Let's Go Racing, Boys!

The day started with a NASCAR announcement in the USA Today - Martin Truex would take Mikey Waltrip's place in the 55 Aaron's car next year. Who would that leave driving for DEI? We would have to stay tuned for further developments. We drove through sun, fog, and clouds, and made our way to a restroom area under construction. There was a long, long approach road, and once in the lot, we saw the hill we had to climb to get to the restrooms. There were a couple of handicap spots closer to the building, but we wondered how the elderly or infirm, but not "handicapped", would be able to climb that steep ramp. There was a work crew there putting in a new septic system. Maybe it was with stimulus money.

Traveling on I-40 we saw a drag strip near Crossville that was nearly parallel to the highway. Must have been distracting to drive by it during race time. We would be seeing another race track before supper today, at Bristol, but we still had hours to go. We experienced Smoky Mountain rain around 10:00 am.

When we stopped for gas at a Pilot station, we had pump #11. Donald went inside to pay, Clyde cleaned the windshield, Bonnie checked our route on the Triptiks, and I updated the journal. We all heard over the P.A. system, "Number 11, your shower is ready." That's something we don't hear every day.

Lunch was again a place not on the dance card - Cracker Barrel instead of Arby's. Turned out later to be a good idea. The breakfast for lunch meal was good, but we were too close to a family whose children sorely lacked social skills. No matter, we were going to Bristol, baby!

We got there in time to get tickets for the 2:00 tour, and we had a visit to the gift shop and watched the pre-movie while we waited. There were bargains to be had, and Bonnie and I are the proud owners of Bristol bobble-heads, collectible treasures. We took the hour-long tour, and walked up to see Victory Lane, on top of the garage. Bristol is small, exciting, and the whole track can be viewed from all seats. Our guide brought us up to Bruton Smith's suite, and we saw how the owner and his friends view the races. We saw the pace car that would be used at the August, 2009 race. Some of our fellow tourmates chose to walk up on the steep track, but we stayed in the bus. It was, after all, 88 degrees and sunny.

We learned from the guide that Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman had been there to test only the day before, and Bonnie and I looked at each other in anguish. One day too late! Stewart and Newman are our NASCAR faves, and to have missed them by 24 little hours was nearly devastating. Only the thought of a good supper later consoled us.

After leaving the track, we headed north toward Virginia. Bristol TN and Bristol VA share a border and also a main street. Cracker Barrel had been on the dance card for supper, but as we had had lunch at one, we wanted something different, and we started watching for the blue highway service signs. There was a Country Cookery that looked promising. Bonnie and I got out of the GM to go check it out, and Bonnie mentioned having stopped at a restaurant once that appeared promising, and was a buffet. The smoking section was all around the buffet area. Not so good for non-smokers and she and Clyde left without dining. We both grasped a door handle, pulled, took a step in, smelled cigarette smoke, and did synchronised U-turns to report to Donald and Clyde that we would not be dining at the Country Cookery.

We did not find any other restaurants, and decided to ask the desk clerk at the Sleep Inn, Dublin VA, which we did. The hotel was located in a residential area, and the only commercial building was a Shell gas station. The desk clerk recommended MK's, down the street, saying it was good Italian food. We found MK's, and it was doing a really good business, but there was still a table for four available. MK's looked like a converted home, with many pieces of furniture, such as a hutch and dry sink, still occupying space. It was quaint, but it was a quaint pizza shop. There were many locals there, but also some tourists. Bonnie and I enjoyed our meals, and noted that all pasta was called "spaghetti", whether it was penne or linguine. Clyde and Donald felt that pasta should not be fused together, so they did not enjoy their meals all that much. It was to be their least favorite meal of the trip.

Back to the Sleep Inn we went, and we hung around the lobby for a little, not really wanting to retire at 7:40 pm, but not knowing what else to do. There was nothing around to see or do that we had not already seen or done. It was the 22nd day of a 24 day vacation. We were tired, so we retired.