Our first night on the road, we stopped in Salina, Kansas. There is absolutely nothing we can say about this part of the trip except that it is long and flat and boring. We stayed in a nondescript La Quinta and left first thing in the morning for Kansas City and our rendezvous with Susan Lineberry, a good friend from IBS who now lives there. We went to Joe's BBQ, which is just about the best bbq we have ever tasted. Since we had Boo with us and he was not content either in the car or being tied to a post (he created quite a scene), we went to a nearby park to catch up and eat up. As the KC Royals had just won the World Series, there was a huge victory parade downtown and we, of course, got stuck in all that traffic forever. It was great fun watching the sea of blue walking and riding downtown to celebrate their team.
A non-eventful drive to the St. Louis area the second day was even more nondescript than the first. Another (even worse) La Quinta for the night, but, at least we got some good Chinese food delivered. We got up early to go into St. Louis for Jim to climb the Arch and us both to go to the Jefferson Expansion National Historic Site. Siri had us so lost, even as we kept seeing and getting close to the arch. Between that and the foggy morning, we finally just gave up and moved on down the road. We stopped at Great Rivers, Kentucky, planning to go to Patti's restaurant here, which got all kinds of hype, but, after a look at the menu, we decided to pass it up-really old fashioned menu and a real tourist trap kind of place. It did make for a few nice pictures though.
We traveled on the Woodland Trace down through the Land Between the Lakes which was just beautiful. We had lunch on the deck of the Lake Barkley Resort overlooking that beautiful lake. Cheesesteak for me and catfish for Jim.
Next on the agenda was-surprise!-another La Quinta! This one (in Clarksville, TN)was better than the last two but none of these were as nice as the one in Tucson. We were tired and had full tummies, so just piled into bed, watched the Country Music Awards (which took place in Nashville that night) and slept well. We decided to bypass Nashville because of the crowds and having Boo, makes it nearly impossible to enjoy a night on the town in a big city.
On our fourth day, we drove part of the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is 444 miles long from Nashville to Natchez and goes through 3 states and 10,000 years of history. This natural north/south trail was tramped down by travelers over the years into a clearly marked path. It was used by Natchez, Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians as well as slaves and soldiers and regular working people. In the early 1800s traders floated crops, livestock and other materials down the Mississippi River on flatboats, sold their goods and boats in New Orleans or Natchez and walked or rode horseback home north. Slaves, when freed, walked this road to new lives in the north. Defeated confederate soldiers and triumphant union soldiers walked back home at the end of the Civil War. Images of all who walked before us flooded our senses as we walked parts of the old Trace. Our fourth La Quinta and some wonderful bbq greeted us in Madison, outside of Huntsville, that night. We were too late to see the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. We hoped to go the next day, but didn't make it as we had a full day, driving down to Lake Guntersville State Park, where the wedding festivities were taking place.
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| The Old Trace |
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| Confederate flags are still flying around these parts. |
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