I’ve always wanted to go on a raod trip. A real, great American, drive-from-city-to-city-with-a-bunch-of-snacks-and-some-Journey, road trip. And, the past few days, with my cousin Sidney (who lives in Atlanta and can handle city traffic) at the wheel, I got to do just that–and sign a bunch of copies of Dear Carolina and meet a bunch of readers along the way!
So, I left home at 4:30 am to fly from what is arguably the smallest airport in the country (New Bern, NC) to the largest airport in the country (Atlanta) and arrived at 7:30. We started, as you can imagine, with serious Starbucks–and serious Dear Carolina signing!
Next, we hit Murfreesboro, Chattanooga and Nashville, where we arrived for our real purpose of the road trip: The Southern Festival of Books! Nashville is one of my bucket list spots, and it didn’t disappoint. Well, I mean, a major country artist didn’t ask me to stick around and write songs, so that was semi disappointing. But other than that… We want to go back just to have dinner at Adele’s again! Just Love Coffee is so cute too!
I got to be on a panel with the fabulous Amanda Eyre Ward, whose Other Half of the Sky I am reading right now. It is incredible! We talked about “Finding Family”–and a whole lot of other cool stuff! Then we got to sign books and meet readers, which is always my favorite part!
Then it was off to Memphis for barbecue, a night at the Peabody, and watching those little trained ducks waddle right into the fountain. I had done this before, but Sidney hadn’t, so we thought this was a necessity! Memphis’s fabulous Live at Nine morning show was kind enough to have me on to talk books and babies and all that good stuff.
And then, after a delicious lunch stop at Cafe 212 (the pimento cheese AND chicken salad are to-die-for, and I am a major “salad” snob!) in Tupelo, Mississippi, which we thought was incredibly adorable, we arrived in Birmingham, where we have decided the friendliest people on earth live. Not only did Internet friends and friends of friends come, total strangers were happy to buy Dear Carolina just because I was sitting there. We almost sold out! It was so fun!
Here we are at Mulberry Heights Antiques, owned by the fabulous Carolyn Bradford!
Sidney and I both decided we would like to move to Mountain Brook, right outside of Birmingham. The food… (Avo, Dram and Brick and Tin) the shops… the people… the coffee…
But, after a drive back to Atlanta, and another flight home I remembered that Georgia and Tennessee and Mississippi and Alabama may be terrific, but, really, for me…
The most miraculous part of all is that, even after 13 hours in the car together, Sidney and I still love each other. Well, I mean, I love her. I’m not sure what she would say, as I had to stop pretty much every five minutes either for a snack or a bathroom break. But, if you ask me, without a few disgusting truck stops and a Bugle or two, it really isn’t a great American road trip at all.
What fun, other than the getting up at 4:30 part! I can only imagine how fun it would be to visit different states up close and personal. Meeting folks from new areas, trying good food and doing it all with a friend, what could be better?!
Thanks for taking us along for the ride.
xo,
Karen