Week 138: Bowling Green, Missouri
Sep. 19 - Sep. 25, 2021
Sunday, we didn't do much of anything. I did some work on blog posts and prepared to get on the move.
Monday, we moved to Bowling Green, Missouri and the Cozy C Campground. It is a nice little campground and as we pulled in I noticed there were two hummingbirds feeding on a flower bush on our site. So I got my feeder put out and they showed up in no time.
Tuesday, we did part of drive number 71 from "The book", Missouri Rhineland. It basically follows the Missouri river and there are quite a number of vineyards and wineries along the way. We started with a stop at the home of Daniel Boone. We were too early to get a tour of the inside of the house but were able to walk the grounds and take pictures thru the windows. I also picked up a couple of acorns from outside the home, maybe I can grow an oak tree from it. Next we stopped by the original burial site of Daniel Boone, at least that is the story. Next we stopped in the town of Washington and the Meerschaum Corn Cob Pipe factory. I had no idea that corn cob pipes were still a thing but they make 7,000 pipes a day. They don't offer tours but they have a little museum in their gift shop. They have a couple of MacArthur's pipes and one that was owned by Mark Twain. I asked the guy why the cob does not burn and he explained that they have a 2 year drying process that basically hardens the cobs to the consistency of hardwood. Dang I wished we could have gotten a tour. The town has a pretty park on the river and we stopped there to enjoy a picnic lunch. The wind was blowing pretty good and it was kind of cold. We continued along the river and it was a beautiful drive, I can see why this is called the Missouri Rhineland. We stopped in the town of Hermann next. We started at the Deutschheim State Historic Site and enjoyed their museum. We didn't have time to wait for the next tour so we drove past the historic homes. I found a quilt shop on the way, Silver Owl Specialty Quilts & Fabrics (go figure). I found a couple of nice pieces to add to the travel quilt. Next we visited the Stone Hill Winery, how do wineries all look so pretty. We had a tasting and had an excellent sommelier serving us. Bill was very funny and we had a great time with him. The wine was good too. We bought a case of various wines and I got a nice leather can koozie as a souvenir. We got the Ozark Hellbender, Traminette, and Vignoles. This is the oldest winery in Missouri. It was a very enjoyable day.
Wednesday, we visited Hannibal and the boyhood home of Mark Twain. We started the day with lunch at the Mark Twain Brewing Company. Their food was good and their beer was better. It was right across the street from the boyhood home museum. The museum compound includes the boyhood home, Becky Thatcher's house, Huck Finn's house, and the general store where the Clemens family stayed for a while. It was a cool visit, I forgot how OLD The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is. In one of the museums they had the original Norman Rockwell illustration paintings for both the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn books. I resisted buying a set of the books with the Norman Rockwell illustrations.
Thursday, we invited our friends Eric and Dianne to come up from St. Louis and join us for lunch. They brought salad and wine and we made drunk chicken. What a fun day. We laughed, ate, watched the hummingbirds, and enjoyed the great weather. We loved having them visit.
Friday, we spent the day with Lincoln. We drove over to Springfield Illinois to visit President Lincoln's home. We got to the Lincoln home in time to get tickets and then go to a Triple D restaurant, Charlie Parker's Diner. They are in an industrial area in what looks like a Quonset hut. Their motto is Eat It and Beat It! I enjoyed it very much. We went back to get our tour of the Lincoln home. They did a great job with the tour but we did not have enough time to see the other buildings in the park. We had to book-it over to the Dana-Thomas House to meet our tour guide for our tour. The Dana-Thomas House is one of the largest homes ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house was beautiful. Lastly we visited the Lincoln Tomb. I picked up some acorns from the trees just outside the tomb.
Saturday, we are on the move again. We moved to Cape Camping and RV Resort in Cape Girardeau, MO. We made a quick Walmart run and chilled out for the evening. I kind of wish that I'd planned a few more days here, it looks like an interesting place.
Make Life an Adventure!