Sunday, 6 May, 2021- As the caption says, we made it to Wisconsin. We left Florida early Tuesday morning and dashed up across America to a little community in Northern Wisconsin named Holcombe. Holcombe’s claim to fame is that it sits on a beautiful lake that is fresh and clear at least six months of the year … the rest of the time it is frozen over.
We came to Holcombe to attend the wedding of one of our nephews. He (Alec), and his bride (Alison), had a Venue wedding at one of the locations on the lake in Holcombe. So, Thursday evening, Friday, yesterday (the actual wedding was late yesterday) and last night was spent playing golf, eating, drinking, visiting with friends and relatives and enjoying Northern Wisconsin. For you meteorologists, the temps here are normally in the mid 70’s during the day and low 60’s in the evening. Just for us, the temperatures, while we were here, exceeded 90 all four days, but was breezed and humid. Hmmm. Anyhow, we had a very nice time, enjoyed gracious hospitality, and ready to move on. But, before we leave the wedding thought, here a few pictures of the venue where the young couple had an informal reception for their immediate families:
As you can see, hunting and fishing are a BIG thing here … it’s what most people up here do when they are not working or drinking. The other big activities are four wheeling and snowmobiling and drinking … Snowmobiling wins out as the most popular because there is snow here most of the time … except June, July, and August. The venues are quite well done and a great place to entertain. We had a very nice time.
We are near Holcombe right now getting ready to depart and wander around the state looking up friends and relatives today and tomorrow. The Great River Road experience does not start until Monday morning when we will be leaving Winona, Minnesota and starting down the great Mississippi. Here’s our route:
In a Nutshell, we are following the river from Winona to Memphis with multiple stops along the way. From Memphis we hope to cut over to Nashville and catch some of the nightlife there. Then, catch a couple distillery tours south of Nashville, on to Atlanta, and home. OH!! I forgot to tell you. Today, leaving Holcombe, we were driving down Hwy 27 and we saw this furry little head poking up out of the grass right next to the road. From a distance we thought it might be a kitty but as we got closer the head looked too big. Just as we got to it another furry little head popped up right behind the first one and it was to little bear cubs!! Wow, first bears we have actually seen next to the road. Before I could stop and take a picture they were both skedaddling into the woods. I did not follow knowing Mama Bear was not very far away and they are no fun to reckon with. Saw a sign once that said. Things that nearly kill you make you stronger … but bears … The will definitely kill you. Anyhow … nice experience and the little cubs were really cute.
7 June 2021, Monday – We are officially on our way!!!! This morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and departed Lake Halie, where we had spent yesterday and the night, and drove South to Buffalo City, Wisconsin. We first stopped in Arcadia to see my Uncle Jerry and his wife Cleo. Uncle Jerry is the youngest of My Dad’s siblings and the only surviving sibling of that family … he is 87 and doing well … so is Cleo. We had a nice lunch at a little place calle “The Pub” at a Ashley Furniture Store … yup, right in the store. Had a nice time and a nice chat and said good bye. We continued on to Buffalo City where my cousin Doris and her husband Ralph live. Doris is one of my cousins that is the same age as I am so we have kinda kept in touch over the years. We used to visit them when they spent the winter at Longboat Key but due to health reasons they no longer come South … so we decided to visit them. Along the way we saw some great Wisconsin scenery … which I am going to share with you now:
We got to Buffalo a little early so we cruised up the Mississippi to Alma. They had a great little park there that is on top of a high bluff that overlooks the region. It also overlooked one of the 29 dams and locks that work to keep the Mississippi navigable from North of Minneapolis to New Orleans.
Walking Out To the Overlook 
The Dam and Locks on the Mississippi 
Looking Straight out over Alma 
Looking South 
A House Boat on The River 
That’s Us 
The Locks 
A Coal Electric Generating Plant 
The Story 
The Park 
We got to Ralph and Doris’ house, visited for a while catching up on recent times, then went to a Wisconsin Supper Club … Sullivan’s … (One of a kind restaurants found only in Wisconsin) and shared dinner. Nice evening.
We are now in Winona, Minnesota where we will spend the night and start our way down the Mississippi tomorrow morning. See You then.
8 June, 2021 Tuesday – Here we are in Dubuque, Iowa on the West side of the Mississippi again (Last night in Winona was in Minnesota also). We had a very nice day … But, before I jump into that there was one picture that escaped me last night that I found today and wanted to share with you. While we were having dinner at the Wisconsin Supper Club I mentioned a very long barge went by. Nancy and I were accustomed to seeing big barges on the Rhine in Germany but this puppy was BIG. Here’s the picture I got of it:
Back to today .. Tuesday. We drove from Winona, back across the Mississippi to Buffalo City, Wisconsin and followed the Great River Road (GRR) all the way to just East of Dubuque, Iowa where we turned West and crossed the river into Iowa. It was early so we decided to drive North on the GRR back up a ways to see what we had missed on the West side. Turns out we didn’t miss much and the Wisconsin side had much more river exposure. when we had decided we were okay with what we hd done we drove back to Dubuque and checked into a hotel we had reserved around noon. Everything worked out well.
Now for some exciting stuff! Below you will find a picture of the BIGGEST Catfish in the world. It was caught right there in Trempealeau. The the angler hooked onto it he had to tie his line onto the back of his pickup truck to pull it in. Once he got it on shore it was hauled to a nearby Taxidermist by a oversized Flatbed truck trailer. It took a team of ten Taxidermists three weeks to get this guy preserved and he now marks the entrance to the fair city he used to swim by all the time. A touching story of bravery, endeavoring until success, and home town pride … here he is:
Today’s trip can be put into three categories … The River, Small Towns, and farms. That is basically what we saw all day … and it was all very interesting, and beautiful in many areas. So that is how I am going to present the pictures … in those three categories … But first let me post a picture of a map of the route we took with all the little towns along the way:
So lets start with the towns. As you can see by the map there were a quite a few of them. LaCross and Prairie du Chien were the largest. Most of the other ones were just little villages. All had old buildings, some ran down and some restored quite beautifully. Being Wisconsin they all had bars and many of them had Supper Clubs. Here’s some views of the towns:
The Signs We Followed 
Downtown La Crosse 
Bluffs along The Road 
Shale Quary 
Tree Lined Streets 
Many Large Hardwood Trees 
The Route Is Complicated Sometimes 
Another Small Downtown 
Hometown America
That was the villages … Now the farms:
A Modern Farm 
Bales of Hay in a Row … Like Big marshmallows 
An Old fashioned Silo 
Horizontal Silos 
Like Toothpaste 
Grain Storage 
A Little Red Winged Blackbird on an Appropriate Sign
And the Third category is the river:
Levys 
Markers 
This is What The River Looked Like on Our GPS 
Birds Found on The River 
Backwaters 
A Roadside Map 
The Main River 
Path Up to An Overlook 
Overlook Was At The Top of The Promontory 
Barge 
A Ferry in Cassville 
Approaching The Mississippi Going into Iowa 
Looking North 
North 
South
Some Trivia regarding the Mississippi. When it is at it’s normal flow it passes roughly one million gallons of water per SECOND! It is 2,340 miles long, it takes a drop of water 90 days to travel the length of the river, and is the home to 360 species of fish, 326 species of birds, 145 species of amphibians, and 50 species of mammals.
That leaves our travel in Iowa. Mostly farms and never near the river. Great vistas, big farms, old towns … here they are:
An Old Majestic Home 
Open Road 
Huge Farms 
The Map … A Little Deceiving 
Mississippi way In The Background 
The Birds 
A Deer We Saw Next to The Road Having Dinner .. Growing New Antlers
So now we have had our dinner, I’ve made the post in my Blog, and we are ready to turn in. The Great River Road is not extremely exciting but is a wonderful collection of all the great things about out country. It is amazing to see what we have done with the great river, the vast farmlands, the businesses we have created. Following this byways gives you a peak at parts of our country you never hear of and will never see sitting in an airplane or even zooming down an Interstate highway. More tomorrow.
9 June 2021, Wednesday – Ok … So yesterday I used categories to show you what we have seen. Not today … and NO FARMS today!! We had an interesting day. What has happened is that the Bluffs of Wisconsin and Minnesota have flattened out and the Mississippi lays in the middle of some flatlands, sometimes surrounded by Sloughs (pronounced “Slews” and means swampy backwaters) and we didn’t really see it all that often. But, if you think about it and look at my pictures .. a river is a river is a river! So today I’m going to post the best pictures (That’s a relative term) of today in the order I took them. I will explain what they are in the caption. Here we go: But First a little explanation … The Pictures of my GPS are to show you how the waters are spread out into finger lakes and sloughs. Next, there are some very interesting big homes along the way. Lastly, we came across the founding place of a major religion. We traveled from Iowa, to Illinois and have stopped in Quincey Ill. Let’s Take a look:
A Church in A Town called Luxembourg 
The Path in Iowa 
A Park With A Guardian Angel 
A Birds Nest 
The River 
The Locks 
Nancy In The Park 
The Locks (We most often were close to the river when there were locks near by) 
The River Through The trees 
Many, Many Very Old Cemeteries 
We were on 607th Ave 
Geese in A Slough 
A Slough 
Crossing Into Illinois 
Our Knew Subaru!! 
Approaching The Crossing Into Illinois From Iowa 
Crossing The Mississippi 
Welcome to Illinois 
Old Towns 
Down town Old Towns 
A Dutch Windmill .. Strong European Influence here 
The Path In Illinois 
A Walk on The Dyke 
Nancy Really Liked All The Early Summer flowers All Along the Way 
The Bridge 
A Castle In Illinois 
The Official Greeter … Note the Shoes! 
A Huge Grain Elevator 
Loading Barges from the Huge Elevator 
The River 
A Body Shop Advert 
Lake George 
An Interesting House 
A Mormon Temple 
More Flowers 
Joseph and Hyram Smith 
Inscription on The Temple 
More about these pictures at the end 
Flowers 
History 
The Arch Stone Bridge 
River Shots 
Nice Home 
A Road Side Stopping Area 
The Hoffman Mansion 
You Can rent It For You and Your Friends 
Lotsa Mowers
So that was the day … Not much river, a lot of farm land and some interesting sites. Regarding the Mormon Temple. Nauvoo, Illinois, is where Joseph Smith established the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in the mid 1800’s after he was forced out of Missouri. The town is plush with historical things regarding their early activities. You can read much of it on the Blue slide above or google Nauvoo, Illinois and Mormons. Very interesting history and well presented. We spent some time there before moving on.
There are some really impressive homes along the river. Some next to the water, some with railroad tracks right next door, some on estates. All worth taking a look at if you get a chance.
Tomorrow we travel across to Missouri and South to Hannibal where Tom Sawyer comes from. Then on to St Louis where we will spend the night. I am gong to try a new case for my phone so I can take pictures without my fingers being in it. I hope to pick up the hardware tomorrow morning so hopefully tomorrow evening you will not have to look at my fingers. See you then.
10 June, 2010 Thursday – Here we are in St Louis, Missouri … Gateway to the West, home of the Arch, big city on the Mississippi. We left Quincy this morning, drove across the Mississippi to Missouri, then headed south mostly through forest and farm land and got to Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal is the home of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, and famous write who introduced Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, and a while bunch of other river characters to us in his many novels, short stories, cartoons, and lectures about life on the Mississippi during the late 1800’s. Nancy and I had been to Hannibal before but had not taken time to do some touring … so today we did. We toured the boyhood homes of Sam Clemens, Hannibal, and the area around it. We found it absolutely fascinating and I encourage anyone who is either looking for an interesting place to go or passing through this area to stop and look around. Here are some of the pictures of our trip to Hannibal and time there.
The Bridge From Illinois to Missouri 
The Mississippi 
Railroad Bridge Across the Mississippi 
Mark Twain Museum 
Some Random Pictures From The Museum 
This Was A replica of A Monument That Hannibal Was Going to Build In Honor of Samuel Clemens but Never Did Because It was Proposed During The Depression and No One Could find The Money for it .. It is all of the Characters in Clemen’s books 
A Pause for A Latte and a Sweetie with My Sweetie 
Downtown Hannibal 
Good Deal on Spiffy Shoes! 
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn 
The Lighthouse 
The Route
On the road between Hannibal and St Louis there were several “Scenic Overlooks”. Most were obscured by overgrown trees but I did get a few good pictures … Yes, of the river. The area is abound with forest land populated with second or third generation Oak trees … very nice.
Woodlands (and my finger … I did get the hardware but did not use it for this picture … takes time to learn new tricks) 
The Oaks 
Interesting Homes 
So, the next thing you know we are in St Louis. We booked a hotel right down in front of the Arch and explored the Arch National Park and some of the local interests.
Guess What This Is! 
See The Little Black Spots At The Top? They Are Windows 
The Arch with the Museum Below 
The Old State Capitol Building 
A Catholic Cathedral 
The Arch 
Base Of The Arch 
The Landing and A Couple Barges 
Carriage Ride? 
Candy’s Favorite Food … “Funnel Cakes” 
Lewis And Clarke Returning From the West 
A relic of Good Times Gone by 
Here’s The Two Cubs I mentioned Up In Wisconsin 
Even The Buffalo Mask Up 
The Arch Viwed From LaClede’s 
Interesting Skyscape 
How Many Windows?
So that ends our time in St Louis. If you have not visited the Arch National Park I highly encourage it. It is an amazing architectural and contracting feat. The Little Black dots I mentioned are windows you can look out of if you take the ride to the top of the Arch. A little confining and unsettling as the cars rotate to stay upright but an excellent view once you get to the top. In the Museum at the bottom there is a very good movie that shows how the arch was built … absolutely fascinating.
Off to Memphis tomorrow. Check in and see how it goes.
11 June, 2021, Friday – The The Great River Road has deserted the River, so we have deserted the road. Because the shores along the river, on both sides are wide and low, the road does not go very close to the river. It gets close occasionally when there is a lock and dam or a community right on the river. Consequently, most of the time on The Great River Road you are driving either through large fields of corn, gran, or rice (which is a grain), or through thick hardwood forests. Because of that we decided to take I55 South out of St Louis and drive directly to Memphis with the caveat that if something looks interesting over towards the rive we will deviate over to it. We drove the 280+ miles and didn’t deviate, then when we got to Memphis, on the Arkansas side, we ran into a huge traffic problem because one of the two large interstate bridges that cross the Mississippi from Arkansas to Tennesee, was closed. A major crack was found in one of the mail suspension beams and they have the bridge closed for several months to get it fixed. The result was a huge backup on I55 so we spent some time getting through that. We had to cross the river to get to Memphis (just like the chicken had to cross the road) so it was just a matter of getting across.
We first went to Graceland thinking it might be interesting. We arrived there and the place was mobbed. We like Elvis’ music but to tour his museum held less interest for us. We traveled on to our hotel.
The hotel we booked was right downtown and is a restored Train station … very nice. We got checked in and drove over to Beale Street where all the action in Memphis is … and there was action. We got to Beale Street and decided to walk over to the Peabody Hotel to see the Ducks before we toured Beale Street. The Ducks spend the day swimming around in a big fountain in the middle of the Hotels reception center (very big hotel). At Five O’clock the Duckmaster lowers a ramp, they walk down the ramp and straight into one of the waiting elevators (because the ducks are so short someone has to press the buttons for them) and are swept up to the rooftop where they spend the night. The next morning they come back down. It is quite the performance and occurs everyday. The place was packed with little ankle biters getting the promo positions along the path the ducks use. Behind them were all the protective, SUV driving Mom’s, who were armed with cameras and bags to ward off anyone who might step on their kids trying to get a picture. The Duckmaster (whom you will soon see) puts on a big show and talks too much before the march … bi then that’s what makes it unique. Anyhow, using my new hardware I was able to get a couple pictures of the march and some of the ducks. Here they are:
The Ducks in the Fountain … There were Five of Them 
The Scene 
The Ducks 
The Rug Rats and Their Mom’s (Thought I was kidding didn’t you?) Looks like the defensive line of the Green Bay Packers!! 
The Black Gentleman in the Red Coat is the Duckmaster 
The Duck March and twenty other cameras! 
The Drake leads off with his favorite hen of the Evening, followed by the Duckmaster, then the other three hens. 
The Elevator Closes and the Ducks Are Gone until Morning (They do NOT have Duck on the Menu) 
The Reception Area of The Peabody Hotel
Wasn’t that just Ducky!!!? No one can say we lead a dull life. So ever we had a drink with some nice folks we met from Minneapolis we walked back to Beale Street. We had dinner there (Ribs, of course) walked around for a while and went back to the hotel. Here’s Beale Street:
Anyone Know Who This Is? 
It’s Not A T-Shirt Till There Is A Picture of Elvis On It! 
Here’s Where We Had Dinner … It was Good!
No captions on the pictures means you can probably figure out what it is. That’s it for Memphis. Saturday we drive to Nashville and see what it has to offer. No more river road. The top half was very interesting but as we go lower it lost most of it’s charm. The small towns along it varied where some were fixed up real nice with Parks along the river and others were just industrial stuff. Guess you gotta choose what you want to like. See you in Nashville.
12 June, 2021, Saturday – Nashville … Center of the Universe for any Country Western music lover and home to hundreds of aspiring C&W singers. Before we get into all that … here’s a couple pictures from our hotel (I mentioned it was unique) and of final sights of the Mississippi as we left Memphis.
The Bar in the Lower Lobby 
A Unique Wall in the Reception Area 
Reception 
The Lower Area From reception … The Hotel was once a Train Station 
Last Views of The Mississippi 
The Closed I40 Bridge 
Dinner Boast Along The River 
Memphis .. Pyramid … of Course!
After a few traffic slow downs and a couple hours of driving we made it to Nashville, checked into our hotel, and went out exploring. We have never been to downtown Nashville before. We did go to the Grand Ole Opery once and had a Grand Old time (which I highly recommend) but never downtown. Downtown Nashville is amazing. Museums, restaurants, bars, sky scrapers, a river (The Cumberland) … it has it all. All the bars and restaurants feature aspiring C&W singers … many of whom are excellent singes and musicians trying to make the big time. To keep things hopping there are any number of “Conveyances” where a number of people climb aboard and party as it tours the downtown area. So here are my pictures from our afternoon in downtown Nashville:
This Alley Runs Right behind Our Hotel … Has A Lot of party Places 
This is What It Looks Like 
Yes … Aspiring Singer CAN Start Here 
Nancy’s New Way To get Around … They Are Everywhere … Just put Some Money In Them, Ride Where You Want, and Leave Them Where You Quit 
Many, Many C&W Bars 
A Young Lady … Very Good Singer .. Trying to Make it Big 
The Guy Version 
Met An Old Friend Here 
Roof Top Party 
A Party “Conveyance” 
Nancy Found Her Bus 
There She Is encouraging The Party … They Wanted Nancy To Jump Aboard 
More Roof Top Stuff 
Can’t Have A Popular lace Without Carraige Rides 
An Electric Party Sled 
The Cumberland River 
Downtown 
Another Party “Conveyance” 
Segway Tours 
Interesting Chandelier … Definitely NOT Chihuly 
Moon Shine 
This Is Interesting 
The Skyline 
Cooling Off 
Kinda Like Hollywood but Different ways of Recognizing The Stars 
A Serious Party Place 
Busy Saturday Afternoon … Lots of Space and Face 
Yet Another Party Conveyance 
This Was A Great Band 
For Rachelle 
Bill’s New bike (I wish!) No, It Does NOT Have A Flat Tire!
So That’s Nashville … We spent he afternoon walking around, ducking into various places and listening to a song or two, had a GIANT Pizza for dinner, then stopped and listened to the last band I showed you for a while. Made it back to the hotel early and in good shape. It was an interesting afternoon in an interesting town. We did not plan to be here on a Saturday night but I think it was the best night to be here for activity … I’m sure there is a lot going on other nights but … Saturday night!!
Tomorrow we are off to early church, then breakfast, then down to Lynchville and a tour of the Jack Danials distillery. If you recall, we did some bourbon tours in Kentucky last year on our way North but most of the places were closed because of the COVID … Jack Daniels is a Whiskey tour in Tennessee.
A parting side note for all you single guys. Downtown Nashville was loaded with beautiful young women looking for guys to dance and party with. They are so desperate a couple even asked me to dance!! This, if you are a young guy looking for some fun, is a “Target Rich Environment!”.
13 June, 2021, Sunday – Got a earlier than usual start this morning. Wanted to attend Mass at St Mary’s which was built in the 1840s and is known as Nashville’s oldest church still standing. We made it there … was an interesting church … couple Photo’s:
The Alter and A Fresco on the Ceiling
After Mass we walked back towards where we had our car parked overnight and stopped along the way for a light breakfast. Following that we headed out for Lynchburg and the Jack Daniels Distillery. A few slow spots on the highway but no big problem. People are definitely getting out this Summer. The roads are packed regardless of the day or destination. Good to see people out. We got to Tallumba where our hotel was and they let us check in early. We settled in then left for the tour at Jack Daniels. Very interesting tour and history. Here are some photo’s, then I will fill in the details:
Here We Are … Have a 2:30 Tour .. With Tasting 
Waiting for The Tour 
The Goods 
A Little History 
On The Tour … Oak Stacked Ready to be Made Into Charcoal for the Filtration Process 
The Spring Where Every Drop of Water For Jack Daniels Comes From (No Iron) 
The Waters 
Jack Daniels 
Jack Daniels’ Office 
The Prices 
Four 14 Foot Distillling and Straining Towers Inside The Tall Building 
How They Make Their Own Barrels 
The Tasting Room 
Explaining The Tasting Process 
We Got to Taste Each of These (Just A Little In The Glass) 
Two Happy Tasters 
Stacks of Barrels 
Downtown Lynchburg 
The Courthouse
The tour lasted about 90 minutes and we were not allowed to take pictures some places. Some Notable facts: Jack Daniels died after kicking a safe he could not open of an infected toe. The Distillery was closed for nearly 27 years during prohibition. Whiskey is made with higher quality and processes than Bourbon. This is the only place in the world where Jack Daniels Whiskey is made. So, it was an interesting tour, and a nice day. Leaving for home tomorrow. Will be going cross country and stopping for the night in Eufaula, Alabama. I’ll post any interesting pictures I get along the way.
14 Jun2, 2021 Monday –Ok! … We made it to Eufaula, Alabama, home of Lake Eufaula and Bass Fishing Capitol of the World … Really … The Whole World … It could be the Universe … who knows, you know? Anyhow, it was a nice trip … we motored from Lynchburg after stopping at a little coffee shop there for a Latte and a sweetie (The hotel we were at was out of everything but grease burger egg sandwiches fresh from the nukes so we opted out of that). Latte was good as was the sweetie:
Cute Sign in the Coffee Shop 
Give It A Go If You Are Ever In Lynchburg, TN
On the way out of Lynchburg we saw some of Jack Daniels warehouses where they age the whiskey for four to seven years. Here is what they look like … JD has 90 of them scattered around Lynchburg … could you have a party with the or what!!!
We then drove South and caught US 431 in Fayetteville, TN and followed that all the way here to Eufaula. Crossed an interesting lake called Guntersburg Lake … had a some nice boats on it:
Boat Houses (Not House Boats) on The Lake 
More Boats 
My Kind of Boats 
Pretty lake 
Downtown Guntersburg
Then we made it here to Eufaula. We are just spending the night here. Having some dinner and getting some sleep. We did drive along the main Street and took some pictures of some the grander (not grandeur) homes along the street for you to enjoy:
At least one of them were for sale if you are looking for a little second home get away. I can even recommend a good Realtor!
This will be the end of the Blog for this trip. Tomorrow is just getting home following some tired old road … as the saying goes “Nothing to see here folks, just move along!” We do hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you. Next trip will be to the Great Northwest where we hope to tour parts of Washington, Montana, Utah, Nevada, California, and Oregon. We plan to go in July … Yup, Next Month. See You Then and Thanks for coming along.
