The next stop on our tour was Durham, North Carolina. From the land of horses to the land of tobacco. A pit stop along the way led us to Corbin, Kentucky; site of the first Kentucky Fried Chicken. Really it's called Sanders Cafe but also carries the corporate logo. It was an interesting little place with a modern KFC kitchen to the left, and the old cafe to the right. Almost like taking chicken home to eat.
We drove through Knoxville, TN but didn't see the sun sphere. I suppose that's because Nelson knocked it down (Ha ha!) We arrived at the destination around 11:00 PM eastern time.
Most of the vacation was spent in Durham and we did a lot of eating. People must eat after all, and why not try the local cuisine? We hit up a couple barbeque places and found out that it's quite different then the stuff we get around here. Barbeque there is clear, with the primary ingredient vinegar. Definitely a change from the Kansas City style which sometimes requires a change of clothes when done.
A lot of time was also spent touring colleges. We saw Duke, North Carolina (UNC-Chapel Hill) and Wake Forest. Wake Forest was my choice, all I really wanted was a souvenir. Those Demon Deacons don't sell a lot of stuff outside their campus. I could not see myself going to Duke or Wake Forest, perhaps UNC, but nothing beats MSU,M.
On December 4, it was off to our nation's capital.
Prior to earlier this month I had only seen the states of Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Nevada, Illinois, and Florida in person. I'd flown over others, but it's always a unique experience to see the sights from the ground. So when my friend Michael Piotter asked if I wanted to go to North Carolina to visit his sister Lynnea I said I would. After all, my Tahoe needed some miles put on it. So off we went on December 1. First destination Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Mr. Piotter is a Corvette buff. Corvettes are made in Bowling Green, so we went to see them roll off the assembly line. I've never been a huge sports car person, although if I were given a 'vette I certainly wouldn't turn it down. Along with the Chevy flagship, Bowling Green Assembly Plant makes the Cadillac XLR, which would be more my style. Except for the 60K base price. We looked for an XLR on the road during our trip, but couldn't find any.
Personally I liked the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green better than watching them being assembled. The new models are cool, but seeing Corvettes from the '50s and '60s isn't something you can generally do in Minnesota.
Other than eating at a place called Jerry's Restaurant, quite possibly the worst food I've had at a restaurant, we didn't do much else in Bowling Green. Except get lost trying to find our destinations at night. A tip for people thinking about going, there are no giant signs that say "Corvettes this way." We did mistakenly drive through Western Kentucky University looking for the assembly plant, the first campus we would visit on the trip. Although that one wasn't exactly planned.
Next stop, Durham, North Carolina.