We Have Landed in Atlanta!

Today was a long day of driving. I think, one of the longest of the trip. But I'll get to that in a minute... first, let's talk about New Orleans.

The staff at the hotel worked with us to have the car pulled up and ready for us before 6 AM and a cart for our luggage as well. We wanted to stop at Cafe du Monde before heading out of New Orleans. Thankfully, they're open 24-7 and street parking was free that early in the morning. We ran into folks getting gas and were able to rendezvous with the rest of the group.

Mom and I fell in with a group of about 8 other MINIs and we headed out to Birmingham. MINI of Birmingham was sponsoring a lunch for folks passing through to Atlanta, so that was convenient pit stop after 5+ hours of driving. And we got a nice swag bag (I got a nice mug) before heading on to Atlanta.

I picked a hotel in Fayetteville because it's closer to the Motor Speedway for the morning call. But then I realized that a lot of the folks from The Walking Dead live in Fayetteville, so I'm on the lookout for Norman Reedus and Steven Yeun. :)

Mom and I dropped off our stuff at the hotel and headed back into town to check in and get some dinner. We stopped at Ponce Market and grabbed our lanyards and swag bags before heading to the famous Varsity for a quick dinner. We had to sample their amazing onion rings and we saved some room for ice cream.

Heading back to the hotel was a bit of a challenge as the on ramp was blocked by the police and protesters but Google Maps navigated us around it and we were on our way.

I checked the trip odometer on the way back and it's around 1235. I'll have better numbers once we get on the road tomorrow.

Look out Charlotte, here we come!

Edited to add:
We drove through 4 states today: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. I think that's the biggest block but there may me another group of 3-4 when we head home.