Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

A hotel breakfast buffet is typically not a place one might find cosmetic supplies; however, Susan was delighted to discover the facial cleanser she neglected to pack:  honey.  It was even packaged in single-serving containers!  After filling their bellies and getting their 3-day supply of honey, the cousins set out for their short drive to Jonesboro.

They arrived early for their first tour, so they had plenty of time to browse the Road to Tara Museum, take photos and purchase souvenirs.  (http://visitscarlett.com/roadtotaramuseum.html)  The museum is housed in a granite building that was built after the original wooden train depot burned during the Civil War.  It contains a lot of book and movie memorabilia.

Jack was their charming tour guide/bus driver.  The “Gone with the Wind Tour” was a mixture of pre-recorded information and Jack’s live commentary.  Civil War sites and places associated with Gone with the Wind were visited.  One of the most interesting places was the Warren House—site where the majority of the Battle of Jonesboro occurred.  The house was used as a field hospital for both Confederate and Union troops, and signatures of soldiers remain on the walls of the parlor.  Numerous former occupants have claimed that the place is haunted.

It is currently being renovated and will be used as a special events center.  The tourists walked the grounds and took photos of the yard, and the inside of the ground floor through the windows.  (They visited the same house on the later tour.  The new owner was on site at that time.  Susan asked him if he’d let the bus occupants enter the house, and he declined saying that he didn’t have the keys with him that day.  Susan told Natalie that they would have gained entrance had Uncle David accompanied them.)

Since it was a peaceful, beautiful spring day, it was hard to imagine that such a bloody battle had unfolded on the hilled Warren house grounds in the quaint town of Jonesboro.

They visited the cemetery which holds the remains of nearly 1,000 unidentified Confederate soldiers who died during the Battle of Jonesboro, the old jail/history center (where the cousins were briefly incarcerated and photographed in prison attire), and several homes that had ties to the Civil War and some which provided inspiration for Margaret Mitchell in writing GWTW.

After completing their first tour, Susan and Natalie briefly returned to their hotel room and then stopped at a fast food-type burger place, Martin’s, for lunch.  Susan was delighted to see the onion rings she ordered be hand-battered and deep-fried before her very eyes. 

The ladies returned to the Road to Tara Museum/Train Depot to begin their second tour with Jack at the wheel.  The bus was more crowded that time.  While on this tour, the ladies hatched a plan to play a practical joke on Susan’s husband and son, Joe and Daniel.

Being big-time basketball fans, Joe and Daniel had hoped to accompany the ladies to Atlanta where the Final Four games were being played, but Susan denied their many requests.  Wouldn’t it be fun, thought the gals, to find ticket-carrying game attendees, photograph their tickets, and post the photo on Facebook with the caption:  “Look what we got!”  So Susan and Natalie began their quest for tickets by talking to nearly everyone they encountered.  They received a few wary looks, but most of the dozens of people with whom they chatted were very pleasant.  However, it seemed that no one had actual tickets (most tickets were electronic), and if they did, the tickets were secured in their hotel rooms.

While talking with fellow tour attendees, one man said that he lived in Alpharetta, home of Food Network celebrity host, Alton Brown, and shops at the same Kroger grocery store Mr. Brown frequents.  Making a mental note, the girls decided to visit that very store that very evening in hopes that Alton Brown would time his shopping trip to coincide with theirs.

Following the tours in Jonesboro, the cousins traveled to Marietta to visit another museum.  The Gone with the Wind Museum is housed in a brick 1880s warehouse and contains a large collection of memorabilia and a gift shop.  The ladies looked at and photographed almost everything.  Susan was dismayed to discover that her Ipad battery power was dwindling, so she found a spot in the museum to recharge it. 

Next stop:  Alpharetta, where they were treated to dinner by Susan’s former co-worker and family at an Indian restaurant.  There was a cute, but fussy baby involved.  They then made a quick stop at Kroger.  Natalie’s nephew, Lloyd, worships Alton Brown, and Natalie would have scored many points with Lloyd had she been able to see and photograph the celebrity.  Sadly, Alton wasn’t shopping in that Kroger that night, but they did photograph the store exterior and the produce section.

With night approaching, the cousins returned to the hotel in Morrow and flopped onto their beds.

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

Susan was the first to arise the next morning and prepared herself for the day.  It can be safely assumed that she needed less beauty sleep than did Natalie.  She texted Natalie to ask where she was and to say that she didn't feel comfortable knocking on random doors throughout the house to find her.  Shortly thereafter, they were united in the dining room, left the peacefully-sleeping M. family and set out on their journey around 8:00.  (They later learned that cousin Cindy awakened, prepared breakfast for her "sleeping" guests and waited for them to join her.  When a lengthy period of time had passed, she initially assumed that the cousins must have been really tired and were sleeping.  She didn't realize until later that they had left much earlier.)

It was a beautiful day, perfect for traveling.  Natalie had never been to that part of the country, so she scanned the landscape while conversing with Susan.  They shared many stories (most of them true) about their lives as they had much catching up to do. 

A road sign caught Susan’s eye, and she pointed it out to Natalie:  John Deere Museum.  An arrow indicated the way.  Although a tractor museum was not part of their itinerary, the ladies decided to take a detour.  (It was the first of many times during the trip that the ladies heard the word "recalculating.")  What daughters of former farmers and John Deere enthusiasts wouldn’t do that?  After a couple of wrong turns, they located the museum and went inside.  The place was unstaffed, but open.  An entrance fee was posted next to a large jar that contained a bit of cash.  Apparently the proprietors trusted the honor system.  After depositing their entrance fee, the ladies set about their self-guided tour.  They wished their fathers had been with them—at least on that part of the trip.  Yellow and green tractors were everywhere in addition to every kind of John Deere memorabilia known to man. 

It may have been at this point in the trip that they first mentioned their uncle David C.  It would not be the last.  Drawing on his courage and chutzpah, they took turns climbing on a specific tractor and taking each other’s photos.  Uncle David would have tested the seat on each one and would have probably remained in the museum the rest of the day. 

After seeing their fill of tractors and such, taking photos and buying souvenirs (again on the honor system) for their fathers, the two were back on the road bound for Atlanta.  It seemed appropriate that they stop for lunch at a Cracker Barrel restaurant where vintage farm equipment was nailed to the walls.  There they encountered their first delightful waiter.  He would have been a fun passenger on their trip, but they decided to leave him at the restaurant to earn his living. 

Natalie snapped a photo of a giant peach (where was James?) on some sort of tower as they entered South Carolina.  Or was it Georgia?  (Fifty-three year-olds are sometimes prone to forget minor details.)  They motored through the Palmetto State uneventfully and arrived in the Atlanta area in the late afternoon.  After checking into the Hampton Inn in Morrow, they changed into appropriate theater attire and headed back into the city. 

The Georgian Terrace Hotel, where the GWTW actors stayed for the movie premiere, was the cousins’ next stop.  They looked around the hotel and ate a delicious dinner at the Livingston Restaurant. 

No GWTW tour would be complete without seeing a musical or play at the Fox Theater.  Susan had purchased tickets for Mary Poppins not knowing that the movie version was Natalie’s favorite Disney film.  What a genius!  The musical was practically perfect in every way!  Susan even bought her own parrot umbrella, and the ladies managed to snap a photo of the stage before they were chastised for doing so. 

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

Natalie D. was not beautiful, but that didn’t deter her paternal cousin, Susan W., from inviting her on a Gone with the Wind road trip to Atlanta.  Their adventure began when Susan, driving her black BMW convertible, collected Natalie from Dulles International Airport, and the duo headed south.  Natalie’s sister suggested the two call themselves “Thelma and Louise,” but the idea was rejected. 

Susan had planned the trip, created the itinerary and sought Natalie’s approval before finalizing the arrangements.  She booked the hotel and bought tickets for tours, a musical and such.  Natalie was grateful for Susan’s expertise and initiative. 

The goal for the first night was to make it to the Wake Forest, North Carolina home of Natalie’s maternal cousin’s (Mark M.) family.  They arrived late in the evening after filling their stomachs with some Chick-Fil-A (a “restaurant” born in the south) food, and were greeted by the sleepy M. family.  They were given their choice of bedrooms; Susan’s was in the basement and Natalie’s was two floors up.  Natalie had warned Susan that they might awaken the next morning having had Sharpie mustaches drawn on their faces.  They avoided this “special” treatment probably because cousin Mark had to prepare for an Ironman triathlon and his energies were devoted to that.  (It was still April, and Mark’s favorite holiday is April Fools’ Day.  He is well known for his pranks.)

The Great Gone with the Wind Road Trip (part 1)

THE GREAT GONE WITH THE WIND ROAD TRIP

Acknowledgements:

Susan for suggesting, planning and organizing the trip and for being a magnificent traveling companion.  Lance, Sara and Mark for their sacrifices in doing without me for 9 days (especially Sara who celebrated her birthday during my absence).  The Montgomery family for hosting the late-arriving travelers for 2 nights and providing entertainment (bagpipes and serenade), fresh eggs and a great breakfast!  Joe and Daniel for forgoing a Final Four trip, and for sacrificing Susan.  Margaret Mitchell for writing such a phenomenal novel!  Everyone else who made the trip successful and pleasurable. 

Preface: 

Natalie and Susan are first cousins whose age difference is 16 months.  Susan’s childhood is spent in Samoa, Utah and Idaho, and Natalie’s in Utah.  They occasionally see each other at family get-togethers but rarely spend much time together otherwise.  The cousins reach adulthood and live on opposite sides of the country—Natalie in Washington State and Susan in Washington, DC.  Ironically, Natalie’s husband has been Susan’s houseguest on 5 separate occasions—once with each of his 5 children.  Natalie has neither seen nor stayed at Susan’s home. 

Susan develops a great love for Gone with the Wind (in movie and book format) at a young age, and will see the film and read the book multiple times.  Natalie develops a great love for Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Homer Price, and The Great Brain books.  Her first experience with GWTW is watching the movie as a college student.  She was unimpressed.  (She fully realizes that her experience could have been jaded by her choice of date or an unfortunate incident with the homemade chocolate chip cookies she took to the theater.)

Natalie and Susan stay in touch through their family website and Facebook.  They play each other in computer word games.  Natalie sees photos of Susan’s fun adventures, and one particular set of photos catches her eye—Susan’s first GWTW road trip with her young niece.  Natalie reconsiders her vow to never read GWTW.

Natalie buys her own copy of GWTW, reads it and falls in love with Margaret Mitchell’s masterpiece.  Susan is not delusional after all.  Natalie shares her excitement with Susan.  Susan suggests a road trip similar to the one she took with her niece.  A window of opportunity presents itself, and the trip is arranged.

Chapter One:

In development; stay tuned . . .

Praying for Kindness with Carol Burnett and Dick Van Dyke

It worked!  I can now resume blogging.  Maybe I will add photos in the future.  Who knows what I will do now that I'm blogging again. 

Our house is kind of small--1840 square feet to be exact.  Book cases line the walls of every room except the bathrooms.  Yes, there is even a book case in our kitchen, and it contains more than just cookbooks.  I've given away many books and sold several to our local Half Price Books store, yet we still have oodles and oodles of books.  I could carpet our entire house with the ones we have and still have books left over.  We are a family of "bookaholics." 

While I love most types of books, I gravitate toward memoirs, biographies and "self-help."  My kids know this, and they know that I will share snippets of what I've read at any given moment.  They usually indulge me, but they've said that they really don't like it when I read to them while we're in the car.  (Lance is driving, of course.)  They're a captive audience then.  (Yes, I keep books in the car, and often read while stopped at red lights.)  Lately, they've heard passages from four of my most recent reads:  The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci, Praying for Strangers by River Jordan, This Time Together by Carol Burnett, and My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke. 

Only two of those books are currently in my possession.  Lance has the Ferrucci book at work (even Microsofties need to be kind), and a friend is reading the Burnett one.  I can't help but share some quotes from the other two.  Thank you for indulging me.

From Praying for Strangers:

"The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer."  (F. B. Meyer)

"We all have the same gift, the same opportunity.  How much does it really take for any of us to slow down to attune ourselves to the human condition, to look for another soul passing through our little universe that might need a word of encouragement? . . . If we only knew how important we are to each other."

"Prayers are worth so very much, but at the same time they are not a substitute for getting involved . . ."

From My Lucky Life . . .:

" . . . you do what you can, say your prayers, and hope for the best."

"Hope is life's essential nutrient, and love is what gives life meaning.  I think you need somebody to love and take care of, and someone who loves you back.  In that sense, I think the New Testament got it right.  So did the Beatles.  Without love, nothing has any meaning."

Update

It appears that the only time I can post anything on my blog is when I'm not on my own computer. (I'm currently in Utah and using my dad's computer.) There is some sort of a glitch on my laptop that makes it impossible for an illiterate computer user like me to post anything on my blog. I hope that my computer genius husband can come to my rescue soon, but from the looks of his gargantuan "to do" list, it will be quite a long time before that happens. I DO have things to say, and I do want to say them, but I will have to wait . . .

Still Living

I typed up a lengthy post a few weeks ago, and blogger "rejected" it. I got discouraged. I sat on my hands. (Not really.) I want to write. I need to write. But writing will have to wait until at least the middle of June. Then I will try to write something worth reading. Stay tuned. If you dare.

*I'm 800 miles away from home using my dad's computer, and so that is why I could publish these two posts. Once I return home, who knows how long it will be before I can get my own computer to cooperate.