Jeff Lawson ([info]bovineone) wrote,
@ 2008-08-20 18:45:00
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Entry tags:travel, vacation

Roadtrip through the US south east
This past Sunday I arrived back in Austin from a 2-week roadtrip that I spontaneously decided to take. My goal was to visit interesting places that I had never seen before. In total I drove about 4500 miles in my Jeep Wrangler (and 18 tanks of gas). I got to meet up with Mike Woss (ex-coworker), Lucent (first IRL meeting with long-time d.net buddy), Mary Bass (coworker), and Rey/Swiggy (ex-coworker).

There were a few cities that I had hoped to go through (Atlanta and Birmingham) that I ended up cutting out so that I could spend more time in other locations. I could have easily have spent more time in most of my stops if I had more vacation time.

I bought a new Digital SLR camera (Nikkon D40) specifically for the trip, so I had some fun playing around with it at the same time. Snorkeling and night-time kayaking in Key West were both pretty fun. Visiting Kennedy Space Center was also pretty neat, since I had been involved with parts of the Shuttle missions but never seen the launch facilities. The Great Smokey Mountains National Park was also a great place to explore and hike around.




(Click pictures above to embiggen)


Sun, Aug 3
  • Leave Austin @ 12pm
  • Drive ~8hours
  • Pictures at Louisiana welcome center and nature boardwalk
  • Arrive motel at Laplace, LA
Mon, Aug 4
Tue, Aug 5
  • Depart Pensacola, FL
  • Visit Big Lagoon State Park, tour boardwalk trails
  • Brief stop in Destin beach
  • Drive ~7 hours
  • Arrive motel at Tampa, FL
Wed, Aug 6
  • Lunch with Mike @ 12pm in Tampa
  • Ferry to Caladesi Island State Park. Nature walk, beach, shell collecting
  • Depart Tampa
  • Arrive motel at Fort Meyers, FL
Thu, Aug 7
  • Depart Fort Meyers
  • Arrive Key West
  • Sunset kayaking and marine life exploration tour
  • Arrive Blue Marlin hotel in Key West
Fri, Aug 8
  • Visit hot sauce store in Key West
  • Visit Duval Street stores
  • Snorkeling in Key West @3pm
  • Depart Key West
  • Arrive motel in Florida City
Sat, Aug 9
Sun, Aug 10
Mon, Aug 11
  • Depart Jacksonville, FL
  • Drive 4 hrs
  • Arrive Charleston, SC
  • Tour Kiawah island
  • Tour Charleston historical Market Hall
  • Drive 5 hrs
  • Arrive motel in Spartanburg, SC
Tue, Aug 12
Wed, Aug 13
  • Camping, Hiking
  • Leave park, because Lucent wimped out and did not want to camp another night!
  • Arrive Knoxville, TN. return Lucent home, sleep night on his couch
Thu, Aug 14
  • Tour Knoxville, including Sunsphere and World Fair park.
  • Depart Knoxville, TN
  • Arrive motel in Chattanooga, TN
Fri, Aug 15
Sat, Aug 16
  • Depart Nashville
  • Arrive Memphis
  • Memphis lunch with Swiggy (Rey) at local seafood place
  • Depart Memphis
  • Drive through Hot Springs, AR
  • Back in Austin, via Dallas


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[info]paradox0220
2008-08-21 03:58 pm UTC (link)
Oh wow, didn't know they expanded; it was so huge already sheesh.

Chattanooga is a beautiful city as long as you stay on the tourist "beaten path" which you seem to have done. Aquarium, Rock City, Choo Choo, and there are a lot of good civil war parks nearby (especially in northern Georgia just across the border).

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