A Mighty Maple

Days 25 – 30, Birmingham, MI – Upper Peninsula, MI

Hard to believe it’s been 50 years since I graduated from high school, but here we are at my 50^th reunion in Birmingham, Michigan.  Having never been to a previous reunion, I am a little nervous about not recognizing anyone.  I came from a large school with a graduating class of well over 700, and there are about 150 who have planned to come to this reunion.  On the way here, Le Anna asked me what our school mascot was, and I drew a blank.  Then it came back to me – we are the Maples - - the mighty, mighty Maples!!  Who names their football team the Maples?  All the tougher-sounding names must have been taken.

Mighty Maples of Seaholm High School

On arriving in B’ham, we looked for an old favorite restaurant for lunch, but found it had closed several years ago.  Darn it; they made the best, corned beef & Swiss cheese sandwiches I’ve ever eaten.  So we made a quick drive-by of our old houses in two different parts of town, my old elementary school, and the old high school.

Puritan Street House

Quarton Elementary

Seaholm High School

My junior high was no longer standing, but the other places were all recognizable, although they had changed significantly.  Lots of good memories!  B’ham was a mid-size town about 15 miles north of Detroit – very prosperous area with beautiful houses – and a great place to grow up.

The reunion started with a casual Friday night mixer at the hotel.  Although a little awkward at first, it turned into a fun night, renewing old friendships and making new acquaintances.  My brother had married a girl in my class, and the two of them had kept in touch with many classmates over the years. 

 

My brother, Le Anna & myself

So they served as our guides to “who was who.”  It was great to see people I had not seen for many years, but remembered well.  To top off the night, the current cheerleading squad from our high school showed up to give the alumni several cheers, and mix with the old folks.  Very nice!

Saturday night was the big Reunion dinner dance.  My brother and I showed up dressed almost identically – same navy blazer, blue checked shirts, and grey slacks – hilarious; the Watkins twins! 

My brother, his wife & myself

We saw a few different people than Friday night, and some of the same ones.  I recognized lots of familiar names, but not so many faces.  Although the names were familiar, I was unsure if I really knew them, or just knew who they were.  The food was not great, but the music was terrific – classic 60’s rock, what else?

I saw some old neighbors, old friends, and old heartthrobs.  A few drinks, a few dances, and lots of laughs . . . it was great to see old acquaintances.  The emotions ran the gamut.  Overall, it was a very memorable night.

 

A fun evening!

My elementary school classmates!

Good friends!

Sunday morning Le Anna and I took the opportunity to visit my nephew and his family who live nearby, before driving up north to my brother’s house.  He and his wife live north of Traverse City, Michigan, in a beautiful house right on Lake Michigan.

View from my brother's home

Lake Michigan

On the drive up, we got to see the central Michigan countryside – farmlands transitioning to forests and small lakes.  We enjoyed a relaxing 3 days at my brothers, sitting on the deck, touring the local area, and lots of good conversation.  My other brother from St. Charles, MO joined us and made it even more special.  One highlight was lunch at the Legs Inn, north of Harbor Springs.  Named for the iron stove legs that line the roof eaves, this is an authentic Polish food restaurant, and the food and the setting is always worth the drive.

View from Leg's Inn

The towns along the shore of Lake Michigan are interesting and picturesque places.  Each has its own unique character, including Traverse City, Charlevoix, Petosky, and Harbor Springs, and each is worth a visit.

 

Charlevoix

Another highlight for us boys was a visit to the Guntzviller’s Taxidermy and Spirit of the Woods Museum in Elk Rapids.  This little-known museum houses one of the largest and finest collections of Native American arrowheads and artifacts that I have ever seen.  He has some very rare items, including a 12,000 year-old Clovis point, in addition to numerous taxidermy specimens.  Check it out if you are in the area.

http://northernmichigantaxidermy.com/

After leaving my brother’s place, we headed north to the Straits of Mackinac, and across the Mackinaw Bridge – the longest suspension bridge in the US.  This bridge was completed back in 1959, and connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. 

Mackinaw Bridge

We drove west across the bottom of the Upper Peninsula, or UP as it’s known, following the shore of Lake Michigan.  Not many people live in the UP, and the forests are thick.  On another trip we would like to take time to see the Pictured Rocks – a stretch of colorful cliffs on the southern shore of Lake Superior - it was highly recommended to us. 

Going home is always a mix of emotions.  It is never the same as it was in your memory, but in other ways it still feels good.  The reunion was all of these things and more.

Fast Cars, Racing Horses, and Smooth Whiskey

Days 19 – 26, Nashville TN to Birmingham, MI

Leaving Nashville we took the back roads so we could see the countryside rather than the back of a semi-trailer on the interstate.  Beautiful!  The farms all look pristine with the white fences and rolling hills.  We spotted several fields of tobacco and the hanging sheds. 

 

Somebody's Old Kentucky Home

Hanging Tobacco

While in Nashville we noticed many smokers, but excused it away to the music and whiskey and cigar shops in “The District.”  Now that I’ve seen the tobacco farms, I guess it is just part of the local economy.

We headed to Bowling Green, KY and at the suggestion of my brother who owns a 50^th Anniversary Corvette, we went to the National Corvette Museum.  It was lots of fun!  They had just finished filling in the big crater in the floor that had consumed several of the beautiful vettes.  We loved seeing all the older models and learned quite a bit of history about the car.  It’s hard to walk through that museum without wanting one!

Bowling Green KY

Dreaming!

Since we didn’t order a sports car, we decided to drown Bob’s sorrow in a bottle of whiskey by going to the Jim Beam Distillery.  He lost out again; poor guy can’t have any fun!  We’ve been to distilleries in Scotland when we lived in the UK so he wasn’t very interested in doing a tour.  I think he was just hoping for a tasting room . . . pay $5 for a couple shots.  But that’s not how that distillery works so he walked away with only an appreciation for the very nice countryside and a desire to see more of the famed whiskey trail.  By the way, it’s actually called the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, a registered trademark name of the Kentucky Distillers Association.

Made in America

Clermont KY

 

Fast cars and whiskey . . . now it was time to head to the horse races!  We went to Churchill Downs and visited the Kentucky Derby Museum.  Very enjoyable!  Our tour guide was very well informed and funny.  The tour was pretty encompassing so we felt we learned quite a bit.  Pity the 1913 horse, Donerail, who raced with the longest odds of 91-1.  His owner did not bet on him . . . and of course he won! 

Twin Towers on National Historic Register

Interesting factoids

After our tour we enjoyed lunch in the Kentucky Derby Café and ordered the local favorite, Kentucky Burgoo.  It is a meaty stew of no less than 8 vegetables and three different meats; served with cornbread it was excellent!  I’ll be looking for a recipe for this local dish.  www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/kentucky_burgoo/ 

The fall races at Churchill Downs began after lunch; we had lots of fun watching and let’s just say that one of us had a couple winning tickets, small but ahead of the game!

Lucky Me!

My winning horse!

Taking country roads again we started for Lexington but got sidetracked at the Wild Turkey Distillery . . . this time Bob did get to indulge.  I find it all interesting because he rarely drinks whiskey, or I guess it is actually bourbon, but . . . when in KY buy bourbon. 

 

Lawrenceburg, KY

Lots of varieties

There’s a lot of history surrounding the making and distribution of bourbon in Kentucky, and this is an area we’d like to explore more on another trip.  For more information, check out  kybourbontrail.com/

All of Kentucky is horse country, but particularly around Lexington.  It is beautiful and totally it’s own world and culture.  The farms were rolling across the hills, magnificent dry stonewalls, deep green grassy pastures, and creosote stained fences.  Located on the Kentucky River, Lexington is the heart of the Bluegrass Region of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  There are only four in the US (VA, MA, PA & KY, who knew?) Every bit of KY that we saw, but particularly the area around Lexington is very idyllic and picturesque, and worthy of another trip someday. 

 My insight into retirement for today is that we have not allowed enough time to dawdle and enjoy the beautiful places we are seeing.  The purpose of this trip was to visit family and friends and in retrospect we have over-obligated our time.  Hopefully we will get smarter as time goes on and we learn more about our travel temperaments and tolerances.

But as the road trip continues, we have made plans to visit friends who have retired at Lake Waynoka, OH which is just about an hour east of Cincinnati.  We met M&T when we lived in England and have enjoyed visiting with them while they lived in Calgary, AB Canada and again when they came to our home in WA.  This time it is wonderful to see them relaxed and enjoying their dream home on the lake.  It was a very good visit, and we look forward to many more in coming years.  Leaving here, the farms go by one after another in OH and again, we have the sense of “we feed America.”  

Lake Waynoka OH

Ripley OH

OH River

Somewhere in OH

From OH we enter Indiana for about a hundred miles and spot several wind farms and lots of cornfields.  At this point I count the states we have traveled through on this trip.  With entering MI, we are at thirteen (WA, OR, ID, UT, CO, KS, MO, IL, KY, TN, OH, IN, & MI.)  We haven’t decided on a route home from MI so there will be a few more to add to the list!

Corn & windfarms in Indiana

Somewhere in Indiana

 Our destination for the evening is Grand Rapids, MI so we can tour the Gerald R. Ford Museum.  Bob’s cousin is a sculptor specializing in models; one of her early works was a model of the White House for display in the museum.  Sadly, we didn’t find it.  The docent thought perhaps the model had been removed and a technology driven display of the White House has replaced the artwork.  Disappointing!

President & Mrs. Ford's Gravesites

Our next visit is with friends who live in Whitehall, MI a lovely small town near Lake Michigan.  We’ve known A for 35+ years and have gotten to know her husband, J, recently.  They hosted us a couple years ago and were such good hosts we looked forward to visiting again.  It was a very relaxing and we needed the respite.

Lighthouse

Charming Whitehall MI

It’s time to head across MI to the suburbs of Detroit, specifically Birmingham, where Bob grew up.  He will be attending his 50^th high school class reunion; he’s never gone to one before so it should be fun to meet and greet and reminisce.  After several days of travel, he is ready to travel down memory lane and go home.

Tall Grass to Bluegrass

Days 13 – 17, Eastern CO, Across KS & MO, Paducah, KY and Nashville, TN

Leaving my brother’s place east of Parker, CO we traveled in pretty much a straight line across I-70 for nearly 600 miles.  The land stretches forever and ever and there’s not a whole lot in between, or as some say “there’s a lot of nothing.”  Until you see a sign somewhere in KS that says “we feed America.”  It kind of puts things in perspective.

Typical farm town in Eastern Colorado

Near the CO/KS border

Traveling across Eastern CO was interesting to me.  My sister-in-law grew up on a big wheat farm outside Arapahoe, CO and she can distinguish a variety of wheat just by seeing it in the field.  There’s probably more to it than that but then the high plains are in her blood.  We noted that the farmers’ fields on today’s drive seemed to roll from one to another; corn, wheat, canola, sunflowers and sorghum.  I didn’t even know what sorghum looked like or what it is used for; grain, fodder, sweetener, and biofuels (thank you “Google”.)

Sorghum

As we drove eastward I kept looking behind me to see when I lost sight of the Rocky Mountains; it was near Flagler that the summit of 14,115’ Pikes Peak dropped below the western horizon.  We like to track elevation and by the time we’d reached Colby, KS we had lost nearly 4000’ of elevation from greater Denver at a mile high to about 1200’.

In Central KS the terrain began to change as we entered the Smoky Hills region.  Now we were rolling gently over the hills and transitioning from the High Plains to the Flint Hills region.  Geologically this area is largely sedimentary and the farmlands became open tall grasslands.  We were approaching Salina, KS, pretty much in the middle of the state; we’d been seeing signs for Salina ever since Eastern CO and we thought it would never come!

Bluestem grass pastures of KS

Smoky Hills region, KS

Central Kansas

Topeka KS is the capital of the state; we spotted the Capitol building just south of the highway and decided to exit to see it.  The building is pretty traditional and impressive.  Topeka looked like a nice city with an active downtown area.  Our destination for the night was Lawrence, just a few miles east.  It was interesting to note that we again picked up signage for the Oregon Trail and also for the Santa Fe Trail. 

 

Trails of Kansas Territory

Stone fence posts in central KS

Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas (Jayhawks) and the campus was nice.  The town looked like a thriving college town with a lot of cafes and interesting shops downtown.  We saw a campus building named Watkins House; we’ll have to research that!

KS State Capitol Building in Topeka

University of KS

Kansas City is a bustling city spanning the Kansas and the Missouri Rivers, and therefore straddles the KS/MO state line.  The population is approaching 500,000.  On their expedition, Lewis and Clark noted that the confluence of the rivers would be a good place for a fort.  The US Federal government is the city’s largest employer with over 146 different agencies having offices there, including only one of two IRS centers that processes paper returns. 

We were most interested in the southeastern suburb of Lee’s Summit, MO home to Unity Village.  We were married (1981) in a Unity church in Grand Junction CO and had always wanted to visit the campus.  The grounds were beautiful and we were able to go into the chapel, however, we forgot about it being Labor Day and the bookstore/café were closed.

Unity Village Tower

Our destination for the next couple days is across the state at historic St. Charles, MO where we will stay with Bob’s brother, J.  His home was built in the 1840’s and has lots of charm and of course some of the challenges of an older home.  It’s located near historic Main Street, which is located just a few feet above the Missouri River. 

Bob (family calls him Rob) and brother J

J's house in historic St. Charles

 “The Street” as locals call it is a focal point of the community and hosts many festivals and celebrations throughout the year.  St. Charles claims to be the location from whence Lewis & Clark made their last “civilized” stop before exploring the West.

Old church in St. Charles

Riverwalk

While in St. Charles I enjoyed a visit with my former sister-in-law, Ann M. Hazelwood, a respected and prolific writer of fiction, specializing in quilting themed mysteries.  Ann has also written a number of non-fiction books related to quilting and her beloved home state of MO.  She’s also a quilt dealer and appraiser, and an engaging speaker.  Check her out! www.booksonthings.com

Following I-24 we crossed the mighty Mississippi River and saw St. Louis only from the highway; we did see a glimpse of the Arch.  Soon we entered Illinois for a few miles before turning south toward Kentucky. 

 

St. Louis Arch

Mighty Mississippi River

We were looking forward to a visit with good friends in Paducah, KY.  All of us were work colleagues and friends while living in the UK (England) and then again in South Carolina.  Before joining them for dinner Bob dropped me off at the National Quilt Museum; I’m not a quilter but so many of my friends are that I felt obligated to visit.  Actually, I was pleasantly surprised!  These quilts weren’t just patchwork blankets; they were beautiful pieces of art.  I particularly liked the freestyle cutting quilts.  The Museum does not allow photos due to copyright concerns and potential damage to the fabrics but I wished I could capture some of them.

Ohio River

Located in Paducah KY

 Paducah lies along the Ohio River and thus there is an impressive,  fourteen foot high flood wall protecting historic downtown from flooding.  Between 1996 and 2007, muralist Robert Dafford and his team of artists painted 45 wall murals depicting the history of the area.  Bob enjoyed walking along the walls and reading the interpretative plaques, which accompany each mural.

 

Mural wall in Paducah KY

As we drive across KY and onto TN I find myself very drawn to the landscape.  The hills are gently rolling, the rivers meandering, and the trees plentiful.  It’s beautifully green everywhere and such a contrast to our familiar Western US.  I-24 runs across the top of an area called Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, which is formed by two lakes, Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers respectively.  It’s a beautiful area but we will have to explore it on another trip.

We pulled into Nashville, TN and had no idea of what we wanted to see.  As it turned out our hotel was near Opryland so that was our first stop.  We took the backstage tour at the Grand Ole Opry and enjoyed learning about it’s famous history.  Celebrating 90 years of country music history, the Opry continues as a live radio broadcast featuring a mix of country legends and current artists.  The famed “Circle” on the main stage is a six-foot diameter piece of oak flooring where the artists stand and perform.  It was cut from the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Opry, in order to maintain some sense of tradition.  The grounds of the adjacent Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Resort are lovely but we didn’t go exploring.

The Circle

Opry dressing room

Entrance to Opryland

Country Music Legends

 Instead, we sought out a “doc in a box.”  I’d been feeling pretty punk for a few days and after nearly passing out several times while on the Opry tour, Bob had reached the end of his very long patience, and drove me to a medical center.  Carespot was wonderful!  They worked me in immediately and after some lab cultures and a couple Rx, I was on the road to recovery.  It is not fun to get sick while traveling! www.carespot.com/nashville/donelson-tn

Despite my not feeling great, we decided to take advantage of the shuttle service to downtown Nashville offered by our hotel.  Not having any ideas about where anything was or what it was we wanted to see we just followed the lively crowd getting off our bus.  Obviously more experienced than we, they seemed like they were going to have a good time no matter what!  A couple blocks from the bus drop-off point the fun was obvious . . . The District!  Bars, live music, restaurants, shops and a lot of people having more than a good time!  We just wandered around and stood outside the live music venues listening to all the bands hoping to make it big.  Maybe they will! 

One of many in The District

After finding the Country Hall of Fame and the Ryman Auditorium we didn’t really need to see anything else but decided to go to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville for dinner.  Yes, not country but it was a good time nonetheless.  We posted a photo on Facebook and got a kick out of one of the comments hoping “we were not wasted away . . ."

Wasted away . . . not quite!

Country Music Hall of Fame

Historic Ryman Auditorium

While Nashville’s name is recognized as being “Music City”, there are plenty of other great things to do there.  However, our stay has come to an end.  The last few days have taken us from the tall grasses of the Kansas plains to Kentucky bluegrass . . . our insight today is there is always going to be something more to see or wish we’d spent more time seeing what we do see . . . life’s a journey and we thank you for coming along for the ride!