I tried to fool Caro and head out of Gatlinburg pretending I didn’t know where I was going but acting indignant whenever she questioned me. I hoped to fool her long enough to get deep enough into North Carolina to say “Hey we are already close to the town Andy Griffin used as a model for Mayberry. We might as well just drive through”. Nope!!! She wasn’t buying any of that. She got out a map and figured what I was attempting. Now that the navigator was back on duty I could not pretend and had to follow her instructions. I told her what I wanted to do and she said “I don’t give a hoot. I want to go home.” I reminded her that we were scheduled to be on the road 3 nights getting home. She refused to believe I told her that. I showed her the schedule and she said “We are going to be home in 3 days“. So thanks to the cell phones I reshuffled our reservations and trip lengths. The first night would be in Bessemer.
This is a picture of the interstate where we turn south on I75 towards Bessemer. I came so close to Mayberry!
So instead of a comfortable 200 mile or so drive we drove over 300. That is a long haul for tiny bladders and tender buttocks. I was POed most of the way so I only stopped and bought gas station sandwichs and drinks. No hot lunch for us. I got concerned the closer we got to Bessemer that I didn‘t remember seeing a Holiday Inn sign when be drove through a week earlier. So Caro called ahead and got directions. Turns out the sign motel had not been erected until just the day before. We had not stayed at a Holiday Inn Express before and I was kind of hesitant. Our older daughter has conditioned me to expect and demand a certain level of service. I went to check in and found that they had no porter or on-site restaurant. Didn‘t sound too promising. However, the desk clerk was very helpful and told me that although they didn‘t have a restaurant there were three in walking direction. We had a splendid meal at a “Santa Fe” steakhouse. Yep they served “bad pop”. The steaks were so tender we could eat them with a spoon.
When we got settled into the room we were impressed by the furnishings. We felt like we were in a rated hotel. I went down to the exercize room and walked the treadmill for about 30 minutes. Then I went into the swimming pool room. The hotel was so new that floating on the pool surface were those little styrene balls from the foam packing that is used to ship pool furniture and etc. I felt pleasantly satiated and pleased with the Holiday Inn Express and will certainly stay with them again.
The next morning we had breakfast in a Waffle House. We, or at least I, have grown to love those places. The food is dependable and moderately priced.
We said goodby to the Express and took off down the interstate headed for Natchez, Mississippi. I have crossed the Mississippi River so many times at Baton Rouge that I was determined to use this new route.
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