Quiet. Quaint. Quincy. Turner Travels - Day 4

Today was spent in our temporary home for the week - Quincy, IL.  Big T had to register this afternoon for the competition at PASA Park in Barry, so we just piddled around Quincy.  Photo ops abound, so I have gone to riding with my camera in my lap so that I am ready to jump out or snap at a moment's notice.

Antique truck

Bayview Bridge

Anchor Down!

No idea what her significance is, but she made me laugh.

Any excuse to say Arrggh!

I wish I weren't in the land of Pepsi...look away, look away

Quincy is known for its varied architecture in two different historic districts.   I wish that I had more knowledge of the various styles and how to identify them, because I mostly ride in the passenger seat saying "Cool house!"   and "Oooh.....I like that one..."  and "Stop the truck! I gotta get a picture!"  I know it was highly entertaining and frustrating for my driver, especially when we got tangled up on the one way streets.   At one point this afternoon,  he just dropped me off at a stop sign with camera and cell phone and said he would call when he found a parking place.   It is that kind of place- just like any other small town in middle America- you feel safe walking around with just a camera and a phone.  These photos are from one particular area that has been noted by Nat Geo as "one of ten most architecturally significant corners (16th and Maine) in the U.S."

Earlier in the day, we visited the All Wars Museum which is located on the campus of the Illinois Veterans Home and met a gentleman named Tom Markovic.   His Yugoslavian accent added just the right amount of flavor to our conversation about war and politics as well as to the stories of his younger years.  He has even picked cotton in Mississippi at one time!   We probably spent around an hour looking at their displays, which were in chronological order, starting with the Revolutionary War and ending with current day military memorabilia.   They had quite the variety of items from each era -- uniforms, weapons, personal items, publications, and photos, just to name a few.

lace handkerchief

Model built by an unknown resident at the Home

Bomber jacket patch

I spy a logo in the camo

Huey and M60 tank

When we travel, we have a "rule" that one meal a day has to be at a place that we don't have in Huntsville.   Finding a unique place can prove to be quite the challenge at times, but today we found two.    Lunch was at Maid-Rite, home of the loose beef burger.  

We caught them during their busiest time, but we were able to seat ourselves when we walked in.  Their process is a bit different than other diners or fast food restaurants, because when our waitress brought our food, we paid the server right then and there at the table in cash only.  And they have signs that say "Please No Tipping."  

For dinner we walked across the street from our hotel to check out the Riverside Smoke House & Grill.  What a treat!

Even though I am not a huge bbq fan, I do like ribs from time to time.  I was pleased to see that they offered a quarter rack of ribs as an entree as well as several vegetables that were not some form of potato.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE potatoes, but I try to eat other veggies when they are available.  Big T went for the brisket open face sandwich and said that it was really good too.  We decided to treat ourselves and have dessert. Ya know, since we didn't eat potatoes.  

Our outstanding server recommended the bread pudding.  Generally I am not a fan, but after tonight, I am a convert.  Oh my.

Competition starts tomorrow at 8 am.  Looking forward to the challenge of shooting the shooters!

Show Me Hannibal - Turner Travels Day 3

Some days I wonder why I chose to be an engineer.  I really like history and literature, and I love to read for hours on end when I have the time.  When I travel, I enjoy learning all about the area I am in, and if I find a book by a local author, I consider it a score.   Today, I was able to indulge in the history of America's Hometown - Hannibal, Missouri - with a heavy dose of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and topped off with a bit of steamboat technology.

We started off our adventure at the Hannibal Visitor's Bureau where we chatted with a lovely lady who informed us of all of the great things to see and do.  And there was a treat today, because the American Queen steamboat cruise was stopping in Hannibal from 12:00-5:00 pm.  We pocketed a few brochures and trekked toward the lighthouse for our first stop.   At the bottom of the 244 steps, we found statues of the famous best friends, Tom and Huck.

And at the top of the 244 steps, was this lighthouse. Too bad we couldn't go in, but a great way to get our cardio!

We strolled Main Street taking photos, reading signs on historic places, chatting with folks, and generally getting the feel of the town.   One of the places we explored was the Hannibal History Museum.  There were exhibits about famous people from Hannibal - like "The Unsinkable" Molly Brown and Bill Lear  (Lear Jet) as well as a section dedicated to Mark Twain that included the Tom Sawyer Diorama exhibit.   After a quick walk to the riverfront, we decided to work in a riverboat ride after lunch at a local establishment - Becky Thatcher's Diner.

Good food, great service, and even better soundtrack for the 60's diner experience - "What's New Pussycat?"  "Daydream Believer" and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"  were a few of the tunes we heard.  Once we were refueled, we journeyed down to Mark Twain's boyhood home area.  The ticket allows entrance to his childhood home, Becky Thatcher's home across the street, Huck Finn's house, his father's Justice of the Peace office, Grant Drug Store, and the Mark Twain Museum down Main Street a block.  Photography was allowed inside but proved difficult due to the glass walls and tiny spaces.  However, we did manage to participate in one of my favorite parts of Tom Sawyer - whitewashing the fence.

Next, we drove to the riverfront and hopped aboard the Mark Twain for a one-hour Mississippi River cruise, complete with corny jokes and tall tales.  I learned that Samuel Clemens chose Mark Twain as his alias from a steamboat term "mark twain" that meant that the water was 12 feet deep and safe for steamboat travel.   

The American Queen was an impressive vessel to view from the Mark Twain, and even though we couldn't go aboard, it was interesting to watch her pull away from the shore and lower the stacks.

                       

The one thing that I really enjoyed was the music that the boat played when it was arriving as well as when it was leaving.  I especially enjoyed the way in which it was played -- via steam whistles.  Of course, I had to wonder if they had modernized it with some sort of programmable control system.  Always the engineer. *sigh*

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

One last stop was on our list for today - Mark Twain Cave, which was a significant location in the Tom Sawyer tale.  

This also gave us a reprieve from the heat, even though it was quite tolerable for us Southerners.   The cave is a comfortable 52 degrees year round.   Our tour guide did a fantastic job with showing us the cave and answering a good amount of questions from one lad.  He also had his share of punny jokes as well.   I was fascinated by the signatures on the upper walls and highly entertained by the creative names for some of the formations.  

Hannibal has shown me a lot today, and I didn't even get finished.  There are still two other historic districts with what I assume can only be really cool houses to see.  I guess we'll save that for the next Nationals trip. 

Playing TN Tourist

This weekend we were honored to be guests at the wedding of a very dear friend which was being held at the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN.  We chose to go a day early and play tourists.  I say “play tourists” because I grew up not that far from Franklin, so I really don’t feel like we are really away from home even though we live in Alabama.  We had such great experiences at a variety of places, I thought I would blog about it and share with others that might visit the area.

After checking into our hotel, the first order of business was to find food for dinner.   Had it been earlier in the evening, we probably would have ventured to the downtown Franklin area, but as we were pretty hungry, we opted for a place reasonably close.  We have a rule that we also try new places when we travel, so we chose Buco Di Beppo, an Italian chain restaurant.   The staff was super friendly and our server did an excellent job explaining to us about their family style dining.  Basically, you pick your item from the menu and they bring it out in a bowl (small for 2-3 people, large for 4-6) and you share.  You know, just like you eat when you are at home.  We decided on a Ceasar salad, Penne San Remo, and a side of Italian broccoli.   Wow!  Even with ordering a small, we had enough left over for another meal.  But the food was yummy!  I have just recently discovered that I like Ceasar salads, and this one did not have a heavy dressing; it was just right.  The pasta dish was also rather tasty even if it did have a alfredo-ish type cream sauce (I am not an alfredo fan) and the broccoli was #1!  They added garlic, crushed red pepper, and a sprinkling of parmesan to this favorite veggie and really gave it some kick. 

While eating, I gazed across the table at T and realized in horror that I had forgotten to cut his hair this week like I had planned.  He could NOT go to the wedding looking scruffy with his combination three week beard and goatee.  So our first priority the next day was a barber shop.  Having a feeling that Franklin probably still had a REAL barber shop downtown, I did a quick search online and found exactly what we were looking for with Carson’s Barber Shop  – walk-ins and an average wait time of less than ten minutes.  We arrived shortly after they opened and walked right in and got him cleaned up.  It is an old house that has been converted into a barber shop, and they have all sorts of antique barbering items around.  They even had two little cars for little guys to sit in for their trims.  The waiting area even had a popcorn machine, TV, and games.  My favorite thing was the antique glass door knobs on all of the doors.  I know – weird.

Next stop was the Franklin Gun Shop.  T is quite the gun enthusiast, and having passed their gigantic billboard on the interstate multiple times, this was a must stop and look.  They do have a pretty good assortment of weaponry, new and used, as well as any accessory needed.  We managed to get in and out with all of our money still in our pockets, so I considered that a success.

Now we were on to the real tourist stops.  I wanted to go to the Parthenon  (1) because I had never been there and (2) we saw the real one last year in Athens, Greece and I wanted to compare the two.  It is located across from Centennial Park in West End.  The first floor has displays of items from the Tennessee Centennial and explains the history of the Nashville Parthenon.

 They are currently showing an art exhibit on the second floor called ARTWORK AMONG US: Portraits by Juan Pont Lezica that is photographs of Nashvillians posed and dressed similar to famous artwork.  For instance, one of the photos is of former Tennessee Titan Eddie George posed as The Thinker.  No photos are allowed of the artwork, so you will have to go see that for yourselves.  But photos are allowed on the third floor where Athena stands guard over her temple.  Having seen the Percy Jackson movie, I knew kinda what to expect, but to walk up the stairs and see this humongous, dare I say gaudy, statue was quite the sight.  

I have always enjoyed mythology, so I still thought it was neat to see the shield, the Medusa,  and just the total Athena package. We took several photos inside and out, and then moved on to our next destination – Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.

I basically chose Cheekwood because (1) we had never been there, (2) I thought it would provide good photo ops, and (3) we could get in for free.   The reason we could get in for “free” is because we are members at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens, which allows reciprocal visits to several other gardens and locations across the country through the American Horticultural Society (AHS).   If you visit several places like this in a year, the membership is well worth it with reciprocal visits and other discounts. 

The Cheekwood property is located in a beautiful area just 8.5 miles southwest of downtown Nashville.   We first grabbed a quick lunch at The Pineapple Room, their on-site restaurant.  Reservations are recommended, according to their website, but we did the walk-in thing, and it worked out okay.  From reading the menu cover, we learned that Cheekwood has a treehouse exhibit this year, so we got really pumped about seeing what kind of forest-y abodes were in store for us.   Here are shots of the seven tree houses:

All of the treehouses are big enough for adults to go in them and each is unique in its own way.  We did not explore the entire grounds available to us simply due to time and the heat.  The car’s temperature reading said 102F,  so I am sure it was hovering close to 100,  but it was tolerable since there were many shady spots along our route and it was dry.  All of the walking actually kinda reminded us of our time in Israel last spring, but with more grass and trees.   I would definitely like to go back and see some of the other gardens and the art museum housed in the Cheekwood  Mansion.  I bet it has air conditioning!

So many great places are available to visit in middle Tennessee, depending on your interests.  I hope this may have helped you in making the decision to hit the road and see the sights.  Happy trails!