Farewell to Myrtle and Your Beaches So Sweet, Our Route Home Through Knoxville Brings More Stuff To Eat
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011, was our last day in Myrtle Beach. So far it had been a great trip with my Mom & Bob, Denise & Aaron and Adam and Megan, Ashleigh and Silas, and Jamie. I didn’t like cutting the trip short since we had to be back for a wedding on Saturday, but in another regard, it wasn’t quite as sad, knowing that we had a full weekend at home, and a few adventures on which to embark as Jamie and I traveled home. But nonetheless, we had one more full day to spend…and we did it well. Read the rest of this entry »
When I woke up on the morning of Sunday, October 2, 2011, I found myself in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village at the Super 8 motel. Jamie was there with me and we were preparing to spend the day scouting film locations in other nearby suburbs. I also found myself to be 40 years old. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel much different. Jamie gave me a great and thoughtful card and some sour apple Big League Chew. Of course, she was also treating in all we did this Chicago weekend. 
After Jamie and I had spent our day at the Willow Springs Water Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 6, 2011, we made the three-hour journey back to Memphis, Tennessee. Of course if you’ve been following this series of road trip posts, you’ll know that we had already spent Sunday in Memphis. But I had purposely made the plans so that we would hit it both coming and going. Following our long drive, we were both ready for a late dinner and we arrived at Uncle Lou’s Chicken at about 7:30pm. 
In an effort to grab one more impressive batch of celebrity autographs and encounters, I made one last travel plan and booked one last flight of the year to leave on Friday, October 7, 2011, for Los Angeles, California, and visit the Fall Hollywood Show. It was going to be a short trip, so I tried to pack in as much as I possibly could. My friend Jimmy was on board to pick me up and tote me around for the weekend. (His wife Ellen was vacationing in New England that week). Unfortunately, David was heading to Disney World the morning that I was flying in and Bob had made plans to be in Lone Pine. So Jimmy and I came up with a few things to do to fill the odd hours where I wouldn’t be at the Hollywood Show. 
In return for taking Jamie to Indianapolis for her birthday weekend, she agreed to take me to Chicago to celebrate my birthday weekend. Of course, since I’m the planner, I made the arrangements and itinerary for the trip, which would include celebrities, diners, landmarks, and movie locations – and hopefully a lot of fun for both of us. I had liked the way Jason and I had only driven part-way on Friday night the last time we had gone to Chicago just