Destinations
Chattanooga
Gatlinburg
Nashville
Memphis
Day 1
Departed Des Allemands @ 0930
1010 hours
Arrived at Comp USA @ 1010 to get schooled on wireless internet use while on the road. The solution; spend more friggin’ money. (Gee, imagine that.) Let’s see, the new laptop was $1k, minus a $300 rebate. Now, they want the rebate back so I can actually use this thing for what I bought it for; wireless internet access while on our trip. Anyway, Comp USA doesn’t sell the Cingular broadband adapter card, so we’re off to Best Buy.
1020 hours
Best Buy – we stand around for 10 minutes waiting for the lone sales person in the cell phone department to become available. So the damage to the wallet varies by the contract length you choose for your broadband service. The adapter card, which is required despite the computer having a built-in wireless network card, cost a minimum of $149.99 to a max of $399.99. Yes, $399.99.
The price differences are driven by the terms of the contract you choose. A two year agreement at $59.99 per month gets you the card for a low, low price of $149.99. On the other hand, if you wish to buy your service by the month and forego the contract, you need to pony-up 4-bills, plus whatever deal you want by buying time allotments. Oh, there is one other option. Best Buy will sell you the Cingular card for $224.99 if you enter into a one-year contract at $59.99 per month. No matter how you slice it, it’s expensive. At $60/month, that’s $720/year, or $1440 for a two-year deal. Plus the $149.99 or $224.99 for the card depending on the legth of the contract. All so we can use the wireless internet feature that’s already built into this brand new, super-wammadyne laptop I just bought for our vacation. BASTARDS!
So, my next question was; ”How much does it cost to break the contract?” One-hundred seventy-five dollars, which is actually cheaper versus fulfilling either the one or two-year contract. Ultimately, we decide it’s cheaper to use the hotel’s internet connection for free.
1040 hours
On the road again…..
Passing through New Orleans East looks pretty much the same as it did nine or ten months ago. Broke bad. It’s desolate, with a spattering of businesses open, such as Home Depot and a few car dealerships on the I-10 Service Road. Houses still have their contents visible in their yards; damaged cars still litter the area. It’s just a shame. New Orleans still looks for someone to blame, someone to fix the mess. By all outward appearances, this will continue to be the look of New Orleans for the foreseeable future.
1120 hours
Mississippi!
Hooray! One state down, two to go. Are we there yet? Did I mention that Kelly’s driving? That’s why I’m typing. I’m less nervous when I’m not looking out the windshield. If I can’t see what she’s about to run into I have nothing to fear, right?
1300 hours
Hattiesburg, Ms. and we’re looking for lunch. Pull into a Quiznos internet café. I guess that’s why a medium sandwich costs $7.29 + $2.00 for a meal deal; free wi-fi. We leave and just happen upon a Cingular store. I tell the guy that I’m trying to get connected wirelessly on the road. He offers us a $28.00 USB cable that will allow me to use one of our cell phones as a modem to link-up the laptop. $60/month service fee plus a $36.00 activation fee, no contract and I can end the service at any time. Works like a charm; except, the speed so far has been closer to dial-up than broadband and is totally dependent on what’s available in any given area. Nonetheless, we are on-line, while traveling in the car, for the cost of the cable, plus a $36.00 activation fee and whatever portion of the $60/month rate I choose to use. That’s a far cry from the previous quotes, which were in multiples of Benjamins. Screw Best Buy. BASTARDS!
1807 hours
Did I mention that we drove through Alabama? Well, we stopped at a really nice Wal-Mart so I could use the bathroom and buy some toothpicks. Oh, yeah, and Kelly got hit by radar but the trooper didn’t even bother to chase us. Good thing; she was doing 80+. Eighty miles to Chattanooga; yippee!
Tuesday - 01AUG06
We’ve been busy, hence, no recent entries. So, let’s get up to speed. We spent three nights in Chattanooga; actually Look Out Mountain, in a Holiday Inn Express Suite-supreme. When you look at the photo of the hotel right at the peak of the roof with the 20’ tall windows; that was our room. The one with the clogged toilet. They fixed it and all was well.
Anyway, on Sunday we went spelunking at Ruby Falls. All they tell you is that the tour will take about an hour and a half. They fail to mention that once you exit the elevator following a 260’ descent that you will spend that hour and a half climbing up and down, ducking below low ceilings and traversing slippery slopes. While fun, and to some degree, beautiful, it was WORK. So, smart like we are we leave Ruby Falls after a light lunch and head to Rock City, a little further up Look Out Mountain. Now, this was a hike. Although to some it may not qualify, but to a fat and out of shape 46 year old male, this was hike-enough for me. To make the hike more challenging, they added some obstacles. There was the Swinging Rope Bridge, which was a lot of fun. Especially for me when I started crossing it after Kelly was already in the middle of it. Amazing how my 240 pounds caused the bridge to swinging that much. Kelly wasn’t nearly as amused as I, but, hey, this is our vacation. At least one of us should be having fun at all times, right?
Speaking of my weight issues, another fun obstacle was the Fat Man Squeeze. They weren’t kidding. This alley way cut through a giant rock by centuries of water running through it left a very narrow passage; anywhere from 1.5 to 2 feet wide. Now, in addition to my big ass, I was also carrying my camera bag. The two of us barely fit through some of the tighter spots, but all-in-all, it was fun and completely draining. The views we were rewarded with when we reached the observation deck were well worth the effort…plus they had ice cream. Wonder how I gained all that weight? Mmmm, ice cream.
We were too tired to go anywhere for supper, plus it was getting late, so we nuked some Stouffers frozen chicken fettucini dinners. After that work out I could’ve eaten a shoe, so this was like a gourmet meal. Thank God for Kelly and Wal-Mart.
On Monday we decided to take it easy and rode the Incline Railway. The self-proclaimed steepest passenger train ride in the world. Who’s to argue? The upper section, from where we departed, was said to be at a 72 degree grade. Looked every bit of it to me. We sat in the front seat for better air flow, and more importantly, so I could shoot some pictures. Pretty cool ride, especially when you start talking about brake failure and such. The rail car could probably reach 200 mph before crashing through the stop at the bottom, crossing the street and ending up in the shopping center. But, everything worked as designed and we went down, then back up the hill in the same condition in which we left.
Next was the Tennessee Aquarium. Very nice area, similar to our Riverfront area in New Orleans with a variety of shops and places to eat all located within walking distance of the attractions. We had our best meal since leaving home at the Food Court at the Aquarium; Grilled Chicken sandwiches. Very good, but, then again, we haven’t really been eating much the past few days.
The Tennessee Aquarium is actually two separate aquariums; Fresh Water and Salt Water. While similar to the New Orleans aquarium, it was somehow much nicer. We explored the Fresh Water side first and were surprised by the number of south-east Louisiana exhibits. Lots of turtles, alligators and the like. The Salt Water side had the most impressive exhibits, starting with multiple sea horse tanks. Some of the freakiest-looking critters I’ve ever seen. The leafy sea dragon was my favorite, which looked like a plant floating along in the water. You have to see it to believe it. (I’ll add photos when I get time.) Next were the jelly fish tanks with dramatic lighting to accentuate their natural colors. Then came the butterfly exhibit, which, while filled with many beautiful species, was hot as hell. The climate in this exhibit was hot and humid, just like home. We stayed in there for about 30 minutes, taking photos of the various colored creatures. Once we exited the butterfly exhibit it was pretty much fish, fish and more fish of the Gulf of Mexico variety. It was pretty cool how they built their fish tank exhibits, as the walking routes had four to five levels of viewing (more climbing, yeah!) so you could get a sense of what fishies hung out with each other. Very nice aquarium they have in Tennessee.
Monday night was our first bar-b-que dinner in Tennessee, at the highly recommended Sticky Fingers in downtown Chattanooga. Pretty good eats, just a bit too tired to really enjoy it at this point, though.
Tuesday morning and we are on the road to our next destination; Gatlinburg.
More to come.
Curtis
