1680

That's the year that a hen in Rome laid an egg which had imprinted upon it the image of a comet that would not actually be seen until two weeks later. Apparently the hen had never laid an egg in her life, but on December 2 in the evening it "cackled in an extraordinary manner following a great noise" and produced a very large egg on which could be seen not just a comet, but several stars. Apparently at that time in history it was not uncommon for hens to lay eggs predicting heavenly events (in 1663 a sun-imprinted egg foretold a solar eclipse). Hens these days have fallen out of the habit.

1680 is also the approximate number of miles I drove this past weekend on my spring break road trip to the South. I've been to pretty much every other region of the United States: the Northeast, the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic states, the Northwest, the Great Plains, the Southwest, and Texas and California and Hawaii (which are basically their own regions). But other than a weekend trip to Athens, Georgia to visit the University there several years back, I haven't spent much time in the South. Then this past January my Jessica moved to Atlanta, and Brian T., Dave P., and I thought it might be fun to visit her.

Friday morning was the perfect morning to be leaving Michigan. There was at least a foot of snow on the ground from a recent major snowstorm, with more falling, and temperatures were in the 20s with windchill in the teens. We loaded up Brian's car and set out on the road a little after nine for a five day tour that would take us through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, and (slightly) warmer weather. Here are some of the highlights.

Georgia

We appropriately marked our entry into the South with a dinner stop at the Waffle House in northern Georgia, where we enjoyed grits and southern accents and cramped booths and the distinct feeling that we were in an entirely new and different world. We reached Atlanta an hour or two later, and spent the weekend with Jessica. On Sunday we went to church and just hung out and caught up with Jess, so Saturday was our major sightseeing day. We toured the Georgia Aquarium (very cool), walked through Olympic Park (not much to see there), and visited Stone Mountain, where a huge bas relief honoring the heroes of the confederacy is carved into the side of a giant granite formation. For lunch we stopped at The Varsity, a huge drive-in style fast food joint, and for dinner Jessica introduced us to Cambodian food.

Waffle House

Georgia Aquarium

Olympic Park

The Varsity

Stone Mountain

Alabama

On Monday morning we got up bright and early and headed over to Alabama. Our original plan was to spend the day in Birmingham, but it turns out that most museums are closed on Mondays (apparently this is common knowledge, but it was new to me). So we just made a brief stop there at the Vulcan, the largest cast iron statue in the world, drove through the city, and continued on north to Huntsville. This is the location of Space Camp. Dreams of attending Space Camp were part of my childhood, mostly because of my brother Eric's childhood ambition to be an astronaut. Visiting the site and touring the U.S. Space and Rocket Center brought back a lot of childhood memories, and I actually learned a lot about the Apollo missions that I hadn't really known before.

Vulcan

Full Size Replica of Saturn V

Outside the U.S. Space and Rocket Center

Tennessee

We made it to Nashville Monday evening and after checking into our hotel, we grabbed a bite to eat at Mary's Pit BBQ (one of many sites and eats recommended by my friends Peter and Becca), which was a real southern food experience. Then we went into town to explore a little bit and walked past all the bars where, even on a Monday night, nearly every venue had live music. The next morning we were dismayed to wake up to snow, though it wasn't sticking to the ground. We reluctantly donned our winter coats and hats, and then did sort of a whirlwind tour of Nashville. We visited the Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Greece right down to the giant statue of Athena. We drove past the Opryland Hotel and took pictures outside the Grand Ole Opry. We toured the Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson. And right before leaving town we got gourmet popsicles at Las Paletas. Most of the time just thinking about popsicles makes my teeth hurt and my arms break out into goosebumps (really), but my pistachio popsicle was one of the best I've ever had.

The Parthenon (Nashville Version)

Full size statue of the goddess Athena

Grand Ole Opry

Jackson's Tomb

We had planned to stay the night in Cincinnati with our friend Jake, but he was out of town, so we decided to push on through and just get back to Ann Arbor that night (after all, spring break for graduate students doesn't really mean you get a break). By the time we pulled in a little after one I was exhausted, but the trip was a lot of fun. It was great to see Jessica, and I loved seeing a part of the country I hadn't really seen before. It made me want to go back, and I think that's what makes a successful trip.