response 1 of 1:

Feb 19 01:36 UTC 1999

We had been wanting to go on a tour of the Southeast since last fall, 
but one thing or another got in the way. Finally, the opportunity came 
in February, squeezed in between meetings at work and other personal 
commitments.

This may not be the kind of vacation you would want to take. We don't 
know. It depends upon your tolerance for driving, we suppose. Ours is 
very high as you will see if you didn't already know. Although driving 
is not a particular objective for us, you might guess it was based on 
this itinerary. Our real objectives were many, and all but one was 
substantially accomplished.

Objectives, in no particular order:

(1) Get away from the ratrace
(2) Drop more of Jeremy's "stuff" off.
(3) Visit Steffi's Dad
(4) Hike, hike, hike
(5) See historic cities and landmarks that we had never really 
    explored before.
(6) See wintering birds on the Gulf coast.
(7) Get this impeachment thing behind us.

Here are the highlights. Our driving took us to these places, in order, 
starting and ending with Ann Arbor.

(1)  Hyattsville, MD and Washington DC
(2)  Shenandoah National Park (Skyline Drive) (VA)
(3)  Blue Ridge Parkway (VA)
(4)  Great Smoky Mountains National Park (TN, NC)
(5)  Charleston, SC
(6)  Savannah, GA
(7)  Delray Beach, FL
(8)  Lower Suwannee NWR (FL)
(9)  New Orleans, LA
(10) Natchez Trace Parkway (MS)
(11) Memphis, TN
(12) St. Louis, MO

A grand total of 4884 miles and hmm, let's see...  
MI, OH, PA, MD, DC, VA, NC, TN, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, AR, MO, IL, IN
17 states and 1 district. All in 12 days. This is not for folks who like 
to stay in one place very long.

The rest is more detail. Read on if you are not afraid.

Hyattsville came first because our son Jeremy (fireball) lives there 
with Amy (abchan). It was great to see Jeremy and Amy again. We went to 
DC and toured the Smithsonian Museum of American History with them. We 
had never been in that one. That turned out to be in keeping with later 
activity in Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans. We would have gone up 
the Washington Monument had it been open, but it is undergoing serious 
renovation, Very serious renovation it seems, based on the amount of 
scaffolding.

The Shenandoah and Blue Ridge routes are beautiful. We've done this 
before, almost a quarter century or so ago. It was time to do it again. 
After a while, rain forced us to abandon the Blue Ridge and revert to 
I-81. We were pretty lucky with the weather all trip, considering the 
month of travel. After this rain cleared we had clear or partly cloudy 
skies the whole way thanks to a high pressure cell that brought cold 
clear weather to the whole region.

We hiked our feet off in the Smokies. Climbed (almost) to the top of 
Mount LeConte. Had a great time. Somehow we had never done the Smokies 
before. Our Golden Eagle Passsport was still valid from last April's 
tour of the 4 corners. I managed to avert blisters despite using new 
hiking boots that probably should have been better broken in before I 
began.

Then we went to Charleston. I had been here before, but never Steffi. We 
had never taken the walking tour of historic homes before. It was great. 
My camera, dating back to before we were married, needs replacement. No 
pictures this time. (bummer) There is a lot of Revolutionary War and 
Civil War history here. We saw the second oldest synagogue in the US. 
(The oldest one is near Providence, RI, and we had been there some time 
ago.) It was also being renovated. In fact, a lot of historical 
buildings are being renovated. This was annoying when you want to see 
them, but in the long term has to be a very good thing.

Next, a short hop down to Savannah. A completely different kind of city. 
Lots of really interesting homes. I love Ogilthorpe Blvd. Another 
synagogue, too (third oldest one, in fact).

Then we headed for South Florida to see Steffi's Dad. We went out to 
dinner. We had a great dinner, and it was really good to see him again.

Next up towards the Gulf coast. The plan was to go to some of the many 
National Wildlife Refuges, looking for wintering birds. We pretty much 
failed in this aspect. Most of the really good locations turn out be on 
islands, and we did not want to hire a boat and a guide for this 
purpose. We did stop at the Lower Suwannee NWR and enjoyed a short walk 
on their boardwalk through cypress swamp to the river. We saw pelicans, 
ibises, egrets, herons, and a mystery bird that Steffi and I could not 
agree upon, despite having two bird books with us. I still think it was 
a crane of some sort. If it had been willing to fly, I could have been 
certain, since cranes fly with necks extended.

Somewhere along in here the impeachment vote was taken.

The scenery along the coast was very pretty, but once we got to Panama 
City (FL) it gave way to a lot of development. So we eventually gave up 
and went up to I-10, crossed Mobile Bay and then realized.....

We were heading for New Orleans, of course, but (silly us) so was 
everyone else in the known universe, because it was MARDI GRAS week. 
Well, the first problem was to find a place to stay. We stopped, made 
some phone calls, and found a motel in Baton Rouge, only 70 miles too 
far. Not bad, since everything along I-10 was full starting even before 
Mobile.

Through clever timing, we had managed to schedule our arrival in New 
Orleans for Saturday Night. This was (as you might expect) a total 
disaster. We got as far as Basin Street, but all of the streets were 
closed for parades, and so the traffic was completely backed up 
everywhere. There was essentially no way into the French Quarter. So we 
decided to bag it and drive to Baton Rouge. We had serious doubts about 
returning Sunday morning, but when we got up, we decided we hadn't come 
this far for nothing. 

Good decision. We found the place very accessible Sunday morning. Some 
people were wandering about plastered from the previous evenings 
activities, and others were getting ready for Sunday's (which I gather 
were going to be much like Saturday's, and on through until the climax 
on Tuesday). We parked in a city lot, and marched ourselves all over the 
French Quarter, admiring the wonderful architecture, and the sights and 
sounds of Mardi Gras week. We really weren't there to see Mardi Gras, it 
just sort of happened. I know you will all consider this to be 
phenomenally stupid. No intelligent person would consider going to New 
Orleans without checking the dates first. Well, Mardi gras just wasn't 
on our Jewish calendar, so we umm just got to see Mardi Gras sort of by 
accident.

Anyway, it was great. We had seafood Gumbo for lunch, bought souvenirs, 
walked the riverwalk, etc. etc. We even saw all the parade floats, 
although we didn't hang around for the serious crowds that attend these 
parades. Remember, we really aren't big party people and here we are in 
the middle of the biggest party. We found the spot where they stage the 
parades, and all the floats were lined up there. Very colorful.

Next up - driving home. We took the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez 
to Jackson, a very pretty and relaxing drive - highly recommended. We 
ran out of light at Jackson, so proceeded via interstate hwy. Next day 
in Memphis, we gracefully avoided Graceland, walked along the 
Mississippi, took a trolley ride, then continued on to St. Louis, where 
we completed our historical exploration by visiting the Gateway Arch. We 
parked for free on the levee. Best parking deal on the whole trip. The 
arch, like the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument, is 
something that you have to do once. We had not done it before. We loved 
it.

That's it. That's all we managed to get done. The only objective we 
didn't fully meet was the birdwatching. When we got home, we took off 
the last two days to recover, relax, and write this up for you to read. 
We hope you found it worth the effort.

Only 480 messages in my inbox when I got back.