Cross Country Trip ~ Part Two

DAY ONE

First sightseeing stop, Nashville, Tennessee!  Just a brief stop, there is an old fort there, Fort Nashborough, located along the riverfront, that I wanted to see, and free to visit; however, it was closed for renovations.  If you want to check it out here's their website: Fort-Nashborough, Nashville, TN

Next planned (but brief) stop was St. Louis, Missouri ... Gateway Arch.  Both of us had been by it and seen it from a distance several times but wanted to get up close and personal.  We had tried to get there BEFORE closing time as I really wanted to go inside and up to the top but we just missed it by 15 minutes.  Oh well, it is located in a pretty area along the riverfront with cobblestone and brick streets and we enjoyed our little bit of time there ... I even RAN the stairs to the top (got to get in exercise any way I can). 

Us under the Gateway Arch

Yep ... those steps!  I ran them!

Yep LOL ... just so I can say "I touched that"

Drove around St. Louis a bit: saw the St. Louis Cardinal's ballfield, some beautiful historic homes, crossed over a section of Route 66 and then ate dinner at an awesome little BBQ place Hubby had seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives ... little outta the way place (located in a residential area) but definitely a great place to eat ... The Shaved Duck, 2900 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, MO ... smelled so good walking up to it with their BBQ smokers/grills out back.  Yummmmmmy!  I had their House Salad (small): 'Mixed greens, cranberries, goat cheese & toasted pine nuts with a cider molasses dressing', to start and then my entree was their Pulled Pork Sandwich 'slowly smoked for up to 20 hours' with a side of Mac-n-Cheese served with a small portion of Coleslaw and a Dill Pickle.  It was delicious!!!  Awesome smoke flavor ... I would definitely recommend this place!  Here's website:  The Shaved Duck

We drove on further and found a hotel in Shawnee, Kansas to lay our head for the night as I wanted to visit Topeka, Kansas the next morning (for sentimental reasons), a town I had lived in for 5 and a half years as a child while my Daddy was stationed there with the USAF ... more about that in the next blog post: Cross Country Trip ~ Part Three.

STAY TUNED!