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295 miles almost entirely on I-75 (just 2 miles on FL 80 at the end) with a lunch stop near Ellenton FL. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 2919. Cumlative car miles: 3258. Miles since the end of Hop 9: 297. The extra miles were due to getting takeout dinner.
This was an easy trip, one that I have done many times before. As always, I-75 was very busy and there was a 10-minute delay due to an accident just south of Tampa. But otherwise a simple (and boring) trip.
Our overnight stay was at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Lake City. A decent hotel, nothing special. The best thing about our room was that it was right next to a door to the parking lot so no cart was needed for our last unloading/loading. We did takeout from Gator’s Dockside, a nearby sports pub. The food was decent, not spectacular. But I got to participate in some 1950’s trivia while I waited. Made me feel good to be old.
This ends the TS8 – my longest road trip by car since my trip to Europe in 1974. I will do the wrapup next.
338 miles almost entirely on I-10, with fewer than 10 miles at the end on I-75. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 2624. Cumulative car miles: 2961. Miles since the end of Hop 8: 338. Yes, we went nowhere while in Daphne.
This was a straight shot east and replicated, almost identically, a hop on the trip to Austin (TX1). It is a boring ride which was interrupted only by a rest area stop and a lunch stop,, neither of which is worthy of note.
Our home in Daphne was the Hampton Inn Mobile – East Bay/Daphne. Perfectly adequate, though a bit tattered, with a nice view of Mobile Bay. The reason for stopping in Daphne was proximity to Ooma’s sister, Maggy, and her husband, Tom. An astute reader will recall that we saw Maggy, briefly, on the TX1 trip from Austin, but that she had a cold at that time and we could not get close. And we didn’t see Tom at all. This time we got to touch both and have dinner with them at Felix’s Fish Camp, an East Bay institution on the causeway. Great view, great service, great food. Arguably the best meal we have had on the entire trip, which is saying something as we have eaten very well. We all shared appetizers of Shrimp Cocktail Constantine and Fried Crawfish Tails (my first crawfish dish ever – delicious!) before entrees of Crabmeat Stuffed Fish Fillet for me and Fish and Shrimp for Ooma. All outstanding. And we got to see a bright red sunset over Mobile Bay. A wonderful evening all around.
The view from our table at Felix’sCrabmeat Stuffed Fish FilletMaggy and Tom
289 miles via US 45, AL 158, I-65, I-165 (northeast of Mobile), Alt US 90 and US 98 with a lunch and refueling stop in Meridian MS. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 2286. Cumulative car miles: 2624. Miles since the end of Hop 7: 307. The extra miles were due to some errands and a trip to the birthplace of Elvis Presley.
This was a pretty simple trip to navigate. The only problem came after lunch when we got a bit confused at how to get back on I-55. But we made it.
Our home in Tupelo was the Holiday Inn & Suites Tupelo North. This was, without question, the finest hotel we have encountered on the entire trip – both TN8 and TS8. Clean, attractive, comfortable with a pleasant staff and an outstanding bar and restaurant – what’s not to like? And it was one of the least expensive hotels we have encountered. Highly recommended.
Elvis’ birthplace, Tupelo MS
We didn’t do much on our day in Tupelo – it was really just a day of rest before we pushed on to Mobile – but I had to run some errands and the birthplace of Elvis Presley was just a mile away so I decided to stop by. I didn’t buy a ticket for the tour but I did wander around a bit and took a couple of photos. Graceland is more interesting, no doubt, but for Elvis fans this has to be a must-see attraction.
376 miles via I-55, TN 175, US 78, I-22, Natchez Trace Parkway and MS 178, with lunch and refueling stops. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 1997. Cumulative car miles: 2316. Miles since the end of Hop 6: 418. Most of the 52 extra car miles were due to the trip to the St Louis Zoo.
This was a very long travel day that started with a steady rain for the first hour. It eventually turned sunny and very warm. We made one rest area stop before lunch, which we tried to have at a Perkins in Blytheville. But after standing for 10 minutes waiting to be seated (the restaurant was busy but there were at least 10 empty tables), we were told that we would have to stand for another 15 minutes “until they got caught up.” We weren’t even offered the option of waiting at one of the open tables. We left. We got lunch at a Huddle House about 15 miles further south, in Osceola. I hadn’t eaten at a Huddle House in many years – probably over 20 – but it was quite good, with a cheerful waitress.
The GPS confused us for a bit south of Memphis when it told us to exit I-55 earlier than I expected. I pulled over to review the route and decided that it was acceptable. But after going over 5 miles on a local road and, after turning onto US 78, being told that we were to continue on that road (which was pretty crappy) for another 83 miles, we got concerned. But a quick glance at the GPS convinced me that this was a case where a crappy US highway would morph into an interstate highway. And after about 5 miles of crappy road it did, indeed, become a pretty nice interstate route, I-22.
Our home in St Louis was the Fairfield Inn and Suites South. The room we were given initially had a very noisy bathroom fan that could not be turned off, but after complaining they quickly shifted us to a room with a quiet fan. It was a very nice room with a comfortable king bed, a coffee maker (but not a Keurig), a microwave and a refrigerator. Also a very large bathroom with a beautiful shower. The best thing about the hotel, though, was the free breakfast. Tasty scrambled eggs and delicious bacon. Very few hotels serve bacon at breakfast now – we hadn’t had any since Erie – so I loaded up.
The fitness center had a scale and I summoned up the courage to use it. I have gained about 3 pounds on this trip, which I think is not too bad considering how well we have been eating.
A half serving of Angel Hair Roseanne
Speaking of eating well, we dined at Bartolino’s on Saturday night. We made a reservation and it is a good thing we did because the place was packed (we had to park a half block away). I don’t know the complete history, but this seems like a St Louis institution that has been around for a half century or more. The food was terrific. Ooma had escargot and I had a house salad with olives and bacon – both very good. Then we split an entree of Angel Hair Roseanne, a pasta dish with scallops and shrimp. Superb and very large – Ooma was unable to finish her half.
A few of you may be old enough to remember Marlin Perkins, host of the Wild Kingdom TV show that ran from 1963 to 1988. He was director of the St Louis Zoo, one of the preeminent zoos in the US. I like a good zoo and have always wanted to visit it. I got my opportunity on Saturday.
It didn’t disappoint. It is a very well-designed zoo, both for the animals and the human visitors. The habitats are natural and the grounds are beautiful with many lovely water features. We spent a few hours there and put about 2 miles on our sneakers. I wasn’t particularly happy with the photos I took, despite it being a beautiful day. Part of the difficulty is that animals move and when they aren’t moving they are often sleeping. The other difficulty is that we went on Saturday when the crowds were large and many children got in the way.
Water featureSomali wild ass
But it was fun and it was free. Well, except for the $15 parking charge.
308 miles via IL 64, IL 83 and I-55. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 1621. Cumulative TS8 car miles: 1899. Miles since the end of Hop 5: 383. The extra 75 miles were mostly due to my trip to the Art Institute of Chicago.
This was pretty much a direct shot down I-55, with only 15 miles on local roads at the start and a few miles finding lunch near Litchfield IL. We did get stuck in a 15-minute delay due to a nasty traffic accident involving 2 18-wheelers.
Our hotel in Lombard was the Fairfield Inn & Suites. Not a bad hotel, but not a great one either. The breakfast was adequate, but barely. The bed was comfortable, but the sheets popped off. And while it had a microwave and coffee maker, they couldn’t be used as there was no outlet where they could get power. Very strange.
We dined at PF Chang our first night in Lombard. Very good – we split a crispy honey chicken entree and a pan-fried ravioli appetizer. I did takeout from Chicago Chicken and Fish the second night because Ooma wasn’t feeling well (but not COVID – we checked). The chicken was very good but the fries were soggy. They also provided coleslaw with the meal, but only a tiny container – not even enough for one and certainly not enough for two. The “bread” that came with the meal was two soggy slices of fluff white bread. Very odd.
I visited the Art Institute of Chicago today – alone as Ooma was feeling unwell. It was my second visit, the first one being when I was in high school, so it was at least 55 years ago. I didn’t remember the building or the location, but I remembered some of the art.
Getting there was surprisingly easy. Our hotel was in Lombard which put us between 40 and 90 minutes away, depending on traffic. I waited until midday so I got the 40-minute end of the spectrum. I was also unsure that parking would be available, but I found the Grant Park South underground garage to be only about 75% full. I was surprised, when I ascended to ground level in the elevator, to be just a half block from the museum. Easy peasy.
This museum has a wide variety of very valuable art of all kinds, but I was primarily interested in the impressionist and American paintings. They have all the greats in those categories – van Gogh, Renoir, Gauguin, Monet, Seurat, Cezanne, Pissarro, Cassatt. Degas, Kandinsky, Klee, Picasso, Dali, O’Keefe, Mondrian, Sargent, Homer, Whistler, Hopper, Warhol. Every room has something that is familiar.
I also got to see downtown Chicago for the first time in many years. It looked clean and shiny – shinier than Manhattan. I drove around a bit but couldn’t stop to take photos. Still, a good trip into downtown Chicago.
The Chicago skylineMichigan AvenueThrough a screen at the museumThe lion at the entrance
126 miles via US 12, IL 53, I-290 and I-355 with a lunch stop at Nora’s Cafe in Elkhorn WI. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 1313. Cumulative TS8 car miles: 1516. Car miles since the end of Hop 4: 267. The extra 141 miles were due to all the various activities we had during our week in Madison.
This was, technically, an easy hop. Just 2.5 hours. But we couldn’t check into our Lombard hotel until after 2 and we left at 10:30am, so we had time to kill. Because we had the time and because I hate the tolls on the I-90 tollway into Chicago, I decided to travel US 12. This is, mostly, a pretty decent road and lightly traveled until it gets into IL. And it adds only about 30 minutes to the travel time compared to I-90. But Ooma hates two-lane roads and reminded me of that fact repeatedly. We took a break for a nice breakfast/lunch in Elkhorn WI and another brief stop at a Target in IL to get bananas and a new water bottle for Ooma so we had a few strategic breaks along the way and didn’t strangle each other.
Our home in Madison was the Sleep Inn & Suites. The hotel was clean, the bed was comfortable and the cable TV lineup was quite good. But the breakfasts were a huge disappointment. The only hot item was waffles, which we don’t much care for. We went out to breakfast several times.
We spent a full week in Madison WI. The main events were the 55th high school reunion (with golf outing) and two trips to the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. But we did some other things, too. And ate a lot of food. Other activities worthy of note:
Junko and Ben at Grampa’s
Inside Toby’s
Pizza at Grampa’s Pizzeria with long-time friends Ben and Junko. Good pizza, but not great. Very thin crust – almost like a flatbread pizza.
Dinner at Graze with Ben and Junko. The menu is npuveau (e.g. Korean braised pork belly). I thought it was good but Ooma was unimpressed. But the restaurant was right on The Square (around the Wisconsin state capitol) and I got some interesting capitol photos.
Sunday watching the Green Bay Packers vs Minnesota Vikings with Ben and another high school friend. The Packers lost. Sad.
Dinner for just Ooma and I at Toby’s Supper Club. This was a small restaurant near our hotel that got good reviews, so we gave it a shot. It is a dive, but the food is terrific. Ooma had a T-bone which she said was the best steak she has had in years. I had the pan-fried chicken. Also exceptionally good.
Drinks at the Echo Tap with a bunch of old high school friends. A good selection of draft beers and outstanding onion rings and fried cheese curds. But we were told that the food was mediocre, so we did take-out from Salvatore’s Tomato Pies. Very good.
Three views of the Wisconsin capitol building
What we didn’t do was visit Circus World in Baraboo, as originally planned (poor weather).
This is the first of the 11 books by Harlan Coben featuring Myron Bolitar, sports agent and investigator. I have read one other Myron Bolitar book – One False Move – and wasn’t impressed. But I saw this one in the bookstore in South Carolina and thought I would give the first in the series a try. I don’t regret that decision.
In this one Bolitar is just getting started in his career as sports agent after his basketball career was cut short by injury. He has a major new client, Christian Steele, the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft. He negotiates a great contract for Christian, but is sidetracked by a mystery surrounding the disappearance of Christian’s girlfriend when he was a senior in college. The girlfriend is the sister of Jessica, Myron’s ex-girlfriend. Everyone assumed that the sister, Kathy, was dead. But then her photo appears in a sleazy magazine, in an ad for a phone sex company. Is she a victim of white slavery? And is her disappearance connected to the murder of her father?
The search for Kathy and unraveling the twin myteries of her disappearance and her father’s murder (and. eventually, the murder of Kathy’s best friend) fully consume Myron and Jessica. He has to navigate threats from some underworld thugs who want to control one of Myron’s other clients, but that is just filler and an opportunity for Win – Windsor Home Lockwood III, Myron’s best friend and bodyguard – to crack some heads.
The mysteries are deep and Coben unravels them gently, with good pacing. Overall a very satisfying book.
