Garden of the Gods was a privately owned 480-acre property that was donated to Colorado Springs in 1909.

Then on to Manitou Springs. What a fun little town! We spent half a day browsing shops and didn’t make a dent in all there was to see. Dinner was at the Border Burger Bar, followed by an evening at the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade.

Our prize for all of our arcade tickets.

This place was such a fun find! \240Over the years, the arcade has slowly acquired more and more shops within their half a block and filled them with vintage arcade games. If you had a fun carnival or arcade game in your childhood that you loved, they had it here. There were really vintage games from the 50’s to games in the 90’s. We found our favorite, Centipede :) Delaney and Henry liked Skeeball, and Greg loved the horse racing carnival game.

Delaney’s birthday wish was to see fall colors, and so, on Sunday, we headed to Mueller State Park. Our “small” hike ended up as a 3 mile mostly uphill loop, but the aspens didn’t disappoint.

It was so hard to say goodbye ❤️🎂❤️

Not much more than a spot in the road, the tourist attraction for miles around is a few miles down the road in Shamrock, TX.

The U Drop Inn Cafe and Conoco station along Route 66 was built in 1936 and was the inspiration for Ramone’s Body Shop in the Disney movie Cars.

The cafe is vintage and they have an original (yummy) soda fountain.

The state line between Arkansas and Indian territory.

Fort Smith was built to govern Indian relations and later to prosecute those white settlers that were illegally pushing into Indian territory and those selling whiskey to the Indians. \240Eventually they just focused on the rogue gangs and criminal element in general. For a time the US Confedrate army also occupied the Fort.

Fort Smith included a barracks, court house and jail.

One of two jail cells in the basement, it would hold up to 50 men at a time.

The courthouse presided over by Judge Parker who was sympathetic to the Native American cause and supported the idea of their own separate State.

During his time on the bench, Judge Parker sentenced 160 people, including 4 women to hang.

The gallows where 87 men were hanged including the notorious Rufus Buck gang. All young men, Rufus was only 18 when he was hanged.

Path along the Arkansas River leading to The Trail of Tears Memorial.

Fort Smith is a National Historic Site managed by the National Park System, but surrounding it is the town of Fort Smith itself. \240Full of historic buildings, we found ourselves in The Bakery District and discovered the eclectic coffee shop, The Fort Smith Coffee Co, inside the old Holsum bread factory that operated from 1920 to 2008.

Avocado toast, Monte Cristo and Chai Latte.

Discovering places like this that aren’t on our itinerary is the best part of traveling across the country. \240

One of the reasons we planned a stay in Hot Springs was to visit the famous Bathhouse Row. \240Inside the Hot Springs National Park, there are 8 remaining bathhouses ranging from built in 1892 to 1923. In addition to offering “medicinal” soaks in mineral baths, these spas offered different specialties such as hydrotherapy, massage, sauna, mercury rub and electro therapy. Really only the affluent of the time could use the bath houses. The poor dug their own pools in the mountain side creeks and African Americans had their own segregated bathhouse at the other end of town.

Bathhouse Row. Each bathhouse has their own architectural style and they are all side by side along the Grand Promenade.

Buckstaff Baths is one of two remaining operational baths. Their services are still traditional with separated sides for men and women (no co-mingling), individual soaking tubs and (we were warned) a lot of nudity in the common areas.

The Quapaw Baths is the other operational bath but soaking is in the more common community soaking style pools (swimming suits required :).

Ozark Baths closed in 1977.

Fordyce Baths has been converted to the visitor center and a free museum.

As would be expected for the times, the interiors are elegantly and decodantly appointed.

Lobby Fordyce Baths

Mens’s changing room Fordyce Baths

3rd floor lounge area Fordyce Baths

Ladies lounge area Fordyce Baths

Ladies lounge area Fordyce Baths

3rd floor men’s gymnasium Fordyce Baths.

The Superior Bathhouse, the smallest on the row, has since been converted to a brewery. \240After spending the afternoon learning about the 1920’s focus on health, we had very unhealthy burgers that were delicious.

We ended our afternoon with a stroll down the Grand Promenande to the Arlington Lawn and the Hot Water Cascade, an outdoor Spring.

It’s hard to see the steam that is rising off of this hot springs pool.

The entrance to the trail is directly behind the bath houses and up 3 cascaded sets of stairs.

The original wood structure tower was built in 1878 and was 80’ tall. In the 1890’s it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. The rebuilt tower now stands 216’ tall, and fortunately had an elevator to get to the top. The views were pretty spectacular.

The Arlington Hotel is said to be the largest hotel in Arkansas.

Bathhouse Row

Back in town, on the opposite side of the Grande Promenade are shops and restaurants. We learned that in the 1920’s, Hot Springs was the hot bed for illegal gambling and speakeasy’s as a result of prohibition. \240

The Ohio Club, a popular casino built in 1905. Al Capone, “Lucky” Luciano, “Bugsy” Siegel, Frank Costello and other mobsters often frequented this and the Southern Club a few doors down.

Although we didn’t go in, the gangster museum looks like a fun visit to get a history on mobsters in Arkansas.

Lunch today was at Grateful Head Pizza and Beer Garden. There is a cool outdoor terrace over looking Main Street.

Fairy Garden

Lake Hamilton which surrounds the gardens.

Anthony’s Chapel. We weren’t able to tour inside because they were preparing for a wedding.

May look like Fall, but it feels like summer!

We walked 6 miles and spent a good 4 hours in the gardens, so we headed to the shoreline of Lake Hamilton for lunch. \240We probably eat Mexican once or twice a week at home, and we’ve decided it will be fun to try Mexican restaurants across the country to see how they compare. \240Trejo’s Del Lago had great patio seating with a view of the lake and very good Chimi’s.

While walking along the river, we were suddenly surrounded by anxious policeman scouting along the banks, quickly followed by a good number of firemen and a search boat sped by. They were looking for a body floating down the river. \240Apparently bodies floating in the Arkansas is a common occurrence.

President Bill Clinton’s Presidential Library is also walking distance from downtown. \240While we didn’t go in because we had the dogs, we did stroll through the Presidential Park Wetlands.

The William J Clinton Presidential library.

Courtyard for the Clinton School of Public Service, University of Arkansas.

Presidential Park Wetlands

Presidential Park Wetlands

Downtown Little Rock is small but they had a few neat historical buildings.

Capitol Hotel

Old State House which is now a museum.

We did a quick math with our step counter, and over the past 4 days in Arkansas we have walked 25 miles!!

I can’t possibly post all of the pictures we took, but these are a few of my favorites!

Front entrance to Graceland. Visitors can only arrive via shuttle. No one is allowed to directly walk up the drive to the mansion.

The Living Room

The TV Room.

This room had 3 TVs because Elvis learned that’s what Walter Cronkite did in his home.

The Pool Room

Expand this picture. You’ll see that every inch of the wall and ceiling is covered in folded fabric.

The Jungle Room

Floor, ceiling, walls and stairwell covered in green shag carpet.

The famous pink Cadillac. There were 20+ cars and motorcycles on display.

The infamous ‘68 comeback special.

There were multiple rooms with Elvis suits. These 4 white suits were interesting because each is just slightly different.

There were walls and walls of outfits.

We spent half a day at Graceland and could have stayed longer but wanted to explore Beale Street— the birthplace of the Blues and Rock and Roll. It is also a \240key part of the civil rights movement.

The Beale Street Blues Trio was fantastic!

Beale Street, Memphis, TN

Tupelo and Baldcypress trees can live in deep water for long periods. After taking root in the summer, when the swamp is nearly dry, the seedlings can stay alive in water deep enough to kill other plants.

Not far from our campground was an access point to the Natchez Trace trail. A “Trace” is the French word for Trek or Track. The Trace was originally a game trail used by the Choctaw, Natchez and Chickasaw. In the late 18th Century, boatman who floated down the Mississippi River, used the trace as an overland route back to the Ohio Valley. It extends 440 miles across 3 states from Tennessee to Mississippi.

Our second discovery was the Mississippi Petrified Forest.

The Petrified Forest is a log jam swept down a river 36 million years ago.

We learned that conditions have to be just right for wood to petrify vs decompose. \240This is the largest petrified forest in the Eastern U.S. \240

The Biloxi Bay RV Resort and Marina has an awesome pool and hot tub next to the bay.

Drinks and music in the outdoor bar and pavilion

1980s cover rock band

Point to point, we have driven 1,645 miles.

Our stay was at the New Orleans RV Resort and Marina. \240We were backed up on the other side of the yacht repair yard and watched boats coming and going all week.

Our full week of activities is here on my public travel blog 👉 http://sunningbytheseatravelagency.travel.blog

This was our first campfire since we started our journey a month ago.

Getting to the shoreline required a hike over the Succession Staircase. It is just under a mile and has over 270 steps. \240It’s been cold and rainy in Indiana but that didn’t stop us from exploring.

The staircase is the way up and over the dunes to the beach.

Once at the top it’s back down through the woods.

Lake Michigan off in the distance. We are getting closer.

Then a trek through the thick, deep sand.

Up this final rise…

And there is Lake Michigan!

One of the steel mills in the distance.

The beach is really active here in the summertime but we had it all to ourselves today.

Interestingly, there are three groups that have split off from the original AnaBaptist movement which began in Zürich Switzerland in 1525. The Hutterites were the first group, followed by the Mennonites in 1536, and finally the Amish in 1693. On our tour, most of the focus was on the differences between the Mennonites and the Amish. They have the same fundamental religious beliefs. The primary difference is the Mennonites have embraced modern technology and look like anyone else if you were to pass them on the street, whereas the Amish are the group that felt that the Mennonites were losing their spiritual discipline and becoming too much like the world around them. It’s the Amish group that maintains the simple attire, has no electronics in their home and refuses the use of cars and therefore drives the horse and buggy. there are 350,000 Amish in the United States and they live primarily in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

Shipshewana is a very cute little town with many tourists.

We headed back to Middlebury for dinner at the Das Dutchman Essenhaus Amish Country Kitchen. Our dinner was served in an Amish buggy. They are already in the Christmas spirit.

The St James Fountain, unveiled in 1905, was designed by by French sculptor Henri Gréber.

At the end of St James Court is Belgravia Court that caps the area as the top of the “T”.

The homes in this area and on Millionaires row were part of the Gilded Age of the 1920s. The wealth here was attributed to Tobacco, Bourbon and Horse Racing.

We had the opportunity to tour inside one of the most opulent mansions of the time. Started in 1893, it took two years to build. The Conrad-Caldwell house is built of Bedford limestone shipped from Indiana. It was known for its elaborate archways, stone designs, woodwork and parquet floors. The house also featured many innovations of its day, including interior plumbing and electric Lightning.

If you look carefully, you can see a small 4th floor under the turret roof on the right This was the “disappointment room” and all the affluent mansions had one. \240It’s the room where the child with disabilities was hidden when any guests were visiting or parties were held.

The parlor just off the main entry. This is where the ladies gathered.

Every room has a fireplace to warm the room. In total there are 17 fireplaces.

Mrs Caldwell.

The study where the men gathered.

The study

The study

Main entry stairs. Our tour guide is the great, great granddaughter of the Caldwell’s \240who lived here.

Grand staircase

Mrs Caldwell’s room

Mr Caldwell’s adjoining bedroom

The Billiards Room

The mansion sits at the corner of Central Park. A quick walk across the park brought us to the witches tree.

The witches tree.

The story goes that a coven of witches celebrated at the original tree. When the city elders decided to cut their tree down for that years Maypole celebration, the witches put a curse on the town hexing that 11 months later there would be a disaster that would wipe out the town. Exactly 11 months later, in 1890 a devastating tornado swept through the town leveling it and killing 118 people. \240This gnarled tree then grew in the place of the one cut down.

There are over 400 known caves in the ecosystem of Mammoth Caves.

The entry. Down, down we go.

As you first enter the cave, you encounter these remnemts from bygone days. From 1812 to 1815 slaves mined the cave for nitrates used for gunpowder for the War of 1812.

The oldest parts of the cave are 10 million years old.

Down, down we go.

The Bottomless Pit

Fat Man’s Misery passage required many ducking and side shuffling passages.

Fat Man’s Misery

Fat Man’s Misery

The original tour guides were enslaved people who lead 12 to 16 hour tours in the dark with only oil lamps.

270 stairs up to climb out.

Mammoth Cave National Park contains more than just caves—diverse forest habitats and the unique flora and fauna live there as well. The surrounding forest supports over 1,300 flowering plant species and a wide range of bird species such as bald eaglesand wood warblers. On the whole, the park encompasses 52,830 acres of wilderness, including 60 miles of backcountry hiking trails and 30 miles of rivers.

It took 3 years to build the bridge from 1974 to 1977.

We took a scenic loop drive and found a beautiful trail, Kaymore Mine trail, that had stunning waterfalls.

We haven’t seen the sun in 12 days!

Just 20 minutes over the state line is Mount Airy, NC. For a certain age, this is a nostalgic stop, as it is the birthplace of Andy Griffith and the inspiration for Mayberry. \240

Lunch at Welker’s Soda Fountain

Throwback to 1960’s Main Street