Today we are starting our week long trip through Southern USA trying to touch a few states that we never visited and explore others a bit more in depth. In fact we arrive at 2AM in the morning in St Louis due to plane delays so we are quite tired in the morning but we have no choice than to wake up as the breakfast is ending quite early and then of course we have to be out before check out time.
View from hotel room
Typical breakfast
Our first order of business is to buy some provisions and water at a store near the hotel and then we drive to a nearby park, Millennium Park, to enjoy what seems to be the height of the fall color season. Finding the entrance, past a major hospital, is a bit difficult and we are followed by a police car in but the park is quite quiet and the colors are everywhere. It even has a preserved house built in the 1880s and moved to the park in 2003 which was not open during the weekend when we visited.
Millennium Park
Trail through the park
Tappmeyer House
Duck behind the house
We follow the loop trail around the park, and the fresh air and beautiful colors give us some energy that we certainly need given the long drive we have in front of us today. But not right now as our next stop is still very close in a cemetery that seems to have also some nice fall colors and we stroll around a bit before continuing on.
Beautiful colors
Close up of fall colors
Visiting a cemetery for colors
Chapel on the hill
The next stop is also relatively close by before reentering the interstate, Conway Park, another park where we hope to see the fall colors. But before entering too far into the park we notice two cabins along the path - they are quite old and have been moved here in the 1990s in order to be preserved. Entering the park proper we walk the loop trail around the central lake watching the Canada geese that are similarly keeping a watchful eye on us and just enjoying the beautiful fall days and the great colors.
Cabins at Conway Park
Clester cabin
View over the lake
Wow, just wow
Next it is time to exit Saint Louis, more or less, as we actually stop in the extended area to visit the World Bird Sanctuary. There are two attractions here the sanctuary and the Lone Elk Park and we start with the sanctuary. Unfortunately during our visit the visitor center is closed due to a private function and as such we are unable to visit it or buy any gifts. The outdoor areas are open however and there are lots of injured birds mostly eagles and other raptors held outside each with its own informative sign.
World Bird Sanctuary - closed visitor center
Halloween is still here
Waiting in line
Famous bald eagle
From the sanctuary we enter directly the Lone Elk Park. The park is split in two areas, an area where you can exit the car and walk around on trails while in a separate area where the buffalos are held you can only drive through so you don't get gored. We have relatively little time left in the day with a long drive ahead of us so we just drive slowly seeing the buffalos from a distance and the elk from very close as they sit in a parking area right next to the one way road. Overall it seems like a nice park so we are a bit miffed that we didn't have time to explore it in more depth - maybe another time.
Lone Elk Park tower
One way road
Buffalo along the way
Elk really close to the road
Afterwards we mostly drive on through to Tulsa - a long 6 hour drive with only a few stops on the way. The first stop is at Rolla to see a replica of Stonehenge which is quite weird to see in the middle of Missouri. Then we stop at Roubidoux Spring an interesting freshwater spring near Waynesville in the Ozarks. The spring is in a park and we stretch our legs a bit by walking along the river side before continuing on through dense fog to finally reach Tulsa around midnight.
Modern Stonehenge
Wonder what future archaeologists will say about this?
We wake up to what seems to be an empty hotel - from the reception we understand there is a horse expo in town and most people here are likely in town for the expo that already started. After breakfast we are also ready to leave but before going south towards Arkansas we wanted to visit at least one thing in Tulsa and we choose the only thing that seems to be open - a park.
No one around at breakfast
Not a lot of choices
Mohawk Park, is home to a few separate attractions like the Nature Center and the zoo and while we do not intend to enter the zoo we plan to sightsee a bit inside the larger park. We start with the Oxley Nature Center which is open for hiking however unfortunately the visitor center is closed and we do not plan to stay till 12PM when it opens. We hike a bit on the trails with the beautiful fall colors, admire the lake from the boardwalk next to the visitor center and then we move on.
Oxley Nature Center
View from Nature Center
Parking lot before opening time
Fall colors
We stop in a few more areas of the park seeing lots of turtles (about 50), old ruins and beautiful trees in color before starting on our way towards Spiro Mounds which closes relatively early so we want to have at least one hour to visit.
Mohawk Park Road
Lots of turtles
House ruins
Old tree stump
The drive to Spiro Mounds is largely uneventful - we stop to get gas and some snacks and to watch a flock of pelicans gliding over us - and after a couple areas we finally see signs that direct us towards the Archaeological Park.
Pelicans on the way to Spiro Mounds
Spiro Mounds entrance sign
Spiro Mounds was a major western outpost of Mississippian culture, which dominated the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries for centuries. It is also unfortunately also an example of what happens when there is no protection to an important archaeological site - in the 1930s treasure hunters bought the rights to the land and mined the mounds for artifacts. Given the artifacts recovered afterwards preserved in the museum we can only imagine how much was looted and pillaged previously.
Trade relations - canoes were used extensively
Typical Native house
Beautiful shell art found here
Metal parrot
We have about one hour to explore the trails so we start as soon as we finish the museum. We receive a trail guide and follow that on the way through the archaeological site. It is a bit different than the sites in the western US with the mounds being quite typical at all sites here. The mounds were used both for temples/houses for important people and also as burial sites. However in the beginning the trail takes us past a natural mound/hill and a reconstructed typical Native house before looping around to the artificial mounds.
Natural mound in the distance
Useful signs
Sample house now itself in ruins
Trail through Spiro Mounds
We pass quite a few impressive mounds - it is difficult to get a sense of the scale from the photographs but they can be quite high and large. Also they are now overgrown with vegetation and we might have assumed they are natural if we would have encountered them outside the archaeological park. Majority of mounds are around a central plaza area which was likely the center of the ceremonies during ancient times. The time passes fast while exploring and soon we have to return to the visitor center and then to our car to continue towards Hot Springs in Arkansas.
Passing Craig mound
View of Craig mound from a distance
Another major mound
Passing the large central plaza
We have one more stop planned at the Heavener Runestone State Park where supposedly a stone with Viking inscriptions was found (most historians agree that it is likely a fake but we still are interested to see it). Ee stop there but it is too late and they are closing the gates right in front of us - I guess this site we will have to visit another time. The drive through the Ozarks towards Hot Springs in the darkness is interesting and we do our best to avoid any animals like deer that seem to like to eat at the road side. In Hot Springs we park in the free public parking and after checking in explore the neighboring area for any open eating establishments. We find only three open and settle on one that serves steak which is acceptable and satiated we go to sleep.
As we arrived after darkness the previous day in the morning we intend first to explore the hotel we stay in. The hotel is right on Bathhouse Row the central street in the historical center of Hot Springs and it has some good views over the surrounding hotels/buildings. The hotel building itself is historical with a mail tub running right next to the elevator down to the first floor and the look of a hospital or maybe office building - who knows?. Soon it is time to eat breakfast which unfortunately is quite limited however, coffee and muffins basically.
Hotel window view
Inside the hotel - like a hospital
Breakfast room
Hotel art
Hot Springs, Arkansas, gets its name from the naturally thermal spring waters found here that flow out of the ground at an average temperature of 143 °F. The hot springs were designated as the first federal reservation, essentially America’s first national park, predating Yellowstone National Park by 40 years. We stroll to the National Park Visitor Center across the street viewing a few of the captured hot springs on the way before waiting a few more minutes for it to open so we can enter.
Park near hotel
Bathhouse row
More developed thermal spring
And one more in nature
The visitor center is located in one of the historic bathhouses, Fordyce Bathhouse, and doubles as a museum. In fact after its heyday many bathhouses closed and only a few are still open and a few have been taken over by the National Park including Fordyce. It is a self guided tour and we start with the women section which snakes around the perimeter of the first floor. The exhibits are quite interesting especially the torture like instruments that were used for treatment - at that time of course they were state of the art.
Women section at Fordyce Bathhouse
Stained glass windows
Treatment rooms
Interesting tools
This looks scary
Torture row
The men section is the central area of the bathhouse and much more luxurious with a fountain in the middle of the bathing area and a beautiful stained window ceiling and even the individual rooms are larger - just a little early 20th century gender discrimination :).
The men area - more luxurious
With a much larger stained glass ceiling
Men treatment area
That is a nice bathtub
Changing rooms
Massage room
On the last floor there are a few more specialty/luxury baths, the lounge room with subtly separated areas for men and women and rooms were women could make their make up on and men could exercise.
High end treatment room
Lounge room
Make up room
Sports room
The basement which is not really highlighted on our brochure holds the biggest surprise - a view on the hot spring that was serving the whole bathhouse and the machinery that was making it happen.
The spring beneath the bathhouse
Machinery to distribute the water
Exiting the visitor center it is time to explore the natural part of the National Park and we start with a stroll along the promenade which was used by patients to cool down especially after a long session in the bathhouses. It is a nice stroll even though a light drizzle is starting to come down from the everpresent clouds but if the squirrels are not impacted by it then why would we:)?
Bathhouse promenade
View from promenade
Hot steam from a vent
Squirrels do not care
From the promenade we decide the climb the hill on one of the marked paths towards the summit which supposedly has some great views. The trails are empty but the walk is great with lots of wildlife like chipmunks and squirrels and various birds flitting from tree to tree.
Going up
Colors are mostly gone here
Chipmunk preparing for the winter
Cardinal resting
After half an hour we arrive at the top and with our luck the view just isn't there with the peak being inside a dense layer of fog that makes viewing even for a few meters quite difficult. We also learn why the trails were mostly empty as we see at the top that part of them are closed - for no good reason as far as we can see.
Trail is in good condition
Not according to this on the other end
Road is closed
Not a lot can be seen from the top
We descend on a different path and arrive at the end of the promenade that we take back towards our hotel. On the way however an interesting area with a large hot spring that we see below us from the promenade convinces us to make a detour - it is quite an impressive sight and it is not boiling water as we learn after sticking one finger in it :).
Back at city level
Promenade from the other side
Small holes
And a large cave
View from above
Thermal pools
From the hot spring we decide to continue through the town stopping at the open shops - there are a few of them but not as many you would expect in a tourist region and many are closed for the day or forever. After entering a few of them we are tired and go back to our hotel room for a short midday fiesta that is prolonged by force as it starts raining much more consistently and heavier after we arrive at the hotel.
Another of the bathhouses
Gangster with his car
As the night falls the rain stops so it is time for another walk - now all the shops are closed but the historic bathhouses are quite impressive so we admire them as we search for a place to eat. In the end we settle on an Italian place which has some good food even though unfortunately it is oversaturated with garlic.
Buckstaff Baths
Fordyce bathh
Ravioli
And some pasta
On the way back we notice a small park on the other side which seems important so we cross the street and we find out that the memorial plaques are for Bill Clinton as he lived in Hot Springs while he was growing up - interesting new info for us. We also find a spring where you can fill your bottle with "healing" water and which seems to be always busy as cars stop there and people jump to fill their bottles. We decide not to try it as who knows what affliction it is supposed to cure :)? After that soon we arrive at the hotel and it is time to retire for the night as tomorrow we have to leave early as we have to arrive in Memphis by a certain hour.
Today after the frugal breakfast we have only a short drive to Little Rock the capital of Arkansas. Here the first stop is the Old Mill in the T.R. Pugh Memorial Park which is an authentic reproduction of an old water-powered grist mill and whose claim to fame is that it appeared in the opening scene of the classic 1939 film Gone with the Wind and is believed to be the only building remaining from the film. It is unexpectedly picturesque especially the wooden bridges which are made of intertwined gnarled wood.
The Old Mill from a distance
Close up
Interesting bridge
On the bridge
We walk a little bit through the small park - it looks like hobbit country, nicely landscaped, scenic bridges, ducks everywhere and we enjoy the walk a lot and are not that eager to leave but we have to as today we are on a clock.
Park view
Looking over the water
Ducks in water
And on land
Our next stop in Little Rock is the Esse Purse Museum - one of the only three purse museums in the world and the only one in the USA. In it the museum tries to document the evolution of the 20th-century American woman through the bags she carried and their contents - all of it from the collection of one woman only, Anita Davis, which is quite impressive. As we arrive just a few minutes after opening time we are the only people in the museum which has the main collection arranged chronologically - one case per decade.
Esse Purse Museum from outside
Inside the museum
Early purses
Looks more modern to me
While it is a small museum it is quite an interesting place given its singular focus on purses - the leather purses are scary, you almost expect to see human skin there also given the breadth of the leather types covered. The temporary exhibit is dedicated to plastic and purses made of plastic and it is incredible to see the different shapes that designers came up with it even though many of them don't seem really built with ease of use in mind.
Leather purses
You can make leather out of almost anything
More modern purses
All exhibits are informative
Plastic purses
Some are quite interesting
Next we leave Little Rock however we stop close by at Toltec Mounds Archaeological State Park, A National Historic Landmark. The Toltec Mounds site comprises one of the largest archeological sites in the Lower Mississippi River Valley preserving Arkansas's tallest American Indian mounds. Three mounds remain visible where 18 once stood surrounded by an earthen embankment eight to ten feet in height, a portion of which is still visible today. We start first in the small museum to orient ourselves before starting on the outside loop trail.
Toltec Mounds Museum
Lots of prehistoric villages in the state
Arrowheads
Pot shards
The trail is well marked and it loops from the visitor center to the mounds then near the river edge and returning to the visitor center afterwards. There are multiple interesting informational panels on the way distinguishing the mounds by shape and size.
Trail information
Different mound types
Mounds from a distance
Getting closer
Close up the mounds are quite impressive, more impressive than the ones at Spiro Mounds. They are like a flatter version of pyramids which makes them look a bit less impressive when comparing with a stone pyramid which being steeper looks more impressive at the same height.
Impressive mound
Another of the larger mounds
Smaller but with more trees
Even smaller
The boardwalk is unexpectedly special as it goes over the water allowing us to see the cypress trees with their impressive roots, an old canoe found in the water and the backside of the pyramid - must have been quite a sight when people were arriving via the river during the heyday of the site.
Boardwalk over the water
Mound from the backside
Continuing on the boardwalk
Canoe found close by
Cypress trees
The roots
From here we are driving as fast as we can towards Memphis where we have an appointment with the Peabody Hotel ducks at 5PM. We have decided to even stay at the hotel to increase the likelihood of us seeing the ducks if we are late (next march is 11AM the next day). We get there half and hour early but all the good spots are already taken - still somehow we find an acceptable spot and watch the short 20 second march of the ducks from the fountain to the elevator a bit anticlimactic as one spectator even asks - "is that all"?
Everybody is waiting at the Peabody hotel for the ducks
Where are the ducks?
Yay - here they are
Entering the elevator
Afterwards we have time to explore the historic hotel before walking to the reception to check in. There are multiple stores and restaurants at the ground level with the most interesting one being Desserts Shop where you can buy chocolate ducks - we decide to eat that for breakfast the next day.
Duck fountain
Ceiling
Ducks are everywhere
You can even eat them :)
Checking into our room we are captivated by the duck theme permeating the whole room. While overall it isn't that special all the small details like duck soap, ducks embroidered on everything and even printed on the toilet paper make all the difference.
Hotel room
Even the soap is duck themed
For dinner we decide to go the Rendezvous BBQ restaurant which is quite close to Peabody and also very popular. We are surprised that we can find a place to sit but given the efficiency we witnessed when being served that is no accident - people are very efficiently processed from entering the establishment till the end. The food is quite good and full we now have a bit of time to explore the downtown area.
Rendezvous BBQ
The menu
The sandwich
The ribs
We walk from the hotel to Beale Street which is trying to maintain the same vibe as Bourbon Street in New Orleans. And in our opinion at least this night it fails completely, there are few people out, there are police cars everywhere and only relatively few shops are open, maybe we were there during a slow day?! We walk around a bit but with nothing interesting to do we return back to the hotel room for the night.
Because Peabody is a luxury hotel there is no free breakfast so in the morning we decide to eat a couple of the chocolate ducks. Before going to the cafe we explore the hotel a bit more in depth and even find a room where a small museum shows different artifacts from the history of the Peabody hotel like the famous (for them) Elvis Presley contract signed in the hotel and the letter claiming that no ducks will be served in the hotel - chocolate ducks excluded of course which we gulp down with some coffee before starting our search for the real ducks.
Peabody hotel hall
Overlook over main lobby
That is great - no ducks served
Ooops what is this? Our duck breakfast
Hotel was sold at auction at least once
Elvis Presley signed a contract here
On the way we visit also a couple of the souvenir shops which are quite interesting and with a duck theme but soon we take the elevator to the top where a duck palace holds the off duty ducks. They seem quite happy in the cage and we take with difficulty a few pictures through the mesh surrounding the cage before moving on.
The duck palace is on the top of the hotel
Looking down....gulp
Is this the duck palace?
Ducks enjoying themselves before the show
While exploring for things to do in Memphis we found an interesting museum near Chickasaw Heritage Park - the Metal Museum. Looking a big further we found out that the Park itself has two ceremonial mounds from the Chickasaw nation from centuries past. So before entering the museum we walk between the mounds and even take a look from the outside at the US Marine Hospital building next door which has been abandoned and unfortunately cannot be explored easily.
Mound at Chickasaw Heritage Park
Interesting fruits(?)
Former US Marine Hospital
Close up of former hospital
The Metal Museum is spread across multiple buildings and after paying for the entrance we start with the first building. It is quite empty this early in the morning and we are the only tourists in the buildings which makes for a more relaxed visit. There aren't that many exhibits but they are quite interesting and after half an hour we are ready to move to the next building.
We are here for the Metal Museum
Exhibit hall
Interesting metal art
Metal artwork is everywhere
Second floor exhibit hall
Close up of exhibit item
The second building has a more extensive collection housed between others in multiple drawers. We look through all of them and some of them are more special than others like the knive collection and the collection of antique locks and keys. But the best piece in our opinion is the forged door - it is quite beautiful.
Locks...
...and keys
Various metal artwork
Knives are metal too
Beautiful metal door
We liked this piece
Before leaving we also explore the grounds which also house quite a few interesting pieces - metal birds and plants as well as animals - it is quite enjoyable even though it is still a bit cold outside this early in the morning.
Metal plants - what will they think next:)?
Hummingbird
A heron
And whatever this is...
Part of any Memphis experience seems to be a visit to Graceland so we decide to also spend a few hours there even though we are not huge Elvis fans and the cost of the tickets is quite high. Luckily for us there are not that many people visiting so there is enough parking space, the stores are almost empty and we get an immediate ticket to enter that is accompanied by an iPad with an interactive guide. Then we view a short commemorative film and afterwards we are loaded in a minibus to be ferried over the street from the visitor center to Graceland.
No visit to Memphis is complete without seeing Graceland
Interactive guide
We enter Graceland through the main doors and wait for a few groups to pass before visiting the rooms at the lower level as the upper level is restricted for family only. Even at the lower level some rooms cannot be entered, only viewed from a distance like the music room or the bedroom.
Living room with Music room behind it
Bedroom
Upstairs is not part of the tour
Dining room
The basement has the more interesting rooms including the famous jungle room (which is quite cool), the TV room with three TVs to watch the 3 major networks simultaneously as well as the billiard/game room.
TV room with three TVs
Billiard room
Jungle room
Detail in Jungle room
The tour leads us then outside so we can see the stables and the horses and we can also get a look at Graceland from the outside - as it is settled in the environment it really doesn't seem like it is that huge - just average.
Started here
Ended here
Of course he liked to shoot ;)
And to ride horses
Continuing we enter the museum part which to our surprise is full of people - no idea where most of them are coming from - maybe we just caught up to a tour bus. The major attraction here is Priscilla's wedding gown, otherwise there are a lot of documents from the childhood of Elvis and afterwards and some additional objects that Elvis received as gifts.
Grandma's passport
His grades (part of them at least)
Lots of people are visiting
Priscilla's wedding gown
Before leaving we also pay our respects to the graves of Elvis and his parents - of course it is said that maybe he didn't really die and then the grave is empty or someone else is in it but that seems after sooo many years to be idle speculation to us at least. Afterwards it is back to the bus and over the road to the visitor center - passing over the street and waiting at the light we notice the many tributes/names written on the wall stones of Graceland.
The pool - still maintained
His grave - or is it?
Leaving Graceland
Outside wall
Part of our ticket is a visit of the Elvis airplanes - there are two of them and after some asking around we find the way to their exhibit. You can enter in both of them but the bigger one is more interesting and also easier to visit as it has a separate entrance and exit. It is broken down in multiple rooms including a bedroom complete with bedbelts(?), a conference room and of course a large bathroom. The smaller plane's interior is looking much more normal and would not be out of place really in a commercial flight.
Elvis Convair 880 plane
The cockpit
Airplane conference room
And the bed
Smaller Lockheed Jet Star
Much smaller - a bit claustrophobic
After all this visiting we are quite hungry so we stop at the self serve restaurant for a BBQ and meatloaf lunch. Our expectations are not high but it is surprisingly good and we leave the Graceland quite satiated.
Lunch at Graceland - BBQ...
...and meatloaf
The last place we intend to visit near Memphis is the WC Johnson Park in Collierville with an interesting boardwalk - it takes quite a bit to get to it from the interstate and it is very popular to our surprise but we still find parking near the lake and start toward the boardwalk (in the wrong direction at first of course). The hike we are planning should be about half hour long as we plan to go on a loop using the boardwalk to see the marsh and the wildlife.
WC Johnson Park lake
There are some ducks and geese here
Starting on the boardwalk
Fall colors
The trail is quite nice and we enjoy being out in nature for a change today. There are deer and squirrels everywhere and relatively few people on the trail that ends at an overlook before looping back to the start and our car after an enjoyable hike.
Trail goes through swampy areas
Squirrels do not care about the swamp
Viewpoint at the end...
...near the river
From here we continue without stopping towards Nashville and our hotel. We are surprised that the roads are clogged around Nashville (we find out afterwards that a music award festivity is ongoing exactly that weekend) but in the end with a few delays we arrive at the hotel where our room is spacious with a nicely outfitted kitchenette even though a little tired looking. After a short dinner from our provisions we are done for the day as we have another long day tomorrow.
The hotel has no breakfast so we decide to eat at a nearby Cracker Barrel - the food is quite disappointing and not even as good as typical hotel breakfast food really. At least we are quite filled for the rest of the day.
Hotel in the morning
Breakfast place
Cracker Barrel breakfast..
..not that impressive
The first stop today is the Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park that sounds quite exciting on paper - an old stone wall that when discovered was assumed to have been done by the Spanish or other Europeans because of course the Native Americans could not have done it. There is a trail following the wall which is our intended hike but we first start with the small museum with a few interesting exhibits. Most interesting object in our opinion is the old canoe just outside the visitor center found in the nearby area.
Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park Visitor Center
Cross-section of wall
Typical hut
Canoe found in the area
While the trail is quite interesting especially with the fall leaves everywhere the wall can be quite difficult the distinguish from naturally occuring raises in the landscape. Sometimes there are signs - do not walk on the wall - and we have a hard time even identifying were the wall is :).
View of the river protecting the fort
Forest view
The trail with wall barely visible
Passing again close to the wall
The trail passes near a couple waterfalls and rapids and through tree trunks and over bridges making it a very enjoyable walk. It almost seems that we are the only people on this walk as we encounter only one more couple during our entire time on the trail.
Trail passes through a tree
And crosses gaps
Waterfall far below
Maybe we should step back from the edge
In the middle the loop trail exits in the central cleared area where the Native American village sat which makes for a nice change in the views and landscape. We even see a deer with two cubs - quite cool.
Edge of the clearing
Still some colors but less than at the beginning of the trip
Clearing - quite wide
Tall grass
We found something in the grass
Close up of the deers
In the return stretch we get some areas where the wall is quite visible - as always it is surprising how fast the nature can take over everything built by humans no matter how grandiose it seemed when it was built.
Wall is much clearer here
Trail goes on top
Fall leaves
Red leaves are not common here
The last stretch of the trail is also the most scenic with a beautiful waterfall that you can see up close and the ruin of an old mill from the Civil War era which is now in the process of being taken over by nature.
Big Falls on the Duck river
Close up of the falls
Civil War mill remnants
Exterior wall
Moss at the base of the wall
Beautiful moss
Our turnaround point today was supposed to be further into Georgia but because it is already late we settle on Cloudland Canyon State Park as being a great substitute. We don't know much about it before starting our visit and are surprised to learn that the attractions are multiple waterfalls and a few great views - the problem is finding them in only one hour before the park closes down for the evening. We settle on a path that follows the rim descending towards a couple waterfalls and the start is quite scenic.
Cloudland Canyon State Park
Probably this is the Cloudland Canyon
Trail at the rim
Is this stable?
The trail is more scenic (and tiring) with almost every step as we descend over multiple wooden stairs that hug the stone wall to the waterfalls at the bottom. One of the advantages of being so late on the trail is that we are virtually alone at the waterfall so we can take a few nice pictures before starting back towards the car.
Is this safe?
Better not think about it
Arriving at the bottom
Beautiful waterfall
Going back we are quite fast so we still have a bit more time to take some photos from the viewpoints before returning to the car and exiting right before they close down the park. After that we have to return back to Tennessee and decide to skip a restaurant dinner again and eat from our provisions before going to sleep.
Before leaving Nashville we decide to stop in Centennial Park the major park in Nashville for some sightseeing. Centennial Park was created for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition and was preserved afterwards as a city park. It is a relatively large park at 132 acres with Lake Watauga (with lots and lots of ducks and geese) in the middle surrounded by different attraction the major one being the Parthenon replica that attracted us to the park in the first place.
Centennial Park lake
The ducks
Beautiful tree with leaves
And one without:)
The Parthenon is a full scale reproduction of the original in Athens and given that we haven't seen the original as far as we can tell it is quite a good reproduction. It now houses the Nashville Art Museum which we don't have time to visit - we have only time to admire the exterior before moving on.
Parthenon view
Front view
Front entrance (not used)
Detail on the ceiling
On the way back we also stop at the a few other exhibits in the park - there is a locomotive and a plane and lots of statues and hidden benches that we explore on the way back to the car.
Plane in park
And a locomotive
From the park we pass near downtown Nashville and continue north towards Kentucky where we plan to stop in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area which seems like a great place for a hike and to see the leaves.
Downtown Nashville in the distance
Typical interstate
Land between the Lakes is a huge protected area of about 170,000 acres stretching across Tennessee and Kentucky which even was a Unesco Biosphere reserve until the US withdrew it in 2017 as part of the reductions in wilderness protections under the new administration. It is situated on an island between two lakes and we enter it using one of the bridges somewhere in the middle of its South/North axis and intend to visit the visitor center and then continue north through it until we reach again the interstate.
Crossing to the Land Between the Lakes NRA
Entrance in the park
Before the visitor center we stop at another hiking trailhead that attracts us because we see deer hanging out near the parking lot. It is a nice short hike from there below the highway and then through the forest up to a viewpoint. It is an interesting viewpoint - initially we assume that it was vandalized however it actually allows you to see through a transparent layer how the village located at this site was situated in relation to the highway which is quite interesting.
Parking lot with wildlife
Attentive deer
A village was here
Cool overlay
The trail
Fall colors in the distance
We stop at the visitor center but we do not find out a lot more about the area even though the exhibits are interesting and the berries outside look quite special so we start on our way north stopping from time to time for photos with the many fallen leaves or the deer that are everywhere by the side of the road.
Those are some cool looking berries
Car submerged in leaves
More deer
Got you!
The last serious trail that we intend to attempt in the Land between the Lakes is the Hematite Lake Trail that is supposedly a loop trail going around the lake. However after arriving we are informed that the full loop is closed and we can go only out and back so that is what we do. The start is quite exciting as we have to cross a bridge created out of blocks and you have to jump from one to the other to cross. The trail then continues along the shore entering the forest in the end where we play around with the leaves for a while before returning to the car.
Start of Hematite Lake Trail
It goes along the shore
Lake view
Lake and shore
Fall leaves
And a few red maple leaves
The rest of the road is uneventful and we enter Saint Louis after dark and after some searching find our hotel near the airport right in time. Right in time for what? Where the hotel has an interesting happy hour policy with free wine and beer ( up to a limit) and even some chips with salsa - we get there about 5 minutes before close so we can have our fill before going out for dinner.
Our hotel room
Free dinner at the hotel
We do not get far for dinner - just next door is a good BBQ restaurant according to the reviews and they are true, we enjoy the food and it is quite cheap considering the quantity and we leave the restaurant satiated. In the evening we notice that our hotel room is right next to the elevator and in the end request a switch and we receive a top level room far away from the elevator which makes for a much more restful night.
One of the prehistoric sites we always wanted to visit is Cahokia but we had no idea until the previous day that it is right next to Saint Louis so we change our plans for the day to visit Cahokia first before Saint Louis. Cahokia was the largest and most influential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture, which developed advanced societies beginning more than 1000 years before European contact and is considered the largest and most complex archaeological site north of the great pre-Columbian cities in Mexico.
Cahokia starting on the trail
This is how the wall fortifications looked
Deer in the distance
Not really scared of us
Cahokia is divided in two parts by a busy highway and we start with the part near the visitor center. There are quite a few mounds here and we walk past them seeing quite a few relatively tame deer. In this area you are not allowed to climb the mounds so we just go around on a loop returning towards the visitor center.
Mound protected by trees
And I really mean protected
One of the mounds
There are quite a few here
This one is has a well defined shape
Monks Mound - we have to visit that one
Close to the visitor center we find out that in fact we walked through the Grand Plaza anchored on one end by Monks Mound which is now on the other side of the highway and then surrounded on the other sides by the mounds we just walked through.
The Grand Plaza was grand :)
You can see the size of the plaza here
Next we stop inside the visitor center where we see first the audiovisual presentation which is quite interesting and ends with an overlook of the village reproduction inside the museum. We continue to the museum which is quite extensive with quite a few interesting artifacts found here or related to the native inhabitants.
Inside the visitor center/museum
Lots of artifacts
Life size diorama
You can touch the boat - maybe
The most interesting finds are the multitude of axheads found in one cache - the assumption is that these are all unfinished or rejects. After that we walk through the village reconstruction, it is interesting to see how the people lived in those times (at least according to our current knowledge).
Huge axehead find
The area is a treasure trove for archaeologists
Village diorama
Another reproduced ancient scene
From the visitor center we use the car to pass over the highway to the second parking lot near Monks Mound. Before climbing (this is the one mound you are allowed to climb) however we walk around it - it is quite impressive even though the pictures do not do it justice as it looks much smaller than it actually is. Cahokia was surrounded by a wall to protect itself and parts of it have been reconstructed so we can imagine how the city looked in its heyday.
Another wall replica
Actually it looked like this - we were misinformed :)
Monks mound from the side
Going up - first stairs
Finally we arrive at the stairs - there are two of them quite lengthy ones too. The first one takes us to the the first platform while the second stair brings us to the top. The views from here are great - you can even see Saint Louis with the Gateway Arch in the distance. We also have the top just for us for a while which makes it even more special and we walk around for some time before other tourists come up and then it is time to descend.
Second stairs - still going up
First view from the top
Close up of Saint Louis downtown
River near the mound
Before leaving the area completely we have one more stop at Woodhenge. Not much is left now but during the Cahokian times it was a large timber circle that was reconstructed multiple times each time bigger and with more posts. It is assumed that it was used as an astronomical calendar but it is still under investigation as there are a lot more posts than needed for simple celestial alignments.
Woodhenge - the astronomical calendar from Cahokia
Difficult to capture in a photo
We finish visiting Cahokia around noon and then it is time to return to Saint Louis and visit the downtown area - we have decided to skip a few more attractions given that we spend the morning in Cahokia instead of Saint Louis. as many Midwestern towns the downtown shows more the splendor of ages past than current economic vitality. Still it is quite impressive as we pass skyscraper after skyscraper on our way to the Old Courthouse at the base of the arch which is our goal for the day.
Downtown Saint Louis
Can you spot the fake skyscrapper facade?
The arch with the courthouse beneath it
Old Courthouse
The initial courthouse was completed in 1828 and then expanded and renovated throughout the years until it was abandoned in 1930 and then became part of the Gateway Arch National Park for which it now serves as a visitor and information center. It is mostly famous due to the Dred Scott citizenship case which precipitated the Civil War and is now known as the worst Supreme Court decision of all times given that it affirmed that black people cannot be citizens of the United States and that Congress cannot restrict the spread of slavery into federal territories or throughout the US. We wander through the halls and visit the period rooms before exiting on the other side to see the Arch from up close.
The Arch is the tallest man made monument in the Western Hemisphere and the tallest arch in the world and was completed in 1965. It served as the site of many stunts
and accidents and it is certainly quite impressive from up close or at least as close as we could get given the construction going on at the base.
Courthouse cupola
Courthouse room
The arch from the courthouse steps
Top of arch
We continue our walk through Saint Louis afterwards passing the cathedral and the closed library while all the time looking for an open restaurant - not many places open on a Sunday afternoon in Saint Louis.
Cathedral
The library
Finally we find a place to eat - it is an Italian restaurant but the food is quite good or we are quite hungry and afterwards satisfied we return to the hotel. Early the next day we return the car and then return back to Phoenix after our interesting whirlwind tour of the Southern States.
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