Day 96: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety, Jig

Day 96, Tuesday: My birthday and it seems fitting and memorable that the Great National Retirement Tour should end on my birthday. This day will be the birth of a totally new phase of my life. I have seen a lot of places, things, and people. I have enjoyed almost all of it. There are some places I have always wanted to see that I have now seen and I am done. There are some places that I have just scratched the surface, and I want to return. There are some friendly old haunts that I loved returning to.

I have met, re-met, and re-connected with so many people; some have been a wonderful surprise and a few (OK just one) have been a disappointment.

This is also a good day to end my trip because my driver’s license expires today.

I woke up this morning, packed up, had breakfast that David made, packed the car, hooked it to the camper with David’s help, said good-bye to LuAnne and David, and left. Well, almost. When I got to the gas station, I realized I had left my money behind. But then I was on the road again. The last leg of my journey. I am sad!

Stopped at an A&W in Windsor, Wisconsin – just west of Madison – for a rootbeer float and fried cheese curds. And some photos!

Then, because Brent had mentioned wanting to go there for a vacation, I stopped in Wisconsin Dells to pick up some brochures to send to him and Autumn. Plus a few last post cards. Where were these tourist items, you ask? Why, at Walgreens. I went to Applebees for lunch (truly horrible), and to write those last few post cards. And where was the mail box, you ask? Why, right outside Walgreens. Soon, they will have 24-hour staffed visitor information centers. Just my joke.

I skipped Norske Nook and drove straight thru to Saint Paul, but vowed to return soon. I arrived home at 6 pm with a grand total of 10,543 miles on my car for the entire trip. I got a grocery bag and filled it up with the mail order catalogs I have received in the past 4 months and then went to sleep at 7 pm. Happy but tired!

Day Two in South Beloit

Monday: LuAnne took the day off work and we went to the Rock River to walk on their promenade with the three dogs, who were extremely excited to be able to get outdoors for a walk. The park itself, where Turtle Creek comes into the Rock River, is just lovely. They have created a back pond with fountains, rock formations, and a lot of benches and trees. Separated by the walking path and some trees in the Rock River just to the west of this pond. The dogs loved the whole experience and Nana didn't even try to bite me. I took lots of photos.

We brought the panting dogs home and then went to Wickus landscaping empire in rural Beloit, Wisconsin to look at some Norway Pines. LuAnne bought two for their yard and I bought a Becky daisy to plant in my garden when I get back to Saint Paul. We took some scenic back country roads on the way home.

Back at the homestead, LuAnne wanted to sit on the back porch and figure out where to plant the Norway Pines. And to place the 4 perennials where she wanted them. This turned into a lovely afternoon of enjoying the sun, the wind, good company, and some cool water. I wrote in my journal, and took another photo of the three of us. I gave them the French macarons from Bennisons and we ate some of them. David put his wood chipper together, after which we took an inspection tour of the rear garden. It is all poking out of the earth, but not quite announcing what it is yet.

After an early dinner of fried chicken, we binge-watched more “Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries.” LuAnne has given me a new obsession!

Stockholm Inn, Gardening, and Murder

Sunday: the first full day at LuAnne and David's house in South Beloit. We decided to go out to Sunday brunch at the Stockholm Inn in Rockford at Leah's suggestion. So we got LuAnne's car out of the garage (quite a feat since it was blocked in) and headed to Rockford.

The StockholmInn is right next to the Swedish American Medical Center and has a large gift shop with a whole bunch of Scandinavian stuff for sale - Dalarna horses, ginger snaps, Ricka, Dicka, Flicka books, etc. There are also 3 different dining rooms, two of which were full. They had a Sunday brunch buffet with some American breakfast stuff, but also Swedish pancakes with lingon berries, Swedish meatballs, and scalloped apples. We ate well. The Swedish pancakes were delightful.
We drove back home, taking a detour to Home Depot to purchase potted violas and daffodils. LuAnne & I planted them in the front yard when we got back, which was almost like real work. When that job was finished, we went inside to rest up and rehydrate.

At this point, LuAnne came up with the brilliantly inspired idea to binge watch "Miss Fletcher's Murder Mysteries" series. Which we did until almost midnight. The series is set in the 1920s in Australia and I just loved the costumes and the manners of the people of that time. Everyone was just so civilized, and I want half of her costumes. Plus Miss Fisher's role as detective allowed the producers to set the action in a wide variety of places with all strata of society. And, as LuAnne said, Miss Fisher herself was totally fearless - a wonderful trait in a post-Victorian woman. A very well-done television series! In the midst of our binge, we ordered an excellent pizza with the works for dinner. I forgot to ask where it was from.

We both worked a little on our computers. I finished my blog posts up thru arriving in South Beloit. I can't believe I have gotten this far. A week ago I was very seriously behind.

South Beloit - Last Stop on the Great National Retirement Tour

I promised Peggy's daughter Leah that I would teach her how to drive a stick shift. She and her sister Marissa are going to vacation in Ireland where they have rented a manual transmission car. So, after another breakfast of Peggy's famous omelettes and home-made strawberry scones, we took a spin around Rock Falls with Leah driving the trusty Subaru. She did better than I did the first time I drove stick shift, but there was a little hopping. We also stopped at the car wash so I could wash the pollen off the car.

I packed up the car, got directions (both Peggy and Ralph suggested the more scenic Hwy 2 route), and hit the road - Highway 2. I had a little trouble in Sterling and ended up on Hwy 38 headed south. But I ran into Sink Hollow Road, which I had commented on to Peggy about the name yesterday, so I took it north and picked up Hwy 2 again. Thank goodness for the tiny compass taped to my rear view mirror. Stopped for gas along the way once. The drive was beautiful - mostly hugging the Rock River for the majority of the way.

I arrived in South Beloit around 1 pm (Saturday) - which was about 3 hours early. It's not that far from Rock Falls to Rockford, and it turns out that South Beloit is kind of a suburb of Rockford (don't tell LuAnne I said that). I missed my exit and went all the way to Beloit, Wisconsin. Took a nap at a highway rest stop until LuAnne got back to me with new directions.

David and LuAnne cooked ribeye steak, baked potatoes, and mixed veggies for dinner. Then LuAnn and I made a run to the store for some white chocolate, raspberry truffle ice cream. Nummmm! We had a rousing evening of all three of us playing on our computers in the living room - with dog escorts of course.

We all played on our computers and watched some TV before bed. Mileage on the trusty Subaru so far on this trip = 10,225 miles.

My Day in Rock Falls with Peggy

Woke up before 7 am on Friday, took a shower, and discovered that Peggy was already awake. I joined Peggy and Ralph at their kitchen table. Ralph organized a petition to have one of Peggy’s famous omelettes for breakfast, so she made us three and we had the cinnamon pecan rolls from Bennisons. They have some great contraptions for making tea.

After breakfast I caught up in my journal 4 days and 7 pages. Then Peggy and I got on the road for our adventures of the day.

First stop was the Rock Falls/Sterling dam and the aborted Hennepin Canal. The entire 66 mile length of the canal is on the National Historic Register. The idea to build it surfaced in 1834; Congress appropriated the first funds in 1890 and completed in 1907, just in time for river shipping to be on the decline and railroad shipping to be on the ascent. It was the first canal built of concrete and not stone. The water was spilling over a little less than half the dam with immense force and power. It was impressive to stand so close to it. We took some photos and then walked across on the walk-way trail to a brick path going up to the Dillon House; an historic house that mixes up Victorian, Federalist, and Moorish styles.

Next we drove to the Indian Mounds at Sinnissipi. We read the interpretive materials about the three different tribes over three different time periods back to 1500 BC who all buried their dead in these mounds. Their remains have been removed to a different burial ground. We walked on the trail along the Rock River down below the mounds. The whole area (another bend in the river) is now a city park.

Then we drove to the City of Dixon and went to Castle Rock. It’s a state park now, but was once a sacred site for the Sauk and Fox Native American tribes. They now have a staircase that takes one up to the castle rock to prevent people from damaging the site. It is a lovely view of the whole river valley from there. Peggy and I climbed to the top, took some photos, and admired the view. She told me that many Europeans came to this site on their Grand Tour of America in the mid 1800s until too many White settlers came to the area and changed the face of the landscape. Then the Europeans stopped coming.

On the drive back from Dixon I made Peggy stop at the John Deere farm and blacksmith shop for photos. The historic site was closed for the season until May 1st, but we could still take photos. Vermonter John Deere moved to Grand Detour, Illinois in 1836 and started working as a blacksmith. He struggled with busting the prairie soil with New England plows, so in 1837 he invented a self-scouring steel plow using a broken saw blade. By 1850, he was producing 1600 plows annually. In 1912, John’s son Charles’ son-in-law William Butterworth started the company’s expansion into the tractor business by buying the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company that already manufactured a successful tractor. In 2014 John Deer Company was ranked 80th in the Fortune 500.

The blacksmith shop still operates for tourists in the summer months.

I took Peggy and Ralph out to dinner at Art's Garden Deli. The owners of Art's are local Rock Falls residents and they have an interesting dining model. They serve sandwiches with fresh, healthy ingredients made to order, baked potatoes also made to order stuffed with your choice of meat and cheese, soups, and desserts - including frozen yogurt. You order and pick up just like at a deli counter. We sat outside on the patio. Peggy said she has always wanted a piazza like this at her house. It was great seeing Peggy in person again after all these years.

Day 91: Rock Falls, Illinois

Thursday: I got directions to Bryony’s and Peggy’s figured out, written down, and taped to my radio. Got the car packed up, dishes done, cooler cleaned out and repacked, bed put away, and one last photo taken. Then I headed out to Bryony’s apartment to pick up the camper.

Ooops. It wasn’t there. I called and left a message for Bryony. I called Red’s Towing and yes, it had been towed. The apartment management had called them for a tow despite the fact that I had a parking permit taped to the camper. So I drove over to Red’s and picked up the camper. It still had the parking permit attached, and they were not admitting any wrong-doing. This whole thing took 2 hours.

By the time I got on I-294 it was 3:30 pm and the middle of Chicago rush hour. I was traveling between 1st and 2nd gear until I hit I-88 (having gotten on near Willette). I’m sure I missed some tolls on I-294, but their signage is horrible. It gives you a lane to stay in to pay cash, but then right at the spot to pay, you need to move over 2 lanes to the right on what is labelled as an exit. They need help with their signage. Spent about $20 on tolls even with the missed ones.

Got to Peggy and Ralph’s house in Rock Falls about 6:30 pm. They had plans to go to dinner at the Candle Light Inn. So, I took my suitcase and bag in and we headed there. Our dining companions were Skip and his wife – he is the Mayor of Sterling. So we talked about snow plowing, crazy constituents, and staff for elected officials. We also talked about the Smoky Mountains since he is from there and still has a cabin in the Smokies. He is an amusing and affable guy – easy to see how he got elected.

I had Chicken George – the Candle Light’s specialty dish – with baked sweet potato and a green salad. What makes Chicken George is the sauce – sort of a lemony mayonnaise with mustard and some other spices. Very good!

Peggy is my cousin - her Dad Sherman and my Dad Carmen were brothers. I remember going over to her house to play when they lived in Willmar many years ago. And I remember her toys being way better than my toys. We had a good time talking about our grandparents and uncles.

Mileage on Day 91 = 10,110 miles on car to date.

A Day of Rest in Chicago

I had good intentions of going out to explore the neighborhood in Evanston (especially Noyes and maybe try to find that microbrewery again). But instead I called in to check on the status of my credit cards. One of my cards had been hacked and used to pay for 5 hotel rooms in Half Moon Bay, California all on one day. Dealing with this catastrophe took all morning. I cancelled my card. The only good news is that none of those charges have actually posted yet, which may or may not be good for me. I have to call back next week and find out.

After dealing with that, I occupied myself by taking a nap today (Wednesday). I did, however, first make myself a Smithfield bologna sandwich for breakfast. Still delicious.

Kerri wasn't up for cooking and I did want to get out into the fresh air (temperatures were in the 40s the last few days) at least for a little while. So, I walked up to Noyes Street and had some Korean BBQ and hot & sour soup at Mandarin House.

When I got back to Kerri's, I called Autumn and we talked about the possibility of taking the train to Minnesota when they move there next year. I am excited about having them move to Minnesota and see DJ having a chance to go to kindergarten in Minnesota. She liked the idea of the train, since it would be extremely difficult for her to fly alone with 3 babies.

I finished all the blog posts up thru Springfield, posted a couple more posts to Facebook (now in the Smokies), and mashed up more photos before going to bed. This is my last night in Chicago. I had pictured the Blues, but didn't want to go alone.

Driehaus Museum and Chicago's Gold Coast

Kerri wasn't feeling well today, so she stayed home. We still didn't get going to the Gold Coast for the Driehaus Museum until after 1 pm. I parked on Ohio and the Museum is one block away on Erie. It is a gorgeous old mansion built of stone. It might be Victorian or Edwardian, but it has some rococo mixed in. And it is huge! It's owned by a guy whose own biography describes his occupation as "art collector." He has spent a fortune on renovating the house - the stained glass rotunda, and the painted cloth ceilings. I would love to see the whole interior some time.

They were hosting a "Costumes of Downtown Abbey" show so you had to have tickets for the show, which was sold out, in order to see the house.

Bue we did have tickets for high tea in the ballroom on the second floor. What a grand space with its own church-sized stained glass window. Kerri and I bought 1930s style Downton Abbey felt hats for tea and took photos in front of a Downton Abbey backdrop. I also bought some regular cards of 1920s and 1930s flapper dresses.

We were seated for tea. The tea was very good - some Imperial blend. But then the costumed "staff" came around with a sparkling Moscato. A 3-tiered plate of: (1) scones and lemon bread with clotted cream and raspberry preserves, (2) tiny finger sandwiches, specifically roast beef, cucumber and cream cheese, egg salad, and smoked salmon, and (3) dessert - tiny servings of chocolate-covered walnuts, brownies, and a cream tart with strawberry, blackberry, and blueberry.

It was all delicious and all too small to really fill us up, but enough that we weren't hungry after. They had a card with a story on the back assigning credit to a Duchess in Queen Victoria's time who would get peckish at 4 pm, and started the habit of having tiny portions of a meal with tea for her women friends - who were also able to catch up on gossip at the occasions. Queen Victoria picked up on high tea and shortly thereafter the whole country was having high tea with gossip.

So Kerri and I caught up on gossip, enjoyed the meal, the wine and the tea, the ambience, and our fellow diners.

Kerri drove my car back to her apartment so I could slip into the Gold Coast Walgreens and purchase some more postcards. This Walgreens was all set up for Chicago Land tourists, so I bought a shot glass for Brent and 2 Chicago yellow taxi cabs for DJ and Nasir.

We stayed home for the rest of the night and I worked on the blog and Facebook. I added photos from my evening painting (Merlot & a Masterpiece) with Jane in Bloomington. Kerri still wasn't feeling well and went to sleep early.

Day 1 in Chicago: Exploring Evanston

I was so tired yesterday and today (Monday) that my eyes hurt. Woke up at 9 am. Wrote in my journal, downloaded photos, wrote in my blog, and posted on Facebook. Also did Kerri’s dishes from last night.

There is a 2 hour parking limit here without a permit on Kerri’s street in Evanston. I moved the car to a side street at 11 am, and then drove the car to downtown Evanston so I could go to Bennison bakery, and to see if they are an internet café.

The answer is no, but Delbe’s one block away is. Never connected to the internet there, but was able to do a lot of writing in my journal. I had a pastrami bagel and latte and stayed there until they closed at 3 pm. Because I still had 45 minutes left on the parking meter and shouldn't be back at Kerri's until 4 pm (2 hour parking limit), I stuck another quarter in the parking meter and took a 45 minute nap.

When Kerri got home, we took our laundry in, and went to dinner at Farm House farm to table restaurant. My trout was excellent. Kerri wasn't really happy with her hamburger - they forgot the bacon. We also split a black dale salad. The lace was decorated with old barn wood walls, which was clever, but it was very loud (the ceiling is hard).

We caught up on news. She showed me photos of the engagement ring and wedding dress she wants. Her fiance lives in Kansas, but is looking for a new professor job somewhere else. At home again, I worked on my blog and photos some more.

Day 87: Chicago Land

Woke up at 4 am to heavy rain and howling winds on Sunday. Also, Kerri was texting me that Paul & Diem are fighting over me parking the camper in their driveway. My travel karma had run out. I wrote to Peggy asking if I could come to Rock Falls earlier. She said her husband just had surgery, so that would not work. But I could park the camper at her daughter’s home in Glenview – which is really close to Kerri’s.

So, I was on the road by 1:30 pm – when the winds died down a little. Took I-55 to I-294 practically the whole way. Had the wind mostly to my back and drove slower. Even slower than normal. Cold, rainy, and windy the whole trip. Got to Bryony’s around 5 pm. Bryony gave me excellent directions. Met her husband and cute-as-a-button daughter Grace, had some tea, then got on the road to Kerri’s.

Arrived at Kerri's apartment in Evanston about 7ish. She was making soup – just what I was hoping for. We had soup and talked – then hit the sack.

Mileage on Day 87 = 9,950

Part 2 of Lincoln Day in Springfield

Jane and I had so much fun, it won't all fit on one blog post. So, here is Part 2 of our Saturday adventures in Springfield, Illinois - the Land of Lincoln.

We walked thru the park across the street to the historic Union Train Depot just because it is a beautiful building. Jane & I sat on a bench and ate some fudge. What happens in Springfield, stays on the blog.

Then we set off in search of Lincoln’s house in Springfield. It is fairly close to the State Capitol and it seems like many of his neighbors were politicians. But one of them was a freed slave who was very active in the Underground Railroad. Interesting to speculate if Abe knew him personally. The house is a fairly ordinary four-square Yankee house. The whole street in front of his house has been turned into a walkway only for 2 blocks and it seems like the National Park Service owns many of the homes that are now on the Historic Register. But it was hard to tell. We took a couple of selfies sitting on the Lincolns’ steps. The house is open for tours, but we arrived too late.

Next stop Lincoln’s memorial monument in the Oak Ridge Cemetery where he, his wife, and 3 of his four sons are buried. Robert Todd Lincoln is buried at Arlington National Cemetery at his own request. They have a genealogy plaque for the Lincoln family displayed at the memorial. Robert is the only one of Abe’s children who had children of his own. He also had grandchildren. But then the Lincoln line died out. There are no surviving descendants of Abraham Lincoln. A very nice tourist from Vermont took photos of me and Jane at the memorial. And we highly recommended the Lincoln Museum.

The last place Jane had picked for us to stop was the Dara-Thomas House – advertised as an Arts & Crafts House. It was so much more than that! It was the biggest Prairie School house I have ever seen. With Art Deco stained glass windows and doors in many places, and glazed Italian tile with a pattern covering the exterior walls of the 2nd floor, with a copper roof with Japanese pagoda-style corner pieces. The whole thing was just stunning, even the carriage house. It is also open for tours – but not that late!

On the way home, we stopped at Fiesta Ranchera for dinner. I had carnitas chile verde and Jane had poblano enchiladas. She wasn’t thrilled with her dish, but I was with mine. They must have cooked the carnitas in a pressure cooker – it was well done but juicy and tender. And the chile verde looked like it was made from scratch on site. It was really delicious.

What a fabulous day! Thanks so much Jane.

Lincoln Museum in Springfield is Winner of the Lindgren History Museum Award

We intended to go to Springfield to see the Lincoln museum (Saturday). But after Jane took care of the horses, I was working on my computer waiting for her to be ready, and she was waiting for me to be ready, so we didn’t get on the road until almost 3 pm.

We got to the Lincoln Museum and Library at 4 pm, and they close at 5 pm, so we would have a whirlwind tour. I used by credit union prepaid Visa card to pay for our admission (this will be important in a few more days). We picked up a guide to all the exhibits – and two theaters – and headed in.

The first thing you see is a display of life-size wax figures of the Lincoln family: Abe, Mary, Robert, Tad, and Willie standing in the rotunda. I took a photo of Jane joining the family when a really nice volunteer for the museum offered to take one of both of us.

The next stop was the Lincoln family log cabin in Tennessee where Abe was studying by the fireplace. The exhibit reminded us that his mother died very young and Abe had a stepmother. The cabin looked fairly authentic and was well-described. Next was Mary Todd Lincoln’s parlor where they were sitting on a sofa as he courted her. They presented a brief history of Mary, as well as Abe’s first love Anne Rutledge – who had died.

Next was the Lincoln—Douglas debates where Jane & I photographed each other clapping as audience members. Then were the election campaigns with all the cartoons, flyers, lies, distortions, etc. They had a room set up as a TV studio with multiple screens. Chris Matthews was doing a live action report of election night 1860. It was creative and very well done. The next room was slanted – the walls were slanted, the doors were slanted, and the political cartoons covering the walls on all four sides were slanted. Again, very creative. We both wanted to linger here, but didn’t have time.
Then came the war. They had a movie screen that showed a map of the USA as war engagements took and lost territory along the front, changing from blue to gray and back again. It kept a running total of dead on both sides. I lost track after a combined million dead. They had a large diorama of him giving the Gettysburg address painted on the walls in another room.

Then it showed the White House years. We went in thru the kitchen – of course. They had a display of Mary Todd Lincoln being fitted for a gorgeous gown of embroidered lavender flowers on a white background. The materials talked about her desire to be the “hostess with the mostest” in D.C. but not ever quite making it because no one liked her. They then displayed the gowns of 4 of D.C.’s premiere hostesses of the day – Mary’s rivals. Her rivals (whose gowns are shown behind her) were Kate Chase (daughter of Lincoln cabinet member Salmon Chase), Adele Douglas (wife of Sen. Stephen Douglas), and Julia Grant (wife of Ulysses). Don’t remember who the 4th one was. They also depicted Willie’s grave illness on the night of that White House Ball – he would die a short time later.

They had a wonderful display of Lincoln’s cabinet room with his cabinet members present as life-sized wax statues. The set-up was the day Lincoln first proposed the Emancipation Proclamation. He did not make it public then for two reasons. One was that the Union (the North) was losing a lot of battles and he wanted to do it when they were winning, and two he and his cabinet were afraid that some border states like Maryland, Tennessee, and Missouri, that were still loyal to the union might switch over if something this huge was released. At some point along here, they showed portraits of Lincoln in all 5 years of his Presidency. You could really see him aging.

As you walked from the cabinet room into Lincoln’s White House office where he was signing the Proclamation, you passed by glass cases on both sides with dozens and dozens of floating heads all talking at once and all offering advice to Lincoln. You can’t understand anyone clearly because they are all talking at once, but that is the effect they are going for. Absolutely genius! The wall are covered with multiple copies of various printers’ versions of the Emancipation Proclamation put out to announce it and to serve as souvenirs.

The displays next led to the fateful night at Ford’s Theater where John Wilkes Booth was shown breaking into the President’s box, and where Mary and Abe were shown sitting with two of their friends (one a Miss Harris) enjoying the play, “Our American Cousin.” I (naturally) was there and could have stopped Booth, but was too engrossed in the play to turn around and see his evil doings. Thankfully they did not give us the life-sized wax version of his death bed.

They did, however, have a life-sized recreation of his closed casket lying in state in the Capitol rotunda, and a lot of information about the train that carried his body back to Illinois for burial – identifying each stop along the way where the people held memorial services for him.
/br>The last room is full of glass display cases holding some of Lincoln’s most prized personal items – many of them donated by his longtime Illinois friends. And then we were back in the rotunda with the wax Lincoln family posing for photos with tourists. And it was time to leave.

If This is Friday, it Must be Merlot and a Masterpiece Day

Slept in until 8 am (Friday). Spent some time in my room writing in m journal as I had not written any of my Nashville stay yet. Yikes! Also worked on downloading photos of the Smoky Mountains.

Jane made some fresh coffee, and we shared a cup until little Aaron (age 3 ½) came upstairs. He is such a cutie – and all boy. He called me “Grandma’s little friend” the whole time I was there. Jane went out to

the barn to care for her horses, Aaron watched cartoons, and I caught up on communications (journal and photos and postcards). Jane’s daughter (and Aaron’s Mom) Mary joined us later and the 4 of us went out to the café in Carlock for lunch. It is owned by a Mom & Pop from Macedonia who are fabulous cooks. I had the Reuben and a bowl of wild rice soup, which were both fantastic. We stopped at a small mercantile for fudge – home-made and great! They had praline fudge; Jane & Mary weren’t sure what praline was. So when we got home I gave them some of Aunt Sally’s pecan pralines from New Orleans. I’m not sure they like pralines.

Jane had made reservations for the two of us to do “Merlot and a Masterpiece” in Bloomington that evening, so we headed off to there around 3:30 pm. But first we packed up our wine – can’t do wine and a painting without the wine.

The artist colony that runs this program has a store-front in the historic district. It seems to be a successful business. Our instructor Danny had prepared our stations with blank canvases on easels, paint brushes in cups with water, and plastic plates of 6 different acrylic paint colors. She had a completed painting and one blank canvas up on her riser. They also provided paint shirts or apron. There were two other women in our class – sisters, one of whom was celebrating her birthday. One of the sisters helped us uncork and chill our wine in a bucket of ice (they think of everything). She also showed us where the wine glasses are stored.

Essential supplies now in hand, we were reading to become artistes!!!

First she had us completely fill the canvas with swirls using a very wide, flat brush using only the black, white, yellow and green colors. This was a background and not supposed to actually “be” anything. This is a note for those of you turning your head sideways to see what that background is supposed to be.

Next we painted cascading grapes on the bottom of the canvas – cascading from right to left on the lower portion of the canvas. Jane got creative and made some black grapes that at first looked like olives, but once she figured out highlighting to give perspective, they looked really good.

Then we painted in a wine bottle on the left side center. My bottle was OK, but the red protective cap on top looked like crap until Danny fixed it. The wine glass was next. We all fell down on the white wine glass. My brush strokes were too heavy. The very last step was to take the extremely think brush and write “Wine Time” on the painting and sign it. I wrote “Sunshine Day” on mine. “A day without wine is like a day without sunshine.”

I think our instructor got a kick out of the banter Jane & I were doing. Jane started this “Well, do YOU like it” thing and we kept the riff going. I started a “Well, it’s representational” thing and we also kept that going. The two sisters joined in with the banter. We just had fun in general.

When we were all done, the instructor took several photos of all of us. Upon reaching home, Bryan decided the better part of valor was not commenting on our masterpieces. My painting will never hang on anyone else's wall but mine, but it is way, way better than anything I would ever be able to paint all on my own. So, I am keeping it!

But before we got home, we stopped at Puran East Indian restaurant for dinner. I had the lamb korma, which was excellent. Jane had tandoori chicken, and we split a spinach and chick pea vegetable dish. Mine was excellent, but too much to eat. We took doggie bags home. We were charged up about our art experience.

Day 84 - Leaving Nashville; Homeward Leg of Trip

Day 84 - moving day. I realized at 5 am that I left my tripod at The Hermitage, so drove back to get it. Mailed some postcards on the way. Picked up the tripod, bought even more postcards and a mouse pad of all the U.S. Presidents with Andrew Jackson front and center for Brendyn.

Packed up the car, put the camper down, and got on the road (I-40 and I-24) by 11 am. Ran into a traffic jam in Nashville immediately. Had to stop in some tiny hamlet in Kentucky for a nap – took a whole 30 minute nap. Gassed up the car twice on the road, stopped at a couple of rest stops. Took some photos at Love’s travel stops – I do love Love’s while on the road. Drove over this great covered bridge in Kentucky, and drove thru this beautiful gorge along the highway in Illinois.

Illinois greeted me with a real downpour of rain as soon as I got over the bridge from Kentucky, but it only lasted for 5 miles, then another 10 miles of light rain.

Switched to I-57 in Illinois. Made it to Carlock, Illinois by about 9 pm. Jane had to talk me into her driveway. I never would have found it on my own. Jane, Bryan, and I chatted for an hour, mostly about retirement, and then called it a day.

Mileage so far on Day 84 = 9,765

The Hermitage

Slept in since I was out late last night at the Grand Ole Opry and still tired from the Smoky Mountain hikes. Wrote some postcards (about 20) and posted them. Went to President Andrew Jackson’s home – The Hermitage – on Wednesday. They advertise him as the “people’s President.”

The Hermitage is owned by the Ladies’ Hermitage Association, which was started by Mrs. Andrew (Amy) Jackson III, and her cousin Mary Dorris (a Donelson relation) in 1889. The Ladies’ Association owns the property and operates it as a museum. They have spent many, many years acquiring original Jackson family furniture and papers, and claim to have the most original furnishings of any Presidential home. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. I took several photos of the front and the grounds.

Andrew and Rachel Jackson are both buried in a tomb on the property. As is Andrew Jackson Jr., Andrew Jackson III and the IV and their wives. All of them had military careers.

You pay your entrance fee at the museum, and are given a self-guided tour for the grounds. But you are required to take a guided tour of the interior of the house, even though all the interior doors are barricaded

by a glass covering screwed in place from the rooms’ interiors. The house guides are excellent and really know their history. They are all dressed in period costume and the outside greeter was kind enough to pose with me for a photo. The fellow who took the photo also took one to show my sweatshirt saying to his mother, who I must assume is a woman of taste and refinement.

We had 3 guides inside The Hermitage – one for the living and parlor rooms – one for the private bedrooms of Andrew and his adopted son Andrew (and Sarah) Jackson, Jr. – and one for the children’s rooms upstairs. Junior had 4 children, 2 of whom lived to adulthood (Andrew III and the President’s favorite Rachel). Andrew Jr. was Mrs. Jackson (Rachel’s) nephew; his name is sometimes written as Andrew Jackson Donelson.

The rooms are beautifully decorated and not flowery as I expected. Rachel’s tastes ran more to geometrics. She ordered wallpaper of The Odyssey and Ilaid from The Louvre in France for the downstairs and upstairs lobbies (or vestibules). The house was decorated in a unique style. The living room was decorated with a lot of military stuff like guns and sabers. We saw Jackson’s bedroom with all the furnishings exactly as he left them on the day he died in 1845, at the age of 71. His study is about half the original and half reproduction furnishings and is attached via a communicating door to his bedroom. His son Andrew Jr’s (and Sarah his wife’s) bedroom is right across the hall, connecting via communicating door to the farm management office. The guide talked about the bound newspapers lying around on the floor and how the President preferred the New York papers because they were very pro-Jackson.

We had to revert to self-guided tour of the kitchen (separated by a covered porch from the house after the 1834 fire), and the dining room with its painted cloth flooring. The audio guide said it was rare for there to NOT be guests for dinner at The Hermitage – mostly military buddies of Jackson’s or local Nashville friends, but occasionally distinguished visitors from afar. Betty was the Jackson family cook in the detached kitchen for decades. She was also the mother of Alfred, who maintained Jackson’s horse livery. Both were slaves. Andrew purchased Grace Bradley, a noted steamstress to D.C. hostesses, and brought her back to the Hermitage as his daughter-in-law’s dressmaker. Grace married Alfred, and had children. Their slave quarters are still there at the Hermitage, but because all 3 of them were favored slaves, their quarters are bigger and better equipped than the field slaves’ quarters would have been. Alfred stayed on after emancipation and even into the years when the mansion was turned into a museum. He guided tours.

Quite some distance behind the Jackson mansion on the property is the first Hermitage that Andrew and Rachel lived in when they came to Tennessee. It is essentially a 3-room log cabin. There is a slave quarters just a few yards from this original house. The printed materials inside the cabin said that even the original Hermitage was later used as a slave quarters.

There were no photos allowed inside so I took some outside and bought postcards of the inside in the gift shop, where I left my camera tripod.

It started to rain as I was exploring the log cabin that was Andrew & Rachel’s first home on the estate. So, I left. I spent the rest of the day (about 6 hours) at Panera Bread on Old Hickory Boulevard working on my blog and photos. Entered the blog post on the Appalachian Trail hike (having trouble with one html tag), and the day I left the Smokies for Nashville. Paneras always have internet – and good food.

Grand Ole Opry - Tuesday Part 2

The new Opryland Hall is certainly bigger. This set of photos is from the exterior and one of the crowd near where I was sitting. The woman having her photo taken with one of our greeters was on a bus of Swedes - I heard them talking as I walked past them. A man in the group was saying, "Je har tenke de......"

I was in the balcony – Row E. The seats are upholstered bench seats – a bit odd. The stage at the hall has a large circle of the old Ryman Auditorium stage front and center so the singers always end up standing there when they sing - and the circle is unbroken. I think you can see the circle in this set of photos below - it is a lighter color than the rest of the floor.

Performers that night included:

• Connie Smith
• Michael Ray
• Riders in the Sky*
• Jason Crabb
• Charles Esten
• Del McCoury Band*
• John Conlee
• Chris Janson**

*My favorites

I sat next to a couple from Knoxville but originally from Iowa. We had a good time; it was good entertainment. Connie Smith, Riders in the Sky, John Conlee, and the Del McCoury Band were old-timers; the rest were new musicians still early in their careers. Although the Riders in the Sky were the only band to do a cross-over rap tune. The Grand Ole Opry is still broadcast live on WSM radio. It occurred to me that the Grand Ole Opry is a venue to showcase new talent. That is one of the reasons I really like Chris Janson; he is a new performer, but really original and authentic. I expect to hear more about him in the future. My seat-mates took a photo of me to prove I was there.

Historic Downtown Nashville and Ryman Auditorium

Cold last night – down to upper 30s, but I was toasty warm with the furnace and two sleeping bags. It was windy too.

Went first to Panera Bread to: (a) get directions to Ryman Auditorium, (b) find out more about the Nash Trash Tour (sold out for my entire stay), and (c) upload some photos to the blog and upload another blog post – now up to the second day in Pigeon Forge.

Then drove into downtown Nashville to search for parking and a visitor center (Tuesday, April 5th). Found the visitor center and Ryman while driving around on their maddening downtown one-way streets that abruptly end. Went first to the Visitor Center after parking at Music Center. They gave me two self-guided walking tour maps of downtown Nashville. I bought a bunch of postcards, and then started my tour.

The first things you notice are the guitar pick signs that say: “Nashville, Music City, LIVE MUSIC VENUE.” I wasn’t sure where or why these signs would show up since some bars with live music had them and some places with live music obviously streaming out of open windows or doors did not. Tootsie’s did not have a sign and they have live music on each of 3 different floors. The signs are on a pole on the parking side of the walk. What a great idea!

The tour took me down Broadway from 5th Avenue to 2nd Avenue – this is not just a live music hub, right around the corner from the Ryman Auditorium (home of the Grand Ole Opry) – but is also Nashville’s historic district.

I walked along Broadway, listening to the music pouring out of the bars and grills on Broadway, snapping photos of the historic buildings, some of them beautifully restored, others still waiting their turn, and enjoying the bright, sunny day.

I stopped at Ernest Tubb’s record store. Ernest Tubb was a singer/songwriter who: (a) wrote and sang “I Walk the Floor Over You,” (b) a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1943, (c) sometime host of the Opry, (d) the father of honky tonk music, (e ) leader of the Texas Troubadours band the developed a lot of young honky tonk talent, (f) hosted “Midnight Jamboree” a radio program that was essentially an after-party for the Opry at his record store, (g) appeared as himself in the movie “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and (h) is listed as #21 in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s line-up of country music greats.

I bought some post cards and tried to buy Rosann Cash’s album “The List,” but it was sold out. The clerk said it always sells out fast. I did buy Brent a shot glass there.

I walked a couple more blocks snapping photos of cool historic buildings – and then stumbled on the Johnny Cash museum. So I went in and paid my admission. He was born J.R. – just J.R. The Army insisted he had to have a real first name, so he gave himself the name Johnny. The museum did a good job of providing and displaying primary genealogy documents of his major life events. They did a very nice job of creating wonderful time-line boards. Side note: Johnny Cash was a regular on a radio show out of Shreveport in the 1950s: Louisiana Hayride on station KWKH. They had a movie room where they showed out-takes of his movie and TV roles, including an appearance on The Simpsons as a coyote spirit guide. And they had lots of little kiosk-type stands with music videos of him singing – these were also grouped by decade. And he had 5 decades as a singer/songwriter. They had even re-created a stone wall from his lake home that burned, using stones they recovered at the site. They also had actual costumes worn by him and June Carter on stage.

Continuing my walking tour, I stopped in the official Opry store on my way back on the opposite side of the street. I picked up some refrigerator magnets shaped like guitars.

Back at 5th Avenue where I started, I took a tour of the Ryman. I discovered that the Grand Ole Opry (for which I had tickets that evening) is in a new, bland building in the suburbs now. Ryman Auditorium is gorgeous!!! From the outside, it looks church-like; maybe a Masonic Lodge. Inside it is part church and part concert venue. It was built in 1892 by Ryman, a hard-bitten riverboat captain, as a Union Gospel Tabernacle to save the souls of the lost of Nashville. It also hosted concerts and lectures (like Booker T. Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt). In 1897, the balcony was added as the “Confederate Gallery” for a Confederate Veterans Association reunion. It should be noted that Tennessee remained in the union for the duration of the war, but its populace was deeply divided. Nashville residents still refer to "occupied Tennesse" but they mean occupied by armies from both sides.

The Ryman hired Lula Naff as the back of house manager in 1904, and then she started leasing the building as an independent agent in 1914. She is single-handedly responsible for all its success as an institution. She retired in 1955. In between, she booked all the acts, making annual trips to NYC to book Broadway shows and search for more national music talent. She was the booking agents, the CFO, the advertising department, the ticket seller (she would walk the streets of Nashville hawking tickets out of a shirt box). She brought in shows like Will Rogers, Helen Hays, Katherine Hepburn, Bob Hope, as well as boxing matches and political debates. She turned the Ryman into a national venue of great repute.

In June of 1943, Lula welcomed the Grand Ole Opry (a show put on by WSM radio that had grown too big for its space). The crowd was rowdy, but it built its own national reputation with Lula’s help. Early performers included Bill Monroe (of Prairie Home Companion fame), Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chet Atkins, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams,

Maybelle Carter, June Carter, and the incomparable Minnie Pearl, who was a regular on the show. My Grandma Birdie was a HUGE fan of Minnie Pearl’s. "Howdeeeee!" Elvis Presley appeared only once in 1954 and was NOT well-received. Later Grand Ole Opry members included Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, and Emmylou Harris.

National Life Insurance, eventually the owner of both the Ryman Auditorium and WSM radio, built a new home for the Grand Ole Opry in 1974 and planned a demo. Local and national celebrities started vocally advocating preservation of the “Mother Church of Country Music.” March 15, 1974 the last Grand Ole Opry show on WSM radio was broadcast from the Ryman. Minnie Pearl cried. In 1980, scenes from the movie “Coal Miner’s Daughter” – the Loretta Lynn story – were filmed there. In 1988, Dolly Parton started filming some episodes of her ABC variety show there. In 1989, the renovation began. In 1991 and 1992, Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers recorded two albums - “Live at the Ryman.” In 1992, an even bigger renovation began. Garrison Keiller brought a “Prairie Home Companion” there in 1994 for the Grand Opening of the Ryman – and returned in 2015. The musical "Always..Patsy Cline" also premiered there in 1994. In 2001, it was declared a National Historic Landmark.

I took lots of photos. They had some of the biggest stars in country music narrating about 6 different video history segments next to 6 different sets of display cases showing off the unique history of the place. At the end of the tour, I got a photo taken of me playing a guitar on stage at the Ryman.

I have to admit that, while I was watching the mandatory video, when they got to the part about plans to demolish the building, I started to tear up.

I walked to the corner hoping to find a seat at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, which is on the self-guided walking tour. I walked up to the rooftop, on the way passing 3 bands each playing on a different floor of the Lounge. The one on the 3rd floor (rooftop) was playing off key. There was no room to sit, but there was one guy alone at his table with 2 chairs. So I asked him if he would mind if I sat there. He said to please feel free. He was a songwriter originally from England, now living in Spain, there at a new songwriters’ conference trying to get some interest in his songs. At the workshop that day, one judge was very negative but the other one said that he is interested in working with this Brit country boy. We chatted while I ate a really good burger and had a couple of gin and tonics. I showed him the self-guided tour description of Tootsie’s. Apparently the wild lavender was a mistake by a painter a long time ago, but the owner has kept it because it makes the place stand out on a busy strip.

I walked a few blocks west on Broadway to see a few other historic buildings including the Custom House. Then it was time to head to the burbs for the Grand Ole Opry.