THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP

My dad is moving back to New Orleans at the end of the month. My mom, my sister, my aunt (my mom's sister), my dad, and me are all going on a little road trip, although my sister will stop after the weekend. We're leaving on Saturday, August 26, and driving from Washington to Waynesville, NC (well, some of us are) to visit my grandmother. Then to Clemson, SC, where Leslie lives. We will leave her there. Then to Jacksonville, Florida, where my other sister lives. Then to New Orleans. I will fly back to Washington from New Orleans on Thursday.

I am not crazy for road trips, but I *am* crazy for weird tourist attractions along the way. When I helped my parents move my sister Amanda to Jacksonville, my "reward" was we got to stop at South of the Border. I had been begging to stop there since kindergarten, when Jenny Derengowski came back from vacation with bumper stickers for the whole class. I stuck my sticker to my easel. I have a long history of sticking stickers everywhere - currently, my favorite sticker placing spot is the microwave.

Well. This trip is going to be long, but I will have a lot of reading time and knitting time in the car. As long as I don't do too much driving, I suppose. Reading or knitting while driving sounds dangerous.

Does anyone have any suggestions for weird tourist attractions along this route? Maybe I can convince my parents I really, really need to SEE ROCK CITY. Or something else, if anyone has recommendations... (I actually think Rock City is way out of the way. I know I will have better luck if I suggest something weird along our actual route.)

Any favorite car games? My personal fave is the license plate game, but new ones are always welcome.