“It’s funny, a lot of people think I take myself seriously because I come off so serious sometimes. But it’s not that I take myself seriously, I take what I do seriously. I came up around people who took acting seriously, who cared about acting, cared about the theater and, in the ’70s, made movies that said something that mattered. I came up with those people, and I was a kid. Their ethos and credo became mine.”
-Laurence Fishburne

Sometimes, time is not on your side. You wake up one day and decide, hey, I have a dream of driving across the country and I’m going to do it. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take but I’m going to plan for it and execute it to the best of my ability. And then, you’re doing it and while it’s happening, life happens. Time happens. Things happen and your goals have to be adjusted.

My original goals still stand true. Drive across the United States and visit all 48 contiguous states. Do some comedy along the way. Visit old friends. Make new friends. Write a blog about each state, even if it’s one sentence like, “I was here. I ate some grits. I left.” And have fun.

But at times, life does intervene with your plans and that’s pretty much what happened with Georgia. I partied a little too much in Vegas. I needed an extra day to decompress in New Mexico. And I had to catch up on some well needed sleep in New Orleans. My brother’s birthday get together was coming up for the weekend and I needed to get to Philly in a reasonable amount of time. Consequently, Atlanta had to be removed from my itinerary but I still needed some way to quickly visit the state without losing too much time.

The original plan was Alabama to Atlanta, GA to Tennessee to Kentucky to South Carolina and then North Carolina before driving up my favorite freeway; the 95 North (to Philadelphia).

Something magical happened though. As I was plotting my Google Maps route from Alabama to Tennessee, I noticed a piece of golden goodness. A very small but significant Northwest portion of Georgia was in between Alabama and Tennessee.

Yes, to save some time, I could drive from Selma to Chattanooga AND pass through Georgia, without visiting Atlanta. A savings of 1.5 hours. It doesn’t seem like a lot. But I had been on the following path since 9am (and not trying to drive late at night): New Orleans to Biloxi to Pensacola to Selma to Chattanooga (10.5 hours).

Check out the golden gem:

I stopped at a McDonald’s in Georgia and the ladies behind the counter had some sexy accents. One thing about me: I LOVE ACCENTS! And Georgia is full of them!

I bought some food to eat in my hotel room in Chattanooga and left the establishment just a tad smitten by their Georgian voices. I took this pic in the McDonald’s just near the state line. Can you tell how sleepy I am? I desperately needed some rest. Including Atlanta in the trip before Chattanooga would’ve probably been a detriment.