Welcome to Atlanta
Hubby usually avoids driving the RV anywhere near a major city. Get on a major highway, near a city, and you face unfamiliar interchanges, rush hour traffic, and frenzied drivers. It’s one of the reasons we stick to the back roads as much as possible. However, traveling the red roads in the RV often brings us to a metropolitan where friends live. It is an opportunity for us to get off the road, spend a few days in good company and see the local sights with “insiders.” On one trip through Georgia we had a pleasant few days planned with several friends who had gathered from Dallas, San Diego and Florida. The problem was, we had to go to Atlanta in order to see them. We had no choice. We plunged full ahead into the craziness that is Atlanta traffic. Five lanes of cars whizzing by, ignoring your signals, passing on the right, refusing to yield. People have a compulsive need not to behind a motorhome and will do anything to avoid it. After a stress filled ride we finally pulled into the parking lot of the Church where we were parking the RV for the weekend and breathed a sigh of relief. It was definitely cocktail time.
A pleasant dinner, a quiet morning then it was a return into the madness. We had an opportunity to go back into downtown Atlanta for an insiders tour of CNN. We do so much back roads travel we forget what big city life is like. The CNN Center area was mobbed with thousands of kids going to see Disney on Ice, roads were closed due to Occupy Wall Street protesters, plus there was the normal Friday crowds in the downtown area. We finally made it into the building and had a great behind-the-scenes tour of CNN and saw how they get all that breaking news out to us so quickly. It was worth the trip and it’s a tour we would definitely recommend to anyone who finds themselves in Atlanta.
We planned our exit from the city for early Sunday morning when we knew traffic would be light. We left not knowing exactly what was on the agenda next, but we knew it wouldn’t involve going into city again anytime soon. Since we were in Georgia, we did the only logical thing to ease the stress of our traffic jammed weekend. We headed for Valdosta, and the Smokin’ Pig Barbecue joint. After Abe’s BBQ in Clarksdale Mississippi, this is the best we’ve had. Traffic? What traffic?
The Best Valdosta has to offer
Red Road Diaries 
So true. Great blog.
Thank you.
Got caught in Atlanta traffic a couple of times in my travels. Just crazy! have you ever visited the Diorama? It is well worth it. Safe travels.
Thank you. No we didn’t see the one there but we went to the one at Gettysburg which was pretty terrific.
I wish someone would do proper American style BBQ here. It’s the one thing I can’t get enough of when I visit.
Good BBQ is an art, we often drive out of or way to get it.
I don’t blame you! I had my first exposure in Kanzas City… and immediately went to the supermarket and bought every conceivable BBQ sauce / rub / marinade I could conceivably fit it my suitcase.
The TSA broke open my locked (oops) case to inspect it as I transitted back home – probably because I had so many bottles and jars in the case (and maybe I was a smuggler)!
What I like is they are all different. Kansas City, Carolina (north and South), Texas all have different flavors and techniques…I’m getting hungary just thinking about it
Live just outside Atlanta. Yes, the traffic is surenuff crazy. But the BBQ in Georgia is unparalleled!! (You can get to some of the best though without touching the Atlanta traffic.) I’m visiting your blog because your blog name keeps turning up on blogs I visit of those who visit my blog. I dare you to diagram that sentence! Sooooooooooo, I figured we had something in common. I like your descriptions of places visited and will be back to read more of your travels.
Thank you. I understood that sentence perfectly well. I love going to new blogs and seeing familiar gravatars, it’s like running across old friends in the grocery store. Like you I frequently check them out and discover whole new places. The downside is sometimes I get lost and find two hours have gone by the time I find my way back.