Time for our February Road Trip!! Time to check something else off that bucket list. Claude has always wanted to drive the Ocean Highway from the tip of mainland Florida all the way to Key West in the Florida Keys. We have done a trip where we flew into and out of Key West and spent several days in just Key West. This trip would be a driving trip from Kentucky to Key West and back. The plan was to leave on Wednesday, February 12th. Then, the weather reports started to fly again. It seems another storm with 6-8 inches of snow, followed by ice and rain, kept awful by temperatures below freezing during the day and evening. Yuck!! We did the first round of this kind of weather already. We decided we would leave Monday morning and get away before this hit Kentucky Monday night. So we Ran Away, Ran Away!!
Monday, February 10th, we were up and finished loading the last minute things into the car. We made it safely to Tennessee. We stayed near Chattanooga. There was a nice Italian/Greek restaurant near the hotel, Portofino's, where we enjoyed a great meal. Then a quiet night in our hotel room.
Tuesday, February 11th, we found our way to Douglasville, Georgia outside of Atlanta. There we found Champs Clock. My mechanical clock we purchased in Las Vegas 20 years ago needed a little tweaking. I called the company in Atlanta, that was the only one who could work on these clocks, and learned they went out of that business. They did have on their website a list of potential companies that might do this kind of work. One was Champs Clock in Douglasville.
Claude and I were smitten with this clock shop. It seems, when Rhythm clocks stopped selling and servicing their clocks, Champs purchased the lot to sell in their shop. And such a cute shop it is.
It is a family owned and operated business. The man in the shop when we got there is the son-in-law of the owner. They all live close to this building in the picture. There are three rooms full of clocks of all kinds. We roamed these rooms. Here is some of what we found.
There were clocks of all shapes and sizes and styles from very modern to classic. From tiny to sit on the edge of a desk to wall to great huge cuckoo clocks. While looking through these clocks, we hear a cow bellow and a dog bark in their version of a cuckoo clock. It turns out this shop and the clocks in it have been in two movies and the signs out front tell you about them.
We left my clock with the understanding it will take a while for them to get to it as there are at least 40 in front of me to get repaired. Meeting and seeing the business makes me feel very comfortable with their love of and care for clocks. I shall wait patiently.
On we drove to our hotel in Atlanta. It was located in Atlanta by a stadium. Center Park Stadium was originally the home of the Atlanta Braves. Now it is home to the Georgia State Panthers. We would walk to Bull Pen BBQ across from the stadium for our dinner.
As we walked back to the hotel, we noticed some little conveyances outside Center Park Stadium. We thought about each getting one and taking a tour of the area. Then we remembered Italy and Mackinaw Island and, after a good laugh, we opted not to try them.
Wednesday, February 12th, we had a free day in Atlanta. Alas, the weather had come to Atlanta in the form of a pouring rain. Buckets I tell you, buckets. Fortunately, we have visited Atlanta before and hit the big highlights that trip. We found a nice indoor experience for this very rainy day.
We went to "Horizon of Khufu: An Immersive VR Expedition in Egypt". This piqued our curiosity as we have been to Khufu's pyramid in Egypt. This promised to take you virtually inside the pyramid. It was inside. It was dry. It was something we have never done before. It would be a lot of fun.
When we arrived at the venue, Claude needed to have a little something to eat with some medication he was taking. We were directed to a Kroger store a few blocks away. Kroger had parking in the basement and out front of the store. To get to the store on the second floor, you entered the first level and took an escalator or elevator to grocery store on the second floor. You would do your shopping and then exit by going back down the elevator with your cart or carrying your bags down the escalator. Crazy.
Back to the venue for our Khufu VR Expedition. After signing a waiver so they couldn't get sued if you hurt yourself (always comforting thing to do), we went to a little open area with signs on each wall. There are multiple types of VR experiences happening at the same time. We were directed to the wall with signs about Khufu's pyramid and given time to browse them.
Then we were taken to be fitted for our VR eye gear. I really don't know the technical term for these things. Here is a quick shot I got of Claude being fitted. They have to sit on your head comfortably and allow you to look through the lenses comfortably.
After we were both fitted, we could hear in the ear pieces on the head sets, the narrator and tour guide of the Khufu experience. We were shown blue lines on the floor and told to always stay inside whatever shape that blue line took. We were shown orange lines and told that was the absolute furthest we could walk. We were shown a red grid to our side which indicated were were too close to the wall or edge of the structure we would be traveling through. We were also shown a white broad line going to a white obelisk. If we really got off track, this would come up in our view and we should follow it. Once we understand the rules of the road, we were invited to begin our adventure. A blue shape came up and we walked into it. I could see Claude as a figure outline made of dots with his name on his forehead. He could see me the same way. As we progressed, other figures made out of dots would walk past us. I am guessing they were on another adventure or maybe having the Khufu experience.
As the adventure progressed, we had to get up to a certain level on the outside of the pyramid. Here is where your senses were challenged. The rocks you could see under your feet began to raise up in the air along the side of the pyramid to get you to where we would get off to enter the pyramid. There was a space between where we stood to be raised to this level and the edge of the pyramid. We found ourselves concerned about stepping across it. The reality is we were on a level floor the entire time. It was the video that was moving us. But we felt like we were moving. We felt like you could fall stepping across to the side of the pyramid. We both made it. Then were went into the pyramid. Our guide had to bend way down not to hit the roof of the shaft we were to travel down. I found myself bending down also. Really, it was all open space but you are so conditioned by the view in the VR headset and the instructions at the beginning, until you react as though all that stone is really in your way.
Our platform inside the pyramid now went down the shaft while we stood still. At the bottom, we were in the room where the Pharoah Khufu was buried. This type of movement and walking on stones that had spaces between them continued as we visited the queens burial chamber, and other open areas inside the pyramid. We would be taken outside to the edge of the pyramid overlooking the Nile and Cairo. Then we would climb to the very top of the pyramid for a view of the entire area. We would see how Pharoah Khufu was mummified. Then we would ride his barge into the afterlife.
It was a fun experience. We realized we were all in one huge room on a flat floor the entire time. The VR headset and all those specific instructions really have you believing what you are seeing. We both had to get our equilibrium back a bit after the experience. We would try this again with another theme. You can't take pictures as all you are seeing is inside the VR headsets.
We dined at Grindhouse Killer Burgers before returning to our very dry, very warm hotel room. This burger place shows B movies while you eat.
Now we were ready to experience Florida!
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