July 4 festivities: a grill-out and a few beers, bottle rockets and roman candles were all in the cards – what came unexpected were the old friends we casually met who had the same thing in mind, only more so. Apparently, local fun calls for the ‘losers’ (of what we never understood) to line up while their ‘friends’ shoot roman candles at them. While they swore it didn’t hurt, the yelps of even the biggest, and the toughest, told a different tale.
Rain doesn’t bother us, but we hoped for dry skies into the night for safe racing (that isn’t canceled). We snuck around the pits (in shorts, apparently a no-no that can get you kicked out), talked to some of the crew, and checked out the start line, which was way steeper than we could believe and welcomes fan signatures and pictures. Hootie (errr, Darius Rucker) played just before the flyover, which meant the night race would begin shortly. Daytona night race + NASCAR speed is a blast.
Rain greeted us in the Sunshine State – we were told that the downpour was the first in a long, long time and that ‘they needed it’, so we were content to wait it out. As the storm passed we headed to a Jacksonville institution, Sliders, and had the namesake (aka oysters) brought out by …
The Atlanta traffic was largely non-existent on this cloudy day as we drove to the MLK Jr National Historic Site to learn a little more about Dr King’s legacy. The park was full: some old, some young, some in school, some on vacation, but there was a sense of respect and gratitude for the Atlanta son yet unsurpassed in our travels.
When you roll into Atlanta at 3:22 in the morning on account of your DD wanting to avoid Atlanta traffic the next day, and you’re hungry or looking to check something out, there is only one right answer: The Majestic Diner. You never know who you’ll meet, what’ll be going on, or which girl may grab your waiter when you ask to take his picture, but the food is good, the people are friendly and there is always a story to be told.
Nashville’s Centennial Park, crowned by a replica of the Parthenon, was especially busy for Movies In the Park. We checked out The Wizard of Oz with the rest of town before heading to the West End for some live music and festive, Nashville-style good times.
