So, it's been a while. There have been a couple day trips since the last post, but nothing real major til this one. We have, for the most part, just been kicking it in the grand state of Illinois. Nauvoo, IL, is a nice little city right along the river. It's Amish country. It's worth a stop if in the area. But on to the "big one".
So Uncle Roadtripper wanted to do one last little getaway with me before the weather got bad. The past several months it's been just to get the Shotgun Navigator out of the house. So, the first weekend after the Navigator got himself a new job, Uncle 'Tripper wanted to go south one more time in 2010.
The initial plan after we got underway was to stop in Evansville, IN. As per usual, we were backroading it for the most part. The plan was to go into KY the next day and loop back home. We got into Evansville, and everything is sold out. There was a soccer team convention in town. Literally, everything in the town was booked. So, we ended up having to head into KY. We get to Owensboro, which is only like 45 minutes down the way, at least by the route we took. Even there, hotel rooms were at a premium. There was partial overflow apparently from the soccer convention as well as a youth football convention in town. Owensboro is a nice town. Would like to get back for more time than what we spent there. Don't remember where we ate dinner off-hand, it was a mexican joint, but the food was good. The hotel, well, it was a little different. We stayed at the Ramada there. The first hotel I've stayed at in a looooong time that has entrances from the outside. The room itself wasn't bad, but the hotel itself needs some updating. Didn't eat onsite; the restaurant was closed. Didn't go to the bar either; I'm 37, and apparently it is open to the public and saw a bunch of 20-somethings going in. Uh, no. Not my idea of fun. I could hear the music from the other end of the parking lot. Didn't figure it would be fun. Whether or not it is, I can't honestly say.
So, the next morning we had to start heading towards home. I thought it would be cool to go by the river til we go closer to Illinois, then head north to home. We headed out of Owensboro on 60 and got off that outside Henderson on 136. We missed a turn somewhere and ended up following the river, which while not totally a bad thing, meant we went from pavement to gravel road on W Franklin Rd to 268 and 136 thru Uniontown onto 360 to 56 into Illinois. We went thru Old Shawneetown and Shawneetown. IN Illinois, 56 turns into 13. We followed 13 to I57 and went south to Cairo IL thru Marion, which is home to a federal prison. Cairo has a foot and a half in the grave unfortunately. Nice little town, but not much there unfortunately. It is, however, near where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi. So there is some importance there. We headed back on 57 and jogged over to 51, retracing a route we had been on a bit over a year earlier.
For as short as it was was, it was nice to get out of town, even if for only overnight. Anything along a river is pretty scenery, whether on paved or gravel roads. Marion is a pretty town, as is Cairo for being almost dead. It's a pretty section of IL/KY/IN. There may be pics in the near future, if not, look for more general info posts over the winter. You can also always post questions and I will answer ASAP.