Day 19 - Meet me in St Louis!

 

Little did we know when we fell asleep last night that we were two doors down from where Elvis stayed in 1956. He was probably on his way to Las Vegas where he wouldn't have to stay in Best Westerns. Still, Bob Dylan one day, Elvis the next - something has to pass to us, by osmosis if nothing else.   

The drive crossed most of the state of Missouri. It was long in time if not in distance. The Department of Transportation, bless their hearts, have done a fine job of marking out Route 66 relative to the other states, so we were able to stay on it for most of the day, poking along at 25 mph through the towns and sometimes getting to 55 in between. As we've worked our way eastward across Texas, Oklahoma and now Missouri, there is more tree cover and the hills are more rolling - we even saw some rock outcrops today, the first since the Palo Duro in east Texas. Lots of country roads through small towns, most with a historical gas station or museum or cafe or a roadside attraction. 

Speaking of which, we passed through Cuba, MO, to see the world's second largest rocking chair. It was No. 1 from 2008, when a 42-ft-high beauty was built to beat out the previous honoree in Franklin, Indiana, until 2015 when some no-accounts in Illinois took over the title with a 56.5-ft-high behemoth. Ah well, it's still the largest on Route 66, the place where dreams don't die, they just find a place on the side of the road.

Some roadside stops also appear to have aged. We were interested in the Trail of Tears Memorial, a site to commemorate the forced displacement of the 'five civilized tribes', the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and the Choctaw, from their ancestral homes. Sadly, this odd site has been left to decay. It was eerie walking through the rocky trail, that was once a path used by the tribes to travel to 'Indian Country'. 

After 7 hours on the road, we finally got to our hotel - the Union Station St. Louis. It used to be the main train station and in 1894 when it opened, it was the largest in the world. Now, thankfully for hotel residents, the trains no longer run through it, and it has been refurbished into a glorious facility. The lobby, shown in the picture, is a huge, vaulted area with murals, stained glass and statues all around. It's a bit like being an ant inside a Wurlitzer jukebox. The rooms are modern, though; comfy and quiet.

While we were having a bite in the lobby, a thunder and rain storm ripped through the city, cracking and hammering on the building. People nearby asked the server if the building was safe; the server laconically replied, "It's been here for a while. I think we'll be ok." And we were.

Today's mileage: 234.4.

License plate count - Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Caddo Nation, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Chocktaw Nation, Oklahoma Osage Nation, Oklahoma Peoria Nation, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. And from Mexico - Ciudad de Mexico, Sonora.

No new plates today.

St. Louis is the land of the blues and we are hoping to catch some music in the next few days. To set the mood, here is a 1925 recording of Bessie Smith singing St. Louis Blues. 

Bessie Smith - St. Louis Blues, 1925 - Bing video