Discovering America’s Treasures: Route 66 to the Ark Encounter

Curious about how to turn your road trips into unforgettable adventures? Join us on this episode of the Zee Michelson Travel Podcast as we explore the delightful and diverse experiences of traveling. This week, Jay Lawrence and I share our personal journeys with learning new languages using the Duolingo app, diving into our attempts at German, Spanish, and Gaelic. We then transition to Jay’s road trip to Champaign, Illinois, where he visited his sister, explored the University of Illinois, and had a memorable meal in Chinatown.

Ever wondered about the hidden gems along Route 66 or the marvels of the vast transportation system in India? We bring you fascinating facts and nostalgic trips, including a visit to the historic Funks Grove in Bloomington, Illinois. Our journey continues as we describe our awe-inspiring visit to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. This isn’t just any replica; it’s a colossal and meticulously crafted version of Noah’s Ark. We'll walk you through its layout, the stunning details, and practical tips for your visit, such as ticket options and nearby accommodations.

Ready to pack your bags and hit the road? We'll wrap up the episode with tales from our ongoing travel adventures, including a delightful stay at the Drury Hotel in Georgia and Jay’s dining experiences at Jalisco's. Plus, we’ll touch on the challenges of navigating Atlanta’s traffic and the joys of discovering hidden travel treasures. Stay connected with us through social media for more travel dreams and tips. Tune in for a blend of personal anecdotes, practical travel advice, and inspiration for your next grand adventure.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:02

Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast. This podcast is devoted to the travel industry. Z says let your imagination run wild and start dreaming about where you want to go. And dream big, reach for the stars, and if you only get to the moon, at least you enjoyed the trip. Your guide to travel is Z Michelson, a travel advisor, and sitting at the controls is Jay Lawrence, your concierge of podcast travel. Now here's Z.

Speaker 2 0:27

That's me. That's me, I'm Z, and of course I'm here with Jay Good.

Speaker 3 0:31

Z morning.

Speaker 2 0:32

Good Z morning. Hey, I like that. I like that. Right now, I'm learning German, by the way.

Speaker 1 0:38

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 0:38

I'm learning German. I'm learning Spanish.

Speaker 3 0:45

Well, I'm relearning spanish. Are you babbling?

Speaker 2 0:46

learning gaelic as well, are you? Learning by no I'm not babbling, not babbling I'm duolingoing.

Speaker 3 0:49

Oh yeah, is that the name? Is that the name of the? It's the name of the app duolingo oh yeah, and I?

Speaker 2 0:57

I don't pay for it, I do the cheap one. So after I get five mistakes in a row, I have to wait to the next day to get some oh yeah For each language. Yeah, for each language. I have it, you know, and I bounce back and forth. Right now I'm ahead in German, so you know Way to go.

Speaker 3 1:13

Nine, nine, nine, yeah, nine. That's the end of my German.

Speaker 2 1:21

Yeah, so I'm learning German and I'm doing pretty good in it.

Speaker 3 1:24

Since I am the concierge of podcast travel, I want you to know that this podcast is brought to you by Collage Travel Media Network.

Speaker 2 1:33

Yay and Collage Travel Media Network, of course, is the home of my podcast.

Speaker 3 1:37

Yes.

Speaker 2 1:37

And it's also home for Collage Travel Radio.

Speaker 3 1:40

Yes.

Speaker 2 1:41

And ZmaxRadioline.

Speaker 3 1:43

And, by the way, we could produce a podcast for you if you'd like to have a podcast produced. People love to have podcasts. Yeah, so Gloss Travel Media Network.

Speaker 2 1:52

You know, and today's topic, we're going to go kind of off the beaten path a little bit here.

Speaker 3 1:57

Oh, no when.

Speaker 2 1:57

Oh, yeah, you went traveling.

Speaker 3 2:00

Oh no, you didn't take me.

Speaker 2 2:01

You took your wife, which was kind of nice, and you went kind of up north. Yes, you went to go visit your little, your little sister, who is your older sister.

Speaker 3 2:11

She's my little sister.

Speaker 2 2:13

Yeah, and where does she live?

Speaker 3 2:15

My sister lives in Champaign Illinois.

Speaker 2 2:18

Champaign, illinois. Where is that in the central?

Speaker 3 2:22

little South Central Illinois. Where is that in the central little South.

Speaker 2 2:25

Central Illinois little South central Illinois.

Speaker 3 2:26

If you went to Indianapolis, you're right. Okay, go West about a hundred miles.

Speaker 2 2:31

Okay.

Speaker 3 2:31

And you'd be in champagne.

Speaker 2 2:33

What's there to do there? Did I stump you Other than visiting your sister? Everybody go to Jay's sister's house. That's the place to go.

Speaker 3 2:42

I go to my sister's, and that's it. We were just a nonstop location.

Speaker 2 2:46

Well, I understand that you went kind of to a reunion too.

Speaker 3 2:50

But you ask what University of Illinois is? It's Champaign-Urbana, they're two towns together. But Champaign-Urbana and Urbana is where the University of Illinois is.

Speaker 2 3:02

So was there a football game that you could go to later on? Oh, I miss it this year. I miss it.

Speaker 3 3:07

One year I got there just the day that Nebraska was playing Illinois and I said I could probably go and get in and it was full packed. There's no way I could get in Now.

Speaker 2 3:17

I've seen a picture of you and your wife.

Speaker 3 3:19

Yes.

Speaker 2 3:19

And your sister and her hubby.

Speaker 3 3:21

Yes, where was that? Chinatown, baby Chinatown.

Speaker 2 3:24

Oh, so you went out for some Chinese food.

Speaker 3 3:25

Shiny shiny Chinatown.

Speaker 2 3:28

Yeah, I think every city has a Chinatown. Oh, it's a buffet, it's a buffet.

Speaker 3 3:33

Oh yeah, Every time you go to see my sister, we go to Chinatown. You got to visit.

Speaker 2 3:40

Chinatown. Oh, I'm going's sister and go visit China Town.

Speaker 3 3:42

Now you do know, my wife is not very tall. No, she isn't very tall and the funny thing was Good things come in small packages. Right, we were at the buffet Right and my wife went back for the third trip to the.

Speaker 2 3:59

Oh, so it must have been really good, oh yeah. And so my brother-in-law looked at her and says I can't believe you can eat all of that. Well, your wife also was a home ec teacher, oh yeah, and she did a lot of cooking in her day, oh yeah, and I'm sure she still does, so she was probably trying to figure out how to make these meals. Well yeah, she had an ulterior motive.

Speaker 3 4:20

I bet, yeah, well, that's good, so you had good food there and now you drove up and back, right Well you're talking road trips, so one of the best things you do when you hit the state well, first off, a road trip. Road trip, it's 1,100 miles. Okay, so my first stop is at Chattanooga, tennessee, which is pretty cool. You stay on Lookout Mountain oh, that's very nice, and that's where the hotel is, that's my stopping off place.

Speaker 2 4:48

That's your stopping, that's your jump off point.

Speaker 3 4:49

Yes, but but If you don't stop at Buc-ee's, you haven't made a road trip.

Speaker 2 4:57

Well, apparently there's a Buc-ee's coming to Florida somewhere.

Speaker 3 4:59

Yes, on Ocala, right off of Highway 75.

Speaker 2 5:03

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing that, because Buc-ee's is big.

Speaker 3 5:06

So I took my wife to Buc-ee's for the first time.

Speaker 2 5:09

She's never been to Buc-ee's, never been to Buc-ee's. And she travels quite a bit.

Speaker 3 5:13

Well, yeah, but.

Speaker 2 5:14

But she travels overseas mostly.

Speaker 3 5:16

Oh yeah, so now the great thing is getting gas at. Buc-ee's. The price is usually lower than most places okay, I believe it.

Speaker 2 5:30

It's not as low as a BJ's credit thing right, but it's cheaper.

Speaker 3 5:31

Okay, it's in a good gas range, so the great thing is you save money, you fill up the tank and it's you know you fill up your stomach. Oh yeah then you go inside right and then you spend 50 to $80 walking out the front door. It is between a Crocker barrel and a 7-Eleven and it's got the cleanest bathrooms in the world.

Speaker 2 5:56

And is it good for truckers too?

Speaker 3 5:57

No, oh so no truckers. Truckers are not allowed on a Buc-ee's property.

Speaker 2 6:03

Oh, so it's not good for truckers, even though they've got 100 gas pumps. Right, but usually truckers, when they're traveling, there are places for them to go for showers and things like that, but not at Buc-ee's Love.

Speaker 3 6:13

That's love, yeah, but not Buc-ee's no, and there are big signs that say sorry, you know, no semis.

Speaker 2 6:19

No semis.

Speaker 3 6:19

That might be a lot Too much yeah, and so we had the funnest time in Bucky's.

Speaker 2 6:25

You spend a lot of time in Bucky's yeah so the cinnamon rolls were phenomenal. Ooh, cinnamon rolls, yummy, and we had chopped up meat, not brisket Pulled pork type of thing.

Speaker 3 6:41

Oh, the sandwiches is phenomenal.

Speaker 2 6:43

Okay, so you got to the area where bucky's was, and then we had to.

Speaker 3 6:48

This was in. This is uh, outside of atlanta.

Speaker 2 6:51

Before you get to atlanta oh, before atlanta, that's where you stopped.

Speaker 3 6:53

There's one on the other side of atlanta also, but but and then you must get um beavers nuggets what are they?

Speaker 2 7:02

oh what are they?

Speaker 3 7:03

oh, they're they, they're Bucky's nuts.

Speaker 2 7:06

They're Bucky Beaver's nuts.

Speaker 3 7:08

Yeah, they're balls of sugar tied together and it's dipped in fat and it's phenomenal.

Speaker 2 7:15

Oh yum. So it's not like you know.

Speaker 3 7:18

Yeah, now I wanted to get. I thought Bucky's would be fantastic for collage travel radio. Yeah, you know music, you know. The trouble is all they do is put billboards up on the highway and that's it.

Speaker 2 7:31

Yeah, they're billboard people, that's it. So, and they're getting bigger and bigger and bigger every day which is fabulous so how long did it take you to drive up to your sister's?

Speaker 3 7:41

It's a two-day drive. It was a two-day drive, so you stop. You know halfway through. No, that's not bad right. And then, of course, you get to see the sites like lookout and buckies and then when you get to the border in illinois, your first exit in illinois is to metropolis illinois metropolis.

Speaker 2 7:59

No, what superman. Bingo Superman was in Illinois.

Speaker 3 8:05

That's where Metropolis came from. They have an amazing world of Superman's museum, your murals and shops there, I didn't see any pictures of you posing with Superman. Well, he's so big, you know it's too big.

Speaker 2 8:22

That would have been a cute shot with your wife, maybe in his arms or something. No, no, no.

Speaker 3 8:27

They have this gigantuous statue outside.

Speaker 2 8:30

Right, it's very big, big yeah.

Speaker 3 8:32

I've got a picture that I took a couple of years ago that I could show you Well we got to do that.

Speaker 2 8:36

But you know we're going to be talking more about all the fun sights along your journey here. But before we get back on the road again, oh, yes, you have a lot of uh fun things that we're going to talk about on your trip home.

Speaker 3 8:51

Let's talk about trivia.

Speaker 2 8:52

Oh my goodness, okay, so you ready for this?

Speaker 3 8:54

you're going to ask me a trivia question. You bet it, this is called traveling trivia.

Road Trip Adventures & Discoveries

Speaker 2 8:58

Yep and jay will never know the answer well, this, this one's kind of hard oh yeah, even though it's easy, it's hard in In India, india, india, there are trains that transport people and, of course, how many passengers do they transport per day? I think it's.

Speaker 3 9:19

India, I'm thinking 1,225,000.

Speaker 2 9:25

And you wouldn't even be anywhere near close. 23 million passengers per day Wow, I think that even beats New York City.

Speaker 3 9:34

Oh yeah, 23 million.

Speaker 2 9:36

Per day. I mean, when I was looking up this information, it was like 23 million and I kept looking at the numbers. Do I have the comma in the right spot? Yeah, 23 million. I had to keep looking at the numbers. Do I have the comma in the right spot? Yeah, 23 million per day. That just goes to show you how big and populated India is. Wow, there you go, 23 million. Get on the train. I bet you they squash on there.

Speaker 3 9:56

Yeah, now.

Speaker 2 10:00

Oh, what's that? Let's play the music. What is that?

Speaker 3 10:03

Now, what is that?

Speaker 2 10:04

That sounds like a train music. We're traveling, we're traveling, it's traveling music. How about?

Speaker 3 10:09

Route 66?.

Speaker 2 10:11

Were you on Route 66?.

Speaker 3 10:13

Ah, there you go. There's a good question. Yeah, so traveling between Champaign, illinois, and Peoria, illinois is Bloomington, illinois Right and old Route 66 used to go through Bloomington.

Speaker 2 10:29

Where you wanted. You're still not answering the question, jay, where you wanted, and so I got off of Interstate 74 and turned south on Old Route 66.

Speaker 3 10:38

At that point because I wanted to go to a historical site that I had found years ago and I had to show my wife, and it's called Funks Grove, funks, funks Grove.

Speaker 2 10:48

F-U-N-K-S Bingo yes, grove.

Speaker 3 10:51

It's an unincorporated community on the US on Old 66.

Speaker 2 10:56

Now, was this on your way home or on your way up?

Speaker 3 10:58

This was on the day when I went to see my friends in Peoria. Okay, peoria, okay. So you're still up in the area. Yeah, the grove for which the settlement is named is Funk's Grove and it's a national nature's landmark.

Speaker 2 11:13

Nature's landmark.

Speaker 3 11:14

Yeah, and Funk created corn seed.

Speaker 2 11:18

Okay, so that's where that came from. That's his claim to fame, yeah.

Speaker 3 11:22

And it is the most beautiful forest area in just so beautiful.

Speaker 2 11:27

Does it still have corn?

Speaker 3 11:28

No, oh darn. No, no, no, but there is an old museum, I mean, there's an old shop there.

Speaker 2 11:34

And this is on Route 66. Off of Old Route 66. Off of Old Route 66.

Speaker 3 11:40

I've taken several people there and they've always gone.

Speaker 2 11:47

You wow, how. How did you know it's one of those little treasures do they have?

Speaker 3 11:49

do they have a website? Oh yeah, okay, do you know the website off the top of your head funks grove, illinois funks grove illinois. It's not funksgrovecom or anything like that check out funks grove illinois you'll find it I'm gonna look right now as we're chatting it is the most exciting?

Speaker 2 12:02

well, it's it's very exciting to.

Speaker 3 12:05

Jay, Because one you get off of old Route 66, which is what I was excited about.

Speaker 2 12:13

Okay, it looks like it's a heritage fruit and grain and maple syrup, yeah, okay, what do we got? Oh, look at that.

Speaker 3 12:20

The forest. You see the forest.

Speaker 2 12:22

I can see the forest for the storm. Okay, I'm going to look for the actual website so people can actually go, because this is part of what we do here, and it looks like it's funksgroveorg uh-huh dot org. Okay, and it's, you've got. It's a sugar grove and nature center and you know well, I don't know about the funks, gro.

Speaker 3 12:43

It says there's a picture comes up when you, I punched it looks like trees. Yeah.

Speaker 2 12:49

And a gem museum, or even has a gem museum.

Speaker 3 12:51

And there's a church there and a cemetery.

Speaker 2 12:55

Very cool, oh, yeah, very cool.

Speaker 3 12:57

Look at that yeah.

Speaker 2 12:58

Yeah, so it's. You know there's a lot there. Did you bring home syrup? You didn't even bring me back anything.

Speaker 3 13:04

Nope, nope, nope, nope.

Speaker 2 13:06

That's the last time you're allowed to go without bringing me back a souvenir.

Speaker 3 13:09

So you ask about some of the exciting things that I did on my road trip, and that's one of them.

Speaker 2 13:15

Well, you get your kicks on Route 66.

Speaker 3 13:17

Bingo. I tried to find that song and I couldn't find it.

Speaker 2 13:21

You, couldn't find getting your kicks on route 66 yeah yeah, we don't want to sing for them but no no, well now, now we're. We're finished with illinois and the gang yes and now you're on your way back. Now you came back a little bit of a different way yes, yes, how did you come back?

Speaker 3 13:40

well, my wife and I, we both said let's go to the ARC, noah's ARC.

Speaker 2 13:46

In Kentucky. Yeah, now, Kentucky's a little bit off the side from where you were traveling. It really wasn't. It really wasn't.

Speaker 3 13:53

No because we drove east through Indianapolis and towards Cincinnati, and then turned south and by golly, there it was.

Speaker 2 14:03

And there was the ARC. Now I have the website up and I'm looking at it and if people want to go and find out more, it's called arkencountercom and it really looks like a replica of what was told to be built.

Speaker 3 14:16

It actually spans 510 feet. Well, how many?

Speaker 2 14:20

cubits. Is that? Wow? I translated this for you. We're going to be accurate.

Visiting the Ark Encounter

Speaker 3 14:26

It's 85 feet wide and 51 feet high.

Speaker 2 14:30

Now do you get to get onto the ark to see how it would be? Absolutely. There's three levels.

Speaker 3 14:35

There's three levels Right, and they have it built. That's similar to what you would have thought they did what it would have looked like.

Speaker 2 14:45

Yeah, right, based on what you've read in in in the bible. Yeah, and and the stories of the ark now, why were there not?

Speaker 3 14:53

uh, what do I say?

Speaker 2 14:55

old dinosaurs, gigantuous dinosaurs this was before then no, there were dinosaurs there was no dinosaurs during the ark they were all creatures.

Speaker 3 15:05

They were creatures okay. So god said, you can get the young ones, you don't have to get the big ones so that's why we have alligators. They have gators, they have whatever and whatever they came in based on the year of the ark, there were no dinosaurs.

Speaker 2 15:18

Based on historical facts of dinosaurs in dinosaur soup that we have in our cars now okay, but you the ark is very popular.

Speaker 3 15:26

Yes, and then how did they feed these animals?

Speaker 2 15:29

Well, I know what Big Bang Theory says, because you know, in Big Bang Theory the character that plays Sheldon is an atheist and his mother is basically a Baptist. And he says he's always telling her well, what did they feed the lions, ma?

Speaker 3 15:49

And she says the dead bodies of sinners, as they floated by they allegedly stored all the grain that they would need Up until the time of the Ark. People were not eating animals, they only ate vegetables, which was grown right.

Speaker 2 16:09

They didn't have a lot of. They didn't eat a lot of meat back then.

Speaker 3 16:12

So then, they stored a lot of grain. They showed how could they store a lot of grain.

Speaker 2 16:16

Right then the poor unicorns missed this.

Speaker 3 16:19

They showed how they could have a system of water because there was fresh water running outside that ran through to the cages to make sure they were had plenty of water because there was fresh water running outside that ran through to the cages, to make sure they were had plenty of water, and then they showed a system how they could actually get rid of the waste that was produced.

Speaker 2 16:36

It was phenomenal right, there was, they had systems, yeah, so there are three.

Speaker 3 16:40

There are three stories in this thing and it is just phenomenal fabulous. Yeah, I mean, it looks like the ark. You know, and you know me, I'm always looking at these history. So there are three stories in this thing and it is just phenomenal, fabulous, yeah, I mean.

Speaker 2 16:46

It looks like the Ark and you know me, I'm always looking at these history shows where they think the Ark had landed and they're still trying to get approval to dig there because it's a country that's not allowing a lot of that. So it's very interesting. So it would be an interesting trip, especially if you have little ones.

Speaker 3 17:09

Oh yeah, and it's located in Grant County in Williamstown, Kentucky.

Speaker 2 17:15

Okay, Grant County, Williamstown.

Speaker 3 17:17

And that's between Cincinnati and Lexington, right off of I-75. So it's real easy to find.

Speaker 2 17:23

Well, that's good. How much did it cost the Ark?

Speaker 3 17:26

Encounter is the second exhibit that the founder created a creation museum which is like 45 minutes away from the Ark.

Speaker 2 17:36

Oh, and I see that here, so it's like adult.

Speaker 3 17:38

You get a dual package and it's a good deal.

Speaker 2 17:41

Very cool, and I see that small kids are, yeah, under the age of 11.

Speaker 3 17:47

well, since I and the wife were there on mother's day weekend, they were closed on sunday, mother's day, but the wife got in free because she was a mother right so it was a really inexpensive okay, so I'm looking at the ark encounter yeah I'm looking at the creation museum.

Speaker 2 18:06

And then they had something called the bouncer pass, which allows you a three-day pass so you can go in and out of all of the above which is pretty cool because I see they have special right for seniors yes a special right for regular adults and they have a youth age between 11 and 17, and then anything basically under 11 is free, right, which is pretty cool, and I mean it's educational, it's informational and I think it would be great for the kids. Were there any real animals on this journey? Did they show any real?

Speaker 3 18:39

No, not on the ship Right, but the Ark Encounter has a museum. They have a theater already built on the property, so there's several different things to go through. The Ark itself was like a four-hour time that you spent inside, wow.

Speaker 2 18:58

Because it's a lot of walking. Yeah, so it is a lot of walking.

Speaker 3 19:02

Okay, it's a lot of walking. Also, then they do have a cafeteria or a buffet built on property. So after we got done walking, we went and it was very, very busy was it good?

Speaker 2 19:16

was the food oh?

Speaker 3 19:17

absolutely, absolutely. And we stayed at a hampton inn, okay, which was it's absolutely right at the back door of the parking lot of the Encounter. Oh, that made it easy. And you don't. If you stay at the Hampton Inn, you don't have to pay for parking the next day. That's what we did. We went on a night Saturday got or Friday got there. And then Saturday we went to the Ark Encounter.

Speaker 2 19:42

Now, did you know that they have the ultimate bouncer pass?

Speaker 3 19:45

Well, what's that? That one?

Speaker 2 19:47

I didn't know that is valid for unlimited admission to the Creation Museum and the Ark for one whole year from your first visit.

Speaker 3 19:53

Well, I don't. And unlimited free parking. I do not plan on getting back there. You don't plan on going back? Yeah?

Speaker 2 20:00

Now I do see something that looks like a cartoon-esque giraffe, Is that?

Speaker 3 20:09

something that you've seen when he was talking with a little headset on Might have. I don't really remember that.

Speaker 2 20:12

Okay, it says Junior Gracie.

Speaker 3 20:17

Gloria, george and friends experience a lifestyle reconstruction. The amazing thing is just standing beside this replica of the Ark and understanding how gigantious it was.

Speaker 2 20:25

It was very big.

Speaker 3 20:27

They have a ramp that shows you where the animals could have walked up to the ramp and through the door.

Speaker 2 20:33

I'm looking at it and so who closed the door?

Speaker 3 20:38

Who closed the door? God closed the door. God closed the door, got everybody on.

Speaker 2 20:44

Said you better get on or you're going to miss the boat.

Speaker 3 20:49

And then in the Creation Museum and in the Ark shows. You know, the Ark came and the whole world was flooded. The whole world was flooded. They even point to the fact that the Grand Canyon of the United States was part of that leftover water. You know, it wasn't just a creek running down the Colorado River, no, it wasn't.

Speaker 2 21:11

There's more, it's just incredible. There are a lot of scientific facts that back up that in particular area was flooded, yes, and they show how it could have been, yes. So, yes, you know me history, I'm the history person.

Speaker 3 21:24

Every area of the world and it's just phenomenal.

Speaker 2 21:27

Yeah, it's interesting to see that and, like I said, we lost the unicorns. Unicorns didn't get on board.

Speaker 3 21:32

No, yeah, they were left out, I guess.

Speaker 2 21:37

Yeah, I mean. So there's a lot of interesting fact voids that you can look at. When you come to this and I'm looking at the pictures, you know I'm seeing all different things that they do there and it's pretty interesting.

Speaker 3 21:49

Yeah, it is.

Speaker 2 21:50

So it would be great.

Speaker 3 21:51

I have several friends that have said they're going, so I would encourage you to go. It's great.

Speaker 2 21:58

It's a good what, at least a whole day.

Speaker 3 22:01

Oh, absolutely Great.

Speaker 2 22:02

It's a good what at least a whole day.

Speaker 3 22:03

Oh, absolutely yeah, at least a whole day, especially if you're walking.

Speaker 2 22:06

Yeah.

Speaker 3 22:10

Is it friendly for people that might be in wheelchairs or canes, believe it or not, they do have the option to rent a mobile Like a little scooter. A scooter, oh, cool beans, and everything is. The ramps to go to the next level are very big and wide and there's plenty of rooms, fabulous Well that's good.

Speaker 2 22:26

A lot of people want to take their moms or dads, yes, and they're not so mobile.

Speaker 1 22:32

No.

Speaker 2 22:32

So knowing this is great, so they can bring the whole family Absolutely.

Speaker 3 22:35

It's a nice big family adventure, absolutely.

Speaker 2 22:42

So naturally, after you did this little excursion, you got back on the road. But before we get back on the road, let's do a travel tip.

Speaker 3 22:47

Do you have a travel?

Speaker 2 22:48

tip for us. I do Now a big thing, and I got this from Chasing Trail, but I've talked about this a ton of times Don't rely entirely on the technology for navigation. Don't rely entirely on the technology for navigation. So, in other words, your gps on your phone or in your car.

Speaker 3 23:09

Oh boy, I have. I have come too uh, reliant on my phone, and we all are.

Speaker 2 23:14

We're getting reliant on our cell phones to find where we're going. We're getting reliant on our gps in our cars. However, you should bring along a map, oh really, because, yes, sometimes you'll get into certain types of back roads, like in Utah, and it might be at night, and you're wondering which way to go. And guess what? Your GPS is nowhere to be found.

Speaker 3 23:35

Oh yeah, Well, I don't plan on going anywhere where there's no GPS.

Speaker 2 23:39

You do wind up going places that there are no GPS.

Speaker 3 23:42

On the road trip my wife did pick up maps. She loved it. So oh, where are we? And she'd pull out the map and look at it.

Speaker 2 23:51

So when I travel, I always bring my road atlas, always, because there are times you know when I go from, like here in Florida, and sometimes we drive up to South Dakota. You know, somewhere between here and there your GPS doesn't always want to talk to you, right? So if you want, you know oh my goodness, we have a detour, we have to change roads or whatever. It's good to have an upgraded Atlas with you. So, always bring along a road Atlas.

Speaker 3 24:20

That's a good travel tip, Thank you. Thank you very much. Now I'm still not done with my travel tip information.

Speaker 2 24:27

Yes, let's get to your next adventure.

Speaker 3 24:30

Well, let's get back to the ark. Back to the ark. We're still on the ark. We got there Great, got booked into the hotel which is right next to the ark, but then you're kind of out in the country Right arc, but then you're kind of out in the country, right?

Speaker 2 24:51

can you tell jay loves this arc? There are not so, and we were hungry. Oh, okay, and so the.

Speaker 3 24:52

The receptionist at the hotel said you could go blah, blah, blah, blah. Right, they gave you locations, or and, and then do you like mexican food? Well, oh, wow, my wife is not exactly a mexican food right, she doesn't particularly care for it, but we were so hungry Right.

Speaker 2 25:01

She said, yes, she would eat anything. I'll eat that dinosaur that didn't make it.

Speaker 3 25:07

So the funny thing is, when you come into the Ark's driveway, whatever you know, you turn right, you go up to the Ark and go to the hotel. Right, you turn left, you go up a hill and there's jalisco's oh man, was it good.

Speaker 2 25:26

Was it good, we got it we got a uh uh.

Speaker 3 25:29

What for two?

Speaker 1 25:31

uh, when you put all the stuff on fajitas for two yeah, could have served six.

Speaker 3 25:36

Wow, uh, yes, yum, oh, yeah, it was delicious.

Speaker 2 25:40

Yummy, yummy.

Speaker 3 25:41

Yeah, so we have Jalisco. Is this like a franchise?

Speaker 2 25:45

They are kind of like a franchise.

Speaker 3 25:48

Because it was exactly what we go to Right Practically you know.

Speaker 2 25:53

Yeah, they have several locations throughout the South.

Speaker 3 25:56

Yeah, wow and oh. I felt right at home and had to get a Carina.

Speaker 2 26:00

Yeah, I knew right at home and had to get a Corona.

Speaker 3 26:01

What's a Corona? Corona Corona, yeah, Corona.

Speaker 2 26:06

No, you're supposed to get a Dos Equis. I had a Corona, Jay. What am I going to do with you? I guess I could have, but it was that time. Okay, so you've had dinner there.

Speaker 3 26:16

Yes.

Speaker 2 26:16

And then you had to get back on the road the next day, the next day. So where did you go? Did you go somewhere else? No you said, you stopped in georgia georgia, georgia.

Speaker 3 26:25

Yeah, out of kentucky. Uh-huh, we are, I, just we. You could have driven all the way home, but it's too far, yeah, so I stopped in outside olanda at merle Drury, drury, d-r-u-r-y, oh the hotel. Hotel. I'd seen it, She'd seen it. We said let's stop. And the darndest thing what? They give you cocktails at happy hour.

Speaker 2 26:56

Nice Cocktails, yes, and again these hotels around the United States, a lot of them, even though they're not like big, big hotel names. That one is an in particular brand that I know of, and they are good, and no, not only the cocktails.

Speaker 3 27:14

There's dinner, yeah, and it was provided Nice, for a one night stay. Yeah, I mean, it was a hundred and something for the night. Yeah, and when you added up the dinner and the drinks and the overnight, it was, it was worth it, it was absolutely worth it.

Speaker 2 27:29

Yeah, so people need to know that traveling in the United States, when you're on a road trip, there are great places for gas. There's great places, like you said, with Buc-ee's, yes, and then, of course, some of these hotels that we have. I mean, I always wind up staying at hotels that offer me free breakfast.

Speaker 3 27:46

I love my free breakfast and we had free breakfast as well Next morning. Yeah, so I love that and the staff was so courteous and kind they just went out of their way to make you feel at home, and this was in Georgia, Well outside Merle Georgia.

Speaker 2 27:57

Yeah, because I wanted to get through Atlanta and I would be on the south side, you know so we always talk about Atlanta, and Atlanta is a beautiful, big, big, big city. Plenty of things to do there.

Speaker 3 28:18

But bring your patience, because getting on the highway in and around Atlanta is going to be a drive and anyone talks to me I always say I drive through Atlanta, I don't drive around it. My sister and brother-in-law always go oh, we go around, Right. And I say I had more worse experience driving around than going straight through.

Speaker 2 28:33

Well, sometimes I go way over to the other side of the state. Well, yeah, if you're doing that, but just go straight through. The last couple of times I went through straight through. It took me over three hours just to get through Atlanta.

Speaker 3 28:45

You went at the wrong time Right probably and then there was probably a crash or construction.

Speaker 2 28:52

I felt like I was back in LA.

Speaker 3 28:53

Yeah, there is what I call. You've got to go under three bridges which are like tunnels. And in there you've got the the kerfuffle, yeah, of getting through, yeah, which are like tunnels, right, and in there, you got the the kerfuffle yeah. Of getting through, yeah, and making sure you're on 75. Right.

Speaker 2 29:07

Not 20, not 85. Yeah, so you had a very lovely time.

Speaker 3 29:12

Oh, we had a ball. We had a ball.

Speaker 2 29:14

Okay, so you would recommend road tripping.

Speaker 3 29:16

Road tripping. I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it.

Speaker 2 29:18

And, like you said, you went to the Ark Encounter. There are these things all throughout the United States all these little excursions, adventures that you can see.

Speaker 3 29:27

Yeah.

Speaker 2 29:28

And you know, hey, you should go, but I think we've overdid our time.

Speaker 3 29:34

Oh no.

Speaker 2 29:36

So next time when Jay goes out of town, he has to bring me back a souvenir.

Speaker 3 29:39

All right, yes, let's see.

Speaker 2 29:47

What would out of town he has to bring me back a souvenir. All right, yes, let's see what would I call it. Well, you went to that, that nice little funks a funks place, and you didn't bring me back any syrup. They have homemade maple syrup there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, there's so much traveling to do and so little time to do it in, so tune in every week for more travel information and just insights and plain old fun, like we were doing today.

Speaker 2 30:01

Please follow me and like me on Facebook. Do you have a favorite location or perhaps an interesting travel tip, like we just heard with Jay? Let me know at ZMichelson at gmailcom. Don't forget Z is spelled Z-E-E. I'm very excited to let you know my podcast can be heard on all your favorite podcast players. Feel free to give me a review. I'd love to hear what you have to say. Thanks for listening today. Traveling truly opens up the world to you. You learn all about the different cultures, lifestyles and, of course, as we heard from Jay, plenty of food. Then you realize we really are truly the same. Dream, big dream, reach for those stars and if you only get to the moon, at least you made the trip. If you're looking for great places to travel. To visit my website zmichelson travelcom. Z is spelt z, e e. This is z michelson, making your travel dreams come true.