Week4 2024

Monday 23rd September

.. off to our next cabin in the Ozarks, via some caverns ….

The caverns were interesting. Apparently discovered by a dog in 1862. In 1867, a group of young women from the Springfield Athletic Club, explored the caverns. The 12 women were aged 13 to 21 and were very courageous. After they had finished, they carved their names on the rock wall (see photo). It’s quite an unusual visit, with tourists sitting in a cart, being drawn by a jeep.

We arrived at our new cabin, near Houston, Missouri. It’s a great cabin with all the facilities and very quiet and remote.

Tuesday 24th September

We had a much quieter day today. A visit to Walmart for provisions, a look at the local river, and an evening barbeque to round it off. Pauline was also delighted to see Hummingbirds on our deck.

Wednesday 25th September

… another fairly quiet day before we move off to Paducah and then, finally, Nashville.

We visited the Alley Spring Mill. It was an amazingly picturesque place, with a lot of history. The mill operated courtesy of a very large underground spring next to it. Apparently ancient arrowheads have been discovered there, so it has long been a source of good clean water.

The mill was used for grinding and processing flour and corn. It is very well preserved, with much of the original machinery.

It must have been tough living in those days. The main industry was logging but, by 1926, the forests had been stripped and not replaced. The industry collapsed.

Thursday 26th September

Off to Paducah for one night. This will be our penultimate Airbnb (11/12).

On the way to the Airbnb, we visited the National Quilt Museum (not my idea), followed by a meal out. Well, as we are now in Kentucky, we had a KFC!! The museum was quite impressive though.

Friday 27th September

We are off to Nashville and our final Airbnb of the trip. We fly out from Nashville airport on Monday. I just hope Hurricane Helene doesn’t interfere with our trip!!!

It was supposed to be a 2 and a quarter hour drive to Nashville. However, given Hurricane Helene, it took nearly 3 hours. There were accidents and breakdowns as we drove through torrential rain. Visibility was also very poor but it didn’t deter the drivers of large trucks which overtook me at 70+mph. I was driving cautiously at 58mph, which even then seemed too fast!

We arrived at our last cabin at about 2.30pm. We managed to find an Aldi supermarket close by. They seem to be spreading throughout the USA. It was good for us as they don’t sell cooked chicken. We estimate we have eaten cooked chicken from Walmart around half of our trip. Good job we like it!

Basic menu for this trip:- Cooked chicken and Pizza, both with salad. We are reluctant to eat out as we have been disappointed so many times. Also we are uncomfortable with the tipping regime.. Never mind, we had a few KFC and McDonalds, at least they are reliable.

Saturday 28th September

I will be watching Sunderland v Watford at 9am (3pm in the UK). Then we will be going to the Grand ole Opry to see a concert.

Bad news – Sunderland lost. Stupid penalty given away by Dan Neil, who is normally excellent!

Tonight was the Grand Ole Opry visit. We have been before but it is always good. On a Saturday night the whole concert is broadcast live on the radio. It is the 99th year of the radio broadcast.

This is the list of performers from the evening. There was a huge variety of acts, covering traditional country through Blue Grass (Larry Stephenson Band) and a Hispanic influence band (Frank Ray). Emmy Russell is the granddaughter of Loretta Lynn, and Charlie McCoy is a singer/harmonica player/Saxophonist who has accompanied many famous artists (Elvis, Roy Orbison [Pretty Woman], Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Leon Russell etc etc. He was amazing for a guy of 83.

 

Sunday 29th September

Our last day on this trip before flying home tomorrow. Our Airbnb is right next to a Church, “the True House of Praise“. As it was a Sunday and there was a service at 11am,  Pauline decided we should go and hear the singing etc.

We were welcomed with open arms and had to introduce ourselves to the congregation. The service was certainly different and very loud but good. After an hour and twenty minutes, more and more people came in. It was clearly going to last a long time so we made our excuses and left for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

In the afternoon we visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville. This was a vast museum, spread over 3 floors, incorporating thousands of Country stars from different eras. Talking of Eras, Taylor Swift’s costume and banjo were in there.

Others included:- Elvis, Everly Brothers, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and many many more famous stars. I also found something on Guy Clark, who I have listened to for years. Apparently he made all his own guitars. Also there was Charlie McCoy’s harmonica. We saw Charlie last night at the Opry. Loretta Lynn was highlighted and we also saw her granddaughter at the Opry. There was a Telecaster guitar made from the wood of the Ryman stage. There was also a very bright Vox AC 30 on display. I had one of those back in the day but mine was black!

Well, it’s been a great trip. We started in Boston in our huge hire car, visited Niagara, the Mowtown studios and went on to the Ozarks, ending up in Nashville, where we fly back from.

We stayed in eleven Airbnbs and travelled 3400 miles. Despite hiring a large car with a 6.2 litre engine, we only spent  £340 on petrol. That’s 10p a mile. The reason is :- Gas is only 60p a litre here and the rate of exchange has been good (1.34).