Grand Island, Nebraska

As we drove north into Nebraska today, we passed fields of sorghum, soy beans and corn.  The rolling land stretched as far as we could see and the sky was a bowl above us.  There were more trees than I expected.  The day warmed up to 86 degrees by this afternoon.  The wind blew at 21 mph from the south.  I find it interesting to live in such a constant wind.  It is like living on a boat.


Out our windows, all we see is golden corn.

We ate a picnic lunch in the city park of Beatrice, Nebraska, and then drove on to Grand Island.  I have read many books about settlers crossing the plains and following the Oregon Trail to make new homes in the west.  Now I am here.  We visited the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island.


One exhibit was quilt art by Nebraska quilters.
This is "Steps in Jerome" by Jo Drueke; Firth, Nebraska.

The real star of the Stuhr is their living history town, Railroad Town.  We were the only visitors to RR Town this afternoon, so we wandered the streets, looking into shops and houses from 1896.  There were several re-enactors present to share their trades and information.


The woodworker made these tiny rocking horses, which
make a clip clop sound when they rock.


The tinsmith sold George a tin mug and me a GA cookie cutter he had made.


There was a barn full of various types of buggies.
This is a stage coach.


There were several homes.  This is the house in which
Henry Fonda was born.  It was moved to RR Town.  He
only lived here as a baby.

There were many other crafts people working, so we had a full
stroll.  I kept thinking how cool this would be as a class field trip.
First, you play Oregon Trail, and then if you survive, you get to visit Railroad Town.

Wichita + Abilene + Tuttle Creek State Park

 Thank you, Linda and Floyd, for a great visit and wonderful hospitality in Wichita! Floyd is a great cook and tour guide.  We started the morning with a delicious breakfast and then took an informative drive around Wichita.


This is the Keeper of the Plains statue in Riverside Park.  The Arkansas River runs nearby.
There are bike and walking paths, museums, and gardens, and information about the Plains Indians.




We drove north to Abilene and ate at the Brookville Hotel in Abilene.  The Brookville serves one meal, family style:  fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, biscuits with strawberry jam, and ice cream. (We are having fruit and cheese for supper.)




Next we visited the home of Dwight D. Eisenhower.  It is a six room house on the wrong side of the tracks, according to the tour guide.  The Eisenhowers raised six boys in this modest house.  Even though there were only six rooms, the front parlor was not used except on special occasions.  Every night the family gathered in the back parlor.  Mrs. Eisenhower played the piano.  The boys sat on the floor.  There were only two chairs in the small parlor.



This is the back parlor as it was in 1947 when President Eisenhower's mother died.  Another interesting note is that the family first got indoor plumbing when Eisenhower was 18.  So from humble roots, a President of the United States grew.  Abilene is quite proud of their native son.



Back in the car, we drove another hour to Tuttle Creek State Park.  I believe we are the only Atlantans to ever visit this spot.  We are staying in the Pawnee Cabin, a 300 foot shotgun style cabin. We unloaded a ton of stuff into our tiny cabin, made drinks, and walked across a field to the lake.



We read on this dock beside the lake.  Nearby there were fishermen and kayakers and swimmers. The breeze was cool and the bugs did not bite. The weather has been amazing today - 77 degrees at noon, blue sky and breezy. There will be stars tonight.

Wichita, Kansas

This morning we visited the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City.  It was a rich experience.
We thought wistfully of our friend Tom who would have loved to walk through the exhibits with us.
He appreciated the cowboy way of life and had a museum worthy collection of belt buckles.

The National Cowboy Museum had several sections. First, there was an exhibit about the building of the transcontinental railroad. It was an amazing accomplishment and opened the west. We spent a lot of time with sculpture and paintings of cowboys and Native Americans.  I especially liked the Remington sculptures and the Charles Russell paintings.

There were also rooms dedicated to Native American art, Western performers, and the American Rodeo. After looking all we could, we went outside for lunch and then walked around the garden.  

The garden was filled with sculptures, including a giant "Coming through the Rye" and the "Buffalo Bill" shown above, both by Remington.  Another interesting feature of the garden was the memorials to and gravesites of horses and bulls and a Texas longhorn named Abilene, who had lived on the site for years. 

After we gave proper respect at the museum, we drove north to Wichita, Kansas, to visit looper buddies, Linda and Floyd Walpole.  We often visited with Linda and Floyd on their boat, Tumbleweed, when we were doing the loop.  They recently completed their second Great Loop and returned home.  We are spending the night with them now.  Such a treat to tell and hear boating stories and to be in their home.

As we drove into Kansas, we passed a large group of windmills.  

They are huge when you see them up close.

Seeing Loopers and the Oklahoma Memorial

We had a busy and wonderful day.  The sun came out!  Woohoo!

Here is Charlie, our innkeeper at Sulphur Springs, with George.

On the drive to Oklahoma City, we spied this perfect example of gates and ranch.

We spent today with Kathy and Kenny Walker, great friends from the Great Loop.

They came home to Oklahoma City in June after living on a boat for ten years.


Kathy and Kenny's business is just two blocks from the site of the Oklahoma City bombing
in 1995. They were at home but felt the blast. We visited the memorial and museum today with Kathy. It is a beautiful and thoughtful place that takes a visitor through the experience of the bombing
and its aftermath and consequences. Life changed here that day.



One wall notes the time "9:01" which is the last moment of innocence.


At the end of the reflecting pool, another wall says, "9:03."
By that time, life here had changed.
There is more to digest and contemplate than I can say now.


We toured other parts of Oklahoma City also and saw this wonderful sculpture of the
Sooners heading into Oklahoma Territory.  This is a place rich in history.

Sulphur Springs, Oklahoma

We had another rainy day today, traveling in either a mist or a downpour on state roads in Arkansas and into Oklahoma.  George did a great job holding our course.  We pushed along, covering 5 hours today.

  

The land is changing, becoming flatter, more rocky.  We see large ranches with cows.

They have gates that look western. 

We arrived at Sulphur, Oklahoma, in the afternoon and found the Sulphur Springs Inn and our innkeeper, Charlie.  We are staying in the Old Bathhouse part of the inn.  We're the only visitors tonight.  

This is the scene behind me as I sit at the table downstairs and type.

I realize that I look for the quirky place to stay.  Clean, safe, and different.

Every room here is unique.  Also we just had a fun conversation with Charlie while we

finished dinner.  He's lived here since 1973 and told us about acquiring the inn and some early adventures as an innkeeper. 

When we checked in, Charlie gave us an introduction to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, which is right across the street.  He told us about the springs, the waterfalls, the trails, the creek, the bison and deer.  Then we set off for a walk.

We waded in Rock Creek which runs through the park.

This is the Lincoln Bridge, built in the early 1900s. 

Tomorrow morning we will visit the Chickasaw Nation Cultural Center 

before driving to Oklahoma City.  Charlie recommends it. 

In the Land of Barbecue

We visited Hot Springs, Arkansas, on an on again/off again rainy day.  We toured Fourdyce Baths and learned about the various treatments that were prescribed in 1915 and carried out in the baths.  Some sounded normal, and others were scary - like the "electrical treatment" which runs a low current through the hot water in your bath.

We ate lunch beside this hot spring behind the visitors center.

Quapaw Baths, one of eight bath houses along Bath House Row on Central Avenue 

in the historic district.  Only one still gives treatments/ baths.  The whole town is 

part of the National Park.  It grew up around the park, which was the first

national park land purchased by the federal government.

The bathtubs just look like big tubs.  They are still in place in Fourdyce Bath House, which

is now the Visitor Center for the park. I had wanted to get in one for a photo.  Then

we were at Lamar Bath House, and they had a tub sitting there for photos.

For dinner we followed the advice in Road Food by Jane and Michael Stern.

Thanks to Trisha for this book! 

We went to McClard's Barbecue.  

Since we ate barbecue last night, we opted for the Half Spread Tamale:

Fritos, meat, beans, onions, cheese.  Yummy!

It's a rainy night in Hot Springs.  We are back at our airbnb home, cozy and

watching The West Wing on Netflix.

We're on our way west.

Yesterday we left Atlanta and took a leisurely drive west to Scottsboro, Alabama.  We stopped for lunch at Red Top Mountain State Park.

 

Picnic lunch on day one.

We took a walk after lunch and also napped and read before continuing.  After three hours we had only driven 75 miles, so we decided to move along.  We arrived at Goose Pond Colony in the afternoon and visited with Linda and Jesse Williams, looper friends who live on their trawler, Bama Dream.  It was great to see them.  We ate catfish at the Top of the River Restaurant and then returned to the boat to play games.  The guys won.  

Jesse and Linda cooked a Southern breakfast:  scrambled eggs, biscuits, sausage, and gravy.

After eating a large, delicious breakfast, we exited and drove to Memphis. We took a break to walk around Corinth, Mississippi, a charming town.  It was lunch time and lots of people were downtown eating.  We were not ready for another meal, so we popped in to the oldest drug store in Mississippi for a chocolate ice cream cone.  

As we continued west, the clouds gathered, and a light rain fell.  We found our hotel in Memphis and waited for the rain to stop.  Around 5:30 we were able to walk along the Mississippi River. We appreciated the river walk area and found the Lorraine Hotel without any problem.  The National Civil Rights Museum was closed today.  Just walking on that historic property was touching, however.   

The Mississippi River inspires.

How many times have you seen this view in a history lesson or show?

Across the street from the Lorraine Motel is Central Barbecue.  We ate a delicious meal there and waddled back the the Comfort Inn.  We had walked about 3 miles, so maybe all this good cooking is being used for fuel not just padding.  Being able to find places and walk around town is really fun. We are not the best tourists, but we do appreciate being out in the world.  

Our first two days have taken us through three states:  Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.  Tomorrow we go to Arkansas.