Actually that should read something
like “Alabama to Tennessee to Georgia to Tennessee to Georgia to
Tennessee.” I don’t know how the people
who live on a border like this keep track of where they are. And add to that the time change factor and
the confusion heightens to a fever pitch.
Before the new leg of our journey
began, we went to church with Larry and Diane.
Really big church. Really
big. How could I tell? They bought every house (except for one
holdout) on the entire block next to them so they could have more places for
offices and Bible Study classes. They
have at least three worship services on Sunday mornings and one more at a
different location. And the most
significant tell of all … their children’s department has a bog slide from one
floor to the next. I’ve only seen that
one other time at a big church in Texas.
That church wouldn’t let me go down the slide either. Bummer.
The worship was good, though, and they love Jesus. Check.
After church we went to a seafood
place for lunch. From the outside it
looked like a simple fast food typo place.
But inside it was waiters and full service all the way. We even had a waiter in training. Our hosts talked me into trying something
new, not a common experience for me. I
ate some coconut shrimp. Strange
combination. And mix in whatever batter
that was that made it taste sweet as well and you have something similar to
that Chinese food stuff I tried once named after some general or corporal or
something. Not too bad. We also had shrimp tacos that didn’t taste
like tacos. They were just served on a
tortilla. They were really good. The time with friends was awesome, but it was
time to move on. As we left Larry handed
me an envelope and said to open it later on after we got on the road. Inside was a challenge he had given to the
Sunday School class he taught. It was
the same as a challenge I have given to classes as well. Included was some money and the charge to use
it to bless someone as you go about your daily life. This is gonna be fun.
Enough about food. From there we hit the road again. Our next destination was just over an hour
away, and the whole way we saw signs advertising it. Billboards.
Small roadside signs. Barn
roofs. Come to find out, they are famous
for that particular kind of advertising.
In fact they sell birdhouse and Christmas tree ornament replicas of
barns with the sign painted on them.
Chris bought a souvenir little barn with “See Rock City” on top. Oh, did I fail to mention Rock City was what
was being advertised?
But before Rock City we were
determined to go see Ruby Falls, the other big tourist attraction on Lookout
Mountain. Well, we did go there. Even parked.
But when we made our way over to the line to get in, we quickly adjusted
our plans. I haven’t seen a line that
long since the Batman ride at Astroworld.
No, this was longer. Much longer. No one would even attempt to estimate the wait
time. And then I heard what proved to be
the final blow to our experience of this particular waterfall. A lady we passed was explaining to her
friends that “they pack you into an elevator like this to get you down into the
…” And as she talked she pressed her
arms tightly to her side and stood straight as a board. When I reported to Chris what I heard she was
more than ready to move on to the next stop.
Chris has moderate to severe claustrophobia.
The decision proved to be a good
one. We continued further up Lookout
Mountain and found ourselves at Rock City.
The warnings there were all about the walking involved, but we figured
we could handle it, especially after being in the car for a few hours. It appeared to be just as much a tourist trap
as Ruby Falls, but it was much better run than its mountain counterpart. We parked and were inside in a matter of
minutes. And no elevator. The experience was well worth the work,
too. Some of the passageways reminded us
of Colorado and the Ravencrest camp we went to there. Shall we say, tight squeezes between huge
walls of rock? They even had cute names
for the passes: Needle’s Eye (nice Biblical reference there) and my favorite,
Fat Man Squeeze. There were a few times
when Chris was reluctant to continue.
Once a little girl behind her reassured her that she had already been
through there. What’s a Grandma to say
when a youngster gives that kind of encouragement? Chris made it through. We saw the view from Lover’s Leap. Decided not to jump, though. After 40 years together we figured we could
at least pass on that one. We finally
reach the point where we could see seven states from one vantage point. Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia,
Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
I guess we saw all seven of them.
I couldn’t tell much difference in the scenery, myself. I would have to say that the high point of
the day for me was sitting in a rocking chair at the top of that mountain and
enjoying a frozen lemonade cup. Couldn’t
get any better that that. Unless, of
course the rocking chair was at an Astros’ game, the only other place I have
been able to find frozen lemonade cups. Found
out when we crashed at our hotel that the Astros won. Sigh.
Hotel rating: We’ll be here for two
nights, so I’ll give it some more time, but so far only two tiny starfish have
peeked up at me. A long black hair in
the bathtub and some internet connection problems don’t make for a good
start. We’ll see.
Psalms
31:3 says, “Since you are my
rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”
Father, thank you again for our friends
and their generosity. Keep on blessing
them. Give us your wisdom and your eyes
to see who we can bless with the challenge money. Amen.
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