waiting for & welcoming allie: traveling to atlanta by way of greenville, s.c.

Virginia to Greenville, South Carolina

Sunday, October 1, 2023: We left home Sunday morning at around 8:30 a.m. for what was expected to be a 7 1/2 hour drive to Greenville, South Carolina. We were embarking on our “Tex-New Mex” Road Trip, but we planned to stay nine days in Atlanta, Georgia to meet our new granddaughter when, hopefully, she was born on or around her due date of October 1.

Our drive went smoothly. UNTIL. We came to a dead standstill on I-85 south north of Cowpens, just over the border into South Carolina. We sat at a standstill for 1 hour and 40 minutes without knowing how long we would be there or what was happening. We were barricaded on both sides of the two southbound lanes by Jersey walls. I hate feeling trapped and that’s just what we were. We kept looking for news updates on our phones and Mike tried to call every local police station, but as it was a Sunday, no one answered who could tell us what was happening. I kept thinking that if a bunch of people got together, we could knock down one of the Jersey walls and make our escape. Many people were climbing the walls, crossing another highway, and going in to ditches to use the bathroom, then returning to their cars, which hadn’t moved. Anyway, I guess they cleared away the accident, or whatever was blocking the road, and we finally started moving and made it to Greenville, South Carolina at 6:30.

We checked into our hotel, the Crowne Plaza Greenville, and went directly to Society Sandwich Bar, where I had a delicious Chile Lime Shrimp 🍤 Noodle Bowl and Mike had a Pezzo di Paradiso sandwich 🥪 (translates into “Whoomp There It Is” in English), with house-cut pepperoni, Genoa salami, crispy bacon, arugula, banana peppers, whipped ricotta, and shaved Parmesan served on grilled focaccia.  I enjoyed a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and Mike had a Yee-Haw Easy, a Pilsner from a local brewery.

After dinner, we strolled down Main Street under trees twinkling with lights to Falls Park on the Reedy. What a cute town Greenville is.

Greenville’s Falls Park on the Reedy has been named a “Top U.S. Park” by Trip Advisor for several years in a row, along with the likes of Central Park and Golden Gate Park. Greenville has also been lauded as one of the best cities in the U.S. In 2022, Condé Nast Traveler readers gave it a place of honor (6th place) in their Reader’s Choice Awards, particularly hailing its good eats.

Before going to sleep, I read The Removes, a novel about Libbie Custer, wife of George Armstrong Custer, and a woman who was kidnapped by a Native tribe.

Steps: 7,062; Miles: 2.99. Drove 506.1 miles. Weather Hi 83°, Lo 59°.

Greenville, South Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia

Monday, October 2: Before leaving Greenville this morning, we took a sunny stroll through Falls Park on the Reedy. We walked alongside sloping green hills and giant boulders, and on winding walkways with views of the Reedy River. In some old ruins near the river, we found a homeless person sound asleep in a bright red sleeping bag.

We walked across the 345-foot expanse of the Liberty Bridge, the pedestrian suspension bridge designed by Miguel Rosales of Boston. The bridge, which connects downtown to the west end, bounced under our feet. It was built to reveal the Falls and stand like a sculpture; the concrete-reinforced deck has a distinctive curve and is supported by a single suspension cable with supporting cables on the outside.

In 2002, citizens voted to remove a highway bridge across the Reedy River and create “Falls Park” as an urban oasis in the heart of the city. Falls Park was opened to the public in 2003 and the Falls, once again, resumed its place as the “Centerpiece of Greenville.”

After our walk, we drove without incident to Atlanta and were notified we could check in early to our Airbnb in Marietta. We arrived around 1:30 and moved in, since we’d be there for 9 nights.

Mike set up a workspace that wasn’t exactly comfortable, as he planned to work during the weekdays we were there. I read some of God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright, and promptly fell asleep under a cozy comforter.

Alex texted after he got off work to say we could come by anytime, so we went to their house which was so clean, neat, and organized, it was hard to believe he lived there. We checked out their setup for the baby. So adorable! Everything they had was so tiny.

We also got news today that Adam and his new wife Maria in Nicaragua were expecting a baby, probably in May or June of 2024 sometime. So much excitement for our family!

We all thought Allie’s due date was Oct. 1 and made our plans accordingly, but at their last doctor visit, my son and his wife were told the due date could be closer to Oct 10. We had to leave on the 11th, so we hoped it was sooner than that.

We had dinner with the expectant parents at Taqueria Tsunami at Marietta Square. We sat outdoors at the sidewalk cafe on what was a very pleasant evening. Alex and Jandira are so ready to bring their little girl into this world. I enjoyed a Jalapeño Cilantro Margarita and a South of the Border Tsunami Bowl with shrimp. We offered toasts to the new baby’s safe arrival. Mike and Jandira had tacos and Alex a bowl with, you guessed it, steak!

After dinner, we strolled through the Square, all decked out with fall harvest and Halloween displays put up by different businesses. We admired the cool Strand Theatre (Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre), which got started as a major motion picture house in 1935 but closed its doors as a movie house in 1976. By 2002, it had fallen into disrepair and reopened after a big renovation in January of 2009. It now features live theater, films, concerts, comedy, private events and more.

Steps: 7,707; Miles: 3.27. Drove 163.9 miles. Weather Hi 83°, Lo 59°.

A walk around Marietta Square, a doctor visit, and a hospital check-in

Tuesday, October 3: I started the morning by reading Fodor’s: The Carolinas & Georgia, making a list of all the places I could visit in Atlanta, and writing in my journal. All of that took a long time.

I finally got going on a 3-mile walk around and about the Marietta Square area at 10:30. The town was certainly celebrating the fall harvest and the Halloween season here. The marquee sign on The Strand Theatre advertised “Menopause: The Musical.” I walked by Three Roses Tavern, Mac’s Raw Bar & Market Gourmet Eatery, a MARIETTA rainbow mural, and a street mural showing the bottom half of a ballerina. One cool place called The Third Door had an Airstream, a mini camper van, and a craft cocktail bar. It was a live music venue in a restored 1920s filling station. A cool black & white mural of McPherson Tire Shop decorated one wall of the patio.

The sprawling First Baptist Church dominated Church Street. I walked across a colorful bridge on the trail that ran along the railroad tracks and I came across a house with a pirate ship in the front yard.

Walking back down the bike trail, I saw the Marietta Square Market, so I went inside to explore the nineteen eateries with various cuisines, such as Made from Scratch; Caribbean Fusion & Vegan Cuisine; Bullgogi; Momoito Ramen; Panko: fusion of Japanese & Western; Smokehouse Q; D’Cuban; and Tiki Trolley (wraps and açai bowls).

At dinner on Monday night, I had volunteered to accompany Jandira to her doctor visit today, but she’d told me it wasn’t necessary. When I got home from my walk, she’d texted that I could come with her after all. I rushed to eat lunch, showered, then drove 20 minutes to meet her. All I did was sit in the waiting room. She said she had bad news and good news. They told her she wasn’t dilated at all but gave her the option to be induced at 8:00 pm that evening. They told her it could still take up to 48 hours even with inducement. She was weary of being pregnant and decided to go ahead and be induced that night.

I left and went to Kroger and bought groceries for our stay and brought them to the Airbnb to unload them.

Mike and I had wine on the front porch, then he made a dinner of Italian striped Farfalline with Chili Pesto Sauce, grape tomatoes, spinach and grated cheese. It was actually quite delicious, although I don’t get excited about cooking in when we’re on vacation.

We didn’t hear any word from the parents-to-be, but we knew they had checked in to the hospital. We relaxed and watched The Trial and How I Met Your Mother.

Steps: 9,288; Miles: 3.94. Drove 29.1 miles. Weather 82°, Lo 59°.

Waiting & Waiting … & Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Wednesday, October 4: This morning Alex reported they’d stayed overnight at the hospital and Jandira was fast asleep. Alex slept on the couch under some hospital-provided sheets. He said the labor was proceeding slowly and they would probably have to stay overnight. The baby could come as late as Thursday morning.

Not one to sit around doing nothing while waiting for momentous happenings, I visited Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park on Wednesday. After parking in the overflow parking and trekking to the Visitor Center, I only had time to visit the museum and see the film about the last big battle at Kennesaw Mountain before Sherman marched through Atlanta in 1864.

The film at the visitor center was quite moving. It focused on that battle in particular, during which the Union had twice as many casualties as the Confederates.

In the spring of 1864, Major General William T. Sherman led the Georgia offensive against General Joseph E. Johnston’s men, entrenched along Rocky Face Ridge at Dalton, Georgia. General Ulysses S. Grant, who had assumed command of all U.S. Army forces in March of 1864, ordered Sherman to “move against Johnston’s army, to break it up, and to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources.” Over the previous three years, the Confederacy had lost control of the Mississippi River, most of Tennessee, and much of Mississippi. A still-intact belt of manufacturing communities stretched from Augusta, Georgia to Selma, Alabama with the major city of Atlanta at its center.

Most importantly, Atlanta harbored a vital Confederate rail junction. Four railroads met there, linking the Southern Atlantic Seaboard states with the western Confederacy.

From May to September 1864, Federal and Confederate forces clashed across northern Georgia, from Dalton to Atlanta, in fierce battles and almost daily skirmishes and maneuvers. Sherman used a flanking strategy numerous times, finally forcing Johnston to abandon his Kennesaw lines during the night of July 2. Confederates had lost 800 men, the Federals 1800. Sherman got closer to the Chattahoochee River crossing and sent a small force across the river. Johnston had to retreat across the Chattahoochee.

The rest of Sherman’s army crossed the Chattahoochee on July 9 and Johnston withdrew to the fortifications of Atlanta. President Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston with General Hood. Meanwhile Sherman was closing on Atlanta from the north and east. The Grays were a formidable foe but the Union was finally able to break through their defenses and march to Atlanta.

In August, Sherman placed Atlanta under siege, continually shifting troops to cut the city’s rail links to the rest of the South. On August 31, he seized the last one, the Macon & Western. After Hood lost a 2-day battle near Jonesboro, he ordered all public property destroyed and the city evacuated.

During the final siege of Atlanta, Sherman’s troops cut the city’s rail links. Confederate troops evacuated the city on September 1; Sherman entered the following day, September 2. Atlanta had fallen. Sherman telegraphed Washington: “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.”

The fall of Atlanta, the industrial powerhouse of the Confederacy and the intersection of four major rail lines, crippled the Confederacy’s capacity and will to make war. Coupled with U.S. victories elsewhere, the war’s end was now in sight. In the North, people rejoiced. On November 8, President Abraham Lincoln was re-elected, endorsing a fight to the finish. A week later, Sherman left Atlanta in ruins and began his “March to the Sea.”  Lee surrendered. Thank goodness for that victory because many were calling for a negotiated peace with the south, which might have meant slavery could have been prolonged.

An interesting part of the film was when both sides called for a 2-hour truce to bury the decaying bodies on the hot summer battlefield. The soldiers were buried right where they fell. During the time, the two sides played games and talked like old friends. When the truce ended, they started killing each other again.

The film and museum were fascinating, but I didn’t have time to climb up Kennesaw Mountain, which I hoped to do another day. It was lunchtime and my stomach was calling!

After lunch, I took a nap and read a bit. Then I wandered around Marietta Square and admired all the colorful murals along the bike trail.I bought Allie a “Peachy” onesie and a “Georgia girl” burp cloth. I also bought myself some earrings and a blouse. 🙂

Mike walked up from our Airbnb to the Square at 5:15 and we had dinner and drinks at Marietta Square Market Food Hall. I enjoyed a Vodka Tonic and Mike a craft beer at Forno Vero. I loved my lobster tacos and Mike his falafel sandwich.

In the evening we watched Deadwind and How I Met Your Mother while hoping to hear word of Allie’s birth. We went to bed with no news.

Steps: 9.132; Miles 3.87. Drove 7.8 miles. Weather: Hi 82°, Lo 59°.

Allie arrives! Dinner at Ray’s on the River

Thursday, October 5: Little Alexandra Olivia (Allie) came into the world this morning, Thursday, October 5, at 7:38 a.m. She was a healthy 7 lb. 15 oz. and 21 1/2 inches. We were so happy to welcome her as a new member of our family!

We got to the hospital at 9 a.m. We met adorable little Allie. Apparently Jandira’s mother in Angola exclaimed, “She’s so white!” But the nurse said often a baby of mixed race will turn darker as her blood flows more, after 48 hours or more. She has a full head of black hair. Jandira noted that Allie has her “potato nose,” no bridge with a little bulb at the end.

Mike went downstairs to the cafeteria to get us an egg, chicken sausage and cheese sandwich, a blueberry crumble muffin and coffees. I sat and held sweet Allie for a while. Alex and Jandira were famished and polished off an omelet breakfast. Later, as we were about to leave, they ordered sushi; Jandira hadn’t been allowed to eat raw fish during her pregnancy and she was craving it.

We returned home after a couple of hours and had a lunch a leftover garbanzo salad and the quinoa and kale patties I had cooked and brought along.

I walked around Marietta again this afternoon, less than 2 miles, just to get a bit of exercise. While walking I saw the 1916 Glover Machine Works Locomotive, restored in 1992. Also the Historic Murray House, circa 1860, and a painted utility box.

We had dinner with Mike’s old high school friend from Ohio, also a Mike, and his friend Nancy at Ray’s on the River. It was a super fancy place (& expensive) but a wonderful treat by Mike C. We all shared an artisanal bread basket (focaccia, pretzel, sourdough, raisin walnut, & lavash). I had a 9-oz Pinot Grigio and then another 6 oz one! 🙂 They all shared a bottle of red wine. I enjoyed a Jumbo Lumb Crabcake, appetizer portion, while Mike had Horseradish-crusted Black Grouper. We also ordered some shareable sides: Corn Creme Brulee, Creamed Spinach and Whipped Potatoes.

Nancy asked if I remembered her; apparently she was a friend of Rosa, my ex-boss at Crestar Bank in Richmond (and Mike’s deceased wife Kerri’s best friend). She said she’d met me before but she couldn’t or wouldn’t say where. I honestly didn’t remember her at all. Still, we had a nice time over an extended meal.

Steps 7,113; Miles 3.02. Drove 34.5 miles. Weather: Hi 80°, Lo 59°.

We still had five more days in Atlanta to spend time with our new granddaughter and to explore Atlanta before heading west on October 11.