Starting at the end, late afternoon brought us to the site of a very large WTF. On the side of a hill there were thousands of little cut-out pig silhouettes with names and places on them. From our vantage point we could not see the purpose for such a herd of silliness. Below lay Poole's BBQ and the swine placards serve as an irresistible and enormous roadside attraction/sign. It worked. We saw, we stopped, we photographed and we swilled. The food was yummy but not nearly as memorable as "Pig Hill."
This particular Friday presented a couple of moments where perseverance were requirements along our quest to find the locales of our desire. To start the day we had an antagonistic interaction with the Garmin. Wrong streets, misnamed streets and disappearing streets seemed to be all the rage. Add to that the apparent local trend of hiding the street numbers of homes and businesses and you have a frustrating mix.
Though foaming at the mouth and after like 10 (okay maybe only 5) u-turns, Rodney would not be denied and Susan, the trouper, endured his vehicular tantrum. When all seemed an exercise in futility, out of the corner of his eye, the intrepid coachman saw something oddly misplaced..... at last we had found the target of our morning quest; "Sam's Treehouse" in Calhoun, Georgia.
In a lot behind a soon to be packed parking lot for an apparently very popular Mexican food restaurant loomed a submarine hull jutting from the side of a building. Before us stood a quite remarkable homage to not only the concept of "adding rooms" but to various modes of transportation. There's an airplane, fuselage, part of a submarine, a helicopter, a boat and other curious appendages. Safe to say this place is unique in every sense of the word.
We were duly impressed by the creative spirit and adaptability skills of this mysterious Tom person. Once again we were reminded of how certain special artisans can make something from virtually what others would see as junk. These visionaries don't seem to concerned in the least by limitations of any kind. From the ashes....... comes architecture. The IM Pei of detritus came a home of astounding spaces. Get back Frank Lloyd, this human truly knows how to make the best of natural resources. We did not get to meet the creator but imagined him to be a character worthy of exploration. Oh the Outsider ideal thrives on and we were impressed.
Then in what can only be called very unexpected and a severe departure from our imaginings came a sight very unexpected. I peeked into the all but crumbling garage area to find...... drum roll please........ a very shiny and new red Porsche Boxster. SAY WHAT? Yes our visions of a wild haired hunchbacked hermit architect were dashed. Hmmm? That would qualify as another version of surprise. Come to think of it, if the man of our fantasies were to appear as imagined and drove that pretty red rocket, that would make it all even more amazing.
Upon further research, this is what we found: This tree house is very unusual. It is
multi-level and features a submarine prop from an 1960's Elvis movie, helicopter and more! Owned, built and lived in by Sam Edwards, author and adventurer, former aid to President Jimmy Carter. The airplane is a bedroom. There is also a den, library, kitchen. He has to duck under the branches to get around in his home. It was also featured on a network TV program on unusual homes.
Curiouser and curiouser indeed.
And there is a lot more about remarkable day number forty; watch for "Day 40.5" to appear tomorrow morning. There are just too many photos of this part of the saga to include in one email message... oh my oh my.
Love and vehicles,
Rodney and Susan
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