Let's Go Places: Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama feat. Florence, Alabama
Friends, we've been at home for a while. Who wants to take a road trip????????
How This Trip Came To Be
I'm in the process of visiting all of the state capitols, so this trip was intended to be a "check the box" visit to two states that have decent weather in February. My first plan was to go to Alabama and Mississippi, but once I started looking at flights, I saw that the only sensible way to fly there was to go to Atlanta, which is of course the capital of Georgia. Sweet, instead of a two-fer this trip was going to be a three-fer.
But once I saw the cost to fly to Atlanta, things went in a different direction. I have my ways of turning credit card points into plane tickets, but not for any of the airlines involved. I don't mind spending money to travel, but the cost to fly and then rent a car to drive all over the south was just too much for a check the box trip. What is that thing that is a substitute for money? That's right: time. This trip was going to involve a lot of driving anyway, so what was another 10 hours to get to Atlanta by car? I quickly dropped Mississippi as a destination for this trip, since driving put me in line for another item on my travel bingo card.
I *can* drive 10 hours in one day and believe me I have, but at a certain point in life you learn to travel smarter and not harder. Since I wasn't dropping cash to fly and rent a car, that freed up the funds to split the drive into two parts and find somewhere to stay along the way. I picked Knoxville TN as a good stopping point. But where to stay in Knoxville? I try to stay in Hyatt hotels when I can for the points, but there are no Hyatts anywhere close. I didn't care much about where I stayed since I wasn't going to be there for long, I just wanted safe/decent living conditions/reasonable cost.
My source for finding lodging when I don't know where to stay is Booking. Their site has all of the lodging options, ratings, and prices for an area at a glance, and that showed me that my best bet was the Wyndham for $80 a night. Sold! I saw that the price was the same on Booking, directly from the hotel, and on the Chase travel portal, so naturally I booked it through Chase to maximize points.
After moving all of the chess pieces around, here was my itinerary for the trip:
Monday, Feb 2: leave home mid morning, arrive in Knoxville by sundown. Tuesday, Feb 3: drive to Atlanta, do something from my list of things to do in Atlanta, check into Airbnb Wednesday, Feb 4: do Atlanta stuff Thursday, Feb 5: drive to Montgomery, Alabama, do Montgomery stuff Friday, Feb 6: finish up in Montgomery, drive to Florence, Alabama, do Florence stuff. What is in Florence you may ask? Keep reading to find out! Saturday, Feb 7: finish up in Florence and start heading home. Spend the night in Bowling Green, KY at another $80 Wyndham found on Booking. Sunday, Feb 8: come home!
This time of year is always eventful weather wise, so I booked this trip at the last possible minute in order to be reasonably sure that I wouldn't be driving through a storm.
Monday: Road Trip Day!
There isn't much to say about Monday. I put the pedal to the metal. The further south I got, the warmer it got: it was five degrees when I left home, 20 degrees for my first gas stop, 30 degrees for my second gas stop, and almost 40 degrees in Knoxville. The Wyndham was everything that it needed to be.
Tuesday: Let's Go to Atlanta!
In a previous life I traveled for work, and there was a stretch where nearly all of our south east visits meant a flight to Atlanta. I've been through there many times, but never really there. All that I remembered is that the traffic was hideous.
My memories of Atlanta driving proved to be accurate. You know the saying "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy"? Well, it occurred to me that it is probably OK to wish driving in Atlanta on your worst enemy. It's [hopefully] not fatal, but it is extremely annoying.
Anyways, eventually I arrived at my Atlanta activity of the day. Because when you think about major US cities, you think about hiking in the mountains. This is Stone Mountain Park.
There are two options to get to the top of the mountain: by foot and by cable car. Naturally I did both.
Cable car to the top:
Then I hiked down and back up (approx one mile each way).
I considered doing a longer hike, but quickly realized that I did not have the right gear/skills to handle the terrain. There were some wet patches that were slippery, and I took one fall that wasn't bad but I realized that the impact of rock is a lot rougher than the impact of dirt, so I gave it up fairly quickly.
With that, I made tracks for my Atlanta home away from home.
Let's Rate the Airbnb! (Atlanta edition)
The unit was the lower floor of a house in the Poncy-Highland neighborhood. Normally the unit goes for $300 a night (out of my price range) but for some reason it was available for $150 a night (my target price range). I booked this trip at the last minute, and I think that might have been the reason for the deal.
The unit was huge and very nice. My only beef is that the arrangement of TVs and furniture was awkward...both couch and bed facing away from the screens. The only reason that I care about the TV is that as a solo female traveler my policy is to go home as soon as it gets dark, so I have time on my hands at night, especially at this time of year.
The other issue was a phenomenon that I've run into before that I call "zombie host syndrome". The host messaged me several times a day before and during the trip. It's normal to for hosts to send check in info and to ask once in a while how things are going, but the quantity and tone of the messages felt canned. Then there was the message about the gift basket:
The picture was indeed a picture of the kitchen counter as I found it. Anyone see a gift basket? I mean, a bottle of water, cinnamon French toast creamer, coffee pods, and plastic fruit is...something, but it's not the bottle of wine and snacks shown in the listing photos.
Did I say anything? Nah, a bottle of wine and snacks are nice, but it's not why I came on the trip. I just got the feeling that if I had needed anything that I might not have gotten a response.
Anyway, awkward TV placements and zombie hosts are part of the Airbnb game, and not an issue. The unit was very comfy and the location was perfect, so my review was a five star stay.
I checked in around dinner time, so my next move was to hit up Google to see what eats were close by. A BBQ place right around the corner? Don't mind if I do!
I walked to Sweet Auburn BBQ and the server told me that it was both happy hour and Taco Tuesday. I got a fun bourbon drink and a taco plate for very little money. I liked the price, and I like the food even more.
After that I walked a little further to the grocery store and got breakfast and snack items, and then went back home for the evening.
Wednesday - Let's Explore Atlanta!
As you know, I feel a certain kind of way about driving in Atlanta. I had a list of sites that I wanted to visit, including the Capitol, which was three miles away. That's just too far to walk, so I was planning to get a Lyft. But my first stop was so close to the Airbnb that of course I walked: The Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum.
Standard disclaimer: I am really not interested in politics or government. I've just found presidential museums to be oddly fascinating, so I visit them when I have the chance. Same with state capitols, there is just something about them. The Carter museum was not wildly exciting, but it was a pleasant enough and interesting enough place to visit.
The Carter museum is 2.5 miles away from the Capitol. It was a nice day, and I knew there was a pedestrian walkway, so I started off on foot.
Once the walkway ended, I was concerned that the rest of the way into downtown might be a little, uh, urban or otherwise pedestrian unfriendly. It was not glamorous that's for sure, but the other people out and about were mostly runners, and there was always a sidewalk, both of which were things that made me feel comfortable, so I kept walking. I bet you can guess the punchline: Lyft did not get an business from me that day.
For some reason there were no guided tours offered that day, so I wondered around on my own and had a good enough time.
After the Capitol, I headed for my next destination, which was two miles away, so again it just felt simpler to walk rather than to get a ride. It was lunch o'clock and I was pondering where to eat when I passed by a Cava. We don't have those in my part of the world so I was happy to check it out. Spicy lamb and sweet potato bowl? Yes please!
Verdict: it's just as well that we don't have Cava where I live, because I can see dropping some cash there if we did. Yum!
The backstory is that the Mitchells rented an apartment in this house in the mid 20s while Margaret was recovering from a foot injury. She was cooped up in a small space with a typewriter, which proved to be conducive to writing a certain 1,000 page book.
After that I walked a couple of miles back to the Airbnb. I was still full from my Cava bowl, so I had snacks for dinner and chillaxed on the couch with the awkwardly placed TV.
Thursday - Let's go to Montgomery!
After finishing my normal early retiree morning tasks, which now include about an hour of Spanish learning on weekdays, I packed up and left Atlanta. A few hours later I found myself in Montgomery. Another town, another famous author's rental to check out.
This is the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum, and the site is a house that they rented in the early 30s while they wrote his and hers novels: his was Tender is the Night and hers was Save Me the Waltz.
I don't know much about the Fitzgeralds, and I did enjoy looking at the displays, but the real star of the show was in the bathroom. You are welcome for the decor inspo (and yes there is a "stick" in the hand that holds the roll in place).
Next stop: the Capitol! Is that a display of all 50 state flags out front? Why yes it is! Fun fact, when your state is the alphabetically the first state, that's a great excuse to have a display of all of the flags in alphabetical order.
I'm going to write another capitol round up post soon, so I don't want to spill all the tea, but let's get a peek at that dome!
Here's the sitch: it's the first White House of the Confederacy. The CSA first set up shop in Montgomery before moving to a more central location in Richmond a few months later. The first WH was in use for a few months.
I think we all know the story, but let's do a refresher. Riding the bus in Montgomery was not fun in the 1950s if you were black, and there had been talk of a boycott for some time. And then one night in December 1955, it was time to stop the talk and start the action. Rosa was asked to move, she calmly said, and I quote, "no", the bus driver called the police, yada, yada, yada. At a moment's notice everyone sprang into action. The movement knew that boycotting the bus for a few days wasn't going to move the needle, so they organized ride shares to make sure that folks had the means to stay off the buses...for the entire year that it took the courts to join in with Rosa in saying "no".
Not all heroes wear capes and not all heroes get the reward that they deserve. During the boycott both Rosa and her husband lost their jobs and could not find new work, and the family was threatened. They moved to Detroit for a fresh start, and the end result was a pretty tough life.
I always visit gift shops, and I rarely buy anything because I'm at a point in my life where I do not need more stuff. So I did not buy this mug but I was tempted. Sometimes one little word yields big results.
After a full day in Montgomery, it was time to settle in for the night.
Let's Rate the Airbnb - Montgomery edition
Sometimes you just need to spend the night in a cozy pink house.
No zombie host syndrome here. The owner sent me a few "these are from a real human being" messages for check in and the stay, and the house was darling. From the way that the house was set up, I would place her in the top 10% of all Airbnb hosts. It really stands out when someone isn't going through the motions and thinks everything through.
But we know there is always at least one thing that is off in 100% of all Airbnbs...this time it was the strange placement of the bedside tables in the master bedroom. Again, shame on me for not triple checking the listing photos, and also I'm glad that I didn't because it really was a cute and comfy house.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have slept in the second bedroom, which had a proper bedside table and excellent bedside reading material.
For dinner, I returned to my off and on habit of eating at vegan restaurants and scored a massive winner: Plant Bae. I got the Soul Roll: collard greens, mac and cheese, Beyond meat, and hot sauce.
Maybe it doesn't look like much, but you weren't there. I'd recommend going to Montgomery ASAP just to eat at Plant Bae.
The story is that once upon a time, Papa and Mama Rosenbaum lived in Florence, Arkansas. Junior Rosenbaum went off to New York for college, and while he was there he met the very talented Mrs. Rosenbaum, who was an artist/musician/model/all the things. Papa and Mama were afraid, very afraid that Mrs. Rosenbaum would want to settle down somewhere fabulous far away, and brainstormed ways to make little ol' Florence AL stand out as a place that she would want to live.
They gifted Junior a plot of land across the street from them, and Junior talked to his buddies who steered him to FLW. The result was that Mrs. Rosenbaum was happy to settle down in Florence and Papa and Mama Rosenbaum got to live across the street from their grandkids. Everyone won.
The master bedroom:
The kids room. You may be asking where the beds are.
Right here. Bunks beds, FLW style. Four boys, four beds.
Let's hear from someone who knows what they are talking about:
The Rosenbaum house is what brought me to Florence, but I always try to find one or two other things to see when I go somewhere. I mean, if you look long enough you can always find something.
Florence said "hold my beer and watch this". When I started looking at Florence attractions, my first thought was "do I need to come back here for a week to get through all of this?". The answer is no, I was able to do it all in 24 hours, but it was quite the whirlwind.
The Florence Mound Museum. Mounds like these were built by ancient peoples as ceremonial, lookout, and sometimes burial sites. There are quite a few closer to home.
The next day started with a walk on the Old Railroad Bridge
My next stop was to visit with another icon from grade school: The Helen Keller Birthplace! Little did I know that 48 hours after visiting this site I would lose my hearing for four days in a freak ear wax incident.
The water pump where Helen learned to spell her first word, water.
The highlight here was the porch light. Yep, a row of candles inside the front door.
Let's Rate the Airbnb - Florence Edition
Overall Airbnb has done very well by me, and has definitely enhanced my travel experiences over the past few years. That's overall, though.
The Florence Airbnb is an example of a time when I got it wrong. Somehow I picked the bad egg. I say "somehow" because every issue that I had was mentioned in the reviews. I remember that I was juggling a few different places when I booked the unit, and I think I must have picked the wrong one in the shuffle.
Issues:
Musty smell
The HVAC system was only powerful enough to cover the downstairs. A few of the reviews mentioned the misery of staying at this place in the summer, and I had it on the other extreme on a chilly night.
The only sink was in the bathroom. This would not have been a problem except that the sink was tiny and there was a brownish tinge to the water. After thinking things over, I bought a gallon of water from the store.
Creepy AF vibes
Can't win 'em all. I considered contacting the host and asking for a refund, but in the end I decided that it was only one night and to suck it up. Note to self to slow down the next time that I book a trip.
And with that, my time in Georgia and Alabama was over. I headed south, stopping to spend the night in another $80 Wyndham in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Let's Wrap it Up
Let's hear it for the road trip! I don't have an absolute rule on how far is too far to drive, but I can see ditching the plane for more trips like this. Such as...right now. I'm currently on another road trip down south.
Best part of the trip: walking around in Atlanta! Who knew?
Best site after the capitols and FLW: the Rosa Parks museum
Who has been to any of these places? Are you team Road Trip or Team Fly?
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