The Illuminated Donkey

The Night I Drove Down to Old Dixie. Greetings from Gatlinburg, Tennessee! It appears that I won't make it to my planned destination of Nashville, but that's simply due to the sheer action-packedness of the land between there and New Jersey. To recap briefly, so far I have: taken a quick peek at The Miniature Village of Roadside America, toured the battlefields at Gettysburg (very cool; I'll have to head back there when I have more time and when the temperature dips into the double-digits), heard Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." about a dozen times, watched the fireworks while driving on I-8, driven the Blue Ridge Parkway (stopping for some biscuits and gravy in Floyd), enjoyed a beer at a minor league game (the home team won 8-3), and cruised the strip of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (which, to paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson, is what Vegas would look like if the South had won the Civil War). Whew.

I'm off to look for a hotel room, and tomorrow morning I'll begin to circle back north. Thanks to all of you who wrote to me with invites for free dinners and guest rooms, but it looks like I'll have to take a collective rain check. I love you all, though (especially you, Trixie! Kisses!).