Days 13-16 Nashville TN to Columbia MO 11-14 June 2015

Day 13 - 11 June 2015  Cades Cove, Smoky NP to Nashville TN - 225 miles

Roadside rest stops can be oases 

... except for the vending machines filled with high fructose corn syrup

We're headed for Nashville, Tennessee, home of country music in the US. Downtown Nashville is hosting the annual country music awards this weekend, so as much fun as that sounds, we decided to give the crowds a miss.

Instead, we went to "Hermitage", the plantation of Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States.

The took a tour of the house, visited the museum and walked the grounds of the plantation. The site is run by the non-profit Andrew Jackson Foundation, which has very knowledgeable guides for the house tour. 

The grounds included formal gardens,

Jackson's memorial,

and remnants of the plantation including cabins used by Jackson's slaves.

Later in the afternoon there was housekeeping. We found a laundromat with a large washing machine that made short work of a week's washing. This was only the 'large' model, smaller than the 'giant' and 'jumbo' models in the background. 

A night in a Hermitage (near Nashville) motel was a luxury.

Day 14 - 12 June 2014 Nashville TN to St Louis MO 324 miles

American motels don't provide cooking facilities, but often include breakfast. The best may have eggs, sausages and waffles. A continental breakfast is more usual at the low end of the spectrum and that's what we got at the Econolodge--toast, bagels, coffee, tea, cold cereal and juice. 

From Tennessee we crossed into Kentucky

Between the Rivers is an area that was taken over by the Tennessee Valley Authority along the border between Tennessee and Kentucky. It is now managed as a park and includes a nature center and includes local animals on display.

From Kentucky we crossed into Illinois

and the Missouri River into St Louis, MO

We stayed with Marc and Carly Rowe

Day 15 - 13 June 2014 St Louis
In the morning, we took the train into the St Louis.

Courthouse and museum

Under the courthouse dome

Court room where the Dred Scott trial was held

It wasn't difficult to find the St Louis arch.

The arch is 192m high and 192m between the legs at the ground. 

Access to the top is via egg-shaped cars that hold 5 people. Not a good place to be claustrophobic.

The view from the top is stunning ...

but it's not the place to be acrophobic.

The baseball stadium is on the left of the panorama above. We saw a steady stream of fans headed for the stadium for the Kansas City Royals vs St Louis Cardinals game at 3pm. 

We took the train back past Carly and Marc's to Forest Park, the site of the 1904 World's Fair. The city art museum is in one corner of the park.

The interior was amazing. This vertical panorama goes from a dome to the floor.

There was representative art from all periods. Here's an artist we hadn't noticed before.

There were also furnishings from different periods.

We got soaked on the walk from the park back to Marc and Carly's condo, but they had the fixings for a great barbecue when we got there.

Carly and Marc (and Jones) were remarkable hosts -- especially considering their condo was half packed for their move back to Denver.

Day 16 - 14 June 2014 St Louis to Columbia MO  124 miles
It was about two hours from St Louis to Columbia MO, where we met Santosh and Gopal Krishna. We last saw them in 1973 when we left Ba, Fiji. Here we are at the Taj Mahal restaurant in Columbia.

Ed, Gopal and Santosh at Missouri River overlook.

Catching up on the last 42 years

Santosh made puris for dinner and gave us enough tips so we'll try making them on our own.

The next morning we said goodbye before heading further west.

.oOo.