Kingsport to South of Birmingham

October 14, 2010

Due to a mix-up with a container Ben was to inspect in Unicoi on Wednesday he had to inspect it early on Thursday morning. He left home at 7:30 and had the inspection done and was back home by 9:30. He did all his paperwork and we were on the road at 10 AM! Not much to say about I-81 and I-75 and I-59 – but it was a pleasant drive with sunshine, nice temperatures, and the mountains and hillsides sprinkled here and there with red and yellow trees. The trees are far from their peak but were beginning to turn brilliant colors so maybe they will be at their peak when we return in 10 days.

We stopped along the way somewhere for lunch at a Wendy’s. The new Baja Salad is very tasty! We had a riveting mystery to listen to so the miles clicked quickly by. GPS led us directly to our “free” hotel room south of Birmingham. We get “points” on Bank-Americard that we use for hotels when traveling to and from destinations instead of using them for airline tickets….We enjoy camping when we are at a destination or have short travel days; but not so much for one night especially in a city between long days of driving. GPS then directed us to the nearest Dreamland BBQ which was on our list from reading about traditional BBQ joints. It was unique, the ribs were good but the sauce was Alabama I guess – vinegar/mustard/little tomato – good but not my favorite. We ate our fill with slaw and potato salad; and got some banana puddin’ for take-out. We had planned to stop in Tuscaloosa to go to the original Dreamland BBQ but it was a BIG Football Weekend and there were NO rooms to be had – at least not for “free”!