In a post back in January, I wrote about our upcoming road trip/vacation to New Orleans, followed by our continuing on to Florida for a few weeks, beginning on February 19. (Read it here). We returned home to Illinois on Monday, March 13, after logging over 4,000 miles. The next several posts are highlights and summaries of our adventures and experiences in the Crescent City and in the Sunshine State.
DAY 1
Sunday, February 19
We left Cortland, Illinois, just before 8 a.m. and headed out Rt. 38 to I-39 for the first leg of the journey south. Today’s destination was Dyersburg, Tennessee, where we would meet up with the bus tour group at the Grecian Steakhouse restaurant before checking into the Sleep Inn hotel for the night.
We had lots of fog for quite a while until we got closer to Springfield. Despite the fog, the temperatures were rather mild as we continued on through St. Louis and down through
Missouri to Arkansas and then into Tennessee.
There were no issues along the way, and we enjoyed the many rural sights of Arkansas and crossing into Tennessee. We also made a stop at the Tennessee Welcome Center near Reel Foot State Park to pick up some pamphlets and other information about Elvis and Graceland for Grandson Matthew’s school presentation that he’d be doing in a few weeks.
Before long, we arrived at the hotel and checked in. Right about that time, we heard from Scot, the tour company owner who was on the bus, that they would meet us at the Grecian Steakhouse, conveniently located right off the interstate in Dyersburg, within the hour. Good timing!
The restaurant was a large smorgasbord with plenty of choices, which we enjoyed immensely. As such, I found the restaurant’s name quite curious. At any rate, we all had plenty to eat. Then it was back to the hotel for the night.
Up early on Monday, Carolyn and I had the complimentary hotel breakfast and then hit the road once more for New Orleans, another long eight-hour drive. As before, we pulled out before the tour bus did, giving us another head start on the day—another sun-filled one at that! And we both looked forward to enjoying all of the new places along the way we’d pass by on our way down I-55.
Down Many Roads... 