Mostly just a driving day today as I want to be back to Texas with time to spend in Austin. 

Chicken and waffles breakfast at Loc’s in Savannah (extremely good) and on the road around 11am.

Stopped for a bit of beach at Amelia Island in Florida.

Music heritage places of interest to me along northern Florida are a bit sparse but I did stop in Jacksonville to see the historic Ritz Theatre and then drove down to Gainesville to see….

The house Tom Petty grew up in!

I love Tom and the Heartbreakers and have tickets on my fridge at home waiting to see him in fall with my buddy Angel (yay!) in Vancouver.

Tom’s street!

-Tom Petty “American Girl”

I drove up and down 441 a couple times, windows rolled down, singing as loud as I can’t.

When someone is nice enough to offer to take your picture you can’t really tell their spouse to move out of frame.

This one is for sale!

The whole area by the river is made up of these multi-level covered walkways and shops, really neat.

This is with my back to the river.

Riverfront walk.

Boat.

When I was a kid I fell in love with Michael Stipe
 I took lyrics out of context and thought “he must be speaking to me” 
-Car Seat Headrest “Strangers”

Athens, Georgia is a pretty, southern university town that for whatever reason is home to a bunch of bands I like so I wanted to stop there and see what it is and see the historic 40 Watt Club.

Bands like….

Pylon!

The B-52s!

Of Montreal!

REM!

Had dinner at Weaver D’s, tasty chicken and gravy dinner, note their long-held motto on the sign…

and the title of REM’s best album… (neat, eh?)

All the bands listed above got their start at least partially at the 40 Watt Club, sometimes called “the CBGB’s of the South”, a music venue so venerated it even appears on Tank Girl’s t-shirt.

My poor back is keeping me on a fairly short leash so I only had time to explore part of the Gold and Red lines.

The stations I did see each have their own style and are actually kinda neat.

It seems like Hyundai’s monopoly on subway sales around the world does not include the US, the trains in Atlanta are from an Italian rail provider and are not anything I’ve ever seen before, I wish I’d had more time to explore. 

The city also has nice streetcars but the MARTA pass does not include streetcar travel, grrrrrrr. At least the officer let me off with a warning.

So much cooler than expected, less kitschy than expected, lots of great rides, cool shows, really impressed.

Unfortunately I couldn’t do any of the rides, my back is getting better but I wasn’t going to risk it.

Original lyrics for Coat of Many Colors!

Lots of driving in the Smoky Mountains, I can’t say anything better than the pictures.

Curviest road in North America?

Supervan?

Let’s go!

(the smell coming off of supervan at the end of this drive… I think the Tail of the Dragon might be Supervan’s kryptonite)

Most pics are not mine, they don’t really allow you to stop and take pictures, the road is incredibly busy with bikes and sports cars waiting to tackle the 318 curves in 11 miles.

I learned about the Tail of the Dragon from Two-Lane Blacktop, one of my first posts this trip was visiting sites in rural Oklahoma that were in the movie, they also drive the Dragon, here is a shot from the film and the same location today.

Ever mention that I love Steve Earle?

I’ve heard Copperhead Road is a real place, time to find it.

Head into the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains, deep in the Cherokee National Forest.

and drive…

and drive…

and drive…

and drive….

and drive…