Home at last, home at last....

6/29/2014

As we left Clarksville this morning, it was cool and overcast with rain threatening, so we kept the top up.  As we drove through the historic town of Guthrie, Springfield and Goodlettsville we ran into some light sprinkles on and off and hoped it would clear up by our first stop so we could put the top down.  However, it was not to be. Shortly before getting to Nashville, it started to ran.  I forgot that Hwy. 41 goes through Nashville, but luckily it is Sunday and there was hardly any traffic at all.  We saw the Batman building as we drove into Nashville (The AT&T building) and passed the Lane Motor Museum on our way through the city.  We continued in pretty steady rain on to Murfreesboro where we were going to eat lunch, but the KleerVu Lunchroom was closed so we just continued down the road looking for a place that was open.  On Sunday, there are few non-fast food chains open so we just went on to Manchester, home of the Bonnaroo music festival a couple of weeks ago, and found the Coffee Cafe open and busy.  It was very good and busy. Apparently one of the few places open on Sunday in Manchester.

The Coffee Cafe - Manchester, TN

I thought I left plenty of room but the big truck had to crowd me!

The rain had almost stopped when we went in, but while we were eating, a downpour started and continued almost the whole time we were inside. It finally slowed to a sprinkle by the time we left and we continued in and out of rain almost the entire rest of the way home.  Out of Chattanooga, we passed through the Eastridge Tunnel on Hwy. 41.  This tunnel has one lane each way and each lane has its own "tube", which is small and lined with tile and concrete.  Perfect for blowing your horn.  Which I did, blasting lengthy toots of my air horns.  Yes, I'm easily amused!!  We stopped at the QuikTrip in Adairsville, GA for gas and a cappuchino and the rain was about over by then. We then continued on through Canton, Cumming and finally arriving home in Grayson.  

So, we made it home, with the help of our traveling companion, "the lost monkey".  And, we're still talking!

The Lost Monkey - our good luck traveling companion!


Epilogue

It was quite an epic trip.  We had lots of fun and met lots of nice people, like all the people at the NAMGBR event in French Lick, IN, including the gentleman whose name I forgot with the red MGB with the SS logos on the side, that I met in the car wash area, and the two brothers in St. Ignace (and again on Makinac Island), one of which was blind and "looked" at my car by running his hands over it, and Jeremy the Canadian that I met on an online forum and then met in the flesh in Canada.  And, of course all of the places we saw along the back roads we traveled that make America the Beautiful, beautiful.  And, the car did just fine, despite the pounding it took on the northern roads, and used a total of about 3/4 quart of oil (no kidding - if I'm lyin', I'm dyin').

Our final stats for the trip:  17 days, 6 states, 2 countries and 3,034 miles (does not include the 60 miles crossing Lake Michigan on the ferry)! 

Explored Clarksville Today

6/28/2014

After breakfast, Kyle picked us up and we spent the day exploring Clarksville.  We started out at the farmer's market downtown, which they have every week during the summer.  We then walked around downtown and its a nice area with many shops, restaurants and offices-most of which were law offices.  We then drove around to Austin Peay State University, which is a small university with a very pretty campus.  A lot of it was damaged from a tornado in 1999 and has been rebuilt since then.

Children's fountain

Farmer's Market

It's a dog's life!

Mural on the side of a building downtown

We then made our way back to downtown and ate lunch at a great little brewpub, the Blackhorse Pub.  After lunch we drove around Liberty Park on the river, then hiked around Dunbar Cave State Park.  This is a nice park in town that is around a cave.  Unfortunately, you can go up to the cave entrance, but it has been closed for a few years to tours inside the cave.  After visiting the cave, we went to the Beachaven Winery just out of town.  This is a small winery started by Judge Bill Beach.  He has since passed away, but his family still runs the winery.  After the tour of the winery, we went looking for the Ugly Car Show and Craft Show.  It turns out that this event never happened, but on the way we passed an interesting intersection.  We were driving down Needmore St. and came upon the intersection of Needless St.!!  No kidding, see the picture.  After that, we went back to the hidden jewel we found for dinner - The Looking Glass.  It was very good and the service was equally good.  If you're in Clarksville, you should definitely try it.

A couple of good looking guys at Dunbar Cave - the opening is the dark area on the left.

Grapes on the vine

The corner of Needmore and Needless!

Tomorrow we will leave early and should get home tomorrow evening.  On the agenda is clean the car and change the oil, get the dog and cat, cut the grass, collect all of our mail and meet the new neighbors that moved in while we were gone.  And wash clothes!

On our way to Ft. Campbell

6/27/2014

We left Owensboro this morning and it was perfect - overcast and cool, excellent for top down driving.  We had not been gone more than about 15 minutes and it started to sprinkle.  However, we motored on through the light sprinkle and it only lasted for a short time.  As we've been traveling the back roads, we've noticed one thing throughout.  And that is, that rural yard art seems the same everywhere.  And that is the rusting hulks of cars parked in all the yards and fields.  These hulks could at least be sold for scrap metal, but they seem to prefer to just let them sit in their yards and slowly disintegrate where they sit.

We missed a turn somehow in Sacremento (pop. 563) and pulled over in front of a store to check the map.  It turns out we had stopped in front of a private car collection.  We could see several old classic cars plus lots of automobilia and models.  The postman happened to drive up and I asked if he know what this was. He said that this was the personal collection of the owner of the local pallet factory.  Unfortunately, he was not home at the time so we could only look through the window.  On the way  back to Hwy. 41, we passed more fields of corn and beans, with the occasional field of tobacco now in the mix.

Back on Hwy. 41, we noticed that the Hwy. 41 Yard Sale was going on.  There were many people all along the road displaying their junk on their porches, yards and  flat bed farm trailers.  This is an organized yard sale that goes for a long way on Hwy. 41.  We finally arrived in Hopkinsville, KY and from what we saw, were not too impressed.  We saw a sign that pointed to Downtown Renaissance area but we didn't see much evidence of a renaissance!  So, we continued on to Clarksville, TN and checked into our hotel.  We went to lunch at the Looking Glass, a local restaurant run by two ex-Ft. Campbell Army cooks.  Not only was the place very cute and uniquely decorated, but the food was very good.  We had smoked salmon on a sun-dried tomato roll with a side of mac and cheese with a little Alfredo sauce to make it very creamy.  (think  you would love this, Paul!)  Decorations include a finch cage, an aquarium and kites hanging from the ceiling inside and a koi pond on the outside patio.   This place is highly recommended.

Unpretentious but very good.

Smoked salmon on sun-dried tomato roll - yummy

Koi pond

After lunch, Kyle met us at the hotel and took us to the base for a tour.  Ft. Campbell is very large and includes a lot of wildlife, including deer, rabbits, turkeys and groundhogs - all of which we saw on our tour.

Local resident by the sign post-lives in large hole under the sign.

I liked this sign by the base kennel.

Air Assault School which Kyle recently completed.

After the tour, we took Kyle and his roommate to dinner at Rafferty's.  Yes, its a chain, but it was near the hotel and it was good.  We'll spend the day tomorrow with Kyle before returning home on Sunday.

We saw Santa Claus!!

6/26/2014

We left Crawfordsville this morning and it was a beautiful day - a little foggy early, but nice and cool and great for top down motoring.  And, Hwy 231 was great - I would rate it good to very good.  We passed through the towns of Raccoon and Brick Chapel before getting to Greencastle, home of DePaw University. All along the way we passed fields of corn and beans.  At times, there was corn on both sides of the road, and planted  to within about 10-15 feet of the road.  In places it was higher than the car, so we were traveling between two green walls that we could not see over!  We then continued south on 231, which remained in good condition and passed through Freedom, before stopping in Worthington for lunch.  There were several antique stores that we checked out before eating at the Route 67 Diner.  People were very friendly and the food decent and reasonably priced.

Route 67 Diner in Worthington, IN

Downtown Worthington, IN

After lunch we continued down 231 through Loogootee and to Jasper, home to the very large, very old and beautiful St. Joseph Catholic church, circa 1841.

St. Joseph Catholic church- Jasper, IN

We then continued through Huntingburg before taking a slight detour to the town of Santa Claus!

On the road to Santa Claus, we passed a very large, 600 acre, gated residence that is the personal residence of a wealthy businessman.  A little further and you come to Santa Claus!  There is not much there except a water park (think Wally World) and a post office that is probably the busiest post office in the country for a couple of days a year!  Oh, and Santa Claus' famous resident (besides Santa Claus) is Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler who grew up here.

Busiest PO in the country - for a few days every year.

After Santa Claus, it was across the Ohio river and on to Owensboro, KY where we stopped for the night.  The hotel clerk recommended a restaurant, the Miller House, which is housed in a restored historic home built in 1905 and located in the downtown historic district.  The interior of the home is beautiful and the food and service were also excellent.  We ate in the basement which houses the bar and the collection of over 350 bourbons.  While not a big bourbon drinker, I had to try an Old Fashion, which was quite good.  If you are ever in Owensboro, KY, you have to eat here.  After dinner, we drove through the downtown and along the River Front, which is a very nice park that runs for several blocks along the river.

Miller House restaurant - Owensboro, IN

Part of the 300+ bottles of bourbon available for your tasting pleasure!

Tomorrow we will head to Hopkinsville,KY, Clarksville, TN and Ft. Campbell to visit our son before heading home on Sunday.

On the way back down!

6/25/2014

It was about 7:30pm when we drove away from the Badger last night.  We said our good-byes to the other 3 couples who were going on their separate ways -  some heading home and some to visit relatives.  As we drove out of the ferry parking lot, we saw a "magic wand" car wash so I stopped and blasted the accumulated bugs and crud off the car.  We decided to stay in Ludington at a small mom and pop motel we noticed when we were in Ludington a few days ago -  Summer's Inn.   It turned out to be very nice and reasonably priced.  Also, they did not allow children or pets.  (the no children part was nice.)  And, it included a nice breakfast, prepared by the owner.   After checking in, we went to the Jamesport Brewing Company downtown for dinner.

After breakfast, we headed down Hwy. 31 and stopped at Grand Haven, which has a very nice downtown near the waterfront.  I had some coffee from the Coffee Grounds coffee shop (real original name!) while Kathy went shopping and left some money in Grand Haven!

From there we went to Saugatuck, MI where we found another picturesque shopping area on their waterfront.   Kathy shopped while I took pictures of the black squirrels!  Our tree rats in Georgia are grey.  We ate lunch on the patio of the Mermaid Bar and Grill, which was right by the water.

The Mermaid Bar and Grill in Saugatuck, MI

View from our table

The Saugatuck Chain Ferry

Black squirrel of Saugatuck

Paddlewheeler in Saugatuck

The ivy covered Ivy Inn B&B in Saugatuck

Our next stop was downtown South Haven, another colorful small town on the water.  We didn't stay here very long, and were soon on our way to Michigan City, IN, where we got on Hwy. 421 and headed south.  When we left Michigan and entered Indiana, we left the land of cherries and asparagus and entered the land of corn and beans!  Not long after we turned onto 421, the road was closed and we had to make a detour of about 20 miles.  While on the detour, we got stopped by not one, but two trains!  We were stopped at a double track and when the first train was almost passed, another train came from the opposite direction!  Fortunately, neither train was very long.  We then ran into a pretty good rain around Monon which lasted for about 10-15 miles.  We also saw a very large windmill farm near Reynolds.  These were huge windmills with very large, 3-bladed propellers.  We planned to get as far as Lafayette, IN, but when we got there, we weren't that impressed and decided to continue to Crawfordsville, only about 30 minutes away.  I was beginning to get a little tense and irritable because the roads all day have been just atrocious.  I was tired of trying to focus on the road in front of me and dodging potholes.  I missed about half of them and hit the other half.  The car is getting quite a pounding.  When we left Lafayette on Hwy. 231, the road was great all the way to Crawfordsville.  We will continue on 231 tomorrow for most of the way down the length of Indiana.  I hope road continues to be as good as it was from Lafayette.  We got the last room at the Hampton Inn in Crawfordsville and then walked to the Cracker Barrel for dinner.  I'm ready for a good nights sleep before traversing the rest of the length of Indiana tomorrow.

On the S S Badger

6/24/2014

We left Menominee this morning on our way to Manitowoc, WI to board the SS Badger, the last steam ferry crossing a Great Lake.  The breakfast at the hotel wasn't too good (I guess that is why they give you a 10% discount at the restaurant across the parking lot with a room key), so we decided to go to Green Bay for breakfast, which is only about 55 miles away.  When we got to the hotel, it looked like it had snowed.  The ground was covered with white stuff that looked like snow. We found out it was from the cottonwood trees and covered the ground.

"Snow" in Menominee

We got on Hwy. 41 which is a great road, probably the best road surface we've been on this trip, to Green Bay.  There was a lot of construction goingv on in Green Bay so we continued on, looking for a place to eat. Before we could find a place, we were out of Green Bay so we just continued on.  We went through Oconto, where there were several blocks of very nice houses.

Interesting house in Oconto

We continued on to Sturgeon Bay, which was very nice, but the cafe we picked out was closed!!  So, we just went on.  Shortly after leaving Sturgeon Bay, we found the Morning Glory Cafe, a very nice local place where we had brunch.

Brunch in Sturgeon, WI

We then continued on, passing through Algoma, Kewaunee and finally getting to Manitowoc.   As we drove up to the SS Badger, we were surprised to see the 3 MGs we left French Lick with.  We had separated about 5 days ago and went different places and all ended up back at the Badger the same day!  We were allowed to drive our own cars onto the ferry first, and will be the first to drive off.  After parking our cars, we met Bill, the chief engineer who gave us a behind the scenes tour of the business end of the steam powered ferry.  It was a really interesting experience.  We then boarded the ferry and found ways to spend the next 4 hours until we get to Luddington, MI, including playing bingo and getting a head start on this blog.  The lake is very calm today and quite smooth.

vehicle entrance to the SS Badger

"Special" cars first into the parking deck

Part of the steam engine

The PMGR crew in the Badger control  room

The S. S. Badger - the last steam ferry crossing the Great Lakes

Doing the tourist thing

6/23/2014

Breakfast at the B&B was not until 9:00 so I got up and went to the laundromat at 7:00 and washed our clothes.  This must be the neatest, cleanest laundromat in the world.

After getting all the clothes washed and dried, it was back to the B&B for breakfast.  It was very good with juice, coffee, yogurt and croissant french toast.  We then checked out and Chris let us leave the car in the parking lot while we got a shuttle to the ferry to go to Mackinac Island.

Homes on Mackinac Island

The Grand Hotel

After about a 15 minute ferry ride, we arrived on the island and spend about 2 hours walking around and shopping.  It is a quaint, quiet town where all the vehicles are either horse drawn or pedal powered. (you have to watch where you are stepping in the street!)  The main street is rather touristy with a variety of shops on both sides, especially fudge shops!  As we were walking down the street, we ran into the two brothers (one blind) again and chatted a few minutes until it was time for them to go to their ferry.  Unfortunately, we never got their names.

Shuttle to the Grand Hotel

Rush hour on Mackinac Island

Vehicle with 2 horsepower

Interesting sign - reminds me of my friends in the monkey business!

On the side streets there are very nice turn of the century style homes and buildings.  We walked to the Grand Hotel but they will not let you in unless you are registered. (You can go on the porch for $10/person if you want to sit on the "world's longest porch").  Think I'll have to watch "Somewhere in Time" again.

Resident of Mackinac Island

The Grand Hotel

Turtle Sculpture

Mackinac Island garbage "truck"!  (Note lilac trees in bloom)

After a nice walk, we took the ferry back to St.Ignace and had lunch at Bentley's Cafe next to the Inn.  We finally left town, taking Hwy. 2 across the Upper Peninsula along Lake Michigan.  This road is the best of the trip in Michigan.  It was in good shape the whole way!  We drove through Manistique and Escanaba where we ate at Hudson's Grill, a cute restaurant filled with 50's and 60's decor.  It was then on to Menominee where we checked into the AmericInn. This is a chain I was not familiar with, but someone we met told us it was a nice and reasonable chain.  They were right.  Our room has a small balcony where we could look out on Green Bay, which is off Lake Michigan, and the Menominee lighthouse.

Menominee lighthouse

Tomorrow we'll head to Green Bay and Manitowoc, where we'll take the S.S. Badger across the lake.