Friday, May 13: Odometer reads 34132 when we leave at 6am. Rory actually was ready ahead of Rick--a first! We've got 494 miles to drive to get
Presley birthplace to Tupelo, MS. Rick has already entered the addresses of our lodgings for the trip into our GPS. When the ETA shows as 12:38pm he remembers that we will gain an hour when we cross the GA/AL border. AL is in the central time zone (for our non-US readers). The drive is routine, we take I-20 almost all the way. The only thing of any note manifests itself as we're driving thru Birmingham. We see the results of the horrible tornadoes of a couple of weeks ago. One community, slightly below road level, is devastated--rubble over hundreds of acres. The only buildings relatvely unscathed are a row of town homes that sit on a hill overlooking the rest of the homes. It's a very sobering sight! We arrive in Tupelo a little after 1pm central time. We've booked a room in a Comfort Inn and it is quite well- equipped, including free internet and breakfast in the morning. Not bad for $71.99.

Since we're here so early in the afternoon, we're off to the Visitor
Elvis' birth home
Gladys, Elvis, Vernon Center and then to Elvis Presley's birthplace ($12, no discounts). The birthplace site consists of the house in which Elvis was born (although the contents are representative of what was there, but none belonged to his family), the church his family worshipped in (which was moved here from its original site elsewhere in town), a memorial chapel, a statue of Elvis at 13 (the family moved to Memphis shortly thereafter), and miscellaneous items of interest. There is also a museum connected to the gift shop. The museum pales compared to what can be found at Graceland. It makes one think that Tupelo kind of missed out on the BIG Elvis phenomenon and the business benefits that Memphis enjoys. They're doing their best to milk Elvis' early history for what it's worth.

After our visit to the birthplace, we drove into downtown Tupelo and visited the Tupelo Automobile Museum
1894 Benz
1983 Camarovette ($8 for seniors over 65 and AAA members; a $2 discount). This place had over 100 cars in mint condition from a 1886 Benz to a 1994 Dodge Viper and everything in between (except for Rick's favorite: the 1955 T-Bird). Some of the rarest: the only 1983 Camarovette (the only one of its kind); 1959 Edsel; 1957 Isetta (made by BMW); 1948 Tucker; and a slew of cars whose names I never heard of from the early 1900s to the 40s and 50s. The paint jobs on these were almost as impressive as the cars themselves: purples, yellows, greens, multi-tones. Some of the cars cost thousands of dollars way back in the early 1900s, the equivalent of hundreds of thousands today. This place was well worth the visit. Afterwards we wandered down Main Street, visiting the Tupelo Hardware Store (they've got everything) where Elvis' mother bought him his first guitar and the Lyric Theater with its garish marquee.

Tupello Hardware
Lyric Theater We had a full day and after an early dinner, we returned to our room to relax and maybe get to bed early. Since we saw what we wanted in Tupelo today, we're going to take a side trip to Oxford (Univ.of MS; Faulkner's home) before heading up to Memphis for three days.

Saturday, May 14: The Comfort Inn in Tupelo has a great breakfast which includes the typical continental items as well as eggs, a waffle maker, and even a cappuccino machine. We're told about a giant flea market that's open one weekend a month, and this is it for May. It's one of the biggest we've seen, but don't feel like paying an admission fee. So we're off to Oxford to see what the University of Mississippi looks like. Oxford is a town of about 11,000 (probably not including students). The town square and courthouse are right out of John Grisham novels. (He got his law degree at "Ole Miss".) It's a cute town, but our first impression is that we're glad we didn't choose Oxford as a place to retire. It's just too small and too remote. The university reminds Rick of the University of Georgia, if a bit less extensive. As we drive into the University, we're diverted because their commencement exercises are in progress, outdoors on the lawn of University Circle. Pretty much everything seems to be right on campus, including the football stadium and indoor arena.

So it's on to Memphis, about 100 miles away. We're going to spend three nights here. We find our motel (a Sleep Inn) without any trouble (we LOVE our GPS). Our first stop will be the
Memphis Drum Shop
Beatles' drumset Memphis Drum Shop. Rick is looking for a new pedal for his drum set bass. The Memphis Drum Shop is wall to wall drum sets, cymbals, and accessories. Everything to do with percdussion can be found here, as well as related collectibles that belong to the owner. There's even a Ludwig drumset exactly like The Beatles used. Rick gets to try out several pedals and selects one that should meet his needs. We also find a Tama drum chair that would be great for not only Rick's drumset, but also for Rory's electric keyboard. We'll go online for 2 of these, rather than load them in the car and carry them around for the next 2+ months.

We want to go to The Peabody Hotel to see the ducks walk from the fountain in the lobby where they swim all day, down the red carpet to the elevator that takes them to their "room". On the way, we stop at the Memphis Visitor's Center. The two young people who staff it are very helpful and
Peabody Hotel ducks
Ducks in elevator direct us to the Peabody, and offer other suggestions for things to do. We pass Autozone Park (where the Memphis Redbirds, a farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals, play) where a game is about to start, and the traffic is pretty heavy. We find a lot to park in across the street from the Peabody. It's 4:45pm, the lobby is crowded with hundreds of others who've come to see the ducks who will walk the carpet at 5pm. Rory finds a place to stand on one side of the fountain. Rick gets a spot on the floor just outside the elevator at the end of the carpet. The "duckmaster" explains the history and what we are about to witness. Promptly at 5:00, the ducks climb out of the fountain onto a small set of steps the color of the carpet. They waddle down the steps, stop about 1/3 of the way to the elevator to pose for photos, and then proceed onto the elevator. At 11:00 tomorrow, they will reverse the process. This event takes place every day of the year. The whole thing takes perhaps 10 minutes; and the crowd disperses quickly.

Beale St.
"Big Ass" Beer A couple of blocks south of the Peabody, is Beale Street, famous for its its night life. The street is blocked off from traffic and visitors wander in and out of the bars and shops. The Rock and Soul Museum is a block off Beale, right next door to the Fed Ex Arena and across the street from the Gibson Guitar Factory. There's a street market and a few souvenir shops as well, from which we escape without buying anything. Since we haven't had any lunch (after our big breakfast), we decide to eat downtown. After rejecting several restaurants for various reasons, we settle on Papa Pia's a small Italian place. We're given a nice table in a corner. We're more than satisfied with the food, wine, and service. Afterwards, we walk back to get the car and drive along the Mississippi River to check out the effects of the recent flooding. Only a small bit of riverside that we see is under water, but the riverboat cruises are still active. Most of the flooding is farther south. Our hotel is only about 15 minutes from downtown and we're happy to get back and relax.

Sunday, May 15: Yesterday was overcast and chilly. Today will be a
Sun Studio
Rick at Elvis' mike carbon copy. Gotta wear long pants and a jacket! At least it isn't raining, but WiFi is down, so there's no email checking this morning. We are going to Sun Studio and the Gibson Guitar Factory. On the way to Sun, we call ahead to the Gibson Factory to make a reservation on their noon tour. Sun Studio opens at 10am, but we don't get there in time for the first (10:30) tour and have to wait until the 11:30. In the meantime, we'll wander around the "soda fountain/souvenir/ record shop". Cora is our guide (she is quite good) and directs us upstairs to the Sun Studio museum, which depicts the history from the time Sam Philips opened it, discovered Elvis, and ultimately sold it. The exhibit included photos, recording equipment, artifacts owned or used by Elvis and some of the other recording artists who started out at Sun. These included Howlin' Jack, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash to name a few. From the museum, we go down to the original recording studio, which is still used today (in the evenings when there are no tours). Most recently Bono and U2 recorded there. We learn that Philips sold Elvis' contract to RCA for $35,000. When he retired, he was an early investor
$1M Quartet
Rum Boogie Cafe in Holiday Inns, Because we've paid for the Sun tour ($12 each) we're entitled to ride the shuttle to the Rock 'n Soul Museum which is across the street from the Gibson Factory. (We opt not to visit the R&S Museum.) We've missed our noon tour, but call and change to the 2:00 tour. This will give us a chance to get some lunch first. We choose The Rum Boogie Cafe the site of the "Big Ass Beer" photo above. The cafe has a collecti on of over 150 autographed guitars, and the food isn't bad either.

After lunch, it's back to The Gibson Guitar Factory. We've got about 20 minutes until the tour begins, so we wander the
Gibson Guitar Factory
Double neck Gibson retail shop, looking at all the guitars for sale there. Promptly at 2:00, Jessie, our guide, starts the tour. Unfortunately, there is no photography permitted in the factory itself. Because it's Sunday,there are no workers in the factory. This turns out to be an advantage, since we will not have to deal with any noise and dust. There are only 8 of us on the tour, so it's easy to ask questions. Gibson has three factories: one in Nashville, one in Bozeman, MT, and this one in Memphis. All Gibsons are made by hand, which accounts for their cost. The least expensive Gibson sells for around $800. most of the guitars made here are electrics that sell for $2500 to $4500. Custom made guitars cost much more. Noted artists who use Gibsons include, B.B. King, Les Paul, and Sheryl Crow. The process is quite elaborate, yet very easy to understand. They finish on average about 45 guitars each day.

At the conclusion of the tour, we decide to go back to the flea market we visited yesterday. The Juke Joint All-Stars are performing; a three-piece blue band. Rick wanders over to watch the drummer; observe his technique; see if he can understand what the drummer is doing. The drummer acknowledges him and at the end of the number, offers him his sticks to come up and play. This is way above Rick's league and he declines appreciatively, but is quite thrilled to have been asked. We listen a while longer, salute the band, and walk back toward the Museum to catch the 3:30 shuttle back to Sun Studio where we've left our car. We meet a small group of people from England who will get off at the Heartbreak Hotel; and then a couple from Belgium who are going to Sun. Luc and \ Fanny are quite nice people and we exchange cards with them when they mention that they may be back in the States next year to visit the Southeast. We hope they'll visit us if they do. Back at Sun, Rick buys a souvenir t-shirt, we say goodbye to Luc and Fanny, and drive back to our hotel to relax before dinner, which we'll have at the nearest Outback Steakhouse. Graceland tomorrow!

Monday, May 16: It's a gray day; but at least it isn't raining. We have reservations for the 10am VIP tour ($72) at Graceland, which includes the mansion, and five other sites (automobile museum, '68 Special exhibit, fashion king exhibit, custom airplanes, and Elvis Lives), and as well as a special bonus room, front of the line privileges, and special bus to get us around. Two things that surprise us: 1)there aren't the crowds of people we'd heard about and 2) the mansion isn't outrageously garish. We met Luc and Fanny in the automobile museum and spent the rest of the day with them: lunch, the rest of the exhibits, and dinner. They are staying at the campgrounds behind Heartbreak Hotel. When the sun comes out we go over to checkout their campsite. We hope they will visit us next year if they come back to the States. (Rather than attempt to describe everyting we saw, we'll let the following representative photos speak for themselves.)

Graceland front gate	Mansion	Living room	Stairs to bedroom (no visitors)	Dining room
Kitchen	Rory on steps down to den	Den	Billiard room	Polynesian ("jungle") room
Teddy Bear ("jungle room")	Hall of Gold	"Don't Be Cruel" (Rick's favorite)	Rick in Hall of Gold	Racquetball building
Former racquetball court	Elvis' office	Wardrobe sample	Meditation garden	Gravesite
Pink cadillac given to his mother	Lisa Marie airplane	Dining room	"Hound Dog II"	Interior

Tuesday, May 17: We're on the road by 8am heading for St. Louis. The sun is out, but it's still chilly. We've got 285 miles to drive, mostly paralleling (but not along) the Mississippi River. We see evidence of the recent flooding in several places, including one where the water is beginning to seep through sandbags and flow over the highway; but our progress isn't affected
Blueberry Hill Cafe
Juke boxes by any of it. We have rented the Jessie Benton Suite at The Fremont Apartments which we found through VRBO.com. About an hour south of St. Louis we contact Karen who owns the apartment to let her know that we're on the way. First we'll stop for lunch at the Blueberry Hill Cafe Diner, a well-known restaurant/bar often frequented by Chuck Berry. Alas, Chuck is nowhere to be found,but we entertain ourselves inspecting the many cases of kitchy memorabilia (TV shows, movies, sports, and yes, two cases devoted to Mr. Berry). Across the street from the diner is a music store and an art gallery. While Rory browses the latter, Rick finds a set of black drum sticks at the music store. It's after 2pm and it's off to the apartment. We call Karen again and she meets us. The apartment is fantastic--we love it. Karen has thought of everything that anyone traveling away from home might possibly need. It's definitely one of the best apartments we've rented in our travels and should we ever come back to St.Louis, we will stay here again.

Gateway Arch
R&R at the top Once Karen has shown us how things work and where everyting is, we're off to the Gateway Arch (officially known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in downtown St. Louis. We go by Metrolink, a 20 minute walk from the apartment to the station and arrive in plenty of time to take the ride to the top. Of course, the views of the Mississippi River to the east and downtown St. Louis to the west are fantastic. We can see into the new Busch Stadium where the St.Louis Cardinals will be playing the Philadelphia Phillies tonight. When we've spent sufficient time at the top, we take the tram back down, spend some time in the museum and then walk over to the stadium. We get two tickets to tomorrow night's game with the Houston Astros, wander around the stadium, checking out the bronze statues of Cardinal greats, and take the Metrolink back to the apartment. We're going to "The Hill" (Italian neighborhood) for dinner tonight. We pick Zia's after searching
Court House the net for potential choices. We are using the heck out of our GPS, and find Zia's without a hitch. The only the quantity of food portions exceeds the
Busch Stadium quality. We both order veal dishes and could easily have been satisfied with sharing one. It's been a long day and we are glad to return to the comfort and coziness of the apartment. Karen has stocked the fridge with a variety of beverages and there's fruit and chocolates for snacks.

Wednesday, May 18: This may be our last opportunity to do some laundry for a couple of weeks, so the morning is devoted to that. There's a laundry room in the basement of the apartment building. It's nice to have a sunny and mild day for a change. With the chore out of the way, our first visit will be the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. What an impressive site--both

Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis	Interior mosaics	"Angel of Harmony"

outside and in. The green tiled dome glistens in the sun, The grounds around the church are immaculately maintained, and feature the sculpture "The Angel of Harmony". Construction began in 1907 and took 75 years to complete. Upon entering, we understand why. ALL of the artwork on the walls and ceilings are mosaics--83,000 square feet of them,including There are 41,500,000 pieces of mosaics in more than 8000 colors. This place is easily as impressive as any church we've seen anywhere in the world.

Ted Drewe's Historic Route 66 runs through St. Louis on it's way west. Ted Drewe's Frozen Custard stand at the beginning of the route is famous for it's "concrete" custard: so thick, you can turn a cup of it upside down and it won't fall out!. Gotta try it. Rick gets custard with fudge and macadamia nuts. Rory tries raspberry and banana!! This will be lunch today! Since we've got several hours before the Cardinals game starts at 7:15, we'll have plenty of time to visit the Anheuser-Busch brewery. St. Louis is a small big city. Thanks to our GPS, there isn't anything we can't find. The brewery is only a few miles from Ted Drewe's. The brewery is a complex of terra cotta buildings and well-maintained grounds. There's plenty of parking and the free tour is beginning just as we arrive. First stop is everyone's favorite (with the possible exception of the hospitality room)--the clydesdales. There are two outside, totally uninterested in everyone trying to get photos. The stables have been declared a national historic landmark. There are several beer wagons inside along with the immaculate stalls of several clydesdales. Mickey, one of the dalmations, wanders free, but stays away from the visitors and "retires" to his dog house. We walk from the stables to the beechwood aging building where the final step in the Budweiser brewing process takes place. Then it's on to the main brewery where we learn about the seven steps in their brewing process. We see the vats which hold the equivalent of 640 barrels of beer each, the equivalent of 240,000 six packs! The penultimate stop is the

Anheuser-Bush Brewery	Packaging	Clydesdale

packaging building and then onto the buses to return to the visitors' center. In the hospitality room, we are invited to have two beers of our choice. We select "amber bock", as neither of us cares for yellow beer (especially Budweiser).

We had intended to take the bus across the street from our apartment to the ' Metrolink station and downtown to Busch Stadium. After waiting about 20 minutes we decide to drive and park near the stadium. We're there in plenty of time, park adjacent to the stadium ($15 + a coupon for one free drink at Paddy-O's) for Rick to buy a Cardinals hat and to roam around the concourse. We are stopped a couple of times to have our photos taken a couple of times for "Fanphotos" online. Our seats are at the club level and entitle us to entrance

Fredbird (no Cocky)	Pujols singles to left	Our hero at the ballpark

into the Redbird Club which has many more choices for food including beef/ chicken stir fry, which despite just finishing a brat and half a pretzel, Rick just has to have. Somehow between the two us, we almost finish it. Somehow we've gotten seats in the handicap row, which means our chair are very comfy and can be moved around. Our seats are just to the first base side of home plate--PERFECT!! The Cardinals win 5-1, the weather holds up, and everyone goes home happy. Traffic control leaving the stadium can't touch Columbia after a USC football game, but we manage to find our way back to the apartment. It's been a great day! Tomorrow we're off to Winterset, IA: the birthplace of John Wayne, and the remaining covered bridges of Madison County.

Thursday, May 19: Very cloudy this morning; looks like it may rain. We're on the road by 8:30 with a 360 mile drive ahead of us. We drive north through Missouri and into Iowa. Funny thing about Iowa highways--there are no services at intersections (no food, no gas, and worse, no restrooms)!! We get pretty desperate (for the latter), and take a chance at one of the exits for Fairfield.... Just off the highway is an Overland Retail Store--what a place like this is doing in a place like this is beyond us. But they do have a restroom we can use. In exchange, Rick buys a jacket and sweater--both on sale.

Arriving in Winterset, we find the Super8 just off highway 92. The room is comfortable, well-equipped, and cheap!
John Wayne birthplace
Rick & The Duke We check in,but don't bother to unload anything. We want to get to the John Wayne birthplace before the last tour at 4:30. On the way, we pass the Winterset visitors' center and load up on brochures and other useful information, like where's a good place to eat dinner. We're at the birthplace by 4:10, enough time to buy tour tix and a "Duke" t-shirt. We are the only ones for the 4:30 tour which is nice because you only get 20 minutes in the house and 10 of that is the "tour". Our guide is Debbie, who indulges us and doesn't keep strictly to the time limit, even though she goes home when we're done. We have found the people in Missouri and Iowa to be very friendly: "midwest friendly" Rick calls it; and very welcoming. Kinda like Columbia only more so. Just before we enter the house, Debbie points out a robin's nest in a nearby tree with two baby birds in it. The house consists of 4 rooms: kitchen, front
Wayne bronze statue sitting room, back sitting room (or 2nd bedroom), and bedroom. The furnishings and artifacts are period pieces. The Morrisons (Wayne's real name was Marion Morrison) lived here only three years and then moved to California. Everything was sold when they left. The walls are lined with photos and posters from
Baby robins his movies, and letters from friends and notables. There are display cases with memorabilia from his career. After our tour is over, we walk to a small park a block away, where a bronze statue of Wayne is located. We drive around the town of Winterset. The town square is dominated by the Court House, built in 1873. Unfortunately, it's being renovated on the outside, which disqualifies it from Rick's photo collection. We recognize many sites from "The Bridges of Madison County" which was filmed here and at two of the bridges we will visit tomorrow. One of the sites is the Northside Diner located on the north side (where else?) of the square. A couple of street intersections are also identifiable.

Since we haven't eaten since breakfast, an early dinner is in order. We choose the Dublin Pub, one of the places recommended at the Visitors' Center-- good, but not great. Nonetheless, we're satisfied.

Friday, May 20: We wake up to pouring rain, on our only day to see the covered bridges of Madison County. But it's early, so we sleep in a bit, have breakfast, and whadyaknow, it stops raining!! There were originally 19 covered bridges, only six of which survive. Of the six, two (Cutler- Donohoe and Imes) have pitched roofs and four (Cedar, Roseman, Holliwell, and Hogback) have flat roofs. Two of them (Roseman and Holliwell) were featured in the movie "The Bridges of Madison County" starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. This is the ultimate "chick flick", but it's still one of Rick's top five favorite movies. Even with a decent map, it's not easy to find all the bridges. Most are on interior unpaved roads. Our car gets pretty muddy as we negotiate the winding roads, but we do find them all. As you can see from the photos below, they look a lot alike. They were built between 1870 and 1884, and except for Holliwell, all have been moved from their original location to their present one. Rick walks across each of them. The only one that is open to vehicles is the Cedar Bridge,

Cedar Bridge 1883	Hogback Bridge 1884	Roseman Bridge 1883

Cutler-Donahoe Bridge 1870	Holliwell Bridge 1880	Imes Bridge 1870

which, of course, we drive over. Almost immediately after we've visited the last one (Imes), it starts to rain. The rain becomes a heavy downpour through which we'll drive so Rory can visit antique shops, flea markets, and thrift shops in the area. The good news is that the rain will wash off a good bit of the dirt and mud on the car from all those unpaved roads this morning. We also return to the Visitors' Center to shmooze with the volunteers. Tonight we have dinner at The Copper Cow restaurant, which is outstanding. If you're ever in Winterset, we highly recommend you eat here. We leave the restaurant more than satisfied, fill the car with gas (ethanol/super unleaded at 89 octane is cheaper than regular unleaded). We hope it won't have a negative affect on our car's engine. We'll be up relatively early for our 260 mile drive to Dyersville, IA, the site of the movie "Field of Dreams".

Saturday, May 21: It is pouring this morning. Rick gets himself pretty wet loading the car, completely forgetting that the motel has a covered drive up!! His brain cells are dying faster than he can replace them. We have about 225 miles to drive to Dyersville, IA to visit "The Field of Dreams" movie site. It rains during the entire drive and we wonder whether our visit will be spoiled. But when we get within 25 miles of Dyersville it stops, and we will see no more rain the rest of the day.

The film starred Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, and Burt Lancaster in his film role. Despite the baseball theme, Rick has always maintained that the film is about fathers and sons. At any rate, the site has become a shrine for aficionados of the film. You approach the site, which is comprised of the baseball field and the Kinsella house. Because it's mid-may, there are no tall corn stalks lining the outfield. This takes a little bit away from the experience, but not much. The wooden grandstand and backstop are just as they were in the film. Except for a white picket fence around it, so is the house. There's a group of scouts playing a pick-up game, and Rick takes his stance in the batter's box for a photo between innings. After a stop at the souvenir stand (there's no charge to visit the site), we're off to get some lunch.

Field of Dreams movie site	Road to paradise	The field, sans corn stalks.

Game time	View from centerfield	The Kinsella House

"Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa."	Put me in, Coach.	Looks like a hitter, but, what's with the Cardinals hat?

Rory has spotted an antique mall right next door to our motel, where we will spend the rest of the afternoon. It's only fair, she's indulged Rick's fantasies....

Where would one have dinner in Dyersville we wonder. We google "dyersville iowa restaurants" and up pops The Ritz. If you're ever in Dyersvgille, Iowa, this is the place you want to go to for dinner. They specialize in steaks and seafood (yep, seafood, even though there's no ocean within 1000 miles). Whoever their chef is, s/he sure knows how to grill steak and seafood. The prices are very reasonable. Rick has steak and scallops; Rory has shrimp and scallops--both $13.99 including soup, salad, and potatoes . Wine is $2 a glass. The service is "midwestern friendly". Carol Sawyer, who owns the place with her husband Dan, pulls up a chair to chat with us after we've finished eating. Sometimes you just luck out and find a gem like The Ritz.

Sunday, May 22: Well, the 21st passed without the predicted armageddon!
Cave formation The morning is gorgeous: sunny and mild, if a bit breezy. It's going to be the warmest day of the trip, with temperatures ultimately hitting 85 after hovering in the 60s for the past week. Before we continue our drive across the farmland heart of Iowa and into Wisconsin, we stop to visit Crystal Lake Cave in Dubuque. We've been in several caves around the world, and this one is extensive (almost 3/4 of a mile of underground paths), but it doesn't measure up as far as formations, history, or even the quality of the tour. The guide didn't seem to know much beyond the basic script.

So we're off to Madison, WI to see what the University of Wisconsin looks like. We get the cheapest gas of the trip here ($3.59/gal) and spend
Wisconsin State Capitol some time trying to find a replacement wall charger for Rick's cell phone. This is finally accomplished after 3 wireless store and two Radio Shacks. The university is huge and seems to cover most of the downtown area north and west of the State Capitol building, which looks like the US Capitol in DC. The university fronts Lake Mendota and seems to go on forever--a very urban campus, that could use a lot more trees. There's also quite a bit of construction going on which makes it difficult to get around. We weren't unhappy to move on.

Several miles north of Madison, we stop to buy some Wisconsin cheese at a roadside shop that looks like a chalet. They offer 125 kinds of cheese and Rick asks to sample them all :). We purchase three (swiss, monterey jack, and white cheddar) along with some rice and sesame crackers. We'll spend the night in Appleton, WI at another Super 8. We have found these to be quite the bargains: clean and comfortable rooms with free wifi, free breakfast, fridges and microwaves, with rates in the $50-70 range. Since we had a late lunch, an in-room picnic will pass nicely for dinner. Just down the street is a Woodman's, the most complete grocery store we've ever seen. If you can't find what you're looking for here, it doesn't exist. Our purchases include grapes, sour dough bread, sliced pepperoni, white wine, and a six-pack of Leinenkugel creamy dark beer. Add the apples and cheese we already have and the picnic is complete.

Monday, May 23: Took our time this morning--didn't leave till 10:00. We've got almost 290 miles to drive to Mackinaw City, MI.
Mackinac Bridge Turns out that whether it's spelled "Mackinac" or "Mackinaw", it's pronounced "Mackinaw". We've not seen so much roadkill since Australia (kangaroos). There are more dead deer, racoons, and misc. others than we can count. This has been going on since we hit Iowa and all the way through Wisconsin and Michigan.

We had lunch in the car as we drove; same stuff as we had for dinner last night. We also crossed back into the eastern time zone. Just north of Mackinaw City, we connected with I-75 (yeah, that one) and crossed the Mackinac Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the US. On the west side of the bridge is Lake Michigan; on the east side is Lake Huron. Arriving at our Super 8 around 4:30, we still have plenty of time to explore the town and get ferry information for our trip to Mackinac Island. We have dinner at Nonna Lisa's, an Italian restaurant, unusual in that the walls are covered with the mounted heads of wild animals. The food is pretty good and there's plenty of it. Back in our room, we repack so that we have to take a minimum on the ferry tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 24:
Jet ferry
Grand Hotel Today starts out gray and cold, but by mid-morning the sun is out. While we're getting ready, Rick gets on the computer and books two tickets on the Star Line ferry to Mackinac Island (save $3 per ticket by buying online). We'll pick up the tickets at the dock in time for the 3pm ferry. There's free, secured, parking right at the dock. Temperature is in the high 40s, perfect for some browsing/shopping in the Mackinaw City (outdoor) Mall. The longer we wander, the brighter and warmer it gets, but we're glad we're wearing our "heavier" jackets. All this walking around generates an appetite for lunch, to be satisfied at the Dixie Saloon overlooking the dock and Lake Michigan. The ferry runs every hour on the hour from the Mackinack City dock until 8pm and every hour on the half hour from Mackinac Island back to the city. The 2:30 ferry from Mackinac arrives right on time and we depart on the dot at 3pm. The ferry is a jet boat and kicks up a "rooster" spray behind it. The passenger load is light--their "season" doesn't really
Main St.
Mackinac Island
Lighthouse begin until this weekend (Memorial Day) and really busy in July and August. So we have seats by the window and chat with a couple from Pittsburgh. They tell us that her father worked on the construction of the Mackinac Bridge. We get a good view of the bridge and the Grand Hotel as we approach the Island. Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel were the sites for 1980 movie "Somewhere in Time" starring the late Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer. It is one of Rick's favorite movies of all time. He has been wanting to visit here since he first saw the movie over 30 years ago.

The island has no cars. Transportation is provided by horse-drawn carts and carriages and bicycles. This is one of the most peaceful places,with quaint shops, plenty of gift, fudge, and souvenir shops, restaurants, and accomodations of every type and price. We are staying two nights at The Pontiac Lodge. We are one block from the dock, yet off the main street. Joyce checks us in to Room 28, Menominee, and we drop off our bags. Tomorrow we'll walk up to the Grand Hotel for their gourmet lunch buffet and perhaps a carriage ride around the island. But for today, we'll explore the shops here. The weather has warmed up nicely, and Rick sheds his outer jacket. Walking along Main St. Rick spots a woman walking a corgi, and we just have to make a new friend. We makes three: Francesca, her daughter Debra, and Stella the corgi. Stella is a typical corgi and reminds us how much we miss our two. She is as friendly as can be, obviously sensing our love for dogs especially corgis. Her only curious habit seems to be to bark at every horse that passes by. We return to our room which has a small kitchenette, deciding to find a restaurant rather than eating in. The Seabiscuit Cafe for drinks and salads. Our server recommends Bellaire Brown as a favorite dark beer for Rick; it's brewed in northern Michigan. Good choice. End of a good day.

Ialand taxi	Trash pickup	Main Street panorama

Wednesday, May 25: It's sunny, but chilly this morning. Rick gets up and goes out to get information on carriage tours and to pick a place for breakfast. The Mackinac Information Center opens at 9:00 and Rick is the first one there. It looks like the 1 3/4 hour (not including stops) combo package tour will suit us best (cost: $28 per person). Rory is ready when Rick returns. The first order of business is to have a light breakfast (to tide us over until the gourmet buffet at the Grand Hotel this afternoon). Passing up Starbuck's, we find the J. L. Beanery overlooking the water, a little beyond the retail area of Main St. Rick gets the best scone ever: raspberry & white chocolate to go with his decaf cappuccino. Rory opts for a cranberry & walnut muffin and regular coffee. Breakfast accomplished, we walk back to the ticket booth for carriage tours and buy our tickets. Our driver is Kyra, our 20-passenger carriage is drawn by Sam & Kevin, draught horses about the size of Clydesdales. As we head down Main St., Rick realizes he has made a strategic error by leaving his jacket in our room. What seemed like "comfortable" while walking, turned COLD while sitting in an open carriage on a windy day.

The route starts on Main, and then down Market St. We pass the only strip mall in town that does NOT contain a fudge shop, as well as the two oldest houses on the island. Turning up Candotte St, we continue up the hill past The Grand Hotel and the Jewel Golf Course. At the Sumnmit Carriage House we'll transfer to a 3-hourse carriage, but first we visit the Wings of Mackinac Butterfly Conservatory. As in other butterfly sanctuaries we've visited around the world, the butterflie fly free, landing wherever the please, including the heads, shoulders, backs, and legs of human visitors. There are hundreds of butterflies in vivid colors: blues, greens, yellow, orange, red, black and white, not to mention combinations of these in intricate patterns. You have to be very careful where you sit, stand, and walk so as not to crush any of them. We walk slowly through the greenhouse-like enclosure. Rick sits down on a low stone wall and coaxes a large one onto his fingers.

After about 30 minutes and scores of photos, we walk back to the Carriage House to transfer onto a 35 passenger 3-horse
3-horse carriage carriage. The reason for using 3-horse carriages is to reduce the "traffic" through the Mackinac Island State Park through which most of the remainder of our tour passes. Our driver this time is Dave. He team of horses is comprised of Maurice, Martin, and Chuckie. These three horses always work together. The carriage before us we loaded with 35 of the over 600 school children who are visiting the island today. Our carriage has about 10. Dave is very thankful for this, probably because kids probably won't get any of his jokes!! In addition to the humor, Dave provides lots of historical information and folklore as we ride through the park. We pass the
Arch Rock Post Cemetery, where soldiers from the wars of the early 1800s are buried, along with St. Ann's Cemetery. Dave points out that there is a footpath through it and a road alongside it to enter the cemetery, but the stone gate has never been used for entry. Why, because the arch was built only high enough for the horses pulling the hearse--they forgot to allow for the driver! Just beyond St. Ann's we pass the firing range and learn the origin of the phrase "get the lead out". This has nothing to do with "hurrying up". Rather, during Revolutionary War and War of 1812 days, this area was used for rifle practice. The bullets were made of lead and fired into mounds along the range. Since lead was expensive, the soldiers had to retrieve the lead bullets from the mounds. Hence the order upon cease-firing: "get the lead out". Next stop on our ride through the park is the Arch Rock, rising 150 feet above Lake Michigan. We have a 6-minute stop here for photos and a restroom break. Dave uses the his PA system to call out to "Nancy" who is still in the restroom, that we are about to leave and she comes running out. The last point of interest on this part of the tour is Fort Mackinac, but no one is interested in getting off to visit it. Back at the Summit Carriage House, we transfer back onto a 2-horse carriage, this one driven by Matt and horses Mutt and Homer. Rick takes advantage of the opportunity to buy a cup of HOT cocoa, but it doesn't warm him up much. The Grand Hotel is coming up, and it is here that he'll finally get warm.

We opt to end our tour at The Grand Hotel; visiting here being the main reason we've come to Mackinac Island. One of Rick's favorite movies "Somewhere in Time" was filmed at the hotel as well as at several other sites on the island. Rooms at the hotel start at just under $500 per night (including breakfast and dinner and a round of golf) up to $3500 per night. For those who just want to visit, the cost is $10 for the day (which ends at 6:00 pm, when semi-formal dress is required in all public areas). We're going to experience the luxury of the place by having the gourmet lunch buffet (normally $40; but $30 for us since we've already paid $10 just to visit). Lunch is superb and the service is even better. The buffet table stretches about 75 feet, covered with just about everything you could think of. The desert table qdds another 15 feet or so. We have a nice table for two next to the window just on the other side of the window from the wide patio which traverses the entire second floor of the hotel. We have a great view of the front lawn, the Esther Williams pool (she made a film here in the 1930s) at the foot of it and the gardens and lake beyond. Lunch is available from noon until 2pm. We are nearly the last to leave. From the dining room we take the elevator up to the cupola for panoramic views of the grounds, the golf course, and the lake. There's a gorgeous, green and rose, crystal chandelier hanging from the cupola ceiling. From the cupola, we stop at the concierge desk where Rick gets a diagram of all the movie sites and heads out to explore. It's still very cold and windy, but walking around helps him warm up, but only a little.

Carriages along Candotte St.	Approaching Grand Hotel	Front	Main entrance	Hotel carriage
Patio	Ground floor	Dining room	View from cupola	Esther Williams pool
Chandelier in cupola	Fountain	Ferries on Lake Huron	Coke delivery vehicle	Front lawn topiary

Finally we walk back to our room along Candotte Street so Rick can finally get his jacket. After some more wandering around the town, we return to our warm room, where Rick proceeds to take a nap. Having eaten so much for lunch, we're not really hungry. Since we're catching the 9:30 ferry in the morning, we may not get a chance to eat until lunch tomorrow. It's been raining since about 6pm. We break down about 8:30 andf ind a pub where we share a burger and a Greek salad. It's been a great two days; we're glad we came.

Governor's summer house	Market Street	Courthouse & police station	B&B	A real "crappy" job

Thursday, May 26: It's cold and gray and windy this morning, but at least it's not raining. We're packed and down at the ferry dock about 8:50. Rick goes off to Starbucks and brings back coffee. The ferry is right on time and as we board, we meet D.B. and Jerry, the couple we came over to the island with on Tuesday. The ferry docks in Mackinaw City at 9:50, and after getting the car re-organized, and cleared of the little mosquitos that have settled on it while we've been gone, we're heading south toward Ann Arbor and Dearborn. We have a couple of days to spend until our scheduled arrival in Niagara Falls on Saturday. The day is very cold, at least for late May, with temperatures in the 40s all the way to Ann Arbor where it miraculously rises to 53. It's also been raining almost all day and the rain picks up as we get to Ann Arbor. On the way south, we paid the most for gas that we have all trip: $3.99 per gallon. The price did not vary over the 270 mile trip. The price of gas must be state controlled. The Ann Arbor Convention and Visitors Bureau on Huron St. provides a map of the University of Michigan. Rick is curious how it compares to both the Universities of Wisconsin and South Carolina. From what we can tell from the car in the rain, it's quite a nice campus. The U of M comprises almost the entire town. There are many old gothic-style buildings along with more contemporary ones. As with both the other two universities, there is a fair amount of new construction in progress. Unlike Wisconsin and more like USC, there are lots of trees. The university reminds Rick a little like Oxford in England he thinks he would have liked to go to school here.

Using our smartphone, we book into another Super 8. This one's in actually in Belleville, about mid-way between Ann Arbor and Dearborn. We grab a quick dinner at a Macaroni Grill and find our way to the motel. We'll stay here two nights so we can visit the Ford Museum and Ford Motor Plant in Dearborn tomorrow.

Friday, May 27: At least it's not raining this morning. We are going to spend the day at The Henry Ford. This is a museum complex that includes an Smithsonian-like museum dedicated to American culture; the Greenfield Village which is set of reproductions of the sights and sounds of 300 years of American life; the Ford Rouge Factory Tour; and an Imax theater. We're going to do the museum and the factory tour.

Wienermobile
Rick as wiener The museum is huge building (12 acres under one roof) that is home to everything from the Rosa Parks bus to R. Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House to the Kennedy limousine to the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. There's a section for agricultural equipment including a huge combine whose cab you can climb into. There's an exhibition of furniture, jewelry, time pieces, qnd the civil rights movement. The heroes of the sky includes a collection of old planes including a Douglas DC-3 that you can climb into. There's a section for presidential limousines (T.Roosevelt, F.Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan). The Kennedy limo is the one he was riding in when he was shot and was refitted and used by presidents through Ford. There's a series of exhibits called "Your Place in Time" broken down by age groups from 1900s to the baby boomers to gen x-ers to today. The most interesting exhibit was the
Rosa Parks bus
Dymaxion house Dymaxion House: 1071 square feet, designed to provide inexpensive housing like the Ford Model T provided for automobiles. Conceived in the 1920s, the revolutionary circular house was designed to make maximum use of space, using the newest materials and technology. It was made entirely of aluminum. He had over 3000 potential buyers, but couldn't get the investment capital he needed to produce them. The investors wanted him to make changes which he refused to make because they wouldsacrifice some of his ideas to convention. As a result, only one family ever lived in a Dymaxion house: the Grahams of Wichita, KS. Graham had been one of the designers of the house. Only 6 were built and The Ford Museum houses the only one in existance. There are several more exhibits, and a new one under construction dedicated to America's love of the automobile. Opening in 2012, there will be life size reproductions of an original McDonalds, a Chevy dealership (yep, in a Ford museum), and a Texaco gas station.

"Goldenrod"--land speed record for 26 years.	Rick "drives" a combine	Kennedy limo	Douglas DC-3	Byrd expedition to North Pole

We did the best we could to see as much as we could, but at 2:30 we hopped on a bus to take us to the Ford Rouge Factory assembly plant. The building is named for the Rouge River which runs along side it. It was Ford's original manufacturing facility where cars like the Model A, Model T, original Thunderbird, and Mustang were produced. Today, Ford F-150 trucks are assembled here. The tour conisists of 6 parts: the Legacy Theater (film); the Art of Manufacturing Theater (film on 360 degree screens); Observation Deck; the assembly line itself (no photos allowed here); the Legacy gallery of cars; and a Living Laboratory tour. We had a personal guide for the latter. Jana gave us a tour through the nature areas created to demonstrate the coexistence of industry and ecology. We take the bus back to the museum to visit the special exhibit on the Civil War on loan from the National Archives.

Ford Rouge Factory (one section).	20 millionth Model A	'49 Ford coupe (we had 1 of these)	'57 T'Bird	"Green" roof

When we're finished, we're pretty tired. Since we've eaten only a couple of wiener dogs at the Wienermobile Cafe, we're hungry. An early dinner is in order. Tomorrow we hit the road for Canada--first stop Niagara Falls. (This is the last posting for the "Midwest Journal". Our trip descriptions continue with the "Ontario Journal".