Day One: Superman, Elvis and other old friends

Time to dust off the old blog to report on our travels. That's right, we are road-trippin' again.

We hit the road at about 5:30 am, then we went back home to get the sandwiches we accidentally left in the refrigerator. Then we went the wrong way in Illinois and had to turn around. Ha. So, we essentially hit the road at 6:30 am.

Our trip this time is going Southeast (we will hit IL, TN, KY, AL, GA, SC, NC, VA and WV), and our first stop was unplanned, but a LONG time in the making!

Metropolis - for pictures with the GIANT SUPERMAN STATUE! We tried to get this picture half a decade ago but battery issues and a whiny husband (boyfriend at the time) prevented it.

There was also a cardboard cut-out. We love those.

On to Nashville! Snacks in hand.

We had only a few hours to spend in Tennessee, so we decided to skip the country music museums and just walk around the city.

There was a lot of Elvis to be seen.

And a Spaghetti Factory (we did not eat there).

For lunch we stopped at Jake's BBQ (at the recommendation of someone from whom I am unlikely to take suggestions in the future). The place smelled great - and you have to have BBQ in Tennessee - so in we went. Despite the less-than-appealing set-up.

I got a turkey sandwich. For most sandwiches there were two sizes, regular and jumbo. For turkey you could only get jumbo. Bryan got a jumbo chicken sandwich. We split one side of potato salad.

I have several things to say about this place:

1) Jumbo? Really?

2) Who cures turkey? It had the consistency of ham.

3) Carrots do not belong in potato salad

4) Excuse me, is that a bone on Bryan's sandwich? How does one go about eating something like that?

After "lunch" we went to look around 'Hatch Show Print" which launched in 1879 and has done a ton of the show posters you have seen. They still do them with a hand press, it is pretty impressive. Their first print job was a poster announcing the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher! Also, they did the art work CNN used during the election.

We were walking up the street when we saw CMT - no celebrity sightings though.

And finally we played in a replica log-cabin settlement.

Having seen what there was to see in Nashville, we decided to hit the road a bit early. We used the wi-fi of a local coffee shop to Priceline a hotel for an extraordinarily low cost. The room is small, and the bathroom is tiny, but there is high speed and free breakfast, so I am not complaining.

On to Huntsville, Alabama where I had a reunion with Raheem Kirkland, an old friend (we had not seen each other since 1997). I got to meet his beautiful wife and adorable son. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures (what was I thinking???).

That is is for day one - stay tuned for day two, which includes some Ryan Montbleau.