Day Nine: Charlotte, NC to Gainesville, FL

 I wake up at 8am to three menacing dogs.  Gunner and Roxie are snorting and whining in their crates in the next room and Lyla is standing on me, licking my face.

I catch up with Cat some more over breakfast at her local bagel spot. I didn't get to see Charlotte but I did get to see Cat.  I’m looking forward to coming back for her wedding in September and perhaps her bridal shower in June. 

I hit the road at 10:30am for Savannah.  I plan to go to Palm Beach after Savannah, so I call my aunt Carolyn who is there with my grandmother.   She reminds me that tomorrow is my cousin Shoshanna’s Bat Mitzvah, which I did not think I would be able to make when I had a job.  The Bat Mitzvah is from 11am to 3pm.  In order to make it there for at least part of it, I will need to hit the road by 5am.  I really do not want to do that.  I make an alternative plan and head to Gainesville, home of the University of Florida.  A Saturday night at a state She sleeps the whole rideUniversity could be fun.

I pull over to a gas station to find a hotel for the night.  I should get to Gainesville around 6pm.  I yelp hotels in Gainesville and find a cute B&B called Sweetwater Branch Bed & Breakfast.  It has five stars, so I call.  The woman on the phone explains that they allow dogs but only in the cottages, which cost the same amount as the regular rooms.  I book a cottage. 

We arrive at the inn and get the keys and directions to the cottage.  I drive about a block and pull into the driveway of a house named “Sarah’s Cottage.”  It has a white picket fence around the yard. 

Sarah's CottageI let Lyla run around in the backyard and then we settle down inside.   I sit by my fire and write.  

It's 9:30pm and I’m starving so I head into town for a bite.  I first go to Harry's, a Cajun seafood place that the concierge recommended. It's dead, so I wander around for a few minutes.   I consult yelp on my phone and check out a few places with good reviews.   Every one of them is quiet and virtually empty.

I head back to Harry's and plot myself at bar.  I ask Kevin, my bartender from Brooklyn, “Where is everyone?” He explains that people don't go out until after 11 and most people are done with dinner by 9.  I look up at the tv.  The gators are playing Arkansas. People must be watching the game, which could explain why its empty in this part of town.

”What do most people do for the game?” I ask KevinLyla warms up by the firm

"A lot of students go to the game because it's free" he explains. "There are also a lot of bars over by the stadium where people hang out," he adds. 

Although I want to stay awake to fraternize with the college kids, I can barely keep my eyes open after driving for 19 of the past 36 hours.   I have a beer and call it a night.

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