Day Two

Day two, July 10, 2011

GOOD MORNING VIETNAAAAAM! Just kidding, good morning Raleigh!  (I've always wanted to scream good morning Vietnam like Robin Williams, maybe I will fulfill this desire in the Grand Canyon!) I would like to begin this post by sending our sincerest apologies to Uncle Mike, (who will be referred to as "Face" from  here on out).  We neglected to include our early morning comedian in our blog!!! How dare we! It came to our attention that Face is not only a business man but a connoisseur of many things! Toilet paper, duct tape, air fresheners and nature callings are just a short list of things that Face has excelled in throughout his forty five years of life! 

Speaking of excelling in various things, Raleigh, North Carolina definitely knows a lot about that! Authentic barbecues, dueling pianos and dancing were a few things we stumbled upon and enjoyed thoroughly!  Every person we encountered could be defined as a "southern belle",  polite and an absolute delight! The three musketeers made our way to "The Pit" for dinner and scarfed down some hush puppies, a pitcher of beer and some barbecued deliciousness!  After rolling ourselves outta there we meandered over to "The Oxford", a bar containing the most entertaining dancers of all time! We were a little nervous that one hip swinging couple were going to throw out their backs but they proved us wrong! I might have to bring some of those classic dance moves back to Jersey!  Some may include "the clown", "the peek-a-boo", and shooting imaginary objects out of the sky. No need to worry ladies and gentlemen, I will perform all of these dance moves for those of you who would like to learn them.  The  band causing these extraordinary dance moves to occur was called The Scarlet Divide. The lead singer definitely should have been wearing a Scarlet A for awesome! Check em out online, www.Facebook.com/thescarletdivide!  After enjoying ourselves at the Oxford, we headed off to Rum Runner where there were two pianos with four rotating drunk pianists!  It was incredibly entertaining and a blast! Its too bad that Jackie got transferred to NYC for the summer, it would have been great to visit her in her town! Definitely another time Jack! We voted, and the panelists gave Raleigh 5 stars and two thumbs up!

With two thumbs up and stars in our eyes, we are off to Tennessee, the Volunteer State!  Maybe we' ll volunteer to stay in this beautiful state with the country stars for a while! (Just kidding mom ;])  Our morning began with a wonderful continental breakfast compliments of the Hampton Inn! Fortunately our star hockey player has stayed in  enough hotels to master the art of waffle making! Always be sure to use the spray butter!  Too bad he is a bit of a freshman when it comes to microwaves! The Hampton Inn had no idea that we almost encountered a hazardous situation when Rob put his breakfast sandwich, wrapping and all, in the microwave! Thank heavens J saved the day when she hurriedly advised Rob that was a big no-no! Whilst enjoying our breakfast We had the pleasure of being greeted by a boisterous woman sporting a hat reading "Jesus is my boss"!  She was a delight to bump into! Just goes to show how wonderful the south can be!

With the sun at our backs, the wind blowing our hair and country music blasting, we were ready to find the only "Tenn-I-see"!  The drive was a smooth and peaceful one! Or so thats how it began....   After taking a pit stop at McDonalds for some stretching and a chinese fire drill, we encountered our first hiccup, the key would not turn! The wheel and ignition were both locked up and we were caught in a pickle. Thank god for Rob's patients and determination! After many unsuccessful tries we lucked out and the engine began to rumble!  On the road we go again!  

We didn't even have to stop for lunch; Bubble Cobalt & Co soon became Meals on Wheels! I inconspicuously snatched some forks and knives from the breakfast station at the hotel in order for us to enjoy our leftovers from the night before!  12 pm rolled around and J was ready for lunch!  After lunch we decided to take a two hour detour to appreciate nature! Rob bought a book called A Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways and while perusing through it he stumbled upon an area containing beautiful waterfalls.  We made a group decision to see Nashville a few hours later than originally planned. No biggie, a road trip is all about impulsive decisions anyways, right? Right!  The book stated that there were three waterfalls along the way, one that we could drive under, one we could walk under and one we could see from the roadway.  As we approached the first waterfall we became a little skeptical of our impulsiveness as the waterfall dripped mere drops of water.  Uh oh! Did we make the wrong choice?!  Oh well, whats done is done.  We continue driving along when we come around a hairpin turn and spy the most amazing view thus far!  Bubble Cobalt and Co pull over and shimmy our way along the guardrail to view this miraculous landscape!  Our hopes begin to float back up and we feel better about our decision.  Further up the road we run into a public nature walk and do our ears deceive us.....Nope! It's true, we hear the sweet sound of water pounding against the rocks at the bottom! Success!  Of course we have a photo shoot under and around this beautiful flowing water!  It was totally worth the two hour detour!  On the road again and heading to Nashville....but wait!  Yet again, another waterfall!  Even better, cliff jumping!!  Rob and I are back at the car and changing in the middle of no where to go jump off this twenty foot cliff!! Posh, aka Jen, decided to stay dry and be our photographer.  Rob and I dive on into the refreshing water ready to take a leap of faith!  Rob jumped first because, well simply because he's a man and he was chivalrous enough to test the the depth before I jumped.  Obviously, he did it with such ease.  But when it was my turn to step up to the plate I froze!  I was so close to backing down but then realized I had no other option.  So I grew a set and I jumped letting the tiniest yelp out that only I could hear.  Believe you me, if there were no kids around only God knows what would have come out of my mouth!  Thank goodness Jen didn't have the big lens on the camera because I am positive that she would have caught complete fear in my eyes!  Clearly we live to tell the story and many more!  For those of you who have been stalking my Facebook pictures, stay tuned for more!  Especially our number one fan, we know you "like" every single one of our pictures! (You know who you are :)!)