Day 2.49: Atlanta, GA to Savannah, GA

We got up and said goodbye to Sarah and Jonah, off to a productive start thanks to having packed up the car the night before.

It took us about four hours to get to Savannah, and the only real highlight of the drive was passing signs for Vidalia, which research confirms is in fact where the onions come from!

We arrived at our hotel, the Iris Garden Inn, and were generally pleased with this value choice aside from the disappointing news that the outdoor pool was closed for the season, which had not been indicated on Hotels.com when we booked it. We were pleased to have a very short wait to take the free shuttle downtown, which only took about five minutes. We were dropped off at the Hyatt Regency hotel and were able to walk around and explore the beautiful squares and parks all throughout Savannah. We passed the birthplace of Juliette Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, and stopped in to sample Byrd’s Famous Cookies (the scotch oatmeal is particularly delicious) and Savannah Bee Company (tupelo is our favorite), two places we would see and visit several times over the next few days. We walked along the water and read about the military history of Savannah, and we almost ate at a restaurant downtown but decided not to, instead getting back on the shuttle to go back to the hotel.

We got right in our car and drove straight to one of the top-rated restaurants in town, Driftaway Café. Abe started with the Tuna Nibbles, blackened style, which were spicy but quite delicious and extremely plentiful for a $10 appetizer. We were seated outside on the porch, initially all on our own, which enabled us to interact with a local act apparently known by the restaurant and also to be completely forgotten for a long time after our salads came out. The waitress finally showed up and said that she never put the order in because she was also the bartender and was very busy. Fortunately, Arielle loved her blueberry salmon, the reason we had chosen this restaurant, while Abe’s grilled mahi-mahi was decent enough. The herb roasted potatoes and sautéed spinach that came on the side tasted very sour, and so they remade them without any sauce. Hilariously, when we paid the check, we noted that the credit card wasn’t in there anymore, and the bartender realized that she had forgotten to give it to us. It was a pleasant experience if it lasted much more longer than we had planned.

Fortunately, a craving for ice cream enabled us to get to Cold Stone just in the nick of time about four minutes before it closed, where we got the traditional Chocolate Devotion with a scoop of banana ice cream mixed in.

We took it back to the hotel and enjoyed it while watching TV before going to bed.

Approximate number of miles covered: 282

Day 2.48: Atlanta Day 3

We woke up a bit later than Hillel, Sarah, and Jonah and left after they were already gone for services. We enjoyed being there for what was left of the service and then all sat together for lunch, which was followed by some great singing. After lunch, we hung out at home and socialized a bit before playing Werewolf. We went back in the late afternoon to hear Hillel dive deep into why we do what we do during the Passover Seder, which proved to be very interesting. We walked back to the house and had some tasty soup for dinner. We made sure not to get overly engaged in playing games so that right after Shabbat we could pack everything up and load the car. Hillel got to work figuring out how to maximize the space in our trunk to accommodate a giant new box that was supposed to clean up the back seat and account for all the random things we had accumulated over the course of the past few weeks. Our third crate which had been living at Hillel and Sarah’s was also emptied to become a food crate since, unsurprisingly, we have plenty of food. We did play our last few rounds of Werewolf before saying goodbye to Hillel, who was leaving early in the morning, and heading to bed.

Approximate number of miles covered: 1

Day 2.47: Atlanta Day 2

On this Friday, Arielle got up to go out for some appointments and meetings while Abe slept in a bit more, staying home to socialize somewhat with Sarah and then catching up on movies and TV. Sarah cooked food for Shabbat dinner and Abe made some eggs for them to have for lunch. Abe also put the laundry in, which marked the last time we would need to do laundry on this trip. Later in the afternoon, Arielle returned home and we all walked to services together. As usual, they were nice, and we grabbed some meat, including shwarma, sliced roast beef, and pigs-in-a-blanket, to bring home and potentially eat later. Sarah had made Pollock Florentine, with broccoli with mushroom and onions and couscous on the side. Concerned that there wouldn’t be enough food, Sarah had taken Abe’s suggestion to make butternut squash kugel, which was especially delicious. Dinner was finished off by black bean brownies, and we moved immediately to play Werewolf, which this time was without the app to narrate. While Abe started off announcing the players and movements, Hillel quickly took over with his humorous take, and he even added new characters and variations like the Wicked Witch and the Private Investigator. We had fun and stayed up pretty much as late as always enjoying this amazing game we hope to spread to everyone.

 Approximate number of miles covered: 2

Day 2.46: Atlanta Day 1

We got to sleep in for the first day of our multi-day visit, and had some breakfast before heading downtown with Sarah while Hillel was at work and Jonah was at preschool. Our first stop, in keeping with recent themes, was the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. It was our quickest visit yet, mainly because the majority of the library covers what happened after Carter was in office. We were particularly curious about the focus on Carter’s work towards achieving peace in the Middle East, which stressed negotiations between Israel and Egypt rather than any more of the greater regional conflict with other nations.

We walked along the Beltline trail to Ponce City Market, a nice indoor space with lots of shops reminiscent of Chelsea Market in New York City. Abe got tagliatelle with shitake mushrooms and kale at Bellina Alimentari, which was quite good, while Arielle and Sarah got popsicles from King of Pops. Arielle especially liked her Thai Tea popsicle.

We returned home for a short time before heading back out for an early dinner. We hit a crazy amount of traffic getting just a few miles down the road, allegedly because Pence was in town. We arrived at Fuego Mundo, where we dined a month earlier with Sarah and Jonah, to meet Shari and Steve, who we had last seen at their daughter Lori’s wedding in November. We enjoyed a nice meal and opportunity to hear about their recent move to Atlanta from New Hampshire. We both got the same steak and tried the sides we had loved so much the last time, the yucca fries and sweet plantains. Arielle also got a sangria!

We then drove a short distance (now with on Pence-related traffic) to meet Sumi, who was roommates in college with Abe’s sister Hannah, and her husband Sanjay, at Café Intermezzo. They told us the many reasons that we should move to Atlanta while we enjoyed some of the delicious cake prepared by this café. Arielle started with caramel tea and then later got a slice of peppermint vanilla cheesecake. Abe enjoyed his Mississippi Mud Pie, Suni got a black-and-white cake, and Sanjay got gluten-free apple crumb. We had a great time, and it was a cool place.

We drove back to Hillel and Sarah’s and naturally played lots of Werewolf.

Approximate number of miles covered: 11

Day 2.45: Nashville, TN to Atlanta, GA

We got up and worked out before having breakfast, during which Abe went back to the room and left Arielle sitting with another family, which she very much enjoyed. We hit the road to return to Atlanta almost a month after having last been there. We always make sure to watch our position on Apple Maps so that we know when we’re about to cross into a new state, but we weren’t ready for when we crossed into Georgia early and then crossed right back into Tennessee just moments later. The strangest part was that there a Tennessee Welcome Center on that stretch of the highway, but you would have had to already be in Tennessee to get there, which makes little sense.

We made it into Atlanta in the mid-afternoon, and our first stop was at Del Taco, which Abe had to get to by this very day since he got a free birthday shake which was about to expire. Our first time at this establishment was surprisingly rewarding, and the chocolate shake was delicious. We may be back if we’re ever in the mood for something good, and they seem to have some good vegetarian burrito options.

We drove about twenty more minutes to get to the home of Hillel, Sarah, and Jonah, where we spent a few minutes with the cute kid and then proceeded to put together our Purim costume. Dressing up as a pair of road (or Rhodes) trips didn’t go over as magnificently as we hoped, but we had fun along with our friends dressed as characters from Toy Story along with the rest of the synagogue staff. We ate a lot of hamantaschen as well as some quesadillas and listened to the megillah reading by Rabbi Heller, who was dressed as Buzz Lightyear.

It should come as no surprise that, upon returning to their house and putting Jonah to bed, we stayed up for a long time playing One Night Ultimate Werewolf.

Approximate number of miles covered: 259

Day 2.22: Atlanta, GA to Hot Springs, AR

We had intended to get out right away after getting up, but we were quickly convinced to play 2 rounds of Sushi Go, in which Arielle was obliterated, before we hit the road, thanking Sarah, Hillel, and especially Jonah for their very warm hospitality.

We crossed into Alabama and stopped at the welcome center. Our first attraction of the day was the original location of Steel City Pops in Birmingham, Alabama, which features an appetizing assortment of fruity, creamy, and cookie pops. Arielle spent a while thinking and ultimately settled on a buttermilk pop dipped in milk chocolate with gluten-free graham cracker crumbs, a caramel drizzle, and a drop of raspberry drizzle, while Abe, who had visited with USY on Wheels back in 2016, got cookies and cream. They were quite sizable and filling. As we left, Abe said, most appropriately, “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

We drove to Mississippi, stopping at the welcome center, and continuing along to Tupelo, where Elvis was born. As soon as we pulled up to Mugshots Grill and Bar, we were greeted by someone exiting a truck next to us who saw our license plate and said “You’re a long way from home! Welcome to Mississippi!” Everyone there was incredibly nice, the waiter said he would replace our food if we didn’t like it, and multiple employees in the restaurant came to check on us throughout the meal. Arielle got fried pickles (at half off!) and a veggie burger with sautéed mushrooms and cheese. Abe got 10 wings, half with BBQ sauce and half with Carolina Gold BBQ sauce (he liked the former before). Both of us got fries, and both the regular and sweet potato were delicious. They even gave us the root beer float (which was only $2.95!!) that Abe got to go for free. Arielle decided that she wanted to live there and quickly found a synagogue, which was only eight minutes away. We drove there to see what it looked like but there was no one there, just some nice trees nearby.

We got back on the road as it got dark and entered Tennessee. The welcome center looked open but there was no one there.

We went over a bridge and were in Arkansas! This was state #47 for Abe and #42 for Arielle. We didn’t even both stopping at welcome center since we knew it would be closed and just got gas. We arrived at the Hotel Hot Springs after nearly twelve hours on the road, benefiting from the extra hour we gained once we entered Alabama. The hotel had a lovely lobby and made a good first impression on us, and we unloaded before parking in the garage down the street.

We collapsed into bed after crossing through more states than ever in one day!

Approximate number of miles covered: 580