Blue Angel greeting

What a day!! A previously planned day of getting up early to get to the beach ASAP turned in to a trip to the Jack Daniel Distillery, followed by another rookie day of driving.

The day started with the Rollings arriving at the Harmon hotel at the agreed time of 7:15am only to find their van with no one in it. Ha, second prediction gone by the wayside. The Rollings made the best of the couple minutes they had, to make a quick McDonald's run for breakfast. After the quick bite, the Rollmans we were off to Lynchburg to see the Jack Daniel Distillery. For those that have not had the pleasure of the free tour they offer, it is very much worth the trip. To know that every drop of Jack Daniels is distilled at this site amazes me even on the second trip. Our tour guide Wes said today that the Distillery writes an 8 million dollar check to the US Government every two weeks for the tax on the Whiskey they distill. WOW! Since my first trip they have built a very nice tour center and the grounds of the distillery are very well kept. The people that work at the distillery are very proud of their workplace. The tour lasted about an hour which worked perfect for our schedule. We left there at about 10:30am for our trip of 6-1/2 hours.

The back roads of Tennesee are very beautiful. The roads are very narrow and the speed limits a little higher than you would think. Little to dangerous for the rookies to be driving. After about an hour and a half we had made our way to Montgomery, Alabama. We decided on a quick lunch at the local Zaxby's. We were close enough to the interstate for the boys to take their turns behind the wheel. Needless to say they got quite a lesson in driving at high speeds in heavy traffic. I was suprised at how many cars and trucks were on the road for a Sunday afternoon. Both boys maintained the speed limit and were passed constantly by traffic going atleast 10 miles an hour faster. I can't speak for Andrew but Carsten handled things better than I thought he would. No rumble strips today. In fact there we a couple of times that I had to scold him for driving too fast. He pretty much took it in stride today and seemed to follow my advice pretty well. Hopefully he's learning and won't be too much of a hazard when he does get his license.

Well after about 6 hours in the car after lunch, we finally made it to Calle Bonita and Beachside II. We all got out of our vehicles only to be greeted a couple minutes later by 7 Blue Angel jets in formation doing a drive-by about 100 feet off the ground, over the beach. Unbeliveable, was all we could say. Mike and Andrew made a dash towards the beach. I was amazed at their cat like reflexes to get to a better viewing position. Certainly was a fun way to start our stay. I made comment to the Harmons that we had planned the Blue Angels to meet us when we arrived. For a second I think they believed me. Not! A few minutes later the Blue Angles passed again even lower in the sky. Probably about 50 feet off the ground or so. They passed by the adjoining town house so low, we could'nt see them over the roof. After talking to my Mom later in the evening, she said its typical for them to do flybys after returning from a day of air shows. But it was rare for them to fly back a second time from where they came. Certainly was a nice treat to start the week.

The two Dads made a trip to Publix for a purchase of groceries for the week, while the Mom's stayed back to get things settled at the condo. After a few frozen pizzas, Carsten and I made way for the first match of ping pong. Certainly is fun to play him and school him a little while he gives it right back. Match one goes to the youngster 3 games to two in the best of five. I'm sure the rest of the week will be hotly contested. Off to bed for everyone. I would imagine everyone will get a goods nights sleep. No plans for tomorrow. Who knows what tomorrows adventure will bring.......

Harmon Rolling part Deux

As we left the house to meet the Harmons at their house, I commented, to my family, about how I thought they would be waiting in their car ready to go. It was precisely 4am as we rounded the corner on Chowen Ave. to a dark Harmon house. I quickly said they were not even up yet, that they had overslept. As we got closer though, not only were the Harmons up, but they were packed and waiting in their van ready to go. Prediction number one, CORRECT. Do I know the Harmons or what. We all had a quick chuckle and quickly made our way to 35W southbound. Day one of the Spring Break to Pensacola Beach, FL included a few trips to the bathroom, as well as a few trips to the rumble strips on our drive to Nashville. You see, each family has a rookie driver just learning the ropes of driving. Pre-planning included Andrew and Carsten bragging about getting to drive for a few hours during the trip. After all, they need 50 hours of behind the wheel, before being able to take the drivers test when they turn 16. So what better way to rack in a few hours then to drive a packed minivan 75 miles an hours on a freeway road. Well, after the Dads drove the first four hours until the sun came up, we found a long stretch of straight road, for the boys to continue the trip south. The next fours hours went fairly well except for a little wandering by both boys, to the rumble strips on the road. Susan boasted about Andrew getting the a hang of maneuvering the van back to the center of the lane after venturing a little too far towards the ditch. I was awaken a few times while Carsten made his way too close to the white line and quickly jerking the car back into line. Guess my hopes for a long nap will NOT be happenin' as thought. Oh well, I guess we all have to suffer for the sake of the children. Right? Our lunch hour choice was a trip to the Cherry Street Cafe in Troy, MO. It came highly recommended after a google search by Michael. Apparently after making his pitch in his rendition of "Don Pardo", his family quickly thought it was a good idea. Well, Michael was correct. Not only did the food hit the spot, but the waiter splitting up parents and children, at separate tables, was the best idea of the day. After lunch, the two Dads took the wheel for the rest of the trip to Nashville. Which is the "pit stop" for the first day of the trip. The plan after arriving to Nashville, was to eat in Downtown Nashville at Jack's BBQ. That idea was quickly dashed after seeing the surrounding streets full of people. Thus our wait to get in would be too long. No problemo, plan B was to head to the Loveless Cafe, a mere 25 minutes away. Well, when we arrived there, it too was packed and the wait was and hour and a half. Ugggh! Now we were all hungry, a little cranky and just wanted to go anywhere. Everyone was throwing out fast food choices. I was not going to be swayed. I quickly googled the nearest restaurant to where we were staying. The Longhorn Steakhouse came up and I quickly dialed to find out the wait. I was told thirty minutes. Yes, jackpot. Most everyone agreed and we were back on the road. I thought dinner was about average. But we had good company and nice conversation, except for another feable attempt my the Mrs. to decorate the hidious laundry room. Just add it to the long "honey do" list. Preferably towards the bottom. After dinner and short trip across the parking lot to the hotel, we were camped for the night. The Rolling family finished the night listening the the Wild, on my iphone, defeat the Kings to move past the hated Blackhawks for third place in the division with 6 games to play in the regular season. Keep it going boys, you're a blast to follow this year. Some of the discussuion today also included a plan to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery on our way to Pensacola Beach, tomorrow morning. Three of the four kids are not too happy about it. Hopefully the tour guides will perk them up when we get there. More on that in tomorrow's summary of Harmon Rolling part Deux.........