Back Roads to Good Friends

Day 2- November 1, 2015 (Great Lakes Region Trip)

The first order of business today was to change our clocks and watches. We hadn't really worried too much about it the night before because we would gain an hour. It just meant we could get another hour of sleep. Yay for sleep!

We had 2 destinations today. The first one was to see our friends, Marianne Easton and Nancy Wilson, in their North Carolina home. Our plan was to eat dinner and visit with them before driving to Cherokee, NC for the night.

Dean decided we should drive the back roads up to Sapphire, NC instead of taking the Interstate around Atlanta. We like traveling the back roads because we run into so many places on the way. Our first find was the Jasper County seat in Monticello, GA. Although it was sprinkling a little, we took time to take pictures and learn about its history. The court house was located right on the town square. The building and square were really pretty.

From Monticello, we drove to Athens, GA and stopped for lunch. Since there is a University of Georgia campus there, the town was quite college oriented. Of course, there was a famous "The Varsity" restaurant, just waiting for us to hear the familiar  "What'll you have?". Dean enjoyed his chili dogs and fries while Robin had a cheeseburger and onion rings. Yum! Yum!

We drove on and saw lots and lots of fall colors in Georgia. We stopped at a rest area and the colors were so vivid. We liked the Eisenhower Interstate System sign before we got back on the road. Finally, we crossed the North Carolina state line and the fall colors continued. 

The weather had been wet and dreary most of the day. Clouds were dropping down low and hung in the sky in front of the mountains. Guess this is the reason they call these mountains the Smokies.

We finally made it to Marianne and Nancy's house. Although we had been there a few years ago, we relied heavily on our GPS. Their house is so nice and cozy. They showed us a few of the things they had changed since our last visit. We visited for awhile and then went to Mica's Restaurant & Pub. This was a really great place for dinner. We loved the food and the company. Back to their house for a little more visiting and then it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes and left for Cherokee.

It was very dark, especially with the time changes just happening. The road we took was very winding, but we just took our time. It was very foggy, but we weren't in a big hurry, even though it was late. Better safe than sorry. 

After a little over an hour, we arrived at our Holiday Inn Express which was right across the street from Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort. We checked in and were finished for the night. Our tummies were full and our bodies were tired. The day had caught up with us, so we went to sleep without much delay.