Country Roads

What is it about country roads that makes this a favorite destination? Favorites are special and personal, the opposite of general and common. All who lived in Athens during our years will have their favorites. So this article deviates from the Athens We Knew  style as the following is largely imaginary but based on real images and shared experiences.

Imagine you’re a young man, just turned 16, with a new driver’s license, use of a car and a few dollars for gas. Given a day with nothing special to do, what do you do? Time to drive. There are so many roads around Athens. Some nice two and four lane roads lead you to other destinations. Some one lane paved roads are still easy to navigate and then there are the country roads.

It’s time to pick up a friend and on a dare, drive down the first country road you come to. Nice pick, nice one lane macadam road without any idea where you are going to end up. You drive for miles, laughing, joking, listening to songs on the radio. Back then it’s pretty much just the radio. No streaming songs, no iPods, no iPads, no Spotify, just a radio that picks up a few stations, one of which is your favorite. You lose track of time and distance but there’s still plenty of gas in the car.

Ut oh, what’s this? That nice macadam road just suddenly turned into a dirt and gravel road. There is a steep bank on one side and a drop off on the other. It’s been quite a while since you’ve seen a place wide enough where you could turn around and go back the way you came. You’re a new driver, not enough experience to back all the way back to a turn around spot. What do you do? The fun trip isn’t quite as much fun now. Suddenly the inside of the  car has gotten very quiet. White knuckles gripping the steering wheel you continue on your way. All of a sudden there’s a creek in front of you. There’s no bridge to cross. Your only choice is to ford the creek. Right in the middle of the creek you get a great idea. You have dad’s family car. You’ve gotten it really dirty so you decide to stop in the creek and wash the car. There just happens to be a bucket and some rags in the trunk. 

You and your friend get out, take your shoes off, roll up your pant legs, and start washing the car with the nice cold creek water. Remember, this is one of your best friends that you are having this adventure with. He splashes a little water on you. You, of course, splash some back. Soon it’s a full-blown water battle. All of a sudden you realize both of you are soaked. You can’t get back in dad’s car with wet clothes. There’s old blankets in the back so you and your friend each pick a blanket and lie back in the sun to dry off. The next thing you know it’s two hours later. You were supposed to be back home an hour ago. You both jump up, figure out how to get the car turned around and head back home. You still have to take the friend home. You can’t speed. You know a speeding ticket would be the end of this newfound freedom. There are going to be consequences for your actions, but, oh, it was such fun.

Fifty years later at your class reunion. You meet up with your friend and one of the first things you say to each other is, “Do you remember the country road when….?”