Postcards from Snagglepuss: Plodding along through Georgia
Oh–where exactly were we? As I last recall it, me and Crazy Claws, my feline companion in service to the promotion of Wisconsin Dells, were somewhere near Griffin, Georgia along US 41 heading towards Florida towards such an otherwise ignoble cause. And just as we were getting breakfast–a real Southern breakfast of biscuits and gravy, not to mention chicory-enhanced coffee and a bowl of grits on the side–we got a text message alerting us to another load of brochures being ready for us in Macon. But before that, brochures had to be passed around in towns along the way.
Orchard Hill. Barnesville. Forsyth. Smart (what a name for a town in central Georgia!). Bollingbrooke. Basically the same basic procedure: Walk up and down the main street (or what passes for it) and ask the locals who are shopping or whatever if they’d be interested in learning about a rather interesting place up north known as Wisconsin Dells. Or, in some isolated cases, just slip copies of the brochure unsuspectingly into thehands of passerby. Even if they’re just sitting in front of the local store gossiping away and chewing the fat with the inevitable crew of locals as seem to gather there every day.
And we make it into Macon, where I-16 plods its way towards Savannah off I-75, continuing towards Florida. Getting our load of Wisconsin Dells brochures at a UPS Store location in some cheap-looking strip mall on the north side, out by where I-75 and I-16 split … and deciding to try some decent lunch at some local “tea room” of the old school. Classic Southern kitsch, by way of a chicken pie that was rather remarkable when some decent sweet tea accompanied the whole.
Now for our next target: Warner Robins. Which, as it turns out, is heavily military–Robins Air Force Base, to be exact. But considering the security situation as it is, it’s rather difficult to solicit for the cause of Wisconsin Dells on base. Hence, go over to the local Kroger supermarket, stand in front and hand out brochures to the shoppers, civilian and military. Just be thankful we didn’t get a complaint for Loitering, to begin with. And it can get tired standing up for a few hours at a stretch … which meant that when we headed to Perry for the night, we needed a motel with a decent swimming pool and a hot tub to ease those sore muscles, and then some. Which took awhile … but managed to find it in the form of a Quality Inn. Which was obviously out of necessity, otherwise preferring “mon-and-pop” places.
And boy, did the whirlpool actually feel good in the warm Southern evening … ahead of supper at the local Chinese buffet. And it’s here that I feel it best to bring up where Crazy Claws’ tastes in Chinese food lean towards cahsew chicken, pepper steak and fried rice. Mine … General Tso’s Chicken and Mongolian Beef. And with plenty of oolong tea to wash things down. But what was even more interesting was where a few of the locals recognised at least yours truly from the Saturday mornings of their youths … and graciously offered autographs along with the Wisconsin Dells brochures (which left the locals equally perplexed as to where exactly Wisconsin Dells was when they preferred the Redneck Riviera, as in Panama City Beach, as in the Florida Panhandle even) … so, to out hotel, to rest for the night before plodding onward.
Source: deviantart.com