First of all, Heath and I got a GPS for Christmas that we didn’t think we really would use. We are such Mapquest Addicts that we figured we wouldn’t need the Navigational System. A coupla weeks ago, I went out of town with J-Flo and BJ, and we used a GPS. It was kinda fun, we nicknamed it Karmin. So, I took mine out of the box and got it ready for Atlanta. I named it Minnie.
We are heading up to ATL, and all of a sudden Minnie wanted us to turn onto Hwy. 19 in Thomasville. Sorry Minnie, we go I-75.
We got to 75 and were truckin’ along when we ran into some construction a few miles before the 475 loop. We figured out that we part we were on was new and that the stuff in the middle was the old road. We especially noticed this once we got near our landmark that we use to let us know we are close to 475. There is this thing that looks like a giant batting cage or driving range, and it was a lot closer to us that usual. Once we got to 475, we didn’t have to make a 90-degree turn to get onto it. We kept going straight onto 475, which was new. Once we were on 475, we noticed the southbound traffic was at a standstill. We decided that on the way home we were going straight on 75 through Macon. This kinda excited us because we had seen something on HistoryDiscoverLearning channel about Nu-Way Hotdogs, and the original one was in downtown Macon. Since we had Minnie with us, we decided to find it on the way home.
Once we got back onto I-75, we traveled a bit and the traffic STOPPED. I dialed 511 to get traffic updates and discovered that there was construction from where we were to our hotel exit. Now was the time to see how well Minnie knew detours. She took us on some dirt roads, some one-lane roads, some roads that looked like driveways, etc. One road had a house that looked like it burned down and all that was left was the chimneys. Another road had a whole bunch of water on it from all the excess rain from the week before.
Eventually we ended up on Mount Zion Road (I think). In Morrow, GA, there is a Mt. Zion Road, Street, Avenue, Court, etc., and the Publix that we get concert tickets at is on one of them. I used my internal GPS and found the Publix and we got our tickets. We noticed the doors opened at 7, and it was already after 4. No nap for me!
We got to the hotel, freshened up, and headed to the Masquerade. The intersection in front of our hotel is always packed, except between midnight and 6 AM. Minnie told us to turn left, we laughed, and headed to the interstate. Minnie helped us get to the Masquerade with no problem. No bands or people we knew were there, so we asked Minnie where we could go eat. We had already been to Harry and Son’s once, so we decided to give them another try. They are now my favorite sushi bar, but beware of the Devil Roll, it’s hotter than Hades.
The show was incredible. Mantic Ritual, from Pittsburgh, was very good. Krisiun, our buddy Mario’s fave band, were really good, and of course Destruction was killer as ever. The only downside to the show was that the Masquerade is now non-smoking, and I got busted and had to go to the patio.
The next day we started heading home and decided to find Nu-Way Hotdogs. Minnie was very helpful, but Nu-Way isn’t opened on Sundays. We took a pic of the sign and decided to try again when we go up in May.
We got back on the road and hit that damn construction again. We asked Minnie to get us to Forsyth and hit the detour button. Minnie was trying to get us to the Georgia-Florida Parkway, so we were on some small highways. We were starting to get hungry and asked Minnie where we could eat. There was a place called Bob-A-Que listed, and we had to find it. Once we did, it had changed to Keith-A-Que, and was closed. Then we tried to find Walkers BBQ and saw nothing but old buildings. We decided Pizza Hut was a safe bet and ended up there. I was going to call Mom with an update, but we had no cell phone reception.
After we ate, we started to head home again. We were right by I-75, but Minnie told us to get on Rusty Nail Road. This was a dirt road worse that the one I live on, and the recent floodwaters didn’t help. We drove a few feet and passed a house, then we kept going around billboards and stuff, with I-75 right next to us. Heath noticed that Minnie said the speed limit was 70 MPH, she thought we were on I-75. I tried to turn around and got stuck in the mud big time. We walked up to the house to try to get help, but nobody was home. As we walked back to the truck I was remembering that we had no cell reception in the restaurant and I was starting to get scared. My Ativan was in my purse, but I didn’t have anything to swallow it with. Luckily, the cell worked and I called 911. The police showed up soon, and the guy from the house also came outside and started his four-wheel drive truck. The Guy and The Cop helped us get out of the mud with some chains and we were so grateful. I tried to pay The Guy, but he wouldn’t take any money from me. The Cop told us that GPS’s weren’t worth 2 cents and said take I-75 home. We agreed whole-heartedly with him and got on the road. We also sent some blessing to both of those wonderful men. Next time I am on I-75 in Ashburn and I see The Guy’s house, I am honking my horn and sending an angel his way.
We made it home well after dark exhausted with muddy shoes and Heath’s socks were soaked to the bone. We hit enough rain and water standing on the road that my truck looks like nothing happened to it. It’s always and adventure when Heath and Joanna hit the road.