A quick update ... almost

Roughing at our winter camp

We've finally landed at our winter destination at Florida Grande RV Resort near Webster Florida.  We were here last year and enjoyed the stay so we're back again.

Just to back up a bit ... we left Adairsville and motored on a few hours to Manchester TN.  Not to abandon my 'late to start ... early to quit' driving style, we managed to get maybe 200 miles under my belt before seeking out the KOA in Manchester.  Another repeat stop for us and it too was well kept park.  We didn't unhook with plans of getting on the road early the next morning.  As you might guess that didn't materialize as we managed to get back on the road about 10:00am.

Now here comes the ugly part ... I24 south of Manchester is no place for the meek.  The roads are in perfect shape ... the scenery is spectacular ... but the hills and truck traffic is not so good.  If I had not 400hp pushing me going up the mountains and a reliable Jake Brake slowing me on the decent, my fingers would still be permanently bonded to the steering wheel.  I'm trying to maintain a 60-65mph speed but the 18 wheelers roared by me like my wife rushing for the 'blue-light' special at K Mart.  Up and down and around the mountains we went ... I think if I were driving a car it would have been a more pleasant route but a little to tense for my liking in a motor home.

Though the trip to the next over-night was short, the stop at the Forsyth KOA was again very enjoyable.  We'd planned to revisit a restaurant (Prime Palate) was nixed as we were there for dinner but on that day they were only serving breakfast and lunch.  So we consulted my new Garmin GPS unit for new eating places and found a steak house that sounded good.  We found the place but learned that it had gone out of business some 11 months ago.  So much for the map upgrade.

Sharon mentioned that there was a movie she'd seen (Fried Green Tomatoes) was shot near Forsyth so we again consulted the GPS unit and drove off to the east about 10 miles to the small village of Juliette.

Inviting sign

About half way there we came over a hill and looming on the horizon was 2 very tall smoke stacks and 4 huge cooling towers.  I first thought it was a nuclear generating plant but Sharon did a little Google checking and discovered that it was the largest coal fired power generating plant in the US.  If time would have permitted I sure would have liked to take a closer look and taken some photos.  It was an imposing facility.  Anyway on to Juliette ... we pulled into the made-for-the-movie street discovering that both sides of the street were small old-time shops (all closed) each built at maybe 2/3 scale.  Sort of like an over-grown doll house look.

Whistle Stop Cafe

Specialty of the house

The famous restaurant we wanted to eat  at (specializing in fried green tomatoes I guess) was closed as well so I took a few pictures and headed back to Forsyth.

We cruised around the city square and found a place called 'Grits Cafe' www.gritscafe.com.

Grits Cafe next to the Rose Theater

Normally I'm gastronomically about as far away from grits as I am the moon but it looked like the only game in town at the time so we ventured in.  Wow!  What's a place like this doing in this little burg?  Table cloths, nice wine list, original art on the walls and no paper towels in the restroom but white cotton towels all neatly rolled in a stack near the sinks!  Oh did I mention the food?  Yup, lots of grits offered but only as compliments to the main entrees.  Checkout their website and see the selection.  Oh, and one last little treat. Along with the bill came a little plate of special chocolate to finish off the meal.

A sweet little chocolate delight

So fellow snowbirds and other vagabonds of the road ... if you're passing through or stopping over in Forsyth Georgia area you can't go wrong at either the Prime Palate or the Grit Cafe.  You will not be disappointed.

Heading out at the crack of 10:00am the next morning we made to our next stop in Lake City Florida.  We've been there before and it was an easy in and easy out stop over.

So here we are on our last leg of the trip.  Another rough 3 hour day on the concrete canyons of northern Florida.  I like to rate the trips we take using the famous "Cone" formula.  This was a one cone trip.  That is  I only hit one orange cone and no orange barrels.  Not too bad for me considering it took me 6 days to go 1200 miles.  Nothing like smelling the roses along the way.

Thanks for tagging along and stay with us as we embark on another winter adventure.

Still livin' the dream.

Phil