May 12, 2,014 Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois Popeye

Monday, May 12

This morning we had breakfast at the local McDonalds about 6:30.  Finished one more day of the blog and then went down the road to Dixie Gun Works & Old Car Museum.  1000's of guns of all types and styles, many old, many replicas, many new.

 Also collections of things like civil war ribbons and campaign patches and medals, bayonets, binoculars and swords.  They obviously provide alot of pieces for re-enactments, as they also sell hats, shoes, uniforms, etc.

Adjacent to the Gun Works is an old car museum that included Model T's, Model A's, Edsel and Studebakers, a 1918 Harley Davidson and more.

1928 Ford Pickup

1918 Harley Davidson

We left Union City and entered Kentucky, with a stop at Columbus-Belmont State Park which was a lovely park with Civil War information regarding the battle at Belmont, Missouri where both sides claimed victory.  At one point this was called the Gibraltor of the West , as it overlooks the Mississippi.  One of the Confederates' ploys was to stretch a huge chain across the river to slow Union boats so that they could be attacked with canon.  Not too successful, it fell to the Union and remained a Union stronghold for the rest of the war.

New factoid: when the war first broke out, Kentucky declared itself neutral because it had so many citizens for both sides...it didn't last, though.

Beautiful peonies in bloom! Thought of yours, Brett & Dave!

Scratch 'n' sniff of the day: Freshly cut grass here and along the way.

Lots of interesting barns dotting the countryside, new as well as tumble-down. Rolling hills are a pleasant break from the flatness we'd been seeing!

This 90' cross completed in 1999 is at a stop along the river, just before crossing the bridge to Cairo,  Illinois. It is lit at night and is quite a landmark from the river.  Note ominous skies.

We stopped at Fort Defiance which is at the confluence of the Mississipi and Missouri Rivers.  Not maintained, it was closed and the area quite overgrown.  As we stopped at an observation deck we could see rain approaching and got drenched on the dash back to the car!  Thunder, lightning and the works while we enjoyed lunch.

Cairo has a millionaire's row with impressive old homes like this Magnolia Manor.

The River museum in Grand Tower was closed so we continued north to Chester and The Popeye Museum.  Fun couple run it - started as a hobby, then moved here to open this store.  This is where the creator of Popeye lived and most of the characters - Wimpy, Olive Oyl, Brutus, and Popeye were based on people who lived here.

 More rain, but gentler.

There are Popeye character statues throughout the town.

They called the local police and asked if we could boondock at the Welcome center tonight, which was nice. But when we got there, we decided it would be too noisy as there was lots of traffic. Instead we went back a few miles to Turkey Bluff Wildlife Management Area and found a nice pull off.  3 cars went by all night!   We had dinner and went for a walk - saw a deer and a raccoon .