Monday – July 8, 2013 – Bluffton, SC
We had a great time in Madison, AL visiting my Sister and Brother-in-law. We spent most of our time catching up and reminiscing about the past. Both of us recalled the long and arduous summer vacations when my father would insist on driving the family cross country for 18 hours at a stretch. This was in the days when there was no AC in the car and Mom and Dad smoked those unfiltered cigarettes. With that memory fresh in my Sisters mind, she is a bit stunned that Elisa and I are undertaking this cross country trip. But the times are different and the ride is much nicer and we don’t do those long stretches.
We left beautiful Madison at 8:00 AM and decided to take I-65 south towards Birmingham and then pickup I-20 heading East toward Atlanta. But as is often the case, when you are cruising America, something catches your eye and you have to change course. In this case, Elisa saw a sign for the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, AL. So, she quickly hops on the internet and starts reading about it and we decided to change course.
The Ave Maria Grotto was constructed by Brother Joseph Zoettl (born 1878), who came to America from Germany in 1892. He became a monk in the St. Bernard Abbey with locations in different parts of Alabama, Virginia and a few others. As the story goes, he was more like an indentured servant in his early days – playing house keeper, cook, and laborer for other Priests in the order. He would work 6 days per week and up to 17 hours each day. Unfortunately, because he had a hunched back, he was not allowed to become a priest, but eventually he settled in at the St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, AL. To pass the time he began working with cement and mortar and eventually crafted a small replica of a church. He would decorate his creations using whatever items he could find, such as marbles, broken pottery, sea shells, tile shards and stones. His creations began to take the shape of various religious sites from around the world. Because of the popularity of his work, this became his full time occupation, which he performed for 40 years until his death in 1962. Many of his creations continue to be enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. We were fortunate to stumble upon it.
After seeing the Grotto, I decided to get off of the interstate so we could see some of the more rural parts of Alabama. So we took Alabama route 278, and headed toward Gadsen, AL and then on to Anniston, AL. Although it was a bit overcast and gloomy, we still enjoyed the drive through some very pretty country side. The problem with this strategy was grinding to a crawl at every small town or intersection we came to and avoiding the local law enforcement that was on the prowl for some of them “long haired hippie freaks from California”. So, with 320 miles to go in order to get to our friend Gary’s house that is just outside of Hilton Head, SC we decided that we better get back onto the interstate. So we hopped back on to I-20 headed toward Atlanta. It was nice seeing our GPS that estimates the remaining driving time readjust and go from 10 hours remaining to only 6 hours remaining.
I was a bit worried about dealing with traffic as we got to Atlanta. Although it was heavy, it did move at a brisk pace and before we knew it we were on I-75 headed south toward Macon. Soon we picked up I-16 toward Savannah and once we did, it began to rain on us off and on. Not a downpour but still enough to make driving a challenge. So, it did take us 11 hours to go about 500 miles today but that did include a stop at the Ave Maria Grotto and a couple of antique shops along the way. To help me stay alert, I had to “Do the Dew" and helped myself to a 32 oz Diet Mountain Dew. It will probably take me until the end of the week to get over the caffeine jolt that comes with it. I forgot how much I enjoy Mt. Dew and wonder how it was that I could drink so much of it as a kid.
Tomorrow, we are going to go explore Savannah. Weds we will be playing Pinecrest in Bluffton, SC. This highly rated course is home of Hank Haney’s International Junior Golf Academy boasting students from around the US and the world. The IJGA combines academics with rigorous golf training. We will also explore Hilton Head Island on Wed.
We will update you with more tomorrow.
Here is a link to other photos we took today.
Rex & Elisa
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