LAST BLOG For This Trip. 100418 – 100818
100418: So here we are in St Louis. “Meet me in St Louie…”. We are right at the arch. We walk to dinner under a highway into an area that looks like it had a renaissance but then…? I figure out that the Rams left the city and are back in LA. The stadium is right here and the area is a ghost town. We look up.
What the hell is that?
Dinner nearby at the Four Seasons in the same area. Fancy building.
Changes colors
The entire other side lights up and changes color constantly.
A casino is attached and it is the only sign of real activity. The hotel is quiet. The restaurant is new and very good. It is still overcast and we step out to the 8th floor deck (huge – bar, fire pit, seating area and a two piece band. Nice. And the Arch.
100518: We leave St Louis over a brand new incomplete bridge.
Run…run toward home. I pick Richmond Indiana as our overnight stop.
Along the way, we come upon the coolest catch phrase for an industrial fastener business.
So you think the USA has an evangelist sector? Lots of small town have a lot of churches, but this…
Look at the rock I found.
Richmond: Humidity is back and it is hot. SG walks to town. I drive in and find a cool building – of course, the courthouse.
The town is reviving an historical district. Really a small area, but a Ford Model T museum, a large furniture store chock full of antiques and artifacts (the largest and most complete beer can collection I’ve ever seen), Little Sheba and Zina’a restaurants (not bad) and a first class coffee shop. The floors in these establishments all sloped toward the street. We learn that the building was all industrial factories and the floors were sloped to roll the products out the door and to the nearby train tracks.
Richmond was the epicenter of the black jazz recording industry, recording and selling this music when no one else would (Gennett Records). It was also a huge piano manufacturing town Starr Piano (and later refrigerators).
100618: Pressing toward home, we skip the Model T Museum (sad) and shop briefly. You’ll see our purchase at the entrance to our condo (no, not the rocks).
Is that the St Louis Arch again?? Wrong turn?? Disaster….
It rains a little but most of the day we seem to be chasing the bad weather.
We stop in Clearfield, Pa. This town is hopping. It seems to be the dirt bike – ATV capital of the world. Pickup trucks with ATVS from all over the US – as far as Utah (where’s that?). The town is in reasonably good shape with only a few vacant storefronts. We pick a brewery for dinner – not a lot of choices. The Race Street Brew Works is buried in an industrial park and hard to find. Great beer and they completely change the limited menu every week. Works for them – four years old and going strong.
100718. Next day – Breakfast at Spanky’s Courthouse Cafe. Excellent breakfast.
Onward to Mount Kisko for a special person’s special day. We spend the night with Ashley and Jason H.
100818: We start the day with a walk along an unpaved road bordering a private zoo and secluded homes (Bruce Willis’s neighborhood). Breakfast at the Reading Room in Katonah. Excellent! Then Home.
“Home Again Home Again, Never To Roam Again”…. Not. Both of us want to drive right by and stay on the road. Home is great and great to be here. I really missed all my friend and the two (maybe one) people who’ve read all this tripe.
Roughly 63 days. Just short of 11,000 miles. 19 states (I demand a recount!). This adventure just gave us a taste of how vast and wonderful the USA is. We can’t wait to continue. And we will do so.
Thanks for reading and viewing the pix. And the kind words. We love each and every one or two of you that stuck with us.
KAC & SG