I'm not sure we blew through the Deep South on a Yankee Wind, but we did make quick business of it, from Tennessee through Mississippi and Alabama into Georgia. We crossed the archetypal Southern landscapes, from the fertile flood lands of the Mississippi through forests swathed in kudzu, up to the foothills of the Appalachians.
We left Atlanta intact, giving only a quick wave to the downtown before heading south. It has become quickly in the past decade the big city of the South (the New South, of course), and jaded Angelenos though we are, Atlanta seemed fairly convincing as a metropolis. Still, we felt no particular draw for the moment, and went on with our plans to camp outside the city.
But, as fate would have it, the state park was full (too bad, there were impressive falls, and I would have liked a good morning jog; on the other hand, the swarming insect choruses sounded ravenous), and a private camp nearby was overpriced. So we found a seedy motel in Forsyth, Georgia, and cooked up some Southern rice and beans in the room on our camp stove.
And we didn't burn the place down.
Miles: 6260
Posted by yozhik at August 2, 2003 11:29 PM