell the tourist from the residents and certainly not from the snowbirds. The general conversation is when are you headed north as though there needs to be a mass exodus to get out of here before the hardcore confused tourists come down just about the time Florida reaches a million degrees in the shade.
We head back north tomorrow but will still hopefully soak in some sun and warmth on Hilton Head Island.

Till my next blog, keep working on warming up Wisconsin for our return.

We have lost track of the days. Today is apparently the day after yesterday as far as we know. Somewhere, several days ago we passed through Chattanooga.

If you recall, I had mentioned losing an hour and having no idea where it was but convinced we’d never find it. Well I was wrong. Half way across Kentucky, we suddenly found the hour only to lose it again just outside of Chattanooga. Apparently there is a hole in the Eastern Time Zone somewhat like the Twilight Zone. But we made good use of our found hour. Finding ourselves somehow near Mammoth Cave we took the tour. After all who could pass a National Park? Spoiler alert for my Wisconsin readers, its mammoth but that’s about it. In the Battle of the Caves, I’ll take Cave of the Mounds over Mammoth any day.

We eventually took Chattanooga by storm, ironically seeing all the major attractions EXCEPT the Chattanooga Choo Choo. I will mention our top four. We perused the Aquarium, expensive but truly one of the finest I have ever seen. We endured the Incline Railroad to the top of Lookout Mountain, literally an almost straight up the side in a trolley car ride to the top. Again, pricey but the ride and the view are worth it. Next up, Ruby Falls, a long walk through an interesting cave complete with all the features but surprisingly ending in a spectacular waterfall. This waterfall is 1150 feet beneath Lookout Mountain and drops 145 feet from it’s crest to its pool all inside the cave!

We ended our siege of this fine city with a visit to Chickamauga Battlefield. This Civil War battlefield is as amazing as it is moving. The suffering is played out in the monuments to both sides as they held their ground only to eventually “retire” to another position and yield the bloody ground they fought and in many cases, died to hold. The war was really the last face to face style of battle and is simply hard to fathom. A word about monuments as we fight to have them removed or kept. The monument is just a marker for us to remember our history no matter what side of it we were on at that time. It is only when we use it as a symbol to continue the fight that it becomes obtrusive and then needs to be removed. The Civil War should have taught us all how precious life is, all lives, and that we must stand together as one nation willing to defend those rights.

We eventually reached our next destination just north of Atlanta two days ago. We had met this couple, well stalked this couple, on our river cruise last year. During the course of the week we had formed a friendship that ended with the old classic line, “If you are ever in…” Well we were, and we were hopeful that they meant it. We had warned them before we left home and when we arrived at their doorstep we were welcomed with open arms and genuine Southern Hospitality. Within a matter of minutes, the time and distance fell away and we picked up the conversation right where it had left off a year ago. Polly and Stu are phenomenal and truly genuine people and we will find it difficult to leave when the time eventually arrives.

When we left Wisconsin we vowed not to return until it cleaned up its act, namely got rid of the snow and somehow got the temperature back over 55. This morning we are having coffee on our host’s deck, looking out at the 15th hole of the golf course they live on and soaking in sunshine and yes wait for it, 74 degrees. How’s it coming there Wisconsin?

Surely I jest. Day one of our travel experiment is behind us. Too soon to say we have survived, but it went well. We had made a decision to stop in Springfield Illinois, and having grabbed a hotel room at the Hilton Gardens, we decided to take in the Lincoln experience.

We arrived downtown around 4:30 and after pretending to know exactly where we were, one of my built in flaws, we reached the Lincoln sites just in time to miss the final tour. But, that was okay. Plenty to see anyway and a really enjoyable dinner at an 1860’s restored house / microbrewery. I had what they call the Horseshoe, better known as a cardiac arrest on a plate and since I am writing this, I obviously survived. A few micro-brews later and we headed back to enjoy some of the amenities of our hotel.

This morning, after a luxurious sleep in, we headed back downtown to complete the Lincoln Experience. The tour, offered by a skillful and humorous guide, took us through several restored homes in the intricately restored Lincoln neighborhood and ended with a very complete tour of Lincoln’s Springfield home. The fact that most of the furnishings actually had belonged to the Lincolns and that the restoration was authenticated by illustrations from the period, brought history to life. Having been a Civil War Era buff all my life only added to the experience. We concluded the tour with a private half hour conversation with the guide, who having learned we were former teachers, was eager to share more of the history. Salt of the earth I believe is the term he used for teachers. Of course we knew that. I have always managed to be a little salty.

We had expected the tour would be interesting but the detail the preservation society has put into the re-creation of the area by restoring the 1860’s style buildings as well as the removal of anything from any other period, allows you to take a walk back in history. We are scoring this as our first whimsical surprise.

We are in the St Louis area tonight and our travel experiment will continue as we explore this area for the next several days. We will stay with friends, eat great food, share stories over drinks and enjoy great company. With that said, I need to get back to the party. Give me a few days off and I will bring my readers up to date.