😃

New Orleans

The excitement was palpable!  This is a childhood dream come true.  ON the Mississippi River. An evening cruise with jazz and food. And cocktails. Only one cocktail, so the blurriness of this picture has nothing to do with alcohol  and all to do with a moving boat and an iPhone!  Actually the blurriness rather enhances the whole thing, I think.  I was so excited I was almost shaking! 

And the city of New Orleans?  I loved it. The streetcars.  The music.  The food (jambalaya). The whole ambience was very exciting.  And we had a delicious ice cream too!  

 I want to return.

Natchez Trace Parkway

This turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. 440 miles of beautiful scenery.  We found the Fall in full glory.

We found history.  The trace is an ancient route use by the Indians and by traders. Now it's a narrow almost deserted (when we were here anyway) highway, immaculately kept and utterly beautiful.  And sometimes you can walk the original path.

Some of the path is part of the Cherokee Trail of Tears.  And along the way there are burial mounds tracing the paths of the Indian tribes.  

These gravestones mark where thirteen unidentified Confederate soldiers were buried, directly along the path, so that no one would ever forget them.  It was a sad place, not only because of what it was but also because of the faith people have that things won't change.  Now, you have to make a special effort to go and see these gravestones.  No one routinely passes by here anymore.  The road is some way away.  

For me, one of the loveliest places along the Trace was Mount Locust, a house not a mountain!  It was built in the 1780s as a home and then as an Inn along the trail.  It was a very basic house, completely isolated, surrounded by huge oak trees and farmland.  It is one of the most welcoming places I have ever been.  

John too was taken with the calm and welcome it seemed to give.  It's odd really, because this was in effect a small plantation.  They had slaves, and there was a beautiful area that was the burial site for the few slaves they had.  So you'd think it wouldn't be the comfortable place that it is (to me, anyway).  

And so, moving from the history of the Native Americans to the history of slavery in the south, we got to the end of the Parkway.

I'd like to do it again and next time take longer.  I don't suppose we shall. 

  

Nashville in pictures

... and Nashville

We arrived in Nashville last night after a very busy day.  

The day started at the Railway Museum.  Contrary to the expectations of some of us, this was very interesting.  The history of this place, Bowling Green, in the events of the civil war was fascinating.  This photo is of the federal army marching south.

However I was particularly disturbed by the way the receptionist at the museum referred to "Blacks". It's the first hint of disdain I've heard, and I didn't like it.  

But moving on.  We found a yarn shop. The lady there suggested we get our husbands into the shop because she had coffee brewing.  Much to our surprise they refused. Later they confessed that the refusal was because they felt if they came in we would be in there even longer.  They were probably right.

Next stop?

And to remind us that we are now heading for the music city:

As we reached the outskirts of Nashville, we found the M25:

But we are here now. A lovely Airbnb. We've had a lazy start to the day and are about to set off for the music. 

Yee haa! 

...and on ...

All this state-hopping is getting confusing.  Did we sleep in Indiana last night or was it Kentucky?  And the confusion had nothing to do with a visit to Huber's Winery, northwest of Floyds Knob in Indiana.  

We bought wine. But we had no tastings.  No tastings of wine, that is.  We did however taste some ice creams. Tim was won over by the egg nog ice cream. 

Then it was back into Kentucky and a search for a hotel.  But what's this?  BARNES AND NOBLE.  BARNES AND NOBLE.  STOP THE CAR.  See, I knew I really liked Kentucky. This was like coming home. It's the next biggest magnet to an Apple Store. And much more important than finding a hotel for the night. In fact Liz and I had a splendid idea ... So John and Tim were dispatched to find somewhere for us to sleep, while she and I wandered the store and bought books.  

I had once again promised not to mention the election.  So when the others found me deep in election conversation with one of the B&N employees, I hastily made her assure them that SHE had started the subject!  I find it deeply reassuring that all the younger people I have spoken to are very concerned about Trump as president.  I've told them to get involved and have a say.  

And yes, the two men had found somewhere very suitable for us to spend the night, so we had no need to moan at them.  Not about that anyway..

The road goes ever on ...

When we first started this American Adventure, our goals were simple: Nashville and New Orleans.  As our plans progressed, we started thinking about how many states we could squeeze in.  Today, the fourth day of our travels, we got to our sixth!!

We left Dry Ridge, Kentucky and headed for Louisville, a city of blue skies and bridges..

And here we split up and went our separate ways.  This meant that John and I were abandoned at Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, while Tim and Liz drove into downtown Kentucky to the baseball bat factory and museum (you see why I chose horses).

We watched the horses in the paddock and we saw a race (my first horse race ever). And we met an old racehorse who made me miss Izzy and Busby.  

Tim and Liz returned for us.  And told us that we had to get out of Louisville!  An anti-Trump demonstration was planned so it would be better not to be there.  I liked Louisville, and I was quite attracted to the idea of attending an anti-Trump demonstration. But I was bundled, muttering, into the car, and we crossed the Ohio river into another state, Indiana.  A rather dramatic solution to keep me away, but very pleasant. 

Chicago is only eight hours drive!!!!!