Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Highways

Sheryl and I took the kids down to Florida this weekend to see her brother and his wife. It was a good trip and we'll have some pictures up next week.

One of the things that I enjoyed about the travel was the fact that our route took us directly along Highway 331 in Alabama. I am a big fan of highway travel. I feel like there's something about interstate driving that separates you from the area you're traveling through. It's great for getting from one place to another extremely quickly and I'm grateful for interstates every morning when I go to work in 30 minutes rather than an hour, but I just love driving highways on trips. I love driving through these little off the beaten path towns, as opposed to exit ramps off of interstates. I love seeing the houses and farms and the rural-ness of it all, which is especially true in Lower Alabama.

It also makes me a bit sad too, because it shows me the way that life has changed. In many of the towns we drove through yesterday, many of the shops on the main streets were closed up, probably victims of the big box stores, like Wal-Mart. Places that at one point must have been the center of the town were just not any more. It's one of those beautiful tragedies that seem to encapsulate so much of life.

So what about you? Got any favorite highways to travel that I can take the kids on five years and bore them with?

6 comments:

Tony Arnold said...

Thanks to the interstate system we can easily drive from New York to California in 3 days and never see a thing. -- Charles Kuralt.

Jeff said...

The highway going through Woodbury, McMinnville through to Fall Creek Falls, etc. - I think that is Highway 70South. It's one of those windy roads on the way out of the Cumberland basin with good views. I like it mainly because it reminds me of trips to visit my grandparents. I also think taking the back roads to Gatlinburg is a must. Other than that, we're interstate people for long trips because the less crying the better.

I'm with you on 331 though. That's why I like Destin - you can spend time on the interstate getting most of the way there, then it's on highways for the last couple of hours.

Tony Arnold said...

You are absolutely correct about the highway to Fall Creek Falls. One of my favorites.

Karen said...

I remember driving 331 when we lived in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. That was the route we used to get up to Huntsville, AL to visit my sister. It was a very pretty drive.

Anonymous said...

"probably" victims of Wal-Mart. Now there's an understatement.

amanda said...

try Ty-Ty, Georgia. i think it's on the way to Jax, FL (at least from Auburn, AL it is), but has all sorts of random stops for praline pecans and fun weird signs that say "Eat Ty Ty peaches", etc.

I think Metter, GA is on the way, too. Everything's better in Metter! hee

Clanton, AL would not be famous without the Interstate. Thanks Phil, now you got me craving a peach fried pie!

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