Riding The Tail Of The Dragon To The Deep South

  And there we were, back on the road again. This time we're headed to Mobile, Alabama, deep in the Deep South, home of gumbo, magnolias and the original American Mardi Gras.

  Our journey started Tuesday when we bid adieu to all the kids and grandkids and pointed the car south. We left cool, damp and windy Newmarket and aimed ourselves at the balmy shores of the Gulf of Mexico with a couple of stops planned along the way.

  The first stop took us somewhat out of our way but we felt fate was our co-pilot. As I mentioned in the last episode, I've been trying to find shoes for girls' soccer teams in South Africa, managed by our guide from last year's Kruger Park backcountry trek. When I started this project almost a year ago I was led to believe a woman near Toronto could supply us with used cleats from the local soccer leagues. She emailed me when we were in Minnesota with the news that she had shoes for me and all I had to do was find a way to get them to Absalom in S.A.

  Finding no standard freight forwarding, mail or courier service that would cost less than $500 Penny suggested posting a message on a Facebook group she follows for fans of Kruger. Maybe there was someone heading to S.A. who might agree to take the box of shoes if we paid the cost of the extra baggage. Well, lo and behold, it took only a few hours for me to receive a response from Marilyn in Pennsylvania who was heading to Cape Town in early November. We connected, discussed details and we agreed Penny and I would detour to her house on our way to Mobile.

  Alas, the donated shoes never materialized and I changed to Plan B, creating a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds and allow Absalom to buy the shoes locally. To those who have contributed, I thank you for your generosity. If you haven't contributed yet, you can use this link to send a donation now!

  No longer having a need to transport the shoes to Marilyn I thanked her for her offer and prepared to follow our original path south. That's when she came back to me and invited Penny and I to stop by for lunch and meet her and her husband, Rick. We took her up on her generous offer as we're always interested in meeting new people and off we went to eastern Pennsylvania.

  We had a wonderful time with them full of good food and interesting conversation which culminated in Marilyn's suggestion that she could help our campaign reach its goals by canvassing her friends. Fate lends a hand. Here we are a few days later and she's already found some donations as well as a potential other source for used shoes. We've found a partner in our enterprise and a new friend. All it took was our willingness to go a couple of hours out of our way.

  The next day led us to the one of the most exhilarating drives in North America. During lunch with my buddy Steve a couple of weeks ago he asked if we planned to drive the Tail of the Dragon as part of our trip south. I'd heard of it but didn't realize it was close to our route so I added it to our itinerary and we managed to get there late Wednesday afternoon. The Dragon is well-known amongst driving enthusiasts and motorcyclists. The stretch within Tennessee is eleven miles long and contains 311 turns. It continues into North Carolina but most of the excitement is over by then. Here's a map to give you an idea:

  It's a lot of fun if you like tight turns piled one on top of the other. If not, like the guy from Georgia who crawled along in front of me for half of it, stay away. Here a video clip to give you a feel for it:

  What a hoot! Not only was it a joy to drive but I was pleasantly surprised at our little racecar's handling characteristics. I'd love to do it again but I'll wait until we have a little convertible so we can do it with the top down. At the end there are a couple of t-shirt and beer places catering to the bikers who travel from all over to enjoy the road. The force is strong here:

  We stayed the night in a treehouse overlooking a forest and river. No pics as it was getting dark when we arrived and we were in a bit of rush the following morning but it was a beautiful spot and a sweet suite 😉.

  Yesterday was the final segment of our run to Alabama and we found a few things to pique our interest along the way. Of course, it's the Bible Belt so there's a lot of this:

  And, an American matryoshka doll:

  Atlas Obscura reared its bizarre head once again and pointed us at this giant moving chicken in Marietta, GA:

  Once we entered Alabama things got really interesting, as we finally got to stop at a Buc-ees. I know most of you are asking, "What the hell is Buc-ees?", so I'll illuminate you. Started in Texas, Buc-ees set out to be the gold standard for roadside convenience stores and, a few years later, is blanketing the southeast with football field-sized marts full of the usual snacks and souvenirs. But wait, you ask, what's special about that? In the middle of this acre of blatant consumerism and dozens of gas pumps is their hot food area and they happen to serve the best barbecued brisket sandwich outside Texas. Now you know why I had to stop there. No pictures of the food, as I don't do that, but if you're headed south you must try it.

  With bellies full of wonderfulness we continued on, detouring into Montgomery, AL, the centre of the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 60's. We stopped near Troy University where the Rosa Parks Library and Museum stands.

  Across the street is the Wounded Peace Dove sculpture, commissioned by Pope Benedict.

  With the day's history lesson taken care of we hit the road again, cruised down to the end of I-65 and rolled into downtown Mobile. This time we're in an old neighbourhood filled with history and majestic tree-lined streets. Meet our new charge, Willie, full name Willie Nelson:

  He's about six months old and is quite a cutie. The homeowners are Corey and Jennie. Yes, Jennie like in Forrest Gump. In fact, the book takes place in Mobile; the movie moved the location to the fictional town of Greenbow. Oh, and their two year-old daughter's name is Forrest. Yes, life really is like a box of chocolates.