Some of my thoughts about my road trip to Charlotte, NC...
Indiana is a nice calming drive... you drive by farm after farm after farm. I've been to Indiana a few times before this trip and I think I've done all I want to do there. Sorry Indiana.
Kentucky is one of the most beautiful states to drive through. Almost every exit has a sign of some kind of attraction, which most are distilleries. Mmmmm... booze. We did not stop at any of them because we had places to go... and drinking and driving is not a good thing. We did have some fantastic Basil Hayden bourbon at dinner in Louisville. The Louisville Slugger Museum was fantastic... any baseball fan would enjoy the tour. Tip: Go to Louisville Slugger during the week since they do not make bats on the weekend and I am sure the tour would be less exciting.
Things still to do in Kentucky:
1. Go on the Bourbon Trail
2. Stop at the original KFC - they have a museum there!
3. Ride a horse, and go to Churchill Downs.
Eastern Tennessee is much more beautiful than the flat Western part of the state. I had already been to the Great Smoky Mountains, but if you have not been you should go. You just might see Dolly Parton, really. I wish we could of spent some time in Knoxville but we passed it (both going and coming) at a bad times to stop. I dig that city.
Things still to do in Tennessee:
1. Grand Ole Opry.
2. Ride on the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
I cannot say much about South Carolina since we just drove through only about 100 miles of it, and we only stopped for gas... and took a couple photos of the Peach looking water tower. I did notice that all of the dirt is red, and lots of people have the state symbol (palm tree and a crescent moon) sticker on their cars... state pride is alive and well in SC. I did not see in Confederate flags, but I did learn that many from SC truly think they are the best part of the States and they are the true south... whatever that means.
Things still to do in South Carolina:
1. Everything... especially Charleston.
North Carolina is fine. Charlotte is fine. I wish I could think of a better word for fine, but fine seems to closely match how I feel. My feeling is that Charlotte is one of those cities that is more exciting to live in, rather than visit. I did have a good time - but was not blown away by the city. I would say the highlight would have to be the Billy Graham Library - it is done so well. And for a man I only know a little bit about I was very very impressed with the entire tour. I also enjoyed the Rosedale Plantation tour. I could sum up the people in downtown as: fat guys in dockers who smoke... although I am pretty sure someone said that about Chicago once. On the drive to Charlotte we stopped for lunch in Asheville which was a really beautiful part of the country... I'd like to go back and see more of it. LP and I did take a quick trip to Greensboro to see some friends for a quick lunch. The company was better than the town, but downtown Greensboro was really cute.
Things still to do in North Carolina:
1. Chapel Hill
2. Raleigh / Durham
3. Outer banks.
4. Asheville... and go to the Biltmore.
