Day 35 - Nashville Here We Come

A longer distance to cover this day puts us on the Interstate system for quite a stretch through Southern Illinois, Kentucky, and into Tennessee.  As we near where my parents live in Gallatin, Northeast of Nashville, we “cut the angle” and get back on 2-lanes.

Curving along what were probably old Indian trails we spot the large green leaves of Tobacco fields ready for harvest.  We also see what we think is a barn on fire with smoke rising from the roof eaves.  This proves to not be a calamity, but rather an ongoing occurrence as we see more barns smoking in the fields.  This is part of the curing process for Tobacco, apparently.  We thought tobacco air dried in big barns with lots of vertical openings as we saw last year in Kentucky.  This must augment that process.

We pay a quick surprise visit to my folks and then move on to our Music City bungalow near downtown Nashville.  We’ll be unpacking our pressed blue jeans and looking for the music.

 

Day 34 - Leavin’ Chicago

Our week is up in the windy city suburbs.  After an eventful stay we turn Southward and the heartland/cornbelt of Illinois.  Reporting again on the crop, as we did last year, I am pleased to say it looks like a bumper again.  The rows are full and beginning to dry indicating another record in progress.  Driving along we saw some new storage bins at the elevators that are some of the largest ever built.  They dwarf the old silo style version we are used to seeing.

We paid a visit to Ginger’s Aunt Frieda & Uncle El in Normal, Il and then moved on to Urbana, Il where Ginger attended High School.  Tripping around the old neighborhood, it seems the trees are growing over the streets creating a gloom and spurring vegetation growth in profusion.  Maybe the new fad is to not cut the stuff.

We share our motel with a contingent of Brazilian farmers here touring to learn farming techniques and dining out.  They are quiet which is a plus. 

 

Day 33 - We Hike 5 Miles for Food

Our last day in the Chicago area continued the fast pace we started on Day 31 in Oak Park.  Today we signed up with Chicago Food Planet for a walking tour of Chicago’s near north side.  The tour operators are in their 3rd year of this endeavor that combines walking neighborhoods and stopping at selected food purveyors.  Arriving early, we walked South to the Water Tower and John Hancock Building noticing that this visit was significantly warmer than our last in January of 2005.

We started the tour at a neighborhood Jewish deli that served us Latkas (Potato Pancakes), then we wandered North to small shops sampling Teas, Balsamic & Olive Oils, Spices, Chocolate, Pizza, Cheese, and Chocolate again.  Our guide explained each stops’ specialties and the methods of preparation in a very complete manner.  All along the way we picked up flyers from each establishment anticipating future Internet orders.

Our tour guide, Kent, also entertained us as we walked along with 5 other ladies here on a birthday celebration weekend.  We would stop at architecturally unique buildings and Kent would then launch into his educational mode.  It was quite impressive to have the neighborhood history related as we stood on the sidewalk.  The tour concluded roughly 2 1/2 miles from the starting point at the Chocolate Lounge in the Lincoln Park area.

We opted to stroll back via another route admiring the neighborhoods and people walking their dogs.  Once again the outbound expressway was packed as we drove to the motel.  This was matched by the inbound lanes for a complete mess.  Must be the last weekend of August  travel.  We will claim we had our exercise today.