In May of 2003, we left California before our long-stay visas for our move to France had been issued. We spent a week driving across the U.S. from California to North Carolina. Two days after we arrived there, we got a message that our visas were ready and that we'd need to come pick them up in person. I called the French consulate in San Francisco and asked if they could send the visas (and our passports) to the French consulate in Atlanta. We'd go pick them up there, in person.
Atlanta is an eight-hour drive from my home town in North Carolina. But off we went, with the dog in tow. We got to Atlanta, spent the night in a hotel, and went to the consulate the next morning. We were there all of 15 minutes and then we left to drive back to N.C. passports and visas in hand. To break up the trip we went to visit two places I'd never seen before on the way back: Savannah and Charleston. When I was a teenager, I had been to New York City a few times, and to Washington DC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I lived for a few years in Champaign, Illinois, so I had been to Chicago many times. And I had lived in Paris for a few years between 1974 and 1982. But I had never been to Charleston or Savannah. We had a good time.
Walt and I drove across the U.S., from Washington DC to San Francisco, twice in 1986. The second time we drove a rented truck full of our belongings and towed my car behind it. We drove across in the opposite direction from SF to NC in 2003, pulling a trailer behind Walt's Jeep. In between those trips, I drove from SF to NC in 1998, spent a week or so there, and then drove back to SF with my mother. She stayed in SF for a week or two and then flew back to NC.
In 2006, Walt and I flew from Paris to Boston, drove up to Albany and on to Montreal, and then drove down to DC, NC, and Anniston AL. From Anniston we drove to Champaign IL and then flew back to Paris from Chicago. That was a three-thousand mile road trip in itself. It was all a lot of fun.
Looks like Savanah, I have a few stories - before the Garden of Good and Evil.
ReplyDeleteI bought the book in Savannah right after it was published. Did you sit on the gravestone/bench and have a cocktail?
DeleteBettyAnn
Bingo. I've only ever been to Savannah that one time.
DeleteNo idea!
ReplyDeleteCould be along the Ohio River somewhere or Alexandria- just guesses. Evelyn
ReplyDeleteMy first guess was Savannah too, my favorite US city and where we spent our honeymoon.
ReplyDeleteBettyAnn
Is the first picture the Johnny Mercer house?
ReplyDeleteBettyAnn
I don't know.
DeleteCharleston?
ReplyDeleteI haven't traveled in the south except for flying in and out of Atlanta for business.
ReplyDeleteIn May of 2003, we left California before our long-stay visas for our move to France had been issued. We spent a week driving across the U.S. from California to North Carolina. Two days after we arrived there, we got a message that our visas were ready and that we'd need to come pick them up in person. I called the French consulate in San Francisco and asked if they could send the visas (and our passports) to the French consulate in Atlanta. We'd go pick them up there, in person.
ReplyDeleteAtlanta is an eight-hour drive from my home town in North Carolina. But off we went, with the dog in tow. We got to Atlanta, spent the night in a hotel, and went to the consulate the next morning. We were there all of 15 minutes and then we left to drive back to N.C. passports and visas in hand. To break up the trip we went to visit two places I'd never seen before on the way back: Savannah and Charleston. When I was a teenager, I had been to New York City a few times, and to Washington DC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I lived for a few years in Champaign, Illinois, so I had been to Chicago many times. And I had lived in Paris for a few years between 1974 and 1982. But I had never been to Charleston or Savannah. We had a good time.
I visited and stayed in Charleston and Savannah on 1988, wonderful memories!
ReplyDeleteThat was such a long roadtrip! Colette was such a good traveler.
ReplyDeleteWalt and I drove across the U.S., from Washington DC to San Francisco, twice in 1986. The second time we drove a rented truck full of our belongings and towed my car behind it. We drove across in the opposite direction from SF to NC in 2003, pulling a trailer behind Walt's Jeep. In between those trips, I drove from SF to NC in 1998, spent a week or so there, and then drove back to SF with my mother. She stayed in SF for a week or two and then flew back to NC.
DeleteIn 2006, Walt and I flew from Paris to Boston, drove up to Albany and on to Montreal, and then drove down to DC, NC, and Anniston AL. From Anniston we drove to Champaign IL and then flew back to Paris from Chicago. That was a three-thousand mile road trip in itself. It was all a lot of fun.