I did take one day to drive into Memphis to do some quick sight-seeing. What is the point of going all this way if you don’t take the time to do something! But, all in all I was a little disappointed, however I didn’t have much time to look around and explore in depth. Many of the museums and displays were closed too. Below are some photos from Memphis.
I did have a really good meal, a Pink Flamingo drink and a pulled pork sandwich at Alfred’s on Beale Street. It was a good choice! And it was a quiet spot to sit and relax, and I got to keep the flamingo. If it gets home safe, it is going to the cabin with me this summer! One problem with traveling so much is that I have developed odd times to stop and eat. I have to admit, getting back to a regular schedule will be nice. I think when I get to Naples my first stop at the grocery store will be to buy a pile of fruit and salad mixings! I did purchase two t-shirts to memorialize my stop on Beale Street. 🙂 I love all the trolley cars, I wish we had some in Minneapolis.
I have to say, the waterfront park was very pretty and I spent a bit of time walking in the park and driving along the river. The HUGE pyramid for Bass Pro Shops really stood out, but I did not have the energy to figure out how to get to it.
Up early for breakfast at the hotel and a walk through old town in St. Charles. My hotel was only a block away from here, so it was an easy walk. You could see the clouds gathering and the tornado warning was due to hit around 5 pm that night in Memphis. But St. Charles was so beautiful, I had to take some time.
Surprise One – B Bathhouse. This was my splurge for St. Charles, their products smell just wonderful! And, as it turned out, the room spray ended up being a life saver at the cabin.
So St. Charles to Bells, Tennessee. A white-knuckle and long drive. Pouring down rain with occasional short breaks in intensity. I just hung on and drove, although there were times when I wondered if I should have booked another night in St. Charles and eaten one night’s stay at the Green Frog Cabins. But too late! I was really sad as I had to skip by St. Louis entirely and just drive, a long 7 hours of driving in the rain and finally in the encroaching dark. I made it, I found my cabin, and all turned out well.
I walked into the my cabin, the Moonshine Cabin, and the problem, musty! You could tell it wasn’t frequently used lately. My sinuses immediately responded, and not favorably. Plus I went from the frozen north to really green and blooming! This is where the room spritz helped, I sprayed it all over and it helped add a much better smell. The porch awnings were deep so I opened the doors and let the wind blow through the cabin. Unfortunately, only one window wasn’t painted shut so the fresh air only helped in the living room area (I later figured out that I needed to switch between heat and a/c to clean out the mustiness). But the place was so charming and the bed was very comfortable. I was also the only one at the cabins this week. The only person I saw was the handyman who came by the next day to clean up after the storm! Never met anyone else, at all.
Surprise Two – the grounds for Green Frog were filled with historic structures and they leave you a set of keys to all of them so you can take a tour through the grounds. Due to my allergy attack, I skipped going to Paducah and the Lakes between the States region and just stayed at the cabin. This was a nice way to get outside and take a short walk.
It also appeared that the owner was converting additional structures into cabins for stays. They have a very nice event center there that you can rent out for groups, I could definitely see that the ability to rent out more cabins would be nice. If the cabin wasn’t so musty, it would have been perfect. Except no television, no radio and no internet. Thankfully I had one bar on my phone so I could keep an eye out on the weather. Arriving during a severe thunderstorm and tornado warning was a little nerve-wracking! A weather radio would have been a nice addition. http://www.greenfrogfarm.org
Question, what day is it? It is only Tuesday and I am having a hard time keeping it all straight already! Of course, that leads to, where am I? 🙂
Today I drove from Muscatine, Iowa to St. Charles, Missouri. I took the scenic route along the Mississippi River, down Highway 61, for the most part. I ignored my Apple wayfinding for the most part as it wanted me to take a different route than where I wanted to go. The hardest part, I was supposed to check into our HOA meeting at 6:30 pm. However, I was in Louisiana, Missouri at this time, where I thought I could check in, and absolutely nothing was open. So many businesses are closed on Monday and Tuesday down here at this time of year, and are rarely open past 4 or 5 pm. It really caught me off guard, although I suppose it shouldn’t have. So, meeting missed unfortunately.
Surprise 1 – You don’t see much of the river on the Scenic River Road. It was fun to zip up and down hills in the middle of nowhere though. At least I met this nice gentleman looking for a ride to Louisiana, MO and so at least I had some company for a stretch. Very chatty, name of Jason, and I was glad of the company.
Surprise 2 – I really enjoyed touring the Mark Twain Cave. The tour guide was very fun and had a lot of cute information on Mark Twain and the history of the cave and cave formations. I do love a cave tour! Hannibal, MO was a fun town to visit and they had a fantastic pottery shop I stopped at.
My first leg of my trip southwards is well underway. Was stressful getting ready, as usual. Setting up a housesitter, determining what to pack, let’s unpack everything and slim down some more, then repack everything, sit and ponder a bit, then cram it all in the car and hope it fits (my vehicle isn’t real big). Whew!! Night one was in LaCrosse and Night 2 is in Muscatine, Iowa.
Surprise one – the Maritime Museum in Wabasha. They had a lot of spectacular artwork in their displays. So much more variety than expected and I could have spent all day just sitting and looking at the beautiful variety of work. Definitely a recommended stop!
One of the photos in the hallway
Looking through the vault doors, no photos inside allowed
Surprise two – the Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe just outside of La Crosse. Wow, what a beautiful and well maintained place to visit, and get a good workout. The center and chapel are up a nice “hill”. They do have golf carts for those who can’t walk up or down the hill, but it is a nice paved trail and a beautiful walk. The candle chapel has some beautiful stained glass inside and worth a quick stop. The church and grounds at the top are worth it.
I am continuing to plan a trip south to Florida. Not sure when I will leave but I have a wedding to go to! Here is one of my pages from my planner. I plan to stop in Memphis and in Natchez before heading east. I am working on drawing in state flowers for this part of journey. Any thoughts on the journey and where to stop? One suggestion I have received is the World War II museum in New Orleans (I am assuming I will swing east through here). I have some ideas for food, always have to plan out your food! My handwriting got a little messy on these pages, not sure what is going on with that! Need to refresh my penmanship I guess.
Starting to plan a one week journey to the Netherlands and need to end up in Amsterdam for a boat cruise. But I am terrible about making up my mind!! Where is a good, relatively inexpensive but safe place to stay? Somewhere I don’t need a car, where I can walk around, absorb the scenery and get used to the time zone before I pick up my daughter to carry on with my vacation. I go around and around and drive myself crazy.
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