October 1999 Trip to Atlanta, Charleston & Savanna
On October 21 Dianne, I and The Divine Miss M (our '94 Miata) hit the road to do some sight-seeing and meet some people. After overnighting in Perry, GA we arrived at Stone Mountain, GA, we had planned to meet some members of the Miata Club of Southwest Florida, but they left a day earlier than planned for their event.
Stone Mountain is the home of the largest block of solid granite in the world. It is so big that there are gondolas to take you to the top (725 feet above the countryside). It is also the home of a Confederate memorial, with the world's largest relief carving on the North face of Confederate heros Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis. The carving was started in 1922, had some financial problems, and finished in 1964.
Dianne & I did most of the attractions, we did some top-down touring and then battled rush-hour I-285 to get to our hotel room in Alpharetta, some 30 miles north of Atlanta. Whew! Lots of cars going awfully fast, then, suddenly, crawling along for miles.
We left the top down for the Miata Club of America (the national club) leaf peeping Rally & Barbecue the next day. The rally was fun, it was a "poker run" so no intense navigation was needed, and we really could sit back and enjoy the ride. It was 82 miles of serious back-road, twisty, turney driving and had a few "stretch-your-eyeballs" drives along some ridges. We were first at the first 3 checkpoints, but decided to lay back after having 3 or 4 Miatas following us for a couple of hours.
After the rally we checked out the other Miatas in the parking lot as the rest of the cars came in. I got some advice on how to move the spare tire and gain more trunk room and saw some neat accessories - I didn't think you had to spend money on a Miata, but It appears buying the car is only the start. As the last cars came in, they announced that the food was ready, and Dianne was first in line (with me behind her). The barbecue (pork or beef), beans, buns, and cole slaw were good, but the cookies were out-of-this-world. I can't believe how many Dianne ate (OK, I helped her).
The national headquarters was nice, in a new strip-office complex, with 3 offices and a garage in the back. I met Vince Tidwell, the President and Jay Lamm, Editor-In-Chief of the Miata Magazine. They had 102 cars register for the rally, but I think there were upwards of 140 cars there (a bunch didn't do the rally, and just drove up from Atlanta and the surrounding area). One Miata had over 350,000 miles on it, another with over 200,000 and several over 150,000 miles! There was a raffle, and I won a shift knob... Not as nice as my Nardi!
That evening we put the top up, and it's a good thing we did. The next morning there was FROST (OK, light, but white). We took the scenic route to Charleston to meet four couples from the MCSWF (Fort Myers club). The trip should have been 300 miles or so, but we went about 400... Yeh, we got sidetracked a couple of times... I got sidetracked... I got lost
We met the couples, did a tour of the city, did a tour of a mansion, took a nap and had a great meal that evening (the Beach Boys ate at our table, not then, but some months (years?) before us). Charleston was OK, and it was fun being with the group but we decided we liked Savanna better. "The" Charleston dinner is Shrimp & Grits, and I did like that!
Two couples split off to go to St. Augustine, and the remaining six of us stopped at Savanna for the day. Again we did a tour (I won the trivia prize twice, a solid gold (looking) trolly token) then spent the late afternoon and evening on the river front. Savanna is a beautiful city, very well laid-out for it's time with 24 squares (parks), 20 of which remain (one to be reclaimed in 5 years when the citizens bulldoze the city's 1954 parking garage).
Lots of interesting characters have lived in Savanna (and it appears a lot still do). Pirates, authors, composers, politicians and many celebrities have called Savanna home. There have been more than a few movies made there, in fact, Robert Redford was in town shooting one. Dianne wanted to camp out on the lawn of the house the tour guide thought he was staying at.
We spent the early afternoon and evening on River Street, a quaint waterfront full of shopping and good places to eat (and drink). I recommend Savanna as a nice place to spend a couple of days. We will go back sometime.
Please take a peek at our picture pages. It was a great trip, we made some new friends which is always fun. The folks from MCSWF were very friendly and made us feel at home with them. We met a nice couple from The Central Alabama Miata Society, and we plan on visiting that group some time. I do enjoy the drive... And the Miata sure is a fun way to do it!
Dave & Dianne Tietz
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