Miss Independent

I ran away from home this week. Or at least that is what I'm calling at. At soon-to-be thirty, I'm not sure you can actually "run away" from home. What you can do though, is leave without telling anyone. Just wake up on a Thursday morning, make a hotel reservation in a different state, and head out on your own. Leave a note on a the front door that says, "I'll call you when I get there." That's precisely what I did.

I've traveled around the U.S. for the past few years. I took my first big trip in 2007 and since then, I've traveled from the Pacific to the Atlantic and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. I've done most of the driving too; through nerve-wracking Los Angeles freeway traffic to dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. But in all my traveling, I've never gone anywhere by myself. So, I decided that before I leave my twenties behind, I was going to take a road trip all by my lonesome. To do this, I knew I would have to sneak off because my parents, my family, and my friends, would be worried that I had lost my mind if I told them ahead of time and would probably try to talk me out of the trip. So I just left a note on the front door of my house and I headed out.

I decided to go to Franklin, Tennessee (http://www.visitwilliamson.com/). I've been to Nashville a few times so I know the way pretty well. The roads are nice and straight and flat for the most part and its only about four and a half hours from home. So its not that bad of a drive.

Franklin is about twenty miles south of Nashville. Its about the size of Richmond, Kentucky but it has a quaint little historic downtown district that reminded me of a larger Berea, KY. It was lovely.

Why did I choose Franklin? Well, located near Franklin is a dog rescue group called Snooty Giggles (snootygiggles.com). They need volunteers: foster homes, adoptions, donations, etc. Since I live too far away to do much volunteering and since I recently took the class at the Carnegie Center (www.carnegiecenterlex.org) over grant writing, I volunteered to write some grants for Snooty Giggles. My goal was to go to Franklin and personally introduce myself, since I had only had contact via email. That plan fell through, but I did enjoy my visit to the lovely town of Franklin, Tennessee.

Since I'm in the habit of giving reviews of the places I visit and telling stories of my traveling adventures, then I'll start in on that...

Thursday, May 17th:
I ran away from home. Pit stops in London, KY (for groceries for the trip and gas for the car) and Bowling Green, KY (potty break), and I made it to Franklin, TN around 7:30 p.m. (central time). Nashville traffic gives me a headache, but this trip wasn't so bad, except for road work on the way back home, but I'll get to that in a minute. I checked into my room at the Ramada Inn and settled down for the night. As I pulled into the driveway I was a little confused at what looked to be an old cemetery in the front yard of the hotel, but cemeteries don't typically bother me, so I brushed it off, settled in, and went to sleep after scheduling a few tours for the next day.

Friday, May 18th:
Seven a.m. comes early when you are on vacation but I had to be up and ready to pick up my tickets by nine. Downtown Franklin isn't far from the Ramada Inn. In fact, its about a ten minute drive, depending on traffic. Parking is super easy in the down town district, which was really surprising to me. There are two parking garages and all parking along the roadside is FREE! Actually the parking garages are FREE too. Do y'all know how hard it is to find FREE parking anywhere, but especially in a down town historic district?!

Historic Franklin is beautiful. The center of the town is a circle with a large statue reaching into the sky to commemorate the Confederate soldiers that died during the Battle of Franklin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Franklin_%281864%29). Everything is neat and has nifty historical markers to tell the history of particular sites and homes. I was told by one of my tour guides that Franklin is the 15th wealthiest city in the U.S., that being said, some of the shopping can be a bit pricey. I avoided most of the little shops but I did do a little window shopping. All the places, whether they be restaurants, boutiques, ice cream parlors, or art galleries are independently owned and operated. So its strictly "mom and pop" types of places, which is nice.

You can walk through the city on your own and read historical markers and whatnot or you can take a tour. I opted for the Historic Franklin (http://franklinonfoot.com/) tour by Franklin on Foot (but they have other tours: biking, ghost, etc.). As part of my tour package, I also bought tickets to the Lotz House, the Carter House, and Carnton Plantation. It was a deal. Rather than paying for them independently, which would be be anywhere from $10 to $20 each, I got those three tours and the Historic Tour for only $40. Big savings really. And the tickets for the three houses never expire, so if you are like me and didn't get to do one of them (I'll be back Carnton Plantation), then you can always come back later.

My first stop was the Lotz House (http://www.lotzhouse.com/). I'll post some links so that you can read all the history and whatnot. I don't want to make this a history lesson. My tour guide was named Elaine and she was excellent. Friendly and informative. She knew her stuff and was super charming in a sweet Southern lady sort of way. Just what you would want and expect from Tennessee. The house was beautiful. They had some of the original furniture that the original owner had built himself and had in the house during and after the war. I do suggest making this a stop if you decide to go to Franklin.

The tours kind of go in an order, not that you HAVE TO follow that order, but it does help with the story. Next was the Carter House (http://battleoffranklintrust.org/). I loved learning about the history of the Carter House. I won't ruin it for anyone here, but if you love history and the Civil War in particular, then you should definitely give this tour a try. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide, but he was kind of a dick all the same. Or at least that was my impression. But maybe you won't get him, there were plenty of other guides. There is also a welcome center area where you can shop at the gift shop (the Lotz House had a small gift shop too), get some snacks, view a small museum, and purchase further tickets. Plus its air conditioned. Considering I was there when it was a humid 90 degrees, that can be a life saver. There is also an assortment of original out buildings for you to explore at your leisure.

I liked the Carter House tour best of all, even if I didn't like my guide. And now I want to read more books on the history of the house and the town.

I didn't have time for the Carnton Plantation tour before my Historic Franklin tour started, so I hopped back in my car (the Lotz House and Carter House should both be driven too from downtown Franklin, its too far to walk, but there is plenty of parking, so no worries there), drove back to my parking garage and headed to Gallery 202 where I was supposed to meet my guide.

Gallery 202 (http://www.gallery202art.com/) was beautiful. Its part of the walking tour because it was also used during the war. The art was amazing. A fairly good sized collection of local artists and famous ones, all for purchase. There were pianos that had been painted with beautiful scenes and portraits. There were large and small paintings, sculptures, jewelry, even clothes. If it was artsy in any way, Gallery 202 had it. It was also very expensive for the most part. The most expensive thing I saw was an Andy Warhol painting for $39,000! The cheapest thing I found was $26 but it wasn't really an art piece. It was cute, but it was a mass produced item that you can buy pretty much anywhere. But that was the only mass produced item I saw. I was tempted though. I usually get tons of souvenirs on my trips, but this time, the only thing I brought back was my Carnton Plantation ticket and pictures.

At any rate, we started on our tour through the town, stopping at the first church established by an African American in the town after the Civil War. It is now a  community theatre. There was the Masonic Lodge that opens up it's doors once a year to the public so people can stand in line to see the "graffiti" on the wall in the men's bathroom. This graffiti was discovered while making repairs a few years back and is actually the name of the Union regiments that had occupied Franklin...as in, authentic-written-during-that-time-graffiti. We walked through the town square and learned the history of the Confederate monument. We concluded the tour at another church, this one a beautiful Episcopalian number with lovely stained glass windows. All in all, an excellent tour and I recommend it to anyone that goes to the area.

After the tour I found a place to eat, since I hadn't eaten anything since seven that morning and that was just two Poptarts! I chose a little Cajun place (http://www.papaboudreaux.com/menu.html) and ordered one of my favorite meals: crawfish etouffee. It was delicious! By far the best that I've had, and that's saying a lot since I LOVE to eat this stuff when I'm in Louisiana.

After a hard day of touring and getting my gut full of crawfish and sweet tea, I decided to go back to the hotel to freshen up before heading to Leiper's Fork (http://www.visitleipersfork.com/). After a quick nap though I realized my aching feet and legs couldn't take anymore, plus it was starting to rain, so I decided to call it a night.

Saturday, May 19th:
I headed home on Saturday, I was supposed to go to the Carnton Planation (http://www.carnton.org/carnton_history.htm) before coming home, but I was afraid I would miss Bella's first recital, so I opted just to leave early and head back to Kentucky. They were working on the interstate in Nashville and of course, Gale (my gps) goes crazy and can't figure out how to get me where I'm going, so I had to figure it out myself. I did pretty good for a girl with a crazy GPS and no map. The rest of the trip home was fairly uneventful. I had to stop in Glasgow, KY for some food and there I met three stray cats that I'm sure would have liked to come home with me, but alas, I have no more room for cats in my house. That's just how it goes.

All in all, this trip was great! Just what I needed. Time to myself, a new adventure, and a dip a little bit deeper into the South. I love traveling through the southern states most of all. If you are in the Nashville area, I suggest you make a quick trip on down to Franklin and explore a little history and eat some good crawfish while you're there.

Do you know the way to San Jose? (Day 2)

Day two found us in San Francisco for most of the day as well. When morning rolled around we checked out of our hotel, but when they offered to hold our car and luggage for us until 6 p.m. we took them up on the offer and hit the town. I treated Mom to a Mother's Day dinner at Johnny Rockets where the waiter flirted shamelessly with me (*insert eye flutter here*), but to no avail. I left him the 15% tip but nothing more. Last thing I need is a California boy hanging on my arm. :-P

Regardless we decided to check things out a bit. We talked to the Conceirge at the hotel to ask about directions to places and bus schedules and all that. Ten minutes later and with a map in our hands with all kinds of squiggly marks I did not understand, I looked at Mom and said, "Ummm...we are getting a tour." I was not attempting that wild mess! So that is exactly what we did. A motorized trolley tour. Not a real trolley which is sad, but it did the job all the same.

We went all over San Francisco and saw the sights from the safety of a vehicle driven by someone other than myself. This someone being a man from Russia named Igor. That was fun. Imagine this...sitting at the back of the trolley, listening to Igor tell us about the city in his thick Russian accent while simultaneously listening to the French couple beside you, the British family in front of you, and the Alabama couple behind you. I really only understood the Alabama folks. I mean, I understood the others (except when the one couple spoke only French), but I can just understand that Southern dialect a lot better than the others.

We saw the Golden Gate bridge, the "Painted Ladies", and all that jazz. I took pictures. I'll post them in another blog because I don't have them with me at the moment.

After the tour was finished, Mom and I packed up and headed South. A couple of hours later and we were in San Jose taking a tour of the Sarah Winchester Mystery House. No photos of the inside because that was against the rules, but I took some in the garden out back. One photo may or may not contain the image of a "ghost". Now, I don't know what ya'll believe or don't believe, but I'm gonna just go with it being a ghost. Even if its not, its just more fun to think it is. So I will forever tell people that I took a picture of a ghost at the Winchester mansion. :-)

The house itself was beautiful. It was a little weird, but not creepy. It was quirky is all. I loved it there. I wish I had more time to explore and the tour was worth the money so if you ever have the chance, then you should take it. It was really neat.

From San Jose we went South and then East. Passing by the garlic fields of Gilroy, California (you can imagine the smell of that) and the oil fields of Bakersfield. I didn't have time to stop at the Buck Owens place while there, but there was a lot I didn't get to do on the trip. I'll just save all those things for another time. We spent Saturday night in some random California town near the Nevada border anticipating a Sunday spend in Las Vegas! :-)

On the Road Again...

When I was a little girl, I used to run away from home...A LOT. I guess I averaged once a week (maybe more in the summer time). I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I have a feeling it had something to do with everything and everyone being completely unfair to my six-year-old self. Or at least, in my mind that is how things were. :-)

I never got far mind you. For some reason I thought there was a Greyhound bus station in the middle of McKee. I had never seen it, but I was sure it was there. If only I could make it the roughly ten miles from my home in Gray Hawk to the bustling city of McKee, then I would be set. I was pretty sure that they would just let me ride the bus for free, seeing as how I was only six and wouldn't take up much space. Just in case though, I always packed provisions. These provisions being a pack of saltines, a Little Golden Book, some change from my piggy bank, and an umbrella...all neatly stored away in my zip up Snoopy suitcase.

So where does a six-year-old from a VERY small town in Eastern Kentucky want to go when she runs away from home???? California of course!

I'm still not quite sure what I thought was out there, but I'm fairly certain it involved a set of really rich, childless parents that would shower me with attention and gifts and obviously appreciate what I was really worth. You know how kids are...

Anyway, I never made it to California. Actually, I never made it past the woods behind my house. I always got that far and decided that it really wasn't worth the effort it would take to travel all that way and besides, I was out of crackers and getting hungry again. :-)

Earlier this year my friend Cilla and I decided we would take a road trip to California. I was in the early stages of planning it all out when we decided that it couldn't be done...at least not how we had it planned. We both wanted to see very different things and go very different places and it just frankly, wasn't going to work out. Our trip would take at least two weeks instead of the one week we had decided on. So instead, we decided to go to Montana and Wyoming.

But something just didn't feel right about it. Not to me anyway. I love Cilla and I would follow her anywhere. She's great on a road trip. And it wasn't that my heart was just so set on California that I couldn't possibly go anywhere else. It just didn't feel right.

I've got a problem with telling people to trust their instincts and then I do the exact opposite of that myself. I listen way too much to the advice of others. Even advice that I asked for or that has the best of intentions. Someone told me last year that I needed to stop going to others for so much guidance and look within myself and that eventually it would work out to where I was right where I needed to be, right when I needed to be there. 

The lady that told me that was a genius by the way. I've been following her advice ever since. ;-)

Seriously though, it does seem that when I follow my gut, when I listen to my own head and heart, then things have a way of working themselves out. Call it Fate...call in Karma...call it God...call it whatever you want, it just is what it is.

And what it is, is telling me that my vacation this year doesn't need to be spent in Montana or Wyoming. My vacation, in fact, doesn't need to be spent with anyone but myself. Yup, just wittle ol' me.

So come May (I've already put in for my week's worth of vacation time), I'm heading out to destinations unknown. I have a trip planned, don't get me wrong. I kinda know where I'm going. I have a primary destination in mind. But for me, its not about the destination, its about the journey.

In a few short weeks I'll hit the road. All by myself. For an entire week. Its both exciting and scary. Its both brave and foolish. So basically, it suits me pretty well. :-)

In the meantime, all that's really left to do is break the news to my Father, who has no idea of my plan. Originally I wasn't going to tell anyone, I was just going to head out and call from the road, never revealing my location until I made it safely back home in a week. But...I felt kinda guilty doing my folks like that. So I finally told my Mom and this weekend I'll tell my Dad (no sense in making him worry those extra days). 

And don't worry...when I get back there will be plenty of photos and blogs (and hopefully a video or two) from the road. Even if I take my journey on my own, that doesn't mean I'm not willing to share it later on. :-)