Day 1, June 27, 2015

We hightailed it out of Georgia and made our first stop at the Palmetto Moonshine Distillery. Free samples in communion cups. So a guy who rarely drinks - me - free sampled white lighting, apple pie moonshine, and their newest whiskey at 10:30 in the morning. Barry on the other hand is no novice. He asked for fuller communion cups and they obliged.

After our liquid breakfast we headed toward Asheville and ended up at Linville Caverns near the Blue Ridge Parkway. No Mammoth Cave like in Kentucky, but still very fun caves to visit. The fun fact here is that deserters from both the Confederate and Union armies would hide out together in these caves that had thousands of yards of tunnels, so their attempts at hiding with the enemy went well.

Next we drove several miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The beauty of this route was hidden by a constant drizzle and cloud cover until the rising clouds finally revealed some breathtaking views. Near the Parkway we stopped in Glendale Springs to visit the Church of the Frescoes. The Frescoes are paintings of a different rendition of the Last Supper, are in a tiny old fashioned church, and are magnificent. Barry and I agreed that this kind of stop only happens on this type of journey where deadlines are pretty much non-existent.

We're spending the night in Mt. Airy, NC - the home of Andy Griffith. After the moonshine breakfast we had this morning, maybe we should go out, find Otis, and join him in his late night activities. Or maybe not.

And we learned something about an old song today. The first person who correctly finishes this line will win a million dollars: "Hang down your head Tom ______________."