Cross Country Road Trip, 2019 - Day 1

The Center for Puppetry Arts

A couple months ago over dinner, our friend Betsy told us she was moving to Tenino, Washington from Atlanta, Georgia. When I asked how she was transporting her car, Betsy said she’d have to ship it, and that’s when I knew what I wanted to do for my next vacation. Chad and I glanced at each other over the table, he gave me a quick, knowing nod, and I blurted out, “Can we please drive your car home for you?”  Betsy was 100% on board, and so I spent the next few weeks researching routes and states we’d like to visit. I came up with several ideas but didn’t settle on anything so we could have the freedom to go where the road takes us and enjoy 2 weeks of adventure.

The only real plan I made for this entire trip was to get a hotel room in SeaTac the night before our 6 am flight to Atlanta. We were up at 3:30 this morning and enjoyed a great flight across the country; I watched Die Hard (Chad politely declined to watch it with me and instead watched The Mule). Betsy met us at the baggage claim and three of us hopped on a shuttle to the parking lot. The shuttle driver asked Betsy, “Where you parked at, baby?” She talked to us with the kindest voice, and her motherly-like attitude made me want to sit on her lap and have her hold me. We found Betsy’s car and Betsy asked the driver if she would please wait for a minute while we said goodbye and then give her a ride to the rental car location. The driver replied, “Of course, baby.”

Betsy handed Chad the keys to her gorgeous white 2015 Lexus ES and gave us some quick instructions. We stood in the 90-degree, sticky, humid parking lot and hugged goodbye. She told us to make sure we get where we’re going soon because once the rain starts the roads will be terrible. I looked at the sky and thought, “yeah, it’s not gonna rain” because, apparently, I’m a meteorologist. Three minutes later, a thunderstorm hit dumping so much rain we couldn’t see farther than 5 feet in front of us. The thunder and lightning were absolutely stunning, and I clapped with glee every time the bass of the thunder shook the car.

For our first stop, we visited The Center for Puppetry Arts where we toured the museum

that houses the Jim Henson Collection Gallery and The Dark Crystal: World of Myth and Magic special exhibit. At first Chad laughed when I suggested the museum and told him we could sit in Big Bird’s nest, but when he entered the exhibit and saw Rowlf the dog on display he said, “weird, why do I feel like I want to cry?” I know why! Because nostalgia. We spent the next hour enjoying the characters that shaped our early childhood. If you’re my age, you’ll remember Grover teaching that sweet little boy how to count backwards from 10, Kermit reporting events like Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall, Bert’s bottle cap collection and Ernie singing “Rubber Duckie.” If you’re not my age, you’ll have memories of your own and your children probably do too. We saw Muppets and Fraggles and creatures from Labyrinth and we were like kids in a candy shop except with puppets. 

The Dark Crystal exhibit was entirely different. Darker, but just as fantastic. I was 5 when the movie came out and too scared to watch it until I was a few years older. Seeing the Skeksis and Mystics on display up close and in person was something I never imagined I’d get to do. Chad and I were the only two people at the exhibit except for the employee that had to follow me around Windexing the glass display cases after I had my face pressed up against them. A few times we thought she was waving at us, but it was just the back and forth motion of her hand wiping off drool and fingerprints from the glass. And maybe some tears.

Please forward my mail

Five o’clock traffic in Atlanta reminded us why we don’t really like Atlanta, and we were ready to get out of town. But first we wanted dinner. We drove a mile and a half (it took 20 minutes) to The Varsity, the world’s largest drive-in. Opened in 1928, The Varsity serves hot dogs and hamburgers and with about 20 cash registers and seating for 800 people, ordering food is fast and furious. When you approach the counter and the cashier says, “What’ll ya have?” (their standard phrase), you better know what you want. The restaurant is huge—they have their own parking structure with spaces for 600 cars—and there are different individual dining rooms everywhere you look. We had a good time eating some greasy food and then we got out of Atlanta as fast as we could.

We drove for 2 hours towards the northeast corner of Georgia listening to George Jones and Willie Nelson. The farther we got out of the city, the more beautiful everything was. It seems we passed a church every mile or so, each one advertising a revival this weekend. When we passed a huge field where 5 miniature donkeys were wandering about, I made Chad turn around so I could stop and visit them. We pulled up along the fence and the donkeys came right up to us like dogs. I scratched their fur and rubbed their ears and didn’t want to leave. For the rest of the drive I researched miniature donkeys and explained to Chad why they are important animals and the benefits of owning them as pets. He didn’t actually say "no," and we do have a pretty big yard, so there’s a chance. (There’s not a chance.)

I think I'll name him Gus

 

"Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee,
never knew how much that muddy water meant to me."

Tonight we’re staying in Helen, a Bavarian-style town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains and situated on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. We’re far away from cities, crowds, and stress. We moseyed down to Betty’s Country Store where you can watch bees make honey right inside the store. You can alsob buy cotton sacks of grits that were ground at a local gristmill. They sell candy out of big glass jars and have a front porch where you can sit and have a drink. After perusing every aisle, we walked across the street and paid a small fee to explore Charlemagne’s Kingdom, a 2-story model train display that depicts a German town in incredible detail. The Matterhorn stands 22 feet tall and towers of over the miniature Bavarian town. The creators, Willi and Judi Lindhorst, spent 12 years building this amazing exhibit and Chad and I loved the hard-to-find features like a car accident with a truck dangling over the edge of a bridge, and a hot air balloon that had crashed into the side of the mountain, and a building on fire.

Before going to our hotel, we stood outside in the 75-degree evening and watched a magnificent hot pink sunset. As we drove through Helen (the town is 2 square miles), the buildings were lit up and music filled the streets. Horse-drawn carriages carried visitors around town and soaking wet teenagers climbed out of the river after a day of tubing. When I walked into our little hotel, a man at the counter said, “You must be Rachel?” And THAT, you guys, ends a perfect day of travel.

“Please watch out for each other. Love and forgive everybody. It’s a good life. Enjoy it.” – Jim Henson

-Rachel