United States of America

July 15, 2019June 30, 2019

#Bookstrong: The Book Vault in Oskaloosa

Book Vault, 105 S. Market St., Oskaloosa, IA

I love saying the town name Oskaloosa! The locals shorten it to Osky. So fun. They have a beautiful town square and a bank that that has been transformed to an independent bookshop. The Book Vault is wonderful. Lucky Oskaloosans. I found a classic hardback version of Clifford the Big Red Dog. I had not read The Wonky Donkey and my fellow grandmas/cousins pressed it into my hands.

I also discovered a map of independent book stores: The Midwest Indie Bookstore Roadmap. I was excited to see there were two indie bookshops in Omaha, NE plus one in Des Moines.

I am supporting the arts on this #MiddleAmericaTour. Big time. I mailed an entire box of books home!

July 13, 2019July 10, 2019

Finding Mark Twain in Hannibal, MO

Jim Waddell ?, actor, plays Twain in performances hosted by Mark Twain Museum

Finding Mark Twain, literally, sort of. (haha)

I pulled off the highway expecting to scoot through Mark Twain’s Boyhood Home and Museum in about 30 minutes and continue on to my cousin’s home in Pella, Iowa. I didn’t expect to spend several hours visiting two different museum locations and walking up and down North Main Street completely charmed by this historic village. It was a lovely surprise.

Parklet at the end of North Main Street with statue of Tom and Huck

I found the exhibits very helpful in explaining Hannibal, MO 200 years ago and Mark Twain’s family background. I started at the Twain’s boyhood home, then walked past other landmarks on my way to the Museum where the illustrations for Huckleberry Finn by Norman Rockwell are on exhibit. They are on the second floor and worth the effort to see.

It was a very hot day, made warmer by the humidity. By the time I was done walking around I wasn’t hungry for lunch so much as needing an ice bath. I settled for a milkshake at Becky’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream.

This area could easily be a day’s outing for a family. I left with the feeling that I could have dived deeper and longer. Next time I’d explore more of the Mississippi River and I didn’t visit the caves.

July 11, 2019July 11, 2019

Magnificent Missouri Botanical Garden

I love going to superb gardens like the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis because I come away with so many ideas. This succulent design was one of my favorites and completely doable in my garden. Less practical is the spectacular specimen of the corpse flower (due to bloom any day and release a really big stink) below. You can find it in the Linnean House.

I first visited the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis during my Ag Leadership national trip in 1996. I always wanted to return, so when I was planning my #MiddleAmericaTour I made sure to have time to visit the Garden again.

There is so much to see over acres and acres of gardens, so it is good to linger over botanical prints and other art on a hot, humid afternoon in the air conditioned museum building.

I loved the giant koi in the pond, the maze, the center for home gardening and more. I remembered a specific garden with beautiful tiles and a fountain from my visit long ago. I thought maybe it was the Ottoman Garden, but alas no (and this was the one neglected looking garden in the whole vast expanse of garden). I finally found a postcard that matched my memory and asked where it was located. It was in the Temperate House, which I had skipped because I was overheated. I braved the humidity to see it. Worth it.

The garden is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Christmas Day. Admission is $12 per person over 13 years of age. Children enjoy free admission. Local residents have a reduced entrance of $6 per adult, $4 for seniors. The garden is accessible for people with mobility issues.

July 9, 2019July 8, 2019

Swooning Over the Saint Louis Zoo

There is no admission fee for visiting the Saint Louis Zoo. There are extra fees for experiences such as feeding the Galapagos tortoises. Even though I did not pay to feed them, I got to watch from very close by.

I found watching the people visiting the Saint Louis Zoo almost as fascinating as the animals. There were Amish families in their traditional garb, families with multiple strollers, and lots of different parenting styles. This zoo is ranked in the top five zoos in America, and rightfully so. It really is a marvel.

There is so much to see and do at this zoo. It doesn’t advertise itself as a botanical garden, but it is also beautifully landscaped. There is plenty of signage and I still found myself getting lost looking for giraffes. I thought I’d spend an hour walking around and several hours later I was hiking back up to the south entrance without seeing it all. I so wished I had my grandson with me.

They have enough space to house Asian elephants.

I enjoyed my visit to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden so much that I decided to also visit the Saint Louis Zoo. It won out over other options in part because it had good reviews on Trip Advisor and because it was so close to my Hampton Inn in Forest Park.

One of the features of the Saint Louis Zoo is how close you can experience many of the zoo residents. This hyena was just one of the animals that I felt I could reach out and touch. This experience was most thrilling with my favorite penguins. By the way, if you do break the rules and try to pet the penguins, remember they bite with their VERY sharp beaks. And even more harmful than feeding them our food, is sharing our germs.

There is no admission fee for the zoo thanks to the taxpayers of St. Louis; however, the closest parking lots do charge $15 a car. While a family can divide that by 4 or 6, I was driving alone. I also needed to save time because I had a long day of driving to Pella, IA via Hannibal, MO, so I decided to make the donation for convenient parking. They have various options for saving money, especially with kids. For example the Adventure Pass for $12.95 includes the Zooline Railroad, the Children’s Zoo, Conservation Carousel and more. If you are a traveling with children and you park on the street, and bring your own sandwiches, you can make a big day of it for little more than the cost of the Adventure Pass.

Instead of eating from the Hampton Inn breakfast buffet, I walked next door to Comet Coffee to enjoy one of the tastiest bear claw pastries I’ve eaten in a while. Little did I know that I was going to see real bear claws on two grizzly bears later that same morning.

July 6, 2019July 6, 2019

Crazy for Hippos at the Cincinnati Zoo

The Cincinnati Zoo is delightful. It is one of the top 10 zoos in the USA and so much bigger than my hometown zoo. It is also a botanical garden and attracts lots of butterflies. I drove directly from Louisville to the Zoo and began my wondering and wandering with a big smile plastered on my face.

I learned a group of hippos in a pile is a bloat. It has a been a long time since the Sacramento Zoo hosted Jewel the hippo. I was delighted to meet baby Fiona and her mom. I watched them while listening to the keeper tell us about hippo habits.

A big motivation for my #MiddleAmericaTour is to visit states I’ve yet to visit to reach all 50 states in 2020. I stayed in Louisville, KY because Google maps said Cincinnati, Ohio was close (1.5 hours away). It all sounds so doable when you are at your kitchen table researching options. And it would have been much easier if it hadn’t rained cats and dogs while I was driving home. I pulled off the freeway to a McDonalds to get a diet coke and wait it out.

I revived enough when I got back to Louisville to research a place for desert, pie specifically. I drove to Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen. It was yummy, yummy ice cream and the pie was above average.

July 3, 2019June 29, 2019

Remembering a Childhood Passion at the Kentucky Derby Museum

The Kentucky Derby Museum is a combination of Derby trivia, interactive displays, walking tour, and surround-a-movie. It is a terrific bargain at $15 per person. You can pay extra for longer walking tours. I was only allotting about 1.5 hours because I needed to visit Ohio!

Right out of the starting gate I liked how the museum curators did their best to help you imagine what it is like to be the horse, the jockey, the trainer, the owner, the betting fan, and so on. There are lots of lists of all of the winners for the longest consecutive Derby in the United States–145 years!

This was the first year where the stewards played a role in the outcome. Several jockeys lodged a complaint of interference by Maximum Security–the first horse across the finish line. Twenty minutes later the second place horse, Country House, was declared the winner. I personally was relieved when the public generally supported the stewards. Too many people seem to think it is okay to cuss out the referee and it feels like more people are cheating in all arenas of life.

When I was 10 years old, I watched Secretariat win the Kentucky Derby and go on to win the Triple Crown. I was a horse crazy little girl. As I spent more time riding horses and watching horse events, I became a little less enthusiastic about horse racing. It has always been too cavalier about horse health. And now the concerns mount as the number of deaths at Santa Anita Racetrack mystifies the trainers and others. Watching the film at the Kentucky Derby Museum brought back to my memory all the reasons I loved horse racing as a kid. It is a truly beautiful sport. I may have to watch the movie Secretariat again.

The walk underneath the grandstands and out to the track was very interesting. The tour guide knew her stuff. And we got much closer to the places at the track than most people ever will on the first Saturday in May when 150,000 people pour into Churchill Downs.

#MiddleAmericaTour. I can now say I’ve been to KENTUCKY!

July 1, 2019June 29, 2019

#Bookstrong: Parnassus Books in Nashville

This bookstore may need no introduction to readers of novels. Ann Patchett and her husband own and operate a wonderful bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee called Parnassus Books. I was driving from Greensboro, AL to Louisville, KY and needed to break my journey. I’ve been here once before and I knew it would be a good place to stand around for awhile after driving for hours.

The children’s book section is especially good. The young woman who assisted me hand sold me two YA books I didn’t know I needed to read until I had a conversation with her! I’m reading Maggie Stiefvater’s thrilling The Scorpio Races now.

It was hard to get back in my car and continue my journey, yet at least I knew I had plenty to read. #MiddleAmericaTour

June 29, 2019

Happy Anniversary Project Horseshoe Farm!

Project Horseshoe Farm (PHF) in Greensboro, Alabama celebrated the 10th Anniversary of their Community Health Fellowship program. The best and brightest of their generation–young people interested in medicine and public health–apply to come and work for a year in rural Alabama and learn what holistic, community medicine is all about.

This year 19 fellows joined the Project Horseshoe Family. I was able to be there for the celebration, sing-off and party. It is inspiring to speak with the fellows–like Winona who is heading off to medical school next fall. I also met a few of the women who live in the supportive homes provided by PHF and lots of the community members who support the program, including by serving dinners to hungry fellows.

Congratulations Dr. John Dorsey and the growing happy band of alumni!

It was also the kick-off to my #MiddleAmericaTour. I pointed my rental car north and I’m excited to see what I can see in the next week.

June 26, 2019June 24, 2019

Greensboro, AL is a Great Small Town

My visit to Greensboro was more fun because I had Petrea, Cordelia and Romy’s company.

If you are looking for a small town experience that matches the romantic notion of small town life, look no further than Greensboro, Alabama. So many small towns in America are dying or struggling to survive. Greensboro was almost dead 12 years ago and is now on the rise.

Some small town southern cliches were actually walking around on four legs. This is Fred the bloodhound and the locals said he goes where he wants. As dog people, we thought he was a great ambassador.

The Pie Lab was the first restaurant to open on Main Street, perhaps the first business too. Seven years ago it became an important gathering place for the Auburn University Rural Studio architecture students and the Project Horseshoe Farm fellows. Plus people in town who were driving to Marion and farther flung places for dining out.

We stayed in this five bedroom AirBnB. The girls were THRILLED with having a room of their own and LOVED the pool. It was good to remember what it was like to travel when you are 9 or 12 years old. They also were interested in local history.

We visited the Greensboro Safe House Black History Museum on Saturday by prearranged tour. Then on Sunday we walked around the grounds of Magnolia Grove. The latter stately home was a wealthy mansion (not a plantation home) in town and has volunteers staffing it Tuesday-Sunday (but not in the morning when everyone is in church).

There is a fabulous coffeehouse, The Stable, also on Main Street. They have a bookshelf (take one, leave one) and the library is less than a block away. I could envision a relaxed week of reading, swimming, cycling and eating. I’m betting on Greensboro’s future.

Some people questioned why we were traveling to Alabama either because of their shameful track record with recent voter suppression or their abortion laws. We actually encourage coastal folks to visit en masse! We can learn and they can learn. And we can agree on pie and coffee!

June 22, 2019

#BookStrong! Alabama Booksmith

It’s not easy to spot Alabama Booksmith (trust your GPS) and it is off the beaten track, yet totally worth the effort to find.

I’ve launched my #MiddleAmericaTour. I landed in Birmingham, Alabama, picked up my rental car from Alamo, scooped up friends Petrea, Dia, and Romy, and headed to the bookshop, Alabama Booksmith.

It is featured in the postcard collection of best bookstores in the world. The painting on the postcard is accurate–that is very plain. Until you walk in. Then, voila, a beautiful collection of books, all signed by the author. If you look at the top shelf in the photo above you’ll see a blank spot where we bought the last two copies of City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Kevin provided good book recommendations and shared his favorite coffee place–Revelator Coffee. We made a beeline and it WAS good!

Even though I’ll be going to Parnassus Books in Nashville later in my trip, I bought a signed copy of the book Lambslide by Ann Pachett. I would have gladly bought more! Romy and Dia each separately picked out a YA book by the actor Octavia Spencer. They are sharing on their road trip.

Stocked with books to read, and fueled with coffee, we headed out to Greensboro, Alabama for our next adventure.

P.S. I’ve started the hashtag #BookStrong to support independent bookstores.