Page 30 - Demo

Fools%u2019 Journey24students, some trying to sleep, others partying. By morning, we were cold, stiff, and tired. Our first touristy stop was the not-so-world-famous Wonder Cave in Tennessee. Lynn spotted the hand-painted plywood sign, sitting crooked on a hillside, with the single word %u201cCAVE,%u201d and an arrow pointing the way. Except for basements, Lynn had never been below the surface of the earth, so we stopped. Although the sign was a little ratty, the cave itself was beautiful. It had been open to the public since 1900, but had never been vandalized, wasn%u2019t strung full of electric lights %u2014 and it didn%u2019t have OSHA-approved stairways or guard rails. In fact, everyone in our small group, except the young children, had to carry a kerosene lantern. It was a low-budget operation, and definitely worthwhile.Lynn also selected our next seat-of-our-pants destination %u2014 the Etowah Indian Mounds in northern Georgia which, at one time, boasted a society more advanced and larger than anything in Europe. In the Visitors Center, we were surprised to learn that the conquistador, Hernando DeSoto, visited Etowah in 1540, on his trek from Florida, up through the Carolinas and Tennessee, then back toward the Mississippi River %u2014 only 48 years after Columbus discovered the New World. That evening we checked into a motel consisting of several small trailers. Ours was clean and comfortable %u2014 much nicer than sleeping in the car. With our teachers%u2019 salaries, the less-expensive, mom-and-pop places were our favorites. We found them on old 2-lane highways, looking a little dilapidated, with names like The Haven of Rest, El Chico, or The Colonial. A sign advertising amenities like %u201cTVs%u201d or %u201cSteam Heat and Telephones%u201d hinted that it was our kind of place. Our first Florida stop was the Castillo de San Marcos fort in St. Augustine. Construction had begun on it in 1672, making it the oldest masonry fort in North America. Next, we hit the Ripley%u2019s Believe It or Not Museum (quite tacky), then an alligator farm (comatose reptiles), where we were treated to a wrestling match between a large, well-built man and a small, puny %u2018gator. It was no surprise that the reptile lost. The victor leaped over the fence and blocked the exit, hat in hand, accepting donations. We gave him