On To Orange Beach, Alabama

Alabama Farm 

Yep

I am in Birmingham, just outside the city in a Hampton Inn. and it's just after 6:00. I am waiting for Evie to text me that she needs coffee. We have just over a four-hour drive to our Hampton Inn on the Gulf and dry weather until around 6:00. It's been really dry on the Gulf this fall so the rain for the next couple of days is welcome to the locals, not to us. 

Downtown Cincinnati

We left Grove City earlier than we planned because Evie got up at 6:45, early for her. So we had a nice easy and sunny drive to Cincinnati, through downtown, missing out on the Bengals fans arriving at the stadium. We switched off every couple of hours and didn't realize there was a time change. I wondered why they had us arriving on my GPS an hour earlier than I planned. Ultimately, however, the GPS was wrong, too, and so was I because what I thought was an eight-hour drive ended up being nine plus because of a traffic jam going through Nashville. It took us at least a half hour of sitting in stalled traffic to get on our way. And the traffic was heavier than we thought, making us wonder where all these people were going?

Our only mistake was a quick stop at Buc-ees a mega gas station, restaurant, and Walmart-like store all in one. There must have been hundreds of cars in their lot, and close to hundreds of customers in the store. We were overwhelmed by the crowds and literally walked in and out, hoping to get back to #65 without having to wait for three or four lights to get on #65 because of the number of Buc-ees customers.

Chopping The Brisket

Buc--ees Crowded Texas Brisket Sandwich Bar

So we didn't arrive at our Hampton until 4:30, really 5:30 EST. We were both pooped from our drive so we took showers. What a difference a shower makes in attitude and mood. We then headed to the only decent restaurant nearby, a Chili's. I don't think we have ever been to one before so we went with some trepidation. We found a seat at the bar next to a young couple and a gal who spent her entire meal on the phone. Neither spoke to us so we basically watched football and ate. It was a crazy place because the hostess, bartender,  and waiter was the same guy. He seemed to know many of the patrons and might have been the cook, too, for all we knew. Fortunately, both of our meals were pretty good and we went back to Hampton happy with our choice.

We were both bushed from our drive and dinner, so we watched some TV, and some football but turned off the lights early, around 9:00, hoping to get a good night's sleep.