That’s It For Another Blog

 2771 Miles!  That is the total distance we have travelled over the last 12 days to achieve our original goal of “50 in 50”.  These have been some of the most enjoyable we have ever covered in the USA.  An average of 231 per day and you simply can’t do that unless you are having fun.

It’s odd how we woke this morning to grey skies and pouring rain, exactly the same conditions that welcomed us on our first day’s drive to Dayton, Ohio.  In between we have enjoyed beautiful weather with enormous blue skies and warm temperatures.  We have been very lucky particularly in avoiding some of the blisteringly hot weather that the mid-West has experienced this Summer.

Today was really about preparation for going home. A long day due to our flight not departing Chicago O’Hare airport until at least 2200 hours leaving loads of time to fill on a grim day.  They were filled by visits to Starbucks and to the American Civil War Museum in Kenosha, the latter providing a fantastic insight to this conflict in the mid-1800s.  Again, I was fascinated by the photographs from that very conflict unsure as to whether photos existed of our very own civil war some 200 years earlier? 😂😂

After this museum tour, we arrived very early for our flight home and again we were beneficiaries of the ever present care and kindness shown to mums and dads of BA staff.  They put us in the Business Class lounge where comfy seats, food and nice wine make a 5 hour wait seem quite short.  Yes, we are very lucky but as I write and post this update, we are scheduled to travel down the back of the aircraft like most travellers do and which always acts as a solid reminder of the privileges of business travel we have enjoyed on so many occasions  

I must mention one slight hiccup at security when Linda was pulled to one side for a bag search by a very nice security agent.  A quick check  revealed our trusty corkscrew which in fairness travelled out here in a suitcase but which the agent revealed had a concealed knife! Goodbye trusty friend and a slightly embarrassed Linda watched as it was consigned to the bin!

And so we look back on a truly memorable and hugely enjoyable trip which was conceived by Linda and which we brought to life with a little bit of planning and a lot of energy.

The Blog content for anyone out there who has had the stamina to stick with it reveals the amazing time that we have had and all that remains is for the crew of flight BA296 to get us safely back to London Heathrow overnight.

I hope you have enjoyed it and until the next time…

What it Says on the Tin!

Civil War Museum Exhibit

Abe Lincoln in Bronze

Lake Michigan - You Can’t See the Far Side!

Random Sculpture by the Lake

Is This the Seaside? 

Happy Times

Falling in Love with Wisconsin

 My love affair with Wisconsin began as early as 2016 when I made an impulsive decision, three days before the event started, to attend the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in Minnesota!

It was stupid with hindsight but I made it happen and arrived in Minneapolis with hours to spare to watch the European Team demolished by the Americans. It was brutal and I was truly shocked at the partisan nature of the American golf fans many of whom showed little respect for our team and even less respect for the game of golf. 

All that said, the abiding memories were of wonderful Airbnb hosts and even more so my 5 hour drive to O’Hare airport through Minnesota and then Wisconsin, the latter leaving an indelible imprint on my brain for its stunning beauty. 

It was of course early Autumn and the foliage all around was simply magical and as Linda and I made our own way down to our next destination of Madison, the journey rekindled my love affair with Wisconsin and brought back memories of 2016, albeit the fall colours are only just beginning to show  

We went completely off the beaten track and at times followed the majestic upper Mississippi River eventually crossing an incredible iron bridge into Wisconsin which confirmed Linda’s capture of that final state and the culmination of our “50 in 50” adventure together. Without question, the rolling landscape, the beautiful scenery and the almost deserted roads meant that this particular part of the journey earned it the Gold Medal.

Our destination of Madison, the State Capital, also provided surprises, not least of which was our ability to wander into the magnificent Capitol building and walk around freely without anyone questioning us and our intentions!  We did find out though that there is an extensive CCTV system in the Capitol and that two grey haired older people spotted on camera were not considered to be a threat!

The city is a friendly place with nice suburbs and some gorgeous houses. It’s home to some of America’s largest companies but appears relatively quiet compared to other cities. And it’s immaculate wherever you look with little signs of rubbish and beautifully manicured grass and flower borders in every direction.  Yes, the love affair has grown.

Time is passing quickly and our return trip draws near so this may well be the penultimate post. We shall see. 

The Mighty Mississippi

It’s One Big River and Lake in Places!

One of the Enormous Navigable Locks

They Operated the Lock for This One Small Boat! 

From Iowa to Wisconsin 

Some Structure. The Bridge not Me!

The Final One - Wisconsin

The State Capitol

All Gold and Marble

We Were Allowed on the Upper Reaches

Reaching for the Sky

It’s One Tall Structure

The View from the Other Side

And After All That, Time For a Coffee

And Great Coffee it Was

The Love of American Road Trips

If this trip has achieved only one thing (actually it’s a lot more than one!) it is a reaffirmation of my love for this country and what it has to offer visitors, particularly those mad ones like us who want to drive on average, 250 miles per day and discover new things, usually around every corner!

This isn’t the first and hopefully won’t be the last where we simply book a flight safe in the knowledge that a hire car will be waiting for us (usually Avis) as well as a hotel for our first night on American soil.  Beyond that, nothing else is booked and we do this because it gives us total flexibility.  I’m sure that would be a scary prospect for a lot of people, never mind a couple in their 70s, but we continue to thrive on the unplanned and America just happens to be the perfect destination as has been proved to date on our “50 in 50” adventure!

Our travels through untouched states actually led us to Sioux Falls in South Dakota which wasn’t one of the nine to be conquered but did turn out to be something of a revelation in respect of the falls from which the city was named.  These are virtually in the city centre, unusual in itself, but what is particularly stunning is the beautiful pink marble granite over which the water passes. It’s both beautiful to look at and to touch and is in evidence all over the city. I wanted to bring a piece home but my 23kg luggage allowance simply wasn’t sufficient.  Pinching a piece is also a capital offence so the idea was quickly dropped! 

And so it was onwards to Fargo, North Dakota and me crossing the line first to tick off my 50th US State.  Prior to crossing the state line we learned of the “Best for Last Club”, a genuine organisation with members worldwide and run by the tourist authority in North Dakota. As soon as I learned about this, the excitement level simply went off the scale and as we crossed the border I had the biggest grin you could imagine and made straight to the designated office to receive my membership certificate and my free tee shirt.  

The staff were genuinely delighted but I have to admit a tinge of sadness as Linda wasn’t able to join this exclusive club as her final state was to be Wisconsin in a couple of days time.  That said, she was so pleased for me to receive this accolade that has been 34 years in the making.

I’m still smiling as I write this current dispatch and can’t wait for Linda to cross the line.

Stunning Pink Granite

Sioux Falls

Amazingly Close to the City Centre

It Wouldn’t Fit in my Suitcase

New Club Member

All 50 States Visited

The Best for Last Club

What an Achievement - That Smile Says it All

Picking Up the Pace…Supposedly!

We deliberately slowed the pace of this trip for us to celebrate our wedding anniversary but the plan was to ramp things up once we left Jacksonville early on 13th September.

This was never going to be a sedentary trip bearing in mind the challenge of visiting nine states in twelve days but when we looked at the map and re-evaluated a little on the things we wanted to see and do, we decided on the need to speed things up in order to take the pressure off in the last couple of days. 

Oddly, that plan collapsed a tad within 50 miles when we came across a little town called Hannibal in Missouri. We had never heard of the place but it revealed itself to be the home of none other than Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer written in 1876 and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which followed in 1884. 

The author’s real name was Samuel Clemens and he based much of these books on his life and experiences growing up in this small town. Everything in the town today appears to trade on his fame which is understandable and it was lovely to get a photo of the town’s current Tom and Becky, competition winners to represent these characters on behalf of their home town. 

And so onwards to an overnight stop in Kansas City, a place that actually straddles the border of Missouri and Kansas (or Canvas as I keep calling it!) and then a beautiful and very peaceful run up through the State towards Omaha which is actually in Nebraska and then into Iowa.  

The motoring has been incredible and whilst some of the highways and byways are in a pretty similar condition to our own roads, dreadful, this doesn’t detract in any way from the pleasure I get from driving here.  The traffic just flows and it’s far less stressful than driving in the UK.  Contrast my use of cruise control on one 100 mile section where I didn’t once touch either the brake or accelerator and the speed was set at 75mph!  It simply wouldn’t be possible at home. 

There is a downside though that I must highlight and that is the total lack of hills! Other than the 1200 feet one we discovered in Indiana, the land has been flat for as far as the eye can see and this has been the case for over 1000 miles to date. Agriculture clearly rules in virtually all these mid-West states and it’s easy to understand why these parts are referred to as “America’s Breadbasket”.

I did use the term downside a little unfairly because we are enjoying a wonderful road trip.  

More on the run up to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Fargo, North Dakota in the next dispatch.

Mark Twain’s Home

The Mighty Mississippi Running Through Hannibal

Main Street, Hannibal

Beautiful Historic Buildings

The First Coffee Shop West of the Mississippi

Tom Sawyer & Becky Thatcher

A Surprise Around Every Corner

I’ve said it many times over the last 34 years during our travels to America that there is something to discover around every corner of this enormous country. This trip has again provided some surprises and one of the most interesting came on our visit to Springfield, Illinois on our Wedding Anniversary. 

We had planned on a quiet day in Jacksonville where we were staying but it was so quiet and lacking in a decent coffee shop that we decided to venture 30 miles down the road and what did we discover?  Well it was the home for 23 years of the 16th US President and possibly the most famous of all, Abraham Lincoln!

A visit to the Springfield museum followed by a guided tour of the Lincoln family home was fascinating and although brief provided a valuable incite into the man who started life in poverty in Kentucky but through his own efforts rose to the highest position in the country.

Lincoln was elected in 1861 and led the Union side through the American Civil War, defending the nation as a constitutional union but perhaps his greatest success was the abolition of slavery.  His was a remarkable story of success but also of personal tragedy not least of which was his assassination by John Wilkes Booth in April 1865.  The visit left me wanting to learn so much more about his character and his life.

The visit to the Lincoln home led on to us seeking out the State Capitol where we benefitted from our own personal guide. The current Capitol is actually the sixth to serve as Illinois’s centre of government and can only be classed as stunning in its scale and opulence. In truth we were going to give the internal visit a miss but we got talking to a group of construction workers at the front of the building who convinced us to go inside!  We were so glad they did and thanked them profusely convinced that they all held first class history degrees as well as construction qualifications!  They were such a revelation.

So our Golden Anniversary day turned into a huge success with the exception of finding somewhere offering fine dining to round off the day  It didn’t actually matter because we had enjoyed a very filling breakfast and a light lunch which you can see in one of the photos!  The “Walmart Picnic”  has now become a firm favourite  

12th September 2023 was truly a day to remember. 

Lincoln’s Lounge

An Original Lincoln Hat!

The Lincoln Home

Many of the Contents are Original

The Great Man - It’s a Real Photo of Him! 

The State Capitol

Taller than the State Capitol in Washington DC

The Interior of the Dome

Simply Stunning

The House of Representatives

The “Walmart Special” 

We Made It!

If we achieved nothing else during our current road trip in America, we did get over the line to our 50th Wedding Anniversary - a Golden occasion. It seems a little unreal but is something to be proud of and to celebrate although those celebrations were somewhat muted due to the fact that we were 4000 miles away from family and friends!

That said however, we had chosen somewhere special to stay in the form of a historic American B&B home called Blessings on State in Jacksonville, Illinois. I call it historic but of course American history is very recent in comparison to our own but does retain a certain fascination when you can see actual photographs of historic figures, the likes of Wyatt Earp and Abraham Lincoln to name but two! 

We were made very welcome by owners Gwenn and Glen who have worked very hard to achieve the status they hold in the world of American B&Bs and their story has been widely published and we can understand why when you hear just a little about their lives.

Anyway, we had a lovely day although most of it was spent in nearby Springfield rather than Jacksonville, the latter we perhaps unfairly labelled “a one horse town!”  It was only due to our failed efforts to find a coffee shop open to feed our morning caffeine fix! Mind you, to counterbalance that comment, we did enjoy an early morning walk around the historic district of Jacksonville to view some of the stunning historic houses.

More about our fascinating time in Springfield in another post but we did return to the B&B to be greeted by owners and other guests to enjoy cake and British Airways champagne on the beautiful porch. It was a lovely end to a very special day. 

Blessings on State B&B

Historic Houses

50/Years and Counting!

Fellow Guests Rick and Shelley from Portland, Oregon

View from the Porch

Celebration Cake from Gwenn & Glen