Blue Highways: Travelling By Dawn’s Early Light

They say the early bird gets the worm and, although that might be a cliche, the morning hours are special times. It is why I love getting on the road before daylight and watching the sun come up as I drive. It’s a special show that looks different every time. 

While most of the world is still asleep, I am in the middle of nowhere, going somewhere I’ve never been. That’s worth waking up early as far as I’m concerned. All I need is the road and a cup of hot coffee - Dunkin’ hot and black with a shot of espresso.  

Traveling the backroads allows for little luxuries. You can roll the windows down and travel much slower than on an interstate. You can almost smell those quiet moments before the sun comes up: hay fields, roadside pastures full of cattle, and maybe a whiff of an early morning shower. That, for me, is the appeal.  

Small towns in the pre-dawn light paint a picture of simpler times, their boundaries marked by wide-open spaces not yet developed and old houses that seemed to come standard with a few acres of land.  

I’m a fan.  

Everything is quiet at 5 a.m. The roads are not busy, and there is calmness that comes before folks get up and out. I’ve always believed that if you’re up and on a country road before the rooster crows, you’re right where you should be. 

When the day eventually breaks and you inevitably find yourself behind a farmer on a tractor, you may be surprised to discover that although you’ve slowed down, it doesn’t irritate you. You may, like me, enjoy travelling 15 miles an hour for five or 10 minutes until you can pass and, of course, wave as you go by. 

I’m famous for taking day trips where I stay for an hour or so and head back home. I call them my ADHD getaways. I go, I see what I want to see, and can be back in Aiken for lunch in the Alley by noon.  

I know, I’m weird, or so I’ve been told. 

But I suggest you try it. Plan that trip, set the alarm, grab a cup of ambition, and go.  

It will be a good morning.