Lumberjack Update #10: Home Sweet Home

Hello!

Wow, you are lucky... another LJU, however, this is REALLY the last one! Yep, I just got home some three hours ago. I made it safely from Raleigh/Durham via Philadelphia, Boston and Frankfurt to Zurich. The weather is Flag-like: plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the mid 70s. It feels good to be back home!

Let me give you some information on my 10-day trip to the East coast and the following states: North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. After packing and wrapping up my stuff at Pat's place in Flag (he left a couple days earlier), I flew out of Phoenix to be picked up by Marko, who was doing an internship with the BSH Group (Bosch, Siemens) in New Bern, N.C., at the RDU airport on May 28. He lives in a tiny place called Bridgeton, 2.5 hours east of Raleigh, where I «enjoyed» a tropical night: 80° F, humidity 80%!

The next day we headed towards Norfolk, VA (with all the great aircraft carriers in mind). Mmmh, too bad it was Memorial Weekend! All the hotels and motels were pretty much booked up. Virginia Beach was just crazy and in downtown Norfolk we got stuck in traffic jam. Finally (after at least two hours of cruising), we found a cheap motel in Suffolk.

On Sunday, we «visited» the USS Wisconsin back in Norfolk and tried to enter the Naval Station—negative! We had breakfast/lunch at the Waffle House in Richmond before a next stopover in Colonial Williamsburg, and found a place to sleep in Charlottesville, a nice and clean city with a historic downtown and cozy cafes. This 40,000-people city is famous because of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. He was more or less the father of the University of Virginia, and especially played a key role in the architecture and design of the buildings and gardens. From his house in Monticello, he observed the construction processes and initiated changes if necessary. Still in Virginia, we jumped into the Luray Caverns (underground limestone formations), entered the Shenandoah National Park, and followed the Blue Ridge Parkway from North to South. One the way we «consumed» the Crabtree Falls (wanna-be water falls, but nice) and the Natural Bridge—Virginia's Natural Wonder. The Parkway is really great!!!

The night in a Covingtonian (Covington) smoky motel room wasn't that fun. Nevertheless, we once again got up «on time» (8:27am) before we hit the road, crossed the state border of West Virginia, spent some time in the Little Beaver State Park (just the overlook), and took some pictures from the oldest town in Tennessee, Jonesborough. Unfortunately, our tight schedule made it impossible to visit the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg but that's just a reason to come back.

Ashville (back in N.C.) was home for the next two nights. Probably the most interesting and must see sight is the Biltmore Estate (you all know the Vanderbilt's and the famous Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN). The $39 admission fee was insane but there's not much of a choice. The adjacent winery is pretty touristy but also worth a stop—you can taste wines for free (they are okay wines, nothing fancy). A 15-minute walk through downtown Ashville was enough to get some food in an Asian restaurant (don't order the Dan Dan Noodles). In the evening we watched the Stanley Cup Playoff Finals and went to the movies: Man On Fire.

On Friday we drove another 300 miles (average per day!) to Fayetteville. And here the things we did: Hooters yes, the girls were cute and sexy—you all know that (it's important to mention that this was Marko's first, last, and maybe only visit at Hooters), watched The Day After Tomorrow (movies), Fort Bragg (I'm proud of my T-shirt!), and the Airborne & Special Operations Museum. A detail worth mentioning: It was June 6—D-Day—, and so exactly 60 years after the invasion of the Normandie by the U.S. troops (Operation Overlord; Special Forces: 82nd Division and 101st Division).

Later that afternoon, we found us sitting in the car, destination Wilmington: Dawson's Creek was produced here (one of the most successful shows in the U.S.). No... I didn't meet Katie Holmes (too bad!), who has a summer house in the city. It was almost 5pm when we had a last break on the beach. Dinner was served at Ham's, a sports bar in New Bern, which was founded by Swiss immigrants some two centuries ago. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was on TV: Calgary Flames vs. Tampa Bay Lightning.

Even though this trip was fun, there's no way to top the Mexican vacation (but you better don't wanna compare these two countries anyway). Total mileage of this East coast trip was over 2,000 and the nick name of the tour simply Wal-Mart loop (thanks to the Rand McNally Atlas sponsored by Wal-Mart). I'm sure we spotted a Wal-Mart in every city or town. I just say: Wal-Mart Supercenters rock!

On Sunday I left the U.S. from Raleigh via Philadelphia, Boston, and Frankfurt before I enjoyed a sunny arrival in Zurich!

DONE! I wish you all the very best for your upcoming plans and activities! Hope to hear from you soon! Drop me a line or just give me a call.

Andreas

PS: Go Flames, go!!! (Monday night on ABC, 8ET/5PT)

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