I'd thought I would document my journey southward to Atlanta when I came down this past Sunday (June 17th).  Here it is:

 

From W. 8th Street

 

It was sad to see Cincy go, and I tried my hardest to capture it's beauty on my way across the river into Kentucky...

 

 

 

 

Contest which of the following states has the best Welcome Sign/slogan...

Welcome to Kentucky: Unbridled Spirit

 

Some rolling hills and mountains in southern KY

 

 

Tennessee [The Volunteer State] Welcomes You

 

A bit more mountainous in TN

 

 

Why the heck does the outskirts of Chattanooga need this wide of a highway?!?!

 

Welcome, We're Glad Georgia's On Your Mind

 

And the real Welcome to Georgia...traffic begins flying at no less than 80mph in all lanes, and people are weaving in/out of lanes like it's a damn sport

 

 

A fitting Welcome to Atlanta; you're greeted with the crazy drivers and now 7 lanes of traffic

 

 

Make that 8  :|

 

***A photo documentary of my new commute will be coming soon, as well as, many other pics in/around the Atlanta Metro.***

I made the same trip recently, you don't see a single double-digit story building between cincy and atlanta, and I doubt you see one over five.

be careful of those damn hillbillies in Chevy's!

I'm pretty sure that 75% or so of Atlanta drivers, drive SUV's...and a good chuck of those SUV's are black.

wow... looks awful... at least the scenery was nice on the way down!

Isn't driving cross-country grand?  I'm looking forward to hearing your perspective of Atlanta.  The city get a lot of hype, and you can inform us whether or not it lives up to it.

 

If that's what they call "traffic" in Atlanta... then they should consider themselves lucky.

Kudzu thinks it runs the damn place.

Isn't driving cross-country grand?  I'm looking forward to hearing your perspective of Atlanta.  The city get a lot of hype, and you can inform us whether or not it lives up to it.

 

If that's what they call "traffic" in Atlanta... then they should consider themselves lucky.

 

Trust me Atlanta's traffic lives up to the hype. That's why the freeways are 8 lanes (in each direction).

Basically.  Atlanta traffic honestly annihilates Los Angeles', and that ain't a positive!

Basically.  Atlanta traffic honestly annihilates Los Angeles', and that ain't a positive!

 

I can only imagine the road rage...

Isn't driving cross-country grand?  I'm looking forward to hearing your perspective of Atlanta.  The city get a lot of hype, and you can inform us whether or not it lives up to it.

 

If that's what they call "traffic" in Atlanta... then they should consider themselves lucky.

 

Trust me Atlanta's traffic lives up to the hype. That's why the freeways are 8 lanes (in each direction).

 

I think they just need one more lane to get a handle on traffic.  I think at 9 lanes in each direction things might start flowing again.

^ They could make that new lane an HOV lane!  Wouldn't that be fun?

They could make that new lane an HOV lane!  Wouldn't that be fun?

 

Not in Atlanta but here in SFL they are narrowing the lanes on I-95 to make room for an additional HOV lane (2). Now there will be 4-5 lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic and two empty lanes, brilliant.

"Why the heck does the outskirts of Chattanooga need this wide of a highway"

 

I am assuming that is Interstate 75. There is a lot of through-traffic mingling with local traffic, and it can become quite congested. Given that there are no real bypasses of the area, and that the terrain pretty much funnels traffic into a few select routes, it can get fairly horrendous.

 

"I made the same trip recently, you don't see a single double-digit story building between cincy and atlanta, and I doubt you see one over five."

 

Lexington has several, but it is off of the interstate to the west. So does Knoxville and IIRC, Chattanooga, but both are off of the Interstate 75 mainline.

 

I still like Kentucky's slogan the best: "Unbridled spirit" -- with the horse logo mixed in with the letters. Only on the main interstate signs and major port-of-entries do you see that. Beats out "Where Education Pays!" and "Open for business" that were our priors.

That drive looks painful.

If that's what they call "traffic" in Atlanta... then they should consider themselves lucky.

 

That "traffic" was about 5 miles outside the beltway (I-285).  It was also about 8pm or so...the heavy commute time had come and gone.  I was driving back to my apartment today from downtown and I-75/I-85 southbound was almost at a complete standstill.  Traffic in Atlanta does SUCK, and so far I have seen ZERO trains running along the MARTA routes.  I don't know what's up, but you'll here more from me about the ATL as time progresses.

Tomorrow from Randy: "I wannnna move back to Cincinnati! Traffic is just too bad down here!"

 

I have a friend who used to live in ATL, and on the times that I visited him, I just wanted to stay either in the inner-city, or stay far, far away from the whole central part of Georgia.

Have you ventured north of alpharetta at all, to the more rural areas? And if so, have you been called a "yankee" yet?

^That's extremely funny, because that is generally the area I work (Alpharetta)...and I told my gf last night that I had never heard the term "yankee" used so much (in a serious manner) in my life.  It's just thrown about in normal conversation...and I have had to keep myself from laughing when I hear it.

 

I haven't been called a "yankee", but the term is more so used to describe those from the north (obviously)...nothing derogatory or anything.  It's just kind of funny.

eight lanes sound scurry.

I strongly advise you to not drink the water. It has done somethng to the residents in the more country parts north of atl.

Dont. Drink. The. WATER!!

Unc, you hangin' in there?!  You haven't gone "hick" on us, have you?

I hope not. Us Cincinnati planners have an elite reputation to uphold! No but seriously, if they ever use the word yankee in a derogatory way in Waffle House, put them in their place!

No but seriously, if they ever use the word yankee in a derogatory way in Waffle House, put them in their place!

 

Yeah...throw a pot of hot grits on them!  LOL!

LOL! Word.

I was eating lunch the other day with some co-workers, and they started talking about me/others being northerners/yankees...like it was a bad thing.  But since I am working for a contract firm, most of the people are not from Atlanta or down south.  So me and this guy from the Boston area and a guy from Michigan started talking about hows it's better to be a northerner and what not.  It was a funny conversation to say the least.

 

I take pride in being called a Yankee!

Good thing you're not a Red Socks fan.

Randy today:

 

Randy in a few months:

Seicer, that was really scary....... the movie deliverance type scary.  Now you people see, why I don't like the south!

If you ever catch me in person I will be more than happy to express my feelings for the south.  I was recently in Memphis and I took a few photos to remind me why I live north of the Mason Dixon line:

 

 

 

 

 

LOL!

Here is another good reason. And they still exist supposedly.

If you ever catch me in person I will be more than happy to express my feelings for the south.  I was recently in Memphis and I took a few photos to remind me why I live north of the Mason Dixon line:

 

I see that same display at the travel plazas on the Indiana Toll Road 80/90 when I drive back to Ohio.  I never understood why that had that stuff so far north.