Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Milledgeville, Kennesaw and Chattanooga... OH MY!


This is Update #4 on our GRAND CROSS COUNTRY ADVENTURE.
For previous installments CLICK HERE!!!

So last I reported we were in Legoland!
And I got to see MAD MAX FURY ROAD!
Gabe approved.
But onwards we went up to Milledgeville, GA to visit "Ducky's" house and see The Duchess herself as well as Kenleigh, Aislynn, Josh, Adam, and Cody... and I guess Jaime too.

While there we went and visited TICK LAND USA!!! Okay, it was actually called Batram Forest, and it was pretty nice to hike through and have a picnic at.
He never looks at the camera
While there we went blackberry picking. Well, myself, Jennifer, Jaime, Cody and Ducky went picking. Gabriel went blackberry "eating". If blackberry juice was actually blood, the site of him would have given Jason pause and nauseated Dracula.

Later that day we made a fire and roasted some marshmallows to make smores. Gabe kept wanting to help add sticks to the fire, but only manage to get them close enough where they wouldn't catch, but I'd have to burn my hand in the intense heat of the inferno I had crafted to move them.

This morning though we loaded up and headed out for Chattanooga TN. Along the way we decided to stop at Kennesaw National Battlefeild, because why have a 3 hour trip when you could have a 6 hour one?

The cool thing is Gabe and I have these National Park Passports.
So anytime we stop at a National Park, Monument, Historic Site, Cemetery, Battlefield, Military Park, etc. etc. WE GET A STAMP. It is just a postal cancellation, but it says the park and the date you were there. I have had my passport since 1996, when I made a cross country trip... to Monterey CA. Because my family was getting stationed at NPS. Hmm. Anyway, the funny thing is that I was last at Kennesaw in May of '96 (May 30th to be precise). So almost 19 years later I am back. I can't for the life of me figure out why I never went while I was at Georgia Tech.
"A little more to the right..."
This is the "Dead Angle" where the Union soldiers basically marched to their doom until they were underneath the Confederate fire. They then tried to dig a tunnel under the Rebel lines to blow them up, but the South withdrew before they completed it.
After that we drove on to Chattanooga to power through some sites. We started by checking into our hotel. Then we went to the top of Lookout Mountain where we got ANOTHER STAMP.
Col. Gabriel Chamberlain Valdyke, Union Army of Cumberland, orders the destruction of Chattanooga, May 19th, 2015.
Are we both really biting our bottom lips?

We then powered onto dinner and the Tennessee Aquarium, because if Tennessee is know for anything it is its association with the Ocean. Just like Florida is known for its Tundra and Seattle is for its bright and sunshiny days.
It is a pretty awesome Aquarium, and even though Jennifer SUPER HYPED IT UP, it did not disappoint. Despite Gabe's favourite features seeming to be revolving doors and escalators, he did really really enjoy running from tank to tank looking at each fish for approximately 5 seconds.
Someone clearly sucked at names. I can only assume the first one is a warning of taste and the next two were discovered by a man who didn't know the difference between a mammal and a fish, let alone gills and fins vs hooves and horns.
If you can't tell, Gabriel laughs in the face of danger
Joel Garrett. I am always finding him at aquariums.
Pondering the mysteries of the deep.

I found a dorkfish
Gabe offering up his train, appropriately named "Salty", to his new Penguin Overlord 
Now I see why it is the "deadliest catch"
And the last thing I did for the night was go get Thomas the Tank Engine movies for Gabriel for our 7 hour journey to Springfield in the morning.
Gabe approves.

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