Prepping for a wander

And what a wander it will be. Heading to the US in a couple of weeks. First stop is Chicago where we'll visit our dear friends K&E and J&E and their beautiful gaggle of littles (well, K&E have more littles these days!). We'll have missed the glorious summer but it will probably be warmer than England. From there we'll drive to Tennessee to meet up with my Dad and sis to visit my beautiful 92-year old grandmother. Drive, you say? Indeed. We decided upon it for a number of reasons:

1. It's cheaper. Even with the car rental and gas, for some reason getting from England to Tennessee is crazy expensive. Brits don't want to go to the Southern US (except Florida, that is)?? Go figure.
2. We get to see my college roomies. Not that I ever need an excuse. But especially special because there's a new little (Amelia) to meet.
3. Road trip! I love a good road trip-- the flexibility, the food... plus, MRN has not seen very much of the US, so this is a good opportunity (even if it is just Indiana and Kentucky... shhh. Don't tell him).

I have to admit I am looking forward to the food, especially as we pass into the Southern part of the country. There's the standards-- Cracker Barrel, Chick-fil-A. But the exciting part is the unknown discoveries... will we find an awesome diner? Fantastic BBQ? The options are limitless.

I'm trying to decide our route now. We could go direct-- straight down through Indiana and into KY; or we can go slightly out of the way and cut over to Columbus (where I'd be able to stop at the Ballard Design outlet... heehee. Don't tell MRN...), but would add a couple of hours onto our trip. Do we just want to get to Music City so we can play tourist there (even though I lived there, I was 2, and haven't been there since except to fly in and out, since my grandmother lives in eastern TN, about 2 hours from Nashville), or do we want to take our time and stay over somewhere interesting. I have to say I'm still a bit burnt out on the planning front from the wedding so I'm not super jazzed to do my research. So if anyone has any suggestions, they are welcome!