Annual Road Trip South - Day Five

The Family of Four headed back to the hotel

Every day is an adventure!  Today was no exception.  I was going to write about our excellent day in the dying town of Toccoa, the town in Georgia where Bill grew up.  Instead this blog is about one of those "Why is this happening to me?"  

First of all, the day didn't start out too great.  Breakfast at the Hampton Inn is usually very good.  Not this morning.  My waffle batter was sour.  Yep, sour waffle batter. I noticed that the waffles didn't have that "waffle" smell when they were cooking.  Then when I flipped the waffle grill over, the waffles had a pale and undercooked look.  I peeled the waffle out of the waffle iron and it was like elastic.  I buttered it up and poured syrup and proceed to saw cut the waffle with my little plastic knife on my styrofoam plate.  All I did was stretch the waffle.  Hmmmm.  Then I lifted the uncut waffle to my mouth and tore off a piece.  Sour.  The waffle was sour.  Uh huh.

Not wanting to cause any unpleasantness, I tossed this waffle and made another.  Same result.  Still reluctant to become a Complaining Guest, I made yet another waffle.  Yep, same result.

I looked for the breakfast hostess.  She was nowhere to be found.  I went out to the front desk and there she was hunched over reading a newspaper.  Nice.  I told her that the waffle batter was sour.  She immediately said "Oh, I'll put some fresh batter in now."  Uh....okay.  So it was old batter.  Nice.  No apology, just "I'll put some fresh batter in."  God knows how old that batter was.

I was waffled out so I got a glass of orange juice.  It tasted like someone had left an old rusty tin can in the orange juice container.  Bill said when he tried to get orange juice this morning, only cloudy water came out.  He said the hostess brought out a pitcher with orange juice and ice cubes.  Wonder where she got that orange juice.

Well, the usual dependable Hampton Inn breakfast wasn't going well.  I decided to have a couple (or three) of those "who knows how old they are" sausage patties.  They were spicy enough to cover any age related issues.

After breakfast Bill and I drove into his old hometown of Toccoa.  I followed him around while he visited his old haunts and stomping ground, reliving fond memories.  I even made a five minute video which is below.  We also visited Toccoa Falls, our very own "Niagra Falls" right here in Georgia.

When we got back to the hotel we agreed to meet at 5 for dinner.  In the meantime I called the Old Time photo place and made an appointment to get yet another (are you sensing obsession here?) old time photo of me as a cowboy.  This grizzled, wrinkled, old, tire face works well as a cowboy.  RuPaul I am not but a cowboy?  It works.

After my photo session (which turned out very well, I'll share the fabulous photos later) I met Bill for dinner.  We (I) decided to go to a Mexican restaurant.  I was hoping to duplicate my success of finding hidden, wonderful Mexican restaurants as I did in Marion, North Carolina.

We go into the restaurant. The only other table taken was occupied by the proverbial Family of Four.  Mom and pop and two Little Darlings, a boy of 3 and a girl of 4.  And yes they were whining, screaming and generally making a mess and a huge nuisance of themselves.  Mom and pop seemed numbed by all the fidgetiness.  I could read Bill's eyes which said "Why did you bring me here?  I don't even like Mexican food."  However, I decided that since we were already there I would ignore the Little Darlings (who were making quite the racket and mess) and forge ahead with our meal.  And yes, there were sitting at the table right next to us.

Me at the Mexican restaurant

We got through the dinner with the background of whining, screaming and even a little crying as is wont with little darlings like this when they really get worked up.  With most of their burritos now on the floor the Family of Four left.  Bill and I watched with bemusement as the Mexican proprietors of the restaurant were again cleaning up after a white, blonde haired American family.  Rodolfo, the owner looked resigned and had a weak smile on his face when we made eye contact.  The two old guys didn't leave such a mess.

We left the restaurant and wandered around the main street of the town, noting how many store and restaurants were still closed.  I sense they all open when school gets out and all the Families of Four (or more) descend like a horde of locusts on poor Helen (the town).  

About 20 minutes later, as we were walking down the street back to our hotel we noticed.....wait for it....THE FAMILY OF FOUR WALKING IN THE SAME DIRECTION!  I said to Bill "Do you actually think they are staying at the SAME hotel as we are?"  And as I said this I noticed that they went into the hotel.  How about that?  I couldn't believe it. 

We waited until they took the elevator.  We didn't feel like sharing the elevator with them and that whining and screaming and (possible) crying when little Junior or the Princess didn't get their way.

Bill and I decided to walk around the town some more.  This town is beautiful with plenty of walking paths.  They even have sidewalks!  I'm used to staying in hotels right next to the Interstate.  This one is a treat.

About and hour later we take the same elevator to our rooms. As I'm getting ready for my shower I hear a familiar sound.  What was that sound?  It sounded so familiar.  I couldn't quite place it other than it was SO FAMILIAR.  Then I realized what it was, it was the same sound of Junior and the Princess whining and screaming.  "Where was it coming from?" I thought. Oh dear God, don't tell me what I'm thinking right now.  This just can't be possible.

I get my room key.  I leave my room.  I follow the muffled sounds of whining and screaming (and jumping now) to the - are you ready? - to the ROOM RIGHT NEXT TO ME!  Yes folks, the Family of Four is right next to my room!  

I cannot believe this.   This hotel has 67 rooms and  the one room they're in is RIGHT NEXT TO ME? Am I being punked?

So I'm thinking....what do I do now? I hate to complain and thus have another family mad at me.  But the "sounds" were coming through the loudest from the wall behind the headboard of my king sized bed.  Can you believe this?  

"Does this dirndl make me look fat?

I had no other choice but to go down to the front desk and tell her my tale of woe.  She was sympathetic and offered to move me to another room.  However there was one "small" problem.  The only rooms left were not king sized studies like the one I'm in now and LOVE.  That was one of the reasons I extended my stay today.  I asked her when they check out.  She said "Tomorrow." Well, I think I can get through one night.  I told her that if they're making a racket past 10 o'clock I would ask her to call them and quiet those kids down.

The good news is that it is ALL QUIET now.  Do you think that silence will last the night?  No, I don't either.  But I have hope.

Now I ask you, what are the odds of that happening?  I'm just lucky I guess.

Below is a video that I took of our foolishness today in downtown Toccoa.

Annual Road Trip South - Day One

The Hampton Inn Emporia Virginia

Okey dokey folks, here I am in a Hampton Inn hotel room in Emporia Virginia, calling the end to Day One of our Annual Road Trip South.

For the last several years Bill and I have been making this trek south to visit my father's birthplace in the mountains (Pigeon Roost - hillbilly county) of western North Carolina, my brother and his wife in Greenville, South Carolina and Bill's birthplace and where he grew up in Toccoa Georgia.  Yep, we make that big loop.  

We make the trip down the Delmarva Peninsula, through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (which both of us hate), then through that mess of roads that is Norfolk, Virginia then to open country.  The hardest part about the trip is always getting through Norfolk.  We messed up again today.  I always drive through Norfolk and have used my GPS and made it through.  Hairy and scary but I did make it through.  This time Bill "drew a map."  He says his maps are always better.  Uh huh.  Well, we "took the tour" today.  Nuff said.  Now at least he won't holler and scream at me when I make a wrong turn here and there whilst traffic is coming at me from all directions.

But let me back up a bit here.  We always rent a van from Enterprise.  This morning we show up at the door at 8:30 am.  They open at 9:00.  Well, it seems this morning there was a little problem.  The manager if the Enterprise store in Millsboro lost his/her keys and needed the manager of the Rehoboth Enterprise to open up for him/her.  Thus we stood out in the 50 degree temps with the wind whipping around us until about 9:20. Once the manager go there apologies spewed forth and promises of a discount (which we got).  

"Waiting for Godot" at Enterprise Rental in Rehoboth Beach this morning 

We lucked out this time.  Our van rental was a white Chrysler Towne and Country.  Only one "slight problem".......West Virginia license plate.  I don't think I've ever seen a West Virginia license plate in Gayberry Rehoboth Beach.  Oh well, we look like West Virginians anyway (look it up.) 

This year's chariot 

Just a note, if my narrative seems a little stilted on this post it's because I'm typing too high in my Hampton Inn hotel room.  My typing fingers aren't quite flying like they usually do.  I feel like a little kid reaching up on a high table for a cookie.

Back to the trip - we complete the paper work on our van and go back home to pack up.  Oh do we ever (me actually) take a lot of crap along.  I have my Macbook Pro, iPad, iPhone, chargers galore, underwear, toiletries, cameras including my SLR, Flip video, Find a Grave digital camera and those chargers, pads, and shirts and pants and socks and sneakers and loafers....oh well, you get the idea.

One big mistake I made so far this trip is I ate too much.  I had lunch (chicken parmesan hoagie with greasy fries) then dinner at Cracker Barrel and you know how they stuff you.  Of course our dining was accompanied by a screaming kid during more of our culinary repast.  This kid should have received an award, I think she cracked a couple of windows during two ear piercing screams.  Screaming kids and Cracker Barrel, sort of goes together like Republicans and government obstruction.  Just saying.

What next?  We arrived in Emporia, Virginia; our halfway point to Marion, North Carolina which we  plan to spend a few days in the "fatherland."  At the Hampton Inn in Marion I'm meeting up with my cousin Bob Tipton and his wife.  His father and my father were brothers.  Bob's never seen "the homeland."  I'm going to show him around (Pigeon Roost) and introduce him to one of our many cousins who still live up in them thar mountains.  Wanda is her name.  She is the granddaughter of the older sister of our grandfather.  Got that?  I've dug far enough and pretty well linked most of the folk up in those mountains to my family line one way or another.  Wanda and her husband live in our great-grandfather's house on Upper Pigeon Roost Road. His name was Ike Lewis and my father was named after him.  It's always a special treat to "soak up the mountains" when we visit.  Would love to live there but man oh man, nothing but nothing is going on up there except some spectacular scenery.  You won't see any Sea Witch Festivals or Polar Bear Plunges up there in those hollers.  Nice folk though and some fabulous family cemeteries which I hope to record with my camera and post to Find a Grave.com

Well, I have a terrific case of indigestion right now (those greasy fries and too much food).  Time to take a shower (I'm starting to stink) and make my journal entry and then to bed.  By the way, Bill and I get separate rooms.  Not that we don't love one another, we just can't sleep together.  He goes to bed about 7 and I go much later, sometimes around 11 or 12.  Plus, I like to watch TV (won't be doing that here, this is Fox News all the time territory) or read.

So there you go folks, the end of Day One of Ron and Bill's Fabulous Road Trip to the Homeland.  This will probably be our last annual trip.  We're losing it folks.  Not the confident youngsters we used to be.  Two slightly nervous and increasingly forgetful old men making the trek.  We're not making an appointment at the Brandywine Senior Living Center in Rehoboth yet (like our friends Bob and Jim) but I can see that in another ten years if we're here, just could be.  In the meantime, we're making the most of every day.  Now if I just would have remembered to bring that acid reflex medicine with me.

Me at Cracker Barrel enduring the screaming little darlings

Me and Kids

W. C. Fields with his 'dining partner'

Like W. C. Fields, I have a reputation for hating kids.  Also, like W. C. Fields, he didn't really hate kids per se.  What he didn't like was a bratty kid.  Same here, I don't like an undisciplined, spoiled brat of a kid. 


W. C. Fields relished his reputation but those who knew him in real life knew that he had a soft spot for kids and kids really did love him.  

What I really don't like are those parents who take their kids out in public like restaurants and let them run wild.  I've eaten in more than one Cracker Barrel restaurant and had to endure more than a few kids whining and screaming for attention and running around the tables playing tag while their parents sat blithely unaware and/or uncaring.

"Somebody lose a child?"

Yesterday, I met one of my blogger friends.  He is a regular reader of my blog postings and has read more than one blog where I mentioned how I hated to eat at restaurant with screaming kids.  Thus, he was somewhat concerned when he visited me that he would upset me by bringing two of his kids along.  He didn't have a baby-sitter for them for he had no other choice.  He promised me that he would bring the two 'best behaved' ones.  

Bill and Mark yesterday at our former home in Pennsylvania

We met at my former home in Pennsylvania situated on 6.875 acres of open wooded land.  He brought his six year old twin sons, Jacob and Joshua.  Well, what happens when you have two, healthy six year old boys who live in the city (Harrisburg) on a small lot to an open area in the country on almost seven acres of land?  They are going to take off running a screaming, chasing each other.  As soon as they started to do this Mark (my blogger friend) told them to stop.  I told him "Oh no, let them go!  They're two little boys having fun."  You see, I don't have a problem with kids being kids.  In fact, I find enjoyment in being around and watching young children having fun.  Running, laughing and enjoying their young years because all too soon they grow up into their teenage years and those carefree, joyful days of the innocence of youth disappears.


I know what it's like. I used to be six years old too.  I had two younger brothers and we used to have run around and have fun.  Of course we were well disciplined.  Whenever we were in public we dared not cause a ruckus or else we would have to get The Look from our mother.  And even worse, if we misbehaved (like fighting) we had to face POP.  We faced POP (our father) a few times and believe me, it wasn't a pleasant experience.  

My four nieces and one nephew 1969 Christmas

My brother Isaac's kids sit on me Christmas 1976

Both of my brothers had children. I am an uncle to four nieces and one nephew.  All of my nieces and one nephew were well behaved and they liked their Uncle Ronnie (I think) and I liked them.  When they were young I always got them Christmas gifts.  

Bill being attacked by my nieces Christmas 1976

But what was really interesting, my nieces and nephew really took to my partner Bill.  Wouldn't you know it, the same thing happened yesterday with Mark's two boys.  They took to Bill right away.  Kids always take to Bill.  I should be jealous.  For a time Bill had a good friend in Damon who had ten kids.  All those kids loved 'BEAL', as they used to say his name 'Bill'.  Unfortunately since we moved to Delaware Bill doesn't see his friend Damon's kids.  He misses them.  

Bill's friend and 7 of his now 10 children

When I agreed to meet Mark yesterday I wasn't sure if I should tell Bill.  I didn't know how he would react.   Bill is a very private person.  I wasn't going to tell Bill that Mark was going to 'drop by' but Mark said that wouldn't be fair to Bill.  So I told Bill that a friend may drop by while we were visiting our old property.  Bill said "Okay".  He didn't seem concerned about it so I said no more.  


Bill likes to wander around our old property when we visit it.  I planned to stay with Mark and the kids.  Guess what happened?  Those kids took to Bill like fleas on a dog.  I should be jealous.  


So I am here to set the record straight...I don't hate kids.  What I don't like is those parents who raise who are rude, undisciplined and disrespectful to adults and other children.  


Yesterday was a joy meeting Mark's two adorable six year old twins.  I hope those twins realize what a good dad they have in Mark.  

Me getting a BIG HUG! from Joshua Himes

A note about the picture above; Mark sent me that picture.   As Mark was leaving he told his kids "Big hug!"  I was getting ready to take a picture of Mark and  his kids leaving in his van when this little ball of energy attempted to tackle me by the legs.  Joshua was giving me a BIG HUG  the best he could, given that I was a little bit taller than him.  This is the first picture I have of me being hugged by a kid.  History was made yesterday.  

Me and my brother Isaac, 1947
YES,  I was six years old once too