Vacation - day one - May 16, 2009 - Saturday

Left Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 7:25 a.m.  We stopped in Indiana at a rest stop and got a phone call from our neighbor Jan telling us that our security alarm went off.  Security and the police were at our house.  They checked everything out and everything was okay so they reset the alarm and locked the door.  Drove on and spent the night in Berea, Kentucky at the Holiday Motel.  Had dinner at Cracker Barrel.

Vacation - day two - May 17, 2009 - Sunday

Drove to Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Took the tour of Ruby Falls.  Kind of scary driving up but I made it.  Took an elevator down inside the mountain and walked through the caverns.  Many cool looking shapes in the rocks like angel wings, a strip of bacon, a potato chip, dragon foot, leaning tower, elephant foot, turtle, cactus and a candle.  We also saw a beautiful 145 ft. waterfall.  After leaving Ruby Falls we took a scenic drive to Rock City.  The Rock City tour is like going through an enchanted fairyland and was very beautiful.  You uphill and downhill past rocks and plants.  There are stone passageways, gum trees, rhodendendrons, other flowering plants, a deer park (no deer there today), and a swinging bridge which neither of us crossed.  The bridge takes you to Lover's Leap where you can see seven states.  There is also a stone bridge that will take you there and Don did cross that so he could take pictures for me.  I tried to cross but my legs got wobbly.  After this we went through the fairyland caverns.  This is a really nice place for children.  In the walls of the cavern are scenes from storybooks like Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, and others.  There is also a big room in the cavern with a display of all the Mother Goose nursery rhymes.  Left Rock City and drove to the Chickamauga Battlefield.  The visitor center was just closing but we were able to get a road map so we could take a self-guided tour of the battlefield.  We got out of the car at different sites to read the signs, view the statues, cannons, etc. and take pictures.  At one point on the tour I saw several deer in the bushes.  We stood at the site where the Confederates crossed the road and attacked the Union soldiers.  You could almost imagine the battle.  Spent the night at the Day's Inn in Cartersville and ate at Shoneys.

Vacation - day three - May 18, 2009 - Monday

Drove to Red Top Mountain to the top of the scenic trail.  The visitor center was closed so we drove back down to Lake Alatoona.  Met a little boy named Seth who was fishing on a little island with his father and grandpa.  Left Red Top Mountain and headed to meet my online friend Heidi.  Heidi came to meet us at the Best Buy in town and then we drove to her house for a nice little visit.  She was so sweet and I enjoyed meeting her very much.  Hope we see each other again one day.  Left Heidi's and drove to Warm Springs, Georgia and visited the pool where President Franklin Roosevelt went to swim in the warm springs water as therapy for his polio.  We then drove to what FDR called "the little white house."  This is where he lived when he was at Warm Springs.  After leaving the little white house at Pine Mountain we drove to the FDR National Park for a beautiful scenic view of the mountains.  Stopped at a country store and then started our drive to Andersonville.  Found the prison but since there were no hotels/motels in the area we drove on to Americus.  Before getting to Andersonville we were stopped at a police checkpoint.  The officer checked Don's license and looked in our back window and then said, "Okay, have a nice day."  We arrived in Americus and turned right and found no hotels so Don turned around to go in the other direction when all of a sudden lights started flashing and the siren was going right in front of us.  The police stopped Don for driving the wrong way on a one way street.  Luckily the officer was very nice and did not give us a ticket since we weren't familiar with all their one way streets.  Spent the night at the Jameson Inn and ate at Ruby Tuesdays.  

Vacation - day 4 - May 19, 2009 - Tuesday

Looked at the clock and it said 7:35 a.m. which was later than we wanted because we had hoped to get an early start so we hurried and got ready to go.  Then Don remembered that during the night the alarm went off and he evidently hit the button so it was really 6:35 a.m.  and we were right on schedule.  Headed to Plains, Georgia home of our 39th President Jimmy Carter.  Went to the high school he attended which is now a museum housing all his memorabilia.  Saw both the churches he attended.  We went past his current home but couldn't see it since it sits back from the street and all the trees are now in bloom.  We were told that you can see it in the winter months.  Did get a picture of the secret service houses which are right near the road.  I was taking a picture when the a policeman drove up and said that Don needed to move his car because it makes the secret service nervous.  Drove on to the boyhood farm where Jimmy grew up.  We then visited the gas station which was operated by his late brother Billy Carter, the train depot where his presidential campaign took place, the peanut factory where he ran his peanut operation and shopped in the little stores on the main road.  We then drove to Andersonville prison.  Viewed a film and walked around the grounds where the prison once stood.  Learned about the conditions the prisoners lived under and went through the museum.  Took a driving tour and got out at different points to view statues and read the signs.  We then drove over to the Andersonville cemetery where over 12, 000 union soldiers are buried.  We left Andersonville and drove to Columbia, S. Carolina where we ordered carryout from Fuddrucker's to take back to our room at the Knight's Inn. 

Vacation - day five - May 20, 2009 - Wednesday

Drove to Charlotte, N. Carolina to see my sister Pamela.  Hadn't seen her since Christmas.  She has a lovely four bedroom home.  Spent the day relaxing, having some drinks, and listening to music.  Pamela then made us a wonderful steak dinner with baked potato, corn on the cob and a salad.  Had a great time visiting with her and her two black labs Jazz and Karma.  Perfect way to end our vacation.

Vacation - day six - May 21, 2009 - Thursday

Left Pamela's to head for home.  Drove from Charlotte to Lafayette, Indiana.  We mistakenly thought we were back in our time zone.  We thought we were eating dinner at 8:30 p.m. at Cracker Barrel when in fact it was really 9:30 p.m.  Spent the night at Motel 6.

Vacation - day seven - May 22, 2009 - Friday

Only a few hours to drive before we're home.  Arrived home to find our back door had been left open all week.  Apparently when the police shut the door the rug was caught in it and it came open.  Thankfully, everything was okay.  Now back to reality.  Started laundry and then off to get plants for the garden and visit Don's mom at the nursing home.

There you have it.  Vacation 2009!  It was fun but it's always good to be home!