stefa70 205 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 If you're looking for some Disney magic in this trip report, I'm sorry to say that you're in the wrong thread.This mini trip report will be all about good music, great friends, a couple of fiends and beer. If any, or all of the above, interests you, then stay tuned!Sometimes my craziest ideas turn out the best results. Believe it or not though, there IS a method to my madness.Backstory:I saw the Zac Brown Band in Atlanta GA on New Years Eve, 2012. Loved the concert, loved Georgia.Blackberry Smoke is a band signed with Southern Ground Artists (Zac's Label) who opened the show for ZBB on New Years Eve and swept me off my feet. I then found out this band would be in Gainesville FL on January 26th, so we drove to Gator Country and saw them for a second time. If you want to hear the whole story and watch my love for BBS grow before your eyes, read that trip report. http://www.fortfiend...gia-update-127/I watched their tour dates to see when we could possibly make another show, but they weren't coming back to Florida until October, when I am booked at the Fort. So the next crazy plan was hatched.Drive to Thomaston GA on Friday April 6th for the Smoke On The Water Festival. See BBS perform on Friday night and drive back to Florida on Saturday. I booked a cheap hotel, ordered our tickets and posted this thread to see if any fiends would be in that area. If you want to see how that all panned out, read that thread.For those of you who don't want to read, SPOILER ALERT: Genia (SCTigercock) and her hubby decided to join us!http://www.fortfiend...-call-me-crazy/We hopped in the Jeep Friday morning at 7:30 and headed north.The last piece of this puzzle is one of my best friends, Alice.Alice is a schoolteacher whom I torture 5 mornings a week at the gym, and has lost 80 lbs. Since she was off from work on Good Friday I asked her is she would like to go with us, and she did! This was to be her first Southern Rock BBQ Festival, full of beer drinking rednecks. (Though I have taken her to the mudhole, which is very similar :) )The open road:Before we knew it, we had crossed the state line:My Jeep has over sized mud terrain tires on it, which create a nice hum when your running 75 mph, and Alice didn't last long. She's going to kill me for this, but hey, at least her mouth wasn't open & she wasn't drooling!I just took in all the sights along the way.South Georgia Motorsports Complex:My son would love to have these tires for his mud truck:Then we drove into some icky weather, but thankfully drove right out of it.The pecan trees had sprouted all new growth.This is what they looked like back in January:A short while later, Tom (TomTom GPS) tells us to exit off of I-75, so we decided to stop and gas up the Jeep and use the restrooms. It was still damp and downright chilly outside. I was hoping that the last 2 hours northwest would take us into some better weather.But first it would take us through some Georgia pines and to the other side of the tracks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nicki aka Rebelstand 272 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 I am along for the drive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Are we there yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Been waiting for this one! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SCTigerCock 171 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 So what happened next? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Only thing that sounds better then whining mud tires is a straight piped diesel. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
michele j 9 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Cool... I'm up for a trip thru Georgia :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doodlebug....Cherie 461 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 I'm in!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Can't wait to read more! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 I'm along for the drive too! :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
campingpixi 11 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Just pure torture!!! Can't wait!!! :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stefa70 205 Posted April 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 I am along for the drive.Cool, we're almost there!Are we there yet?Almost....thanks for reading along.Been waiting for this one!Be careful what you wish for Dave. So what happened next?Well, the first few hours at the festival may look familiar to you. I will fill in your the blanks for the rest of the night.Only thing that sounds better then whining mud tires is a straight piped diesel.Or the smell of diesel fumes!! Why haven't I met you yet?!?!Cool... I'm up for a trip thru Georgia :)Thanks Michele, I love it up there and we have actually looked into buying a piece of property up that way.I'm in!!Sit tight! As soon as I sort through the pics that are appropriate for posting, we'll be moving along.Can't wait to read more!Thanks for joining Carol.I'm along for the drive too! :popcorn:Happy to have you, but please don't spill any popcorn in my Jeep. Just pure torture!!! Can't wait!!! :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy I'm excited too! Believe me, it gets MUCH better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SCTigerCock 171 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 My contribution to this TR. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stefa70 205 Posted April 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Thanks for your contribution Genia...though you did get some nice shots of the back of my head, which I will give you full credit for when we get that far.For now, let's continue of our journey through the backwoods of Georgia....queue banjo music.After the short pit stop, we continued on. We are now following Tom, and I have no idea where we are, but we're not in a hurry so no big deal. It was kind of neat to see parts of Georgia that we would have never seen otherwise.We drove back through some drizzle, and I was kind of bummed that Mother Nature was messing with my photo opportunities.On the left you can see RR tracks and my first thought was to jump out and snag a spike for TCD. How cool would it be to repay him with a Georgia RR spike for the Fort spike that he gave me?Since it was rainy, I decided against it.I couldn't help but notice that Georgia has a lot of water towers, though I didn't take pictures of all of them I thought this one was neat.When I think of Georgia, I think of peaches, pecans and red clay.When I say we were in the middle of nowhere....I'm not kidding! We were thankful that we had just gassed up and prayed to God that we didn't break down. After 10 miles or so, we came into a "town" of sorts, and found out that those were in fact, active RR tracks! If you look at the left side of this picture you can see the tail end of the moving train. Good thing I didn't get that spike for TCD!! In the blink of an eye, we had traveled through this town and were back to open roads.No matter what Tom was telling us, we still wondered if we were in the right place and going in the right direction. I think we passed 4 vehicles on this stretch of road, 2 of which were logging trucks. I'm usually the one who starts to panic when I think we're lost, but who can panic with this view?The only thing that would have made this view more beautiful was if the sun had been shining.Lo & behold, Tom wasn't too far off and we reached Thomaston city limits. We checked into the Econolodge hotel, and did a quick bed check.No stains, bugs or curly hairs! I wasn't expecting too much for an Econolodge. We really just needed a place to crash for a few hours and get a shower in the morning. The hotel was clean (for the most part) but you could tell it was an older building. It served it's purpose, especially at $55.At this point, we are all starving and there was a Sonic right across the road. We risked life and limb to cross the highway and grab a bite to eat.Our view from Sonic's. You can see my Jeep on the right side of the building:We placed our order and waited. We (the girls) had discussed what we were going to wear for the evening. The high was supposed to be 76, the low of 44.76 in a field with the sun shining would be hot.....shorts and t-shirts?44 in a field at night is freezing...jeans & a sweatshirt?As usual, the weather people were way off! It was windy and chilly even at 2:00 in the afternoon. Jeans & sweatshirts it is!Trevor and I got some kind of burger, onion rings for me, tater tots for Trevor.Alice ordered a grilled chicken wrap and tots.It was all ok, something about the tots and onion rings left a bad taste in our mouth. Maybe the grease it was fried in?It filled the hole in our stomach, so the beer consumption could begin, and that's all that really mattered.We now had a couple of hours to kill (we thought) so we went back to the hotel, and popped open a couple of beers.Just when I thought everything was going as planned....my rubber broke! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Cool pictures!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doodlebug....Cherie 461 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Greasy food and beer, you must have a cast iron stomach!!!Just when I thought everything was going as planned....my rubber broke!I hate when that happens. :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stefa70 205 Posted April 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Cool pictures!!!They would have been so much nicer had the sun been shining. No matter how good the photos are, they don't do scenery justice. That just means I will have to go back and see it for myself. Greasy food and beer, you must have a cast iron stomach!!!I hate when that happens. :rofl2:I do have a pretty tough stomach, and greasy food is a must when drinking!!Stay tuned, it's not as bad as it seems. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stefa70 205 Posted April 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Before I explain my broken rubber, I want to share something with you. While looking through my pictures, I've noticed a pattern of sorts.Let's take a look at a list of my favorite men.Husband of 23 years:Zac Brown:Jimmie Johnson:Blackberry Smoke:So I guess this cartoon is appropriate for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SCTigerCock 171 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 I'm home and unpacked. Had a great week-end and was happy I could join in on the fun!I won't drag out my version of the TR. And mine will be definatly lacking in pics, cause I didn't take any with my own phone. The photo documentation will be provided by Stef.Friday morning, Tony and I went to services and after that headed toward Thomaston. Luckily we got there before it got to crowded and barely before the Munch Crew showed up. Then the BS started before BBS started and that is about what I remember of Friday night at SOTW.Stef will fill in the blanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nicki aka Rebelstand 272 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 A Greasy burger at night before boozeUp and about the next morning with no need to sooze Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 We only make it down once a year we live to far away. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
momof3kids-Yvonne 596 Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 I loved your New Years Eve trip report so, I'm in. Zac Brown Band is actually playing here in Alabama this summer at Bama Jam. Should be interesting to see how many male fiends decide to grow beards now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BouncingTiggers 98 Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 WooHoo another Stef TR!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Sonic tots are perfection in a little greasy package. But their onion rings leave something to be desired. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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