Day after

Oct. 7

Today we went back to visit with Katie’s parents while they took their friends around Nashville. They returned and we had a taco lunch and watched Boone and Quinn play. Quinn is a month older than Boone so she is walking and she tried to show Boone some things to do. She showed him toys but then when he wanted to play with them she took them and he was very calm about it and either watched her play or played with something different. 

Quinn's mom said she taught Quinn some sign language so they could communicate until Quinn learns to speak! Very interesting idea.

After lunch and talking we returned to the RV.

Boone's First Birthday Party

Oct. 6

Today is Boone’s first birthday party! The party was in the Montgomery Bell State Park Hotel where Katie’s parents and a friend from WI stayed. There were two hotel rooms with a nice living room/kitchen area attached to both. Boone had three young friends at his party and they were all girls that were just a bit older than him. He is almost walking and they were all walking so it was fun to watch how they progress as they grow. They were not old enough to fight over his gifts yet, Katie helped him open them and the girls played with them!

Boone had a personal three tier banana birthday cake that he smashed and ate. He likes banana cake!

To respect the wishes of Boone's parents I am not including pictures of the party!

travel

October 5, 2018

We left Paducka, KY at 9 AM, the same time Natalie left Roscoe, IL and we are both headed for Harpeth in Ashland City, just outside of Nashville, TN. Our drive is about 2 hours and hers will be around 9 hours. 

We stopped at the TN welcome center to have an official farewell with our travel partners, Carole and Jerry. We arrived at Harpeth and after we were all set up we realized that we no longer had our travel partners! SAD

We relaxed all afternoon and then Duffey stopped on his way home from work to visit. He told us all about the Boone’s  party tomorrow and also how to get our Opry tickets for Monday night.

KY

October 4, 2018

We arrived in Paducah,KY in time to have lunch. We are staying at a Harvest Host which is the Quilting Museum. It is over 90 degrees so we struggled on our walk downtown to find a restaurant for lunch. We decided on Shankies and were elated that their AC was working very well. The waitress was also very cold and did not seem to be into her job! My burger was a bit greasy but tasted fine and the lemonade was very cold!

After lunch we walked along the flood wall that was painted with historical images of this river town.

At 7 Carole and Jerry came over so we could watch ‘The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon’ together for our last night. 

It was still in the high 80 at 9 PM!

Missed

One crazy place we missed in Independence because it was closed was Leila's Hair Museum. This is the ONLY hair museum in the world with thousands of wreaths and jewelry made from human hair! These items are and were made from the hair of the dead to honor them.  YIKES

Cahokia

October 3, 2018

We started our day visiting Cahokia, the largest prehistoric Indian community in America north of Mexico.  The estimated population between AD 1050-1150 was 10-20,000 but declined began in the 1200’s and by AD 1400 Cahokia had been abandoned. Indians of the Mississippian culture built this community and others throughout the Mississippi floodplain area. Their culture lived on mounds with the height of the mound depicting the higher station in the culture. In the 92 degree heat we climbed almost 200 stairs to the top of the highest mound which belonged to the leader of the Cahokia and from which he could watch his people. This was quite interesting because we had no idea this area was so close to Collinsville, IL.

Our next visit was the largest Ketchup bottle in the USA! The brand is Brooks and they have an amazing ketchup bottle next to the plant. This was nice because we stayed in the air conditioned Jeep and just took pictures!

Our next adventure took us to Old Route 66 and the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge across the Mississippi River. This one mile long bridge is now open for walking or biking but not cars. In the middle of this bridge is a 20 degree turn so in its day traffic could not go very fast and make this turn. We walked the entire bridge on this hot day and it was up hill half of the way! We were very lucky it was a windy day to make the heat bearable. The water under this bridge was to unsettle for barge traffic so a canal off to the side handled this traffic. All this walking gave us well over 10,000 steps for the day!!

Off the bridge are these cute castles out in the Mississippi that were once used for water intake.

Our next stop was finally lunch at 2:30! We headed to The Hill and Favazza’s on the corner of Southwest and Marconi. This is a restaurant that Frank Sanitra frequented in his hay day. We dined on delicious Italian food and ordered tiramisu to go! The Hill is a 50 square block area that is an Italian neighborhood known for its food, specialty groceries, bakeries, fire hydrants painted the colors of the Italian flag, and darling ‘tiny’ shotgun houses. 

After a filling late lunch, early dinner we headed down Route 66 to Ted Drewes for Frozen Custard. Drewes has been on Route 66 since 1941 and is famous for their “Concretes”. I had an M & M concrete, Jerry had an Oreo concrete, Carole had a hot fudge sundae topped with homemake whipped cream and Duffey had a cherry malt. All were delicious and made this 90+ heat more bearable!

St Louis

October 2, 2018

We are staying in the RV lot of the Casino Queen across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, MO. This is a nice level, black topped lot with full hook ups and we need them because the temperatures are record high for this time of year. ($58.)

We had breakfast in the Casino and were surprised that it was not a buffet and the restaurant was not busy. Jerry predicts the Casino will soon close from lack of business.

From our camp site we have an amazing view of the  Gateway Arch so that is the first place we began our St. Louis tour. Jerry, Carole, and Duffey rode to the top of the Arch but the pods were so small I decided that I would not enjoy the ride! I walked through the museums at the base and checked out the gift store. It was all air conditioned so I was extremely happy! They complained about the tight quarters for their 4 minute ride up to the top and 3 minute ride out of the Arch, but loved the views they saw. They saw the RV’s and could see for miles around the area on this clear sunny day.

I learned that Eero Saarinen won a contest that ended up with his design of the Gateway Arch being built. He also designed the Tulip table and chair because he did not like all the legs under the table.

Our next stop was THE SAWYER River Boat for a ride on the Mississippi River. Carole, Jerry, Duffey, and Isaw numerous Tug Boats pushing up to 15 badges down the river. We rode the area that steamboats took when they ruled the river and saw the diverse riverfront of St Louis. We learned one casino dug a trench so river water flowed by it and made the riverfront casino legal!

We tried to visit the first church in the area, but it was closed so we could not get the history. This church was once blessed by the bishop.

The Old Courthouse was quite the site to see with doors over 12 feet high and 6 inches thick. This is the courthouse where in 1850  Dred Scott sued  Irene Emerson and won his freedom. More than 200 slaves petitioned for their freedom in this court. Winning freedom meant that they were considered citizens not property.

Best wet flood stopper! Get it? Don't slip!