Day 11 - Charlotte, NC

Being the intrepid travelers that we were, we got up to face the new day and put all the problems of yesterday behind us. Everyone was in a very good mood and Sweet Pea helped us get ready for the day by putting on some of her own sunblock this morning.  Then she worked on getting her shoes on the right feet.



We were meeting our cousin Brittany for lunch at Mac's Speed Shop.  Johnny, unfortunately wasn't feeling well and couldn't come.  We were very sorry that we didn't get to see him.  It was a short drive to Mac's Speed Shop from our hotel.  Mac's was interesting to say the least.  It was sort of a biker bar without what we usually think of as "bikers", although they did have a sign on the door that said, "No Colors or Patches" so maybe it gets a bit rougher after dark?


We got to Mac's first, so we took some pictures while we waited for Brittany. We needed a place for lunch that could accommodate Cheri since it was far too hot to leave her in the car.  (We had already checked out of our hotel so we could get on the road to South Carolina right after lunch). Brittany said it would be OK to bring Cheri and we could eat on the restaurant's deck. There was another dog, a Shar Pei at the table behind us. He did not seem very friendly and Mimi said that he was looking at Cheri with "a lean and hungry look". Oddly enough we discovered a yellow lab _inside_ the restaurant too.  It was obviously well behaved and was laying contentedly at its owner's feet, but it was strange seeing so many dogs at a restaurant.  Brittany insisted that she had never seen a dog there before.  Maybe it was just because it was so hot out? Mimi of course totally understood and thought that dogs should be allowed in more restaurants (Stay tuned for our next post for more info about this!)

Our cousin Brittany, Aunt Joan's granddaughter...Isn't she a cutie?

We _loved_ the food.  Coming from Kansas City, we are familiar with great bar-b-que so we were a little skeptical that South Carolina's would be as good. Boy, were we wrong.  It is definitely different than KC's, but it was excellent.  Carolina bar-b-que sauce was more vinegar based with just a hint of sweet.  They also have a mustard based sauce that I thought was very good. I had a pulled pork sandwich with collard greens.


At Brittany's suggestion, Mimi had a salad with pulled pork on it. A truly delicious and amazing combination.

Sweet Pea ate Mac & Cheese.



We loved the place.  Great choice Brittany.  I am sure that we spent way more time there talking and eating than Brittany usually gets for lunch.


The happy cousins!

After lunch we were back on the road and headed out to meet yet another batch of cousins.  Hello South Carolina!

After our long lunch, Sweet Pea was ready for a nap.


We arrived at our Aunt Burr and Uncle Duck's house which is just east of Columbia in Elgin, South Carolina.  It was wonderful to see them again and meet all our cousins, some for the first time.  Here is Jason, their grandson with his beautiful and very well-trained doberman.



Our cousin Debbie, Jason's Aunt, fixed us a wonderful taco salad for dinner.  It was great to get a home-made meal and it really hit the spot after so much road food.  It was getting late, so after a short visit with everyone, we headed back to our hotel.  We planned to come back to spend the next day there and meet more cousins.

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Day 10 - N. Canton, OH to Charlotte, NC

Things started off pretty well this morning.  We were on the road by 9am, which was a really good start for us.  To save time, we ate breakfast (from Starbucks) in the car.
The first couple of hours went well until we pulled over for gas. Mimi took Sweet Pea in for a potty break. The toilets had automatic flushers and Sweet Pea really didn't like the loud noise. She also didn't seem to want to wash her hands. Mimi was anxious to get back on the road and that's when things started to go downhill. Mimi didn't want to call it a fit, but Sweet Pea certainly caught every one's attention with her protests that she DID need to dry her hands more!

As everyone stared at them, Mimi dragged Sweet Pea back to the car, we loaded her up and headed out.

Soon we were in the hills.  We went through several tunnels.

Sweet Pea had never driven through a mountain before.

The landscape grew more mountainous and the roads became curvier and curvier. North Carolina mountains were much different than any mountains we had been in before. At first it was beautiful and interesting.....

Soon, however, we were all beginning to feel car sick. Really car sick. I cracked open a bag of candied ginger and passed it around to try to help alleviate the nausea.



It was no use, we had to pull over at a rest stop and wait about an hour until we felt better. The rest area was incredibly large with beautiful grounds. Mimi and I got iced coffees and Sweet Pea had a smoothie while we rested.  Cheri met several other dogs and had a fabulous time. Cheri loves rest stops.

Our tummys finally calmed down and we felt better.  We got back on the road and were really glad that we were making such good time.  Mimi was delighted when she noticed a beautiful old mansion on a hilltop with a sign that said "Tours on Saturday".  Mimi and I talked about how interesting it looked and decided that if it had been a Saturday, we would have pulled over and toured....you know, because we had the time.
Soon Sweet Pea was napping and we felt like we were making great progress.  It would be so good to see Brittany again, but of course I had to stop to potty.  Mimi pulled over at the next rest stop and I decided to check the map on my phone...

... and discovered that we were going the wrong way. We had missed our exit and were driving toward Roanoke instead of towards Charlotte.  Well, not just toward Roanoke, we were half way there!  Apparently the exit where we needed to turn to head to Charlotte was right by that old house we were so busy looking at and talking about.

We just smiled at each other and said aw shucks.  We immediatly decided to make a rule that we would never turn our GPS device off again.  We even named her after "Dory", the forgetful fish from Finding Nemo, because she sounded a little like she was underwater and was always trying to lead us in the right direction.
It was almost dinner time and we were supposed to be in Charlotte to meet Brittany and Johnny for dinner!  I spent some time texting them and we finally decided it would be better to meet them for lunch the next day instead. 

And then it started raining hard.

The temperature dropped by about 15 degrees... And the only place we could find to eat was McDonalds.

We tried to wait out the rain in the car (because it was really pouring), but Sweet Pea said that she was about to wet her pants so we had to run through the downpour.  Everyone was now wet and chilled so we spent quite a while in the bathroom trying to use the hand dryers to dry ourselves. Wet, cold, and hungry. Ugh.
Oh Yum! lol.

The entire day my right contact had been giving me lots of trouble.  My contact case, solution and eye glasses were packed in tight under all our other suitcases and other things in the back of the car.  We didn't want to try to unload everything in the pouring rain to try to find them.  We had even stopped at a rest stop to try to buy a new case and solution, but they didn't carry any.  By this time in the day, I was spending much of the time looking like a pirate.  "Argh Matey!"

Sweet Pea was the only one having a good time.

When I went to pay for the meal, I couldn't find my credit card. We looked all over the McDonalds and all inside the car. I called the last gas station where I had used it, but they said that they didn't have it.  It was only about a 20 minute drive back to the gas station to see if I had dropped it there, so we figured we should do it.
We drove all the way back.  Mimi went inside the gas station to search for it while I looked around outside (in the rain).  When Mimi came out she reported that the bathroom was FLOODED and she had been trudging around in dirty water looking for the card.  Yuck, but she hadn't had any luck finding it.  So, I took out my phone to call Ross to tell him to cancel the card.  As I was dialing, I glanced down and saw my card stuck down between the seats.  Oops!  I swear, I had already looked there twice!

Oh well.  We got back on the road.  It was getting darker and Mimi was about to fall asleep at the wheel.  We finally made it, but didn't arrive at our hotel until after 9pm.   Our nice 8 hour drive, took us over 12 hours. 

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Day 9 - North Canton

Today we spent the day at our cousins Pam and Mike's house with their son Drew, Mike's mom Carmella, and our other cousin's Debbie, Dave and their daughter Amy.  Pam cooked a great baked pasta and sausage dish along with the best panzanella with home-made garlic croutons we had ever tasted. 
Our cousin Amy baked a wonderful citrus cheesecake. I don't even like cheesecake very much, but thought that hers was really special. Not only was it delicious, but it was beautiful to look at, too.

After dinner, Mike gave us a sample of some very excellent Port. It was a lovely addition to a delicious meal.



A little boy neighbor from down the street came over. He and Amelia really hit it off and they played in the backyard together for hours. Keeping them out of the flower beds took some doing, though.

All of our Ohio cousins except for Brittany and Molly were there.  We took a family picture in the back yard. It was so great to get to see everyone again.

After dinner we played the game Wits and Wagers Family, which worked great for a wide range of ages.  Mimi was partners with Mike's mom Carmela, who turned out to be surprisingly competitive.  We played teams and first prize went to Shannon and Aunt Joan with a close second for Amy and Drew.  (Tiebreaker Question: How many Oreo's are in a standard 18 oz package?*)



Later we played Smart Ass, which despite the slightly inappropriate name, was another great family trivia game.  We tailored some of the questions just for Amelia (What is the name of the large yellow bird on Sesame Street?) and she really enjoyed getting to play.  Mimi won so we named her the "Smart Ass of the Day".


When it was time to leave, it was pouring outside and Mimi didn't have her umbrella.  Cousin Pam came to the rescue with a fashionable rain cap for her.

Unfortunately our visit to Canton was drawing to a close. We were sad to leave because we always have always have so much fun in Ohio. When we got back to Aunt Joan's, we spent the rest of the night packing so we could get an early start the next morning. We planned on meeting our Cousin Brittany and her boyfriend Johnny in Charlotte, NC for dinner.



We'd played our last game. Our car was packed. The alarm was set. Charlotte or bust! What could go wrong?


* There are 3 rows with 15 cookies in each row for a total of 45 cookies per package.

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Day 6 - Evansville, IL to North Canton, OH

This morning while we were in the lobby eating breakfast, Mimi left Sweet Pea and me so she could finish packing up.  Shortly after Mimi headed upstairs, the fire alarm went off.  None of the staff seemed to know what was going on, so I took Sweet Pea by the hand and went outside to the parking lot.

Mimi had just stepped off the elevator when the fire alarm went off. She heard the alarm and then watched as the huge fire doors swung shut in front of her, sealing off the hallway to our room where her little poodle Cheri was locked in her crate. She was sure I had gotten Sweet Pea outside immediately so that worry was taken care of, but she was very upset about poor Cherie.  Although Mimi tried, rather desperately, to get the fire doors open, they were sealed tight.  The elevator was also not working, so she ran down the stairs and headed to the front desk where she found the 'all clear' had been given and there was no long any danger.  Some workers had accidentally set off the alarm.  Mimi commented that even a false alarm can shave years off your age with worry.




Today we were headed to our Aunt Joan's house in North Canton, OH.  It took us a long time to get out of the hotel, but we eventually made it back on the road.  In Indiana, we stopped for lunch at Wendy's because we were lured in by the promise of free coffee.  The coffee was okay, but none of us will not be eating another Wendy's hamburger again for quite some time.




We were at the Indiana/Kentucky border and just by coincidence, we stopped at the exact same exit where we stopped last year.  It is hard to see, but below is a picture of the infamous "Lee's Chicken", where a woman stuck her head out her van (which, by the way, was filled with 5 large dogs) and started barking at Mimi as she drove out of the parking lot... and next door is the gas station where a bunch boys in a pick-up truck started howling.




On our way out of Indiana, we drove on the bottom deck of a double decker bridge. We had never seen one of these and Sweet Pea got to sing the "Here We Go Under the Bridge"song, which only has one lyric (see above) for the longest time ever.


Good-Bye Indiana!




Whoops! Hello Indiana. We took the wrong highway and soon ended up back in the state we had just left...





Okay, now this time for real.  Good Bye Indiana! Hello Kentucky!





I was thrilled to find a Starbucks and ordered a large chai, which was probably responsible for about 5 bathrooms stops over the course of the next 2 hours.





Cheri slept behind my seat.





Amelia couldn't stay awake either.





It was almost rush hour just as we got to Columbus, OH and so we decided to stop for some dinner to avoid some of the traffic.  We found a Chipotle and ate outside on the patio.  I liked my meal well enough, but Mimi's "steak" tacos were so unexpectedly spicy that she couldn't eat them.  And as soon as she complained that hers was too spicy, Sweet Pea said her meal was too spicy also.  It wasn't really a successful dinner stop.




After dinner, we headed back out and finally arrived in Canton after 9pm.  It was so good to see Aunt Joan!  We were really tired and wanted to go straight to bed.  I started moving furniture to pull out the hide-a-bed when I ran an ottoman over my big toenail and pulled it away from my toe.  Ouch!!!


It was a long day of driving and we were thrilled to finally be stopped somewhere for a few days!
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Day 5 - Carmi

We headed to Carmi, which is a little over an hour from Evansville.  About halfway into the trip, Mimi said that she needed a bathroom break.  There is not much in the way of rest stops in Southern Illinois, so we had to take what we could get.  We found a crusty old gas station with a bathroom outside.  When Mimi returned to the car she informed us that, "It wasn't too bad considering that I had to wipe with a paper towel."

On a previous trip we had found an intriguing and quite beautiful little town named New Harmony so we decided to go through on our way to Carmi so we could see it again.  As we drove in we noticed the beautiful trees and Shannon mentioned a sign she had seen that said something about a detour and the New Harmony Bridge.  We had a very pleasant time looking again at this quaint town and discussing its strange history.  It was getting later, so we headed for the bridge that takes us out of town and on the road to Carmi.  Oh, how we wished we had paid more attention to the sign as we were entering New Harmony because the New Harmony Bridge was completely closed. We had to back track through the town and drive north to get on a highway to cross the Wabash river and then back down south again to get to Carmi.


We finally arrived in Carmi and were running out of time to do genealogy research because almost everything in Carmi closes before 4:30pm.  I wanted to go to the Mary Smith Fay Genealogical Library, but we had to feed Amelia so Mimi dropped me off at the library and headed to the only place in Carmi we thought we could trust: McDonalds.  Amelia is always happy when we dine at McDonalds... Shannon and Jill, not so much.

Amelia and Mimi ate at McDonalds and then brought a hamburger back to me.  Mimi reported an odd "small town" occurance that happened to them at the McDonalds.  When Amelia amd Mimi walked into the McDonalds they had to pass a table of older gentlemen who were all seated together. Mimi immediately thought they must be the afternoon 'regulars'.  When they again walked by them to leave one of them made a rat-a-tat-tat sound with his hand on the table top, looked at them with an air of authority and declared quite loudly, "Passin' Through!"

No food or drink was allowed in the library so I had to eat my hamburger on the steps.



The ladies at the library were super helpful and helped me unearth this old obituary for Ethel Nevel who was my Grandfather Wrye Nevel's sister.



We found several good things there, but the library only has one microfiche machine and another woman came in and sat down and started just reading old newspapers on it.  We had several other specific things to look up, but couldn't.  One of the nice woman who worked at the genealogy library called the regular library for us and then came over to tell us that the regular library had some of the records we wanted and an available microfiche machine so we packed up and headed down the street.

It was about 3:45pm and I didn't think we were going to make it to the County Courthouse to get death certificates so I sent Mimi off alone to get them, while I stayed at the library.

When Mimi returned she had found several death certificates, including this one for Ethel Nevel (as in the obit above).  Oddly, the death certificate listed her last name Reed, which was her mother's second husband's name (who was NOT Ethel's father).  So interesting...




After Carmi shut down, we headed back to Evansville.  We were starving, as usual, and stopped at the Thai Papaya restaurant.   We were surprised by how great the food was.  We had a ground pork salad called Larb and my favorite soup, Thom Kah Gai.  It was some of the best Thai food I've ever had.  Who would have guessed that you could find good ethnic food in Evansville?




Next door to the Thai restaurant was a nail salon.  Mimi had badly chipped a couple of her nails earlier so she went over after dinner to get them re-polished.




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