Lynchburg and Huntsville

Yesterday, I visited Lynchburg (TN) and Huntsville (AL).
My day started extremely early: I got up at 5h35 and hit the road at 6am (half in zombiemode, half excited to see more of this crazy country).
The first destination was Lynchburg, TN where the world famous Jack Daniel's whiskey is distilled. When entering Tennessee, I noitced a small road sign, saying that we where entering the Central Time Zone. I was totally dumbstruck, as I never noticed Tennessee being in another timezone during my Nashville trip. But apparently, Tennessee is neatly split into an eastern timezone and a central timezone. Good to know! But that meant we would early before the distillery actually opens to the public. We used this opportunity to visit the historic heart of metro Lynchburg, which is basicly simply one square with old-fashioned looking shops... A weird fact about Lynchburg is that this place is in Moore county, and that is a dry county. The Jack Daniel's distillery is subject to some exeptional rule, that makes them able to distil their delicious liquor, but they cannot sell their whiskey in Moore County. Only in America...
Another funny fact is that in Georgia, the sales of fireworks is strictly regulated. Just over the border in Tennessee, you can find a whole lot of fireworks supermarkets. My logic has some trouble understanding what the problem is with selling fireworks in a place where guns are sold as if they were toys... No, I'm not judging, I'm just trying to understand this country and especially the South.
So in Lynchburg I followed a guided tour through the distillery. As it is a dry county, tasting was not possible, but I thought it was a very interesting tour. I did have some trouble understanding our guide, as he had a very distinct accent (and I still miss subtitles when it comes to Southerns). After this tour, the GPS sent us through the Middle of Nowhere in Tennessee and I really started thinking who I would be if I would have grown up there, without an academy of arts and surrounded by endless hills.
The next destination was the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. That is the place where I participated in the International Space Camp in 2002. I was so glad to go back there and relive my memories. The museum changed a bit, of course, and the Saturn V replica is now on the second floor of the IMax cinema, with a small exhibition to explain more about the Saturn. I enjoyed being back in the Space Shot (I admit, I screamed a little bit and I was swearing "putain, putain", but that's fine) and in the G-force centrifuge.
Afterwards, we headed towards the Waffle House, as this seems to be very popular around here. I must says that I really enjoyed my waffle. They seem to have a thicker structure than the Brussels waffles, and they're less crispy, but nonetheless, they're great. I was a bit surprised to see my waffle being served with bacon as a side, but apparently my ordering a waffle with pecan was misunderstood as a waffle with bacon.
Driving back to Atlanta was interesting as well. The GPS sent us via an Alabama highway, and I must say that I've never seen a night as dark as the ink-black night in Alabama. There was no moon to shine upon the road, no road lights, no light from houses as there were no houses along the road... it must have been the darkest night I've ever seen, it looked as someone had hung an ink-black velvet drape over the Earth...