Back in March I took a little 3-night, 4-day adventure down through Eastern North Carolina. That was my first multi-night road trip since COVID Hit over a year ago. That little adventure went well so Last week I decided to take another little adventure. This time I opted to for a little Longer adventure down through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
One of the reasons that I wanted to do this trip was to see what each state was progressing with COVID Restrictions. My first trip to North Carolina I found everthing was basically the same. The hotel and restaurant restrictions were similar every where I went. One Hotel in Smithfield North Carolina had reinstituted their hot breakfast while the other hotels that I stayed at featured only the grab and go bag breakfast. All of the attractions I visited did require masks or face covering when inside building.
So on this trip I wanted to see how COVID Protocols and restrictions differ from state to state. There is a method to my madness that I will explain later. First of all let me say that I have had the Johnson and Johnson COVID Vaccine. I received the One shot vaccine over 6-weeks ago and feel a little more comfortable about traveling. Now I realize that nothing is full proof and it is still possible to contract COVID, hopefully if I do it won't be as severe and I can recover.
With that being said, during both trips I wore my mask or face covering inside of any building. Another precaution that I took to limit my exposure was to use various apps to order my meals. I placed the order at a nearby restaurant and then went and picked it up and brought it back to my hotel room to eat.
On the first day I travel from my home down to Charlotte, North Carolina. On the way south I stopped at several cemeteries to visit a few grave of notable NASCAR and Professional Wrestling personalities. I spent the full day recording video that will be edited and uploaded to my
YouTube Channel in the coming weeks.
During the duration of this trip I visited a number of graves and recorded a lot of video, including NASCAR Greats, Junior Johnson and Tim Flock and Professional Wrestlers, Nelson Royal, Gene Anderson and Johnny Weaver. Later on in the adventure I made stops at cemeteries in Georgia to visit the grave of Atlanta Braves Broadcasters Peter Van Weiren and Ernie Johnson along with wrestlers "Ravishing" Rick Rood and Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy.
I also Visited The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, Georgia, the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw and Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain Battlefields. Those videos will also be edited and uploaded in the Coming weeks. I takes a lot longer for me to edit videos than it does to record them. But I am getting better.
Over all I spent 5-day on the road and I found that Covid Restrictions were very different in each of the 4-states that I visited. North Carolins was the most restrictive state, with reduced restaurant seating and strict regulations regarding face covering.
I spend only a short time in South Carolina but the restaurant seating was a little less restricted. I still got my meals to go but noticed that South Carolina Restaurants were a lot more crowded that the ones in North Carolina. They were still requirments for face covering when indoors but it seemed that if you weren't wearing a mask no body really said anything and I never saw anyone refused service. Business would offer you a mask but none declined service if you refused.
I think Georgia was the least restrictive state. There were signs posted at the entrances to hotels and most businesses state that CDC Guidelines highly recommend that you wear face covering when entering the building. Most businesses suggested face covering for entRY but very few places used the word REQUIRED. There did not appear to be any dining restrictions an most of the restaurants had full capacity seating available.
It appears that Tennessee still requires face coverings when you go inside building as most of the places I stopped at had signs posted that Masks were Required. It appeared that seating restrictions in restaurants were pretty much left of to the individual locality. One Cracker Barrel that I stopped at appeared to be seating somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of capacity. While another one appeared to be seating at full capacity. Both had signs requiring face covering for entry.
Also while on this adventure I visited three National Park sites, Kings Mountain National Military Park, Chickamauga National Military Park and Point Park on Lookout Mountain. I found that there was a few differences between each park. At King Mountain the Visitors Center was Closed even though the website and the NPS App indicated that it was open. There was a sign on the door indicating that it was closed due to COVID Restrictions. I found this to be a little unusual since the Kings Mountain National Military Park is actually in South Carolina which seems to be less restrictive than the state of North Carolina.
Chickamauga National Military Park is in Georgia but due to federal COVID restriction masks are required for all building including restrooms. I also learned while Point Park usually sell the senior and the America the Beautiful Pass they were not selling them because the people who sell those pass have been laid off due to COVID. This was disappointing since I need a New Senior Pass. Hopefully, I will be able to find a place to buy one before I begin my GREAT SUMMER ADVENTURE, which brings me a big announcement.
For the past few month I have been looking at getting back on the Road. After not traveling at all in 2020, I am looking forward to hitting the road again in 2021. The Eastern North Carolina Trip and the Fout State Adventure that I just completed were little test runs in anticipation for a much bigger and much longer adventure this summer.
I know that we are living in very different and uncertain times and things can change at the drop of a hat. I realize that COVID is still with us and is still restricting some travel. I also realize that riots and civil unrest can pop up and change plans, But I am not getting any younger and If all stays relatively calm and COVID continues to decline I am hitting the road for a mega adventure in a few weeks.
Right now, I am planning on Hitting the Road on June 1, for a grand adventure out through the mid-west, The Dakota's and the Northern Rockies of Montana and Idaho. I started planning this adventure shortly after the first of the year and I anticipate being on the road for a little over a month, returning home somewhere around the fourth of July.
Those of you that know me or have following my previous adventures know that I have a loose plan when I take off on one of these adventures. Traveling this way allows me to adjust my route on the fly. This is good in these uncertain times. In planning this grand adventure I am staying away from the large cities where civil unrest is beginng to be the norm. The largest cities that I will be traveling through on this trip will be Nashville (driving through only) and Salt Lake City.
Right Now, I have one more test run planned before hitting the road the first of June. I certainly hope that things stay the same or even improve as I am looking forward to sharing my next big adventure with you.
