Total Eclipse Vacation Day 6 (The Most Beautiful Experience I've Ever Had in My Life)

If you missed Day 5 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

One of the things I told hubby early on in this vacation was that I didn't want to go insane about trying to photograph the Eclipse. I said that I'd be happy with what I got, and I wanted to enjoy the experience of seeing it just to see it.... 

Yeah, you all know me... 

We slept in again this morning; I think we got up around 9:30 or so. My first stop was to check the sky in the backyard, and I was greeted with some wispy clouds across most of the sky... Not cool, Arkansas! It looked almost rainy, too, though I knew that this type of cloud doesn't carry water. 

I started setting everything out on the dining room table (all the lenses, batteries, cameras, tripods, etc) and did lots of Googling to make sure that I knew what settings I needed for what. I felt myself going into Spaz Mode but couldn't get myself out of there. 

I set the camera up on the tripod to get a good spot, but I couldn't figure out how to focus it with the solar filter on, and I couldn't see the camera screen, because the lens was pointed up at the sky. I put it up on some chairs, but I couldn't see the screen and I was getting more irritated, until I remembered... this new camera has a flip-out screen! So, I put the tripod back on solid ground, flipped out the screen, and all was well. 

By lunch time, the sky was still slightly cloudy, but clearing up. The eclipse officially started at 12:37pm, and of course, I wasn't ready for it... I was still futzing around with settings and f-stops and apertures and all that technical stuff! I think I finally got the hang of all the technical jargon after about 20 minutes, so my early photos are just big fuzzy orange spots, but they seemed to get much clearer as the eclipse progressed. 

About halfway into the partial, the sky had completely cleared up, giving us a cloud-free view of the sun being devoured by the moon's shadow. I plugged in the little shutter remote so that I wouldn't have to continue to touch the camera (so, no shaking), and just watched the sun disappear (behind stylish solar glasses, of course), knocking out a photo every minute or so. 

Shout out to Nathan Pyle for his I Crave Star Damage tee-shirt

Also, before the partial started, I set out the vlog camera, but just pointed it at the back yard. I wanted to get footage of what was happening on the ground, and what we were saying (but I didn't want us to be on camera). Watching that footage, it didn't seem like it got "night time dark" but really just "Florida thunderstorm dark." 

With nothing else to do, Hubby spent a lot of the partial on Twitter, looking at other peoples'  posts about the eclipse, and what they were seeing and experiencing, while also watching our eclipse. 

When you need Solar Glasses *and* Reading Glasses

Around 1:40ish, the sky really started to darken, and the sun was really disappearing... it seemed to speed up. And here is my huge lesson learned... I should have spent more time setting up to shoot the FULL ECLIPSE part instead of trying to capture the very last sliver before the full eclipse, because the first 10 seconds of totality, I was just fucking around. 

As the sliver disappeared, I heard Hubby say he couldn't see it (meaning the eclipse), then he took off his glasses and exclaimed Oh my god, there it IS! in this out-of-character, awestruck voice. When the sliver disappears, you can't see anything through the glasses, which is so weird, so you can only see the totality without them. 

So I took off my glasses, and there it was...

What I saw in that two minutes is practically indescribable, but I'm going to try. You're going to read this and think I'm off my rocker, that it couldn't have possibly been that amazing, and you'd be WRONG. It was this amazing, it was MORE than amazing... But here goes...

During Totality, the sky became dark grey, like it's night. There is a glowing light in the sky, with a darker circle on top of it, like someone is blocking a flashlight. The light that is escaping the edges of that circle is the brightest, purest, whitest light I have ever - EVER - experienced in my life. Any light you have ever seen.... it's not that. That's not bright enough. That's not white enough. That's not pure enough. This light was the epitome of what Bright Light would be. It was ethereal. It was pure. It was perfectly spectacular, and I was in deep awe of what I was seeing in only the way that a human being can be humbled by the power of our solar system and the grace of God. 

Yes, God. 

I felt seen. 

It was more than just hey look at the pretty light in the sky. I can't explain why, but there was a beauty there than only felt divine. I was absolutely speechless and in tears for about 30-45 seconds, just unblinkingly staring at the light in the sky. I was within moments of having tears just running down my face, from the beauty of what I was looking at, and how perfect and peaceful I felt. I felt so privileged to be able to experience this. 

Yes, I know that I sound so over the top but I promise... I'm not bloviating for the blog. It was, without a doubt, the most amazingly beautiful experience I have ever had in my life. 

I missed seeing Bailey's Beads, but I was able to see The Diamond Ring. At that moment, I didn't care how much time I'd spent setting up my camera and all of my expensive gear. I didn't care if the photos came out like trash. Frankly, there is absolutely no way that a camera could capture what I saw anyway... Over the following few days, I saw some professional, amazingly shot photos, and they are still only 1/100th of the glory and awesomeness that I saw with my own eyes. I'll link to some gorgeous shots from other photographers, but remember that they edited the hell out of those things, so even though they're cool photos, they don't do the actual eclipse any justice at all. 

Straight Out of the Camera, No Editing (still working on that...)

If you ever get the chance to view a Total Solar Eclipse (Total, not just Annular, there's a difference), DO IT. 

Don't even think about it. Get in the car and drive. Get on a plane and fly. Just see one. You can see in the table below that there will be a Total Solar Eclipse in 2026, but mostly in Europe (what I would give to view it from Iceland!) There will be another one in 2045 that crosses across the United States again, so I have a chance to see it again... when I'm 68! 

The next Total Solar Eclipse is August 2026

While it's cool that it's in Florida,
we'll probably be RV'ing somewhere out west by then!

Anyway, Totality only lasted for about two minutes, and then it was time for the shadow to move away from the sun. I stayed outside to shoot as much as possible, but finally went back inside when it was about 75% uncovered. Hubby and I both just kind of sat there and talked about it and how amazing it was and how (again) photos will never do it justice... we just existed in the moment of what we experienced. I've lived 46 years on this earth without ever seeing that, and I may live another 46 and never see it again. My life is now Before Eclipse and After Eclipse, and again, I'm so thankful that I was able to have this experience, and share it with the man I love more than anything. 

I repacked all of my camera gear, recharged some batteries, while we hung out on the couch, trying to decide on what to do for dinner. We headed to Andy's Custard because we thought that they had cheeseburgers (could have sworn that we'd seen one with a big neon sign advertising a deal on cheeseburgers). The Andy's by the house was out of hot fudge, and had nothing other than desserts, so we left to go find the other one that had cheeseburgers. 

When we got there, we discovered that the big neon sign was actually for Hardee's, not Andy's. We picked up two cheeseburgers from Hardee's, then swung through the drive-thru at Andy's; I got a Reese's Pieces Concrete (like a Blizzard), and hubby got a James Brownie Funky Jackhammer (a custard blended with peanut butter and brownies, then filled with hot fudge in the center). 

The cheeseburgers were about what you'd expect, and the custard would probably have been better if we'd eaten it there (instead of driving it home for 10 minutes), but I'd eat another treat from Andy's. 

Full and sufficiently awed, I took a hot bath and chilled for the night. 

Total Eclipse Vacation Day 5 (Enjoying a Lazy Sunday)

If you missed Day 4 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

Thanks to the strenuous hike yesterday, I slept like the dead! I think I got up once to pee, but I didn't have my watch on so no idea what time it was. When I woke up, it was around 9ish, and Hubby was already up on his tablet. Again, I was super-stuffy, but no headache. I took more Sudafed and an Aleve. Thankfully, no I just hiked yesterday aches or pains, which seems illogical. We lazed around in bed until noon or so, which just felt delicious, since there are so few times we ever get to be this lazy, before I got out of bed to start fiddling with my camera gear. I wanted to make sure that every single battery was charged, every SD card was cleared, and every lens was ready to go. I scoped out the backyard to double-check that I'd have a clear shot of the sun tomorrow, and thanked the Internet Gods for finding this VRBO for me.

I came back in and gave my sinuses a good steaming, which may have been the grossest thing I've ever done... there was drippage and productive blows that made me wonder what was going on in there! I took a super-hot bath for more steam power, and because I felt like dirty ass after that hike yesterday (and to use up the last of those contraband Epsom salts, too!)

After that, we lazed around on the couch, talking about a whole lot of nothing, then trying to make plans for our half-day in Memphis before we had to go to the airport. I got a lovely foot rub from Hubby (he never does that stuff), and I took his ass back to bed! 

Having worked up an appetite, we decided on Fat City Steak and Grill for dinner, but when we got outside, the poor SUV looked like an entire flock of birds decided to shit all over the car! It was disgusting! Like don't touch the door handle disgusting! We had to find a car wash, but apparently there's not many gas station drive thru car washes in Jonesboro...? We drove over to Tommy's Car Wash, but it was closed. Then we drove over to Rhyno Car Wash, which was also closed. Wat the hell, Jonesboro? You guys roll up your sidewalks at 7pm on Sundays? Everything was so quiet and closed! I was just about ready to give up when we saw a Take 5 Car Wash across the intersection that was still open. We dropped $20 on a basic wash, then got the remaining little poops off with their free cleaner and rags. 

Okay, now we can go to dinner! Fat City was very quiet inside, with only a few tables occupied with families or seniors... Huh. Craighead County is a Dry County, I wonder if that has something to do with why Sundays are so quiet everywhere... Anyway, hubby got his new love, a Club Sandwich, on a croissant, with no fries, while I got a plate of chicken fingers (so adventurous, right?) He loved his sandwich, while mine was just okay. They tasted exactly like the nuggets I make at home, with a basic flour dredge, and the fries were mid. Who knows, maybe my taste buds are still broken... 

Back at the house (and parked a little further away from the tree canopy), it was time to relax and Twitter and sleep, for tomorrow is THE DAY that this whole vacation was planned around. Is it an eclipse, the apocalypse, a rapture, or just a cool scientific and planetary feature that happens? Depends on who you ask!

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 4 (I'm Married to a Mountain Goat)

If you missed Day 3 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

I slept a bit better last night, full of real Sudafed! I'm still extremely stuffed up, but no sinus headaches or migraines, thank God. I won't gross you out, but there's mucus now, which indicates possible sinus infection... I slept until about 8:30, then read for a bit until Hubby woke up. I took stock of myself and decided that I felt well enough to do the Rocky Valley Trail at Pinnacle Mountain, one of the trails I was looking forward to hiking on this vacation. I drugged up with Sudafed, plus Aleve and a Xyzal before we left. 

We found an existing Guthrie's for lunch, which was one of our favorites many decades ago, when there was one near home, and it was just as tasty as I remember! 

Ain't nothin' like a 3pc and cheese for your fries!

We drove south toward Little Rock and discovered a tiny town called Weiner. Yes, of course we stopped for photos! 

Congrats to Kyra!

Everyone loves an all-American Weiner

Weiner seemed to be really tiny, with not a lot of "everyday" businesses, but looking it up on Google Maps, they have lots of "Weiner" places, such as Weiner City Hall, Weiner Gym, and Weiner Library. This Weiner must be a grower.  

It's so quaint and cute!

Pulling out of Weiner, I began noticing that there were a lot of Arkansas sheriffs on the road, and duh... probably because of the massive influx of people for the eclipse... I reined in my (typically speedy) driving; I certainly don't need to be pulled over while we're on vacation! We got to Pinnacle Mountain around three, and I kept looking at the specific park signs to ensure that I parked in the correct parking lot.

Pinnacle Mountain (this isn't what we climbed)

Hubby, who had no idea why I was doing that, seemed grumpy and kept telling me to just pick one! He told me later that he wasn't grumpy, but excited! He was ready to get hiking and thought that all of the parking lots were the same, and he just wanted to get out of the car and start! There is a beautiful Quarry Pond at the beginning of the park that was amazing, and then the trail devolved into nothing but, well, a rocky valley. 

Instead of a typical v-shaped valley, though, you go down, then up, then down, then up again, like a very shallow w. The downhills had grades of -10 to 13% and the inclines went up to almost 15% climb. You start at 482ft of elevation, drop to 266ft, then climb back up to 525sf, before returning to the start at 482ft. For the most part, we had the trail to ourselves, except for passing two other couples. Both of them looked like they were breathing heavy, so I didn't feel quite so bad. 

Trail Map from AllTrails

Needless to say, this trail that was listed as "Moderately Challenging" was extremely challenging for me, as I recovered from sinus blockage on top of being fat and out of shape!! 

AllTrails info about the Rocky Valley Trail

We had to stop multiple times for me to catch my breath, and for the entire time, I was behind Hubby, who was traipsing across the rocks and boulders like a damn mountain goat (but he was having so much fun that this entire hike was 1000% worth it!)

Unfortunately, because I was having a hard time, I had to skip the connecting East Quarry Spur and the Maumelle River Overlook. I'm not super-sad that we didn't do it, but disappointed in myself for being sick and unable to do a lot of what I wanted to do on this trip so far. It took about two hours to complete just the Rocky Valley Trail, so in the long run, it may have been better that we skipped the Quarry Trail, because we might have been caught in the valley after the sun set. 

Exhausted, in a good way, we headed home. In Jonesboro, we cruised around, looking for something for dinner, and noticed a lot of people being pulled over by cops. I was giving lots of the Southern "two finger wave" each time I saw one on the road, before finally Hubby asked what I was doing. I said I was trying to 'earn cop karma' by waving at every officer I saw. 

Didn't work. 

We got pulled over, too. 

The officer who pulled us over said he ran our plates and there was no car insurance attached to the vehicle (how do we do that with a rental). I realized that the printed copy of insurance - that I printed just for vacation - was still over at the house in my big purse (women, you know what I mean). I tried to pull up Progressive via my email, but that link was expired. I searched my phone and there was no PDF there... Finally, I was able to pull up the Avis rental agreement, which had my name and driver's license on it, which he matched to my physical license, and it was satisfactory - he told me to carry the hard copy from now on. 

After that, fearful that we were going to get pulled over again at any minute, by a much less nice cop, we settled on take-out from Freddy's Steakburgers. Hubby got a burger meal, and I got a kid's chicken tender meal. I can't taste them, of course, since I'm still so damn stuffy... I only ate one before I gave up. Maybe I'll have it for breakfast (spoiler alert... I didn't). As soon as dinner was done, I moved the printed insurance card to my quick wallet, then downloaded and saved a digital version on my phone (and "favorited" it so I can find it again!) Exhausted, I conked out immediately! 

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 3 (Extremely Pissapointed)

If you missed Day 2 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, click HERE

We had an early start today because I wanted as much time as possible in the city. We were out of bed and on the road before 7am. We stopped halfway, in Poplar Bluff, for soda and gas, then drove over to Delmar Loop. And I gotta say... St. Louis (at least the way we drove in), was really much nicer than I was expecting! There lots of gorgeous old buildings, and the Washington University campus. Our first stop was an early lunch at Fitz's in The Loop. I got the St. Louis BBQ Burger, Hubby got the River City Burger. 

It tasted a lot better than it looks in this photo, I promise!

Both of us got some Root Beer, of course! OMG, Fitz's was so much tastier than Lambert's yesterday! The flavor was jacked up to 150% and I ate so much I had to practically be rolled down the stairs. We walked around The Loop area, a small district of shops and restaurants, to let our food settle a bit. 

 

I wanted to save the bottle, but it got too dented to keep

Our next stop was in a part of town that just seemed like a very old part of St. Louis (looking at Google Maps, the area is called "Old North St Louis," so I guess I was right), to visit Crown Candy Kitchen, St. Louis' oldest Soda Fountain. 

Crown Candy Kitchen was opened in 1913 by Harry Karandzieff and his best friend Pete Jugaloff. They brought their confectionary skills from Greece, along with a dream of providing a friendly family environment to enjoy their delicious creations. During the early 50’s Harry’s son George took the business over and built the business into what it is today. Now George’s three sons - Andy, Tommy and Mike - run the business, with a little help from the 4th generation.

{Lazy from the future here... As I was working on editing the Crown Candy video that I linked below, I realized something... Crown Candy Kitchen is the location where Man v Food and Adam Richman failed the Five Malt Challenge, way back in the first season of the show in 2009! I was looking at Crown Candy Kitchen's website, and they mention the challenge, and it tickled a little memory from almost 20 years ago... Another thing to note, is that on CCKs menu, they have something called a Heart-Stopping BLT, which was created for Adam after his failed attempt at the challenge. It's a BLT that has 14 pieces of bacon! Yes, please!}

There was a huge line out the door to eat-in, but since we just wanted candy, we were able to go right in. There was this huge shelf and table full of leftover Easter candy that immediately caught my eye. The top shelf was full of molded chocolate bunnies (some of them were huge), but there also tons of smaller bite-size candy. You can watch a local Fox 2 St. Louis news story about their Easter candy business (and even see the huge shelf and table I referenced! This story was reported about 3 weeks before we were there). 

We ended up getting some Vanilla Creme eggs, Maple Creme Eggs, Peanut Butter Eggs, Solid White Chocolate Eggs, Solid Milk Chocolate Eggs, and a dozen butter caramels (six dark and six milk). We tried all of these when we got home, and let me tell you, I so, so, so wish that we'd tried them while we were still in St. Louis, because I would have run back in for more of those Peanut Butter Eggs and solid eggs - they were amazing. You can watch that video at YouTube, or below. 

Finally, though, it was time to go to the Gateway Arch! One of the main reasons we're in St. Louis, and one of the main reasons we decided on this geographical area for the eclipse, really... Hubby thought the idea of going up in the arch was a great idea, and of course, I've always wanted to do it (even before reading The Rift). 

We parked on the other side of Laclede's Landing and walked over. It was another cold and blustery day, but not as bad as it's been. I didn't take a ton of photos, because my plan was to get inside and buy tickets for the tram first, and then shoot my way out. 

But as we made our way closer to the arch, there was a huge sign announcing that tickets were SOLD OUT FOR THE DAY!!! 

Sold out?!?! As in, Lazy & Hubby can't go to the top of the Arch and look down on the Mississippi River and enjoy the claustrophobic elevator/tram cars? Dammit!!! I was spicy about it, but not angry... I was Pissappointed™ (pissed off and disappointed). 

Sorry, Folks, Tram's Closed! Arch out front shoulda toldja 

So we went inside and walked around the museum for a bit, then headed back out, taking photos all the way back to the car. It kind of put a damper on the afternoon, and since we still kind of felt like ass from being sick, we just decided to head home. (More photos at the end of this post, if you like artsy shots)

First, though, was a detour to a place called Wally's. Self-described as the Home of the Great American Road Trip, they seemed to be a very close knock-off of Buc-ee's. They state that they have great service, tasty food, clean restrooms, and unexpected necessities. Similar to Buc-ee's, they tout the cleanliness of their restrooms, large numbers of gas pumps, ample branded souvenirs, and lots of food options. 

They currently only have two locations, and we went to the one in Fenton, Missouri. Now, y'all know that I'm a Buc-ee's gal through and through, but I'll say this... If you've never been to a Buc-ee's, Wally's is amazing. It's big and bright and airy, and was practically deserted when we were there, so no crazy crowds to deal with. Bathrooms, yes, were nice and clean. There's a decent amount of branded items, though they did seem to skew more toward an alcohol-forward lifestyle ("It's Beer O'Clock" type stuff, which isn't for me). Lots of tee shirts, hats, plushies, that kind of thing. I didn't get any (I was still grumpy because of the Arch, and it kind of ruined my day... I do wish I'd gotten some quirky souvenirs, or at least a tee-shirt). 

There's a bakery, a canteen (with fresh foods), a coffee and tea station; there's a wall of jerky and a BBQ island (similar to Buc-ee's). But they do have a few things that are different than Buc-ee's... They have a café for specialty coffee drinks, hand-dipped ice cream, you can order some things online, and my favorite, a Popcorn Bar! They were giving out free samples of the Flavor of the Day, and so there were a handful of young kids around snacking on some popcorn; I asked one of them for their recommendation, and he said to not get the flavor of the day, because it was disgusting, lol. I decided that White Cheddar was the way to go, and they absolutely stuffed the bag full of popcorn! I also picked up some store-brand Pepper Jack chips, and some Teriyaki beef jerky to try when we got home. We made a video tasting all of those goodies (and more that I'll reference later), and you can watch that video on YouTube, or below. 

Back on the open road, my sinus congestion was just getting worse and worse so I decided to throw in the towel and stop at Walmart for some real, full of pseudoephedrine Sudafed... yeah, the good stuff. I used the voice control feature to set the Garmin up (you know, "Hey Garmin, find place... Walmart") and I was so stuffed up it sounded like Hey Garbid, fide pace... Wamard and both Hubby and I lost our shit in a fit of giggles... I sounded so bad! It found what turned out to be a Walmart Neighborhood Market and I was so foggy, I never even thought to look for a regular Walmart. There turned out to be a huge line at the pharmacy, and bless that staff, they were just trying to get everyone served before they had to close at 7pm. 

I popped two Sudafed when I got in the car, and I think it took a good 2-3 hours to fully kick in (I felt better once we got back to the house). Tonight was another night of chips and Little Debbies for dinner, as neither one of us felt 100%, and food would be wasted on us, with our malfunctioning senses of taste... I hope this clears up soon, though! The best part of vacation is all the food! 

Hopefully tomorrow we can finally go over to Petit Jean State Park and Mount Magazine to do some of the trails I've been looking forward to. 

Until then, here's some more artsy, cool-ass photos I took while at the Gateway Arch!

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 2 (That's Not a Fort!)

Yesterday was a long travel day and even though we were exhausted, we only slept okay, because the bed was harder than we prefer. As I laid there, I began to realize that I might have gotten whatever cold Hubby has... I had a sore throat, I was kind of phlegmy, but nothing was coming out when I tried to cough or "suck it out" (you know what I mean). My whole body hurt, but was that due to being sick, a stiff bed, flying in comfortable seats, or all three? 

We were up for good around 8am, and while Hubby was feeling better, he wasn't up for a full day in St. Louis (plus it was really too late, since it was a 4-hour drive from here to there anyway). We moved some things around on the itinerary and decided to explore Fort Defiance, Cairo, and then have lunch in Sikeston. 

People who live in the area are laughing, I'm sure, at the idea of exploring Fort Defiance and Cairo, but I had a reason for wanting to go... Many years ago, I read a book called The Rift by Walter Jon Williams. Written in 1999, it's a fictional story about a devastating 8.9 earthquake along the New Madrid Fault, and what happens to civilization in the Mississippi area of Illinois to the Gulf in the aftermath. While the majority of the plot focuses on two people, there are multiple plot lines that knit together to form an amazing story - a preacher who believes this is End Times; a Klansman sheriff who begins a program of genocide; a nuclear power plant technician struggling to keep the plant from melting down; and an Army Corp of Engineers trying to put everything back together. In the beginning of the story, before the earthquake happens, we learn about young Jason, who is miserable in his new home of Cairo, Illinois. It was supposedly a boring, run-down, desolate place. And for some odd reason, I got a vision in my head of what Cairo looked like, and when I saw that we were going to be in the area, I wanted to go see what it looked like. And as for Fort Defiance? I'm a sucker for a historical fort, it stands at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and damned if I didn't want to stick my feet in that water! 

So I drank some OJ and downed a full bottle of water, then we headed out to get donuts at Shipley Do-Nuts (with a side quest to McDonald's for sausage biscuits, The Official Breakfast of Adventures™). The employee at Shipley was super-nice! We told him that we'd never been there before and he looked at us like we had two heads. He said that we should definitely come back on another day, but much earlier when there's a much bigger variety of donuts. We picked out two glazed donuts, a blueberry cake, and a white cream Long John (éclair, bar, whatever you call it). The glazed was chewy and perfect, but not a lot of flavor. I saved my long john for later in the day. 

I set Garmin to take us to Fort Defiance, still set to avoid highways (I hate Interstate driving) again. And again, instead of only avoiding interstates, it avoided basically everything... it took us down tiny country roads and farm roads between fields... it took three hours to get near where we wanted to go, and as we passed Interstate 57, there was a huge sign that said the bridge to Illinois was closed, and we should take I-57 to US-51 instead. I said heck no, and continued down the road we were on. I don't know what I was expecting, honestly... I think I was hoping that Fort Defiance would be before the closure, but no dice. When we got to US-62 and Levee Road, the road was completely blocked (and mostly gone!) So we turned around and went the other way (luckily, the countryside was beautiful and traffic was non-existent, lol). 

Womp, Womp

We hopped on I-57 to US-51 (like we should have done in the first place), then drove south through Cairo and wow... this was NOT what I envisioned in my head... It wasn't just a tiny, sleepy town; it was a Dead Town. According to Wikipedia, Cairo was once a busy river boat town, on the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. As a river port, it was eventually bypassed by transportation changes to avoid the large expanses of low-lying land, wetland, and water. It's population peaked in the 1920s (at 15,203 people) but by 2020, the population fell 89%, with a mere 1,733 people. Some of this population loss may also have been due to the Mississippi River Floods in 2011, after the Ohio River rose over 80 feet, and there was the possibility of over 15 feet in Cairo itself. Currently, the community and region are working to stop the abandonment of the city. They are restoring some architectural landmarks, and plan to develop heritage tourism to focus on the city's history and relationship with the two rivers. 

Random StreetView from Google, in Cairo's "Historic District"

Once past Cairo - and before the other side of the bridge closure - was Fort Defiance State Park. We drove down, braved the chilly, blustery day, and found this tiny, sad, little tugboat-looking building... Wait? Where's the fort? This isn't a FORT! (Later research on Great River Road states that there used to be a fort there, but it's gone now; in its place is the Boatman's Memorial, installed by the Youth Conservation Corps). This writer at the Chicago Tribune had a lot to say about it when he visited in 2021- it sums up everything we saw, I 100% agree with all of his observations! Illinois Historic Preservation Agency inherited this park from the DOC in 2019, even though that specific piece of land had no actual historical significance; an employee said it was like handing them a garbage dump to manage. It's a scenic spot and could be a very nice city park, but it's not historic, and they aren't given any maintenance funds at all to operate the park, so it's been left neglected over the years. The city of Cairo didn't want it, so that left IHPA stuck footing the bill for simple tasks like cutting the grass, maintaining the simple road, or even removing garbage. 

You can see the two different rivers, and the small memorial in the foreground

We found a trashed and graffitied two-story tower that overlooked the two rivers, with a small memorial placard in front of it. 

Observation Tower, I suppose?

There were no beautiful waterfront trails or railings; instead there were tons of broken rocks and chunks of concrete and washed-up driftwood; my hopes of getting a foot in the water was dashed (though honestly, it was very cold, so the thought taking my warm foot out of my warm shoe and touching that water didn't sound refreshing anyway). 

At some point, there were some steps here, I think

I took some photos, went as far down toward the water as possible, picked up a few rocks to bring home, and then we went back to the car. That was it... that was what we drove 3 hours to see. None of this was awesome... 

Our next stop (with "avoid highways" now turned OFF) was Lambert's, over in Sikeston. Once inside, I realized that this was, like, a whole thing... It was loud, there were employees going up and down the rows of tables with Dutch ovens full of food... Hubby wasn't happy with the menu - he said it was too Southern for him, and after really looking at it, it was too Southern for me too. It didn't seem to be the same menu that I looked up on line. We honestly should have just left, but we settled (I think he thought that I really wanted to eat here, so he kept quiet, bless his heart). He ordered a burger with a side of cottage cheese - there wasn't even an option to order French fries! How can you not have fries? I got a half-rack of ribs with mashed potatoes and a baked potato. Servers came by with rolls - though they didn't throw them at us, which is what they're famous for - and yes, those were fresh, hot, delicious, and smelled like elementary school cafeterias. The servers with Dutch ovens had "pass arounds" of fried okra, fried potatoes & onions, apple butter, and molasses (we passed up on all of that). 

I could have eaten a dozen of these (and regretted it later!)

His burger was sad as hell, with no cheese or condiments or anything, and reminded me of the Where's the Beef commercial. 

My ribs were tough, with a fakey-fake smoky flavor. The sauce looked like it was brushed on right before it was put on the plate; no caramelizing or gooiness at all. The baked potato was tiny and plain, with one package of sour cream, while the mash was chunky but institutional, and served with powder mix gravy. 

The only saving grace of this place (besides the rolls), was that they served big-ass sodas in old-school insulated mugs, like what you used to buy at Circle K in the 80s. Hubby was very grumpy and didn't eat much of his meal at all; he said it was bland and he couldn't taste any of it... it just had no flavor! I agreed - everything tasted like the volume was turned down 50%. 

Back in the car, we headed home, defeated. This was a day where Adventure didn't pan out to something cool; it was just a shitty day of too much driving with a sad payoff, a pathetic dinner that cost way too much for what we got, and to top it off... I'm pretty sure I've gotten whatever Hubby has. My face is so full of sinus pressure, I can't breathe out of my nose, it just sucks!!! Back at the house (many hours later), we both ended up eating chips and Little Debbie snacks for dinner. We talked about the itinerary and decided that tomorrow, we both felt fine enough to finally head north to St. Louis. I can't wait to finally go up in the Gateway Arch! 

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 1 (Flying for the First Time)

It's finally time!!!!!!

If you're new here, howdy! Last year, we made the decision to fly for the very first time, to go on vacation to view the Total Eclipse in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Stick around to read all about our adventure in the northern Southern US and the Midwest! 

For the past few days, Hubby's been fighting some sort of cold (hell, could have been Covid for all we knew...). Because of this, he'd been sleeping badly the past few days, too. Also because of this, we'd not been eating healthy dinners, and last night was no exception! I was going to make scrambled eggs, but the eggs were too old to use, so we ended up with a super-healthy dinner of ice cream and chocolate milk... On the bright side, it's full of calcium and protein!  

I was fully packed, showered, and in bed by 8:15pm, watching some TV until I had to force myself to go to sleep. I set my watch alarm for 4:45am, and was out of bed by 5:15am. I set about doing all the typical morning tasks (brushing teeth, doing hair), then drank some OJ and took Dramamine. I woke up Hubby and we were out of the house at 5:55am for our 7:05am flight, via our small, local airport that was 3 miles away. 

The parking lot was pretty full when we got there; we parked about 6-7 rows from the front door, and when we got inside, there were probably 10-15 people already in line for TSA - with only one TSA agent checking people in. I took out all of my stuff like liquids, electronics, and was then chastised by the TSA agent that I didn't need to do that (hey, how about telling us this somehow, like posters or announcements?) I made it through the scanner, but Hubby got flagged because he forgot to take his wallet out of his pocket. I got flagged for my stainless steel water bottle that I'd frozen the night before (3/4 of it was a solid mass of ice), and also for the small bags of Epsom Salts in my toiletry case. They had to take those out and test them for, well, whatever they test them for. Whoops! 

• Lesson Learned - Don't bring frozen water in an opaque bottle
• Lesson Learned - Don't bring Epsom Salts in your carry on

All in all, it took about 30 minutes to go through TSA, and we were already facing Last Call for Boarding when we got to our gate (there were only 2 other parties behind us to get on). And of course, by this point, there was no overhead bin space left, so after all of my planning and packing, we had to gate check our carry-on suitcases anyway... 

On the bright side, we did save $100 for not paying to check them beforehand, so I got that goin' for me. 

• Lesson Learned -  Boarding Time is much more important than Departure Time
• Lesson Learned - Gate-Checking is a smart way to save money (if you want to check small bags)

This plane had about 30 rows of seats - 2 on one side, 3 on the other - and those seats were tiny! Okay, maybe they were smaller than normal and I'm bigger than normal. But they were small enough that I couldn't maneuver my body to get anything out of my Personal Item bag that was stuffed under the seat in front of me, so it was a good thing I had my tiny Baggallini cross-body with my most urgent personal items (glasses, phone, etc). 

• Lesson Learned -  have an easily accessible small bag for your most urgent personal items

We started taxiing down the runway, but got stopped at the end because of heavy traffic in Atlanta, as well as some bad weather, so we had to camp out for about 15 minutes before we finally started take off. I was curious how Hubby would handle it and how terrible I would feel. Thankfully, he did great and I didn't get too sick - it kind of felt like an unfamiliar roller coaster... I didn't know when the dips or rises would happen, so I was at the mercy of the track. If I looked at the wing, I was fine, but if I looked anywhere in the cabin AND I could see out the window (via my peripheral vision), my vertigo issues would kick in, and I'd have to close my eyes a few minutes to 'reset' myself. 

Once we got settled, I was just enthralled with watching the clouds and they were so freakin' beautiful when we got above them, like cotton candy below us. I spent way too much time looking at - and photographing - the clouds, which really was a great way to distract myself from turbulence. Oh, speaking of turbulence; someone a long time ago described turbulence as Sky Potholes, and it really stuck in my brain... The plane was fine, it just hit a pothole! There was no WiFi or seat-back entertainment, so I spent the entire flight (when I wasn't taking photos) playing Free Cell on my phone. 

Obligatory Shot of the Clouds over Florida

We got into Atlanta about 20 minutes late, with an additional 20 minutes to deplane everyone. Using the Plane Trane to get from our gate to Concourse A was very fast and easy. Our connecting flight was loading Main 2 when we got there (we were Main 3), but I had to pee! Luckily, this gate was right next to a restroom, I I peed the fastest pee I ever peed, and by the time I got back, it was our turn to load. The cabin was mostly full at this point, but I was able to find a place for my carry on (well, my Personal Item that became my Carry On), but Hubby had to shove his under the seat again. 

We attempted The Middle Seat Game, where you book the window and aisle and hope that the middle seat stays empty, but we lost... We ended up with a young man between us, but he just slept for the entire flight, so maybe we won? 

This plane was bigger, with better overhead fans, and a little more legroom than the other, which was nice, since we had to wait in a long line of planes before we took off. It was cool to watch them all just line up like cars, to take off one after the next. I think we were about 20th in line, with another 10 that I could see behind me. Takeoff was much more powerful, since it was a bigger plane, too. I was able to get WiFi on this plane, but still no seat-back entertainment, so I stuck with FreeCell again. The Tiny Snack Lady came by and I got a tiny bottle of water and a tiny bag of tiny SunChips in Garden Salsa. They were meh. 

Obligatory Shot of the Clouds over Georgia

We landed on time and, because the Memphis airport is so small, it didn't take long for us to 'park' and deplane. Since we gate-checked our suitcases, we had to go down to Baggage Claim, and then trek over quite a ways to the Rental Car area. As we stepped outside, we were hit with chilly weather! It was about 55º outside! It was 70º when we left north Florida at 7am! 

Avis assigns a car to you in the app so that you can go right to it (no need for employees and check-in desks), but also gives you a few options. We were assigned a Mitsubishi Outlander, but could also have chosen a Chrysler 300 or a Buick Enclave. We didn't even think to go check out the other options (they were in other random parking spots), and just stuck with the Outlander, but in hindsight, I wish we'd gone with the Buick. On the upside, this Outlander is brand new, like It Only Has 5 Miles on the Odometer new, which was nice. Didn't have to worry about any previous scratches or smells.  

• Lesson Learned - Check out all of the rental car options before choosing one

We pointed the Garmin to our lunch destination and headed out of the garage. Oddly, the Garmin said it would take two hours to get to where we were going; that seemed... really wrong. But we got on the road and followed the directions. However, when we got to the Mississippi State Line, we knew that something was fucky. 

Actual data from Garmin BaseCamp showing our (very wrong) route

I'd left the Garmin on "Avoid Highways," and for some reason I couldn't comprehend, it was sending us southeast instead of northeast! The map above is from Garmin BaseCamp that is the actual route we drove.  I pulled over to the side of the road and used the Outlander's Nav system to take us to lunch (with highways!) Included the backtracking, it only took an hour to get us back to where we needed to go originally. 

The "normal" way to get to where we were going

• Lesson Learned - Check your Garmin settings before getting on the road!

Finally at Tacker's Shake Shack, Hubby got a club sandwich with potato wedges, and I got a Bacon Pepper Jack cheeseburger with Tots. Hubby still wasn't feeling well and could only eat about half of his sandwich and a few wedges. Mine was tasty, but bacon and pepper jack cheese don't really mesh well together as well as I'd hoped. 

Our next stop was a nearby Walmart to get our grocery pickup (I was smart and set up an online grocery pickup order last night before we left) then finally get ourselves over to the VRBO and unpack. Hubby immediately went and face-planted into bed once the car was unpacked - he's really not feeling well at all (fever, stuffy, sneezing, etc). I turned up the heater to warm up the house, and threw a few extra blankets over him once I realized he was dead to the world. I set about putting all of the groceries away, setting things out to charge, and chilling our sodas. I curled up in bed with him around 5pm or so as he dozed on and off. At this point, it felt like I'd read all of Twitter, so I played more FreeCell. Had some truly random and incoherent discussions with Hubby during those times when he was awake. 

Dinner ended up being two bags of lunch-box-size chips, two Little Debbie snacks, and two bottles of water. By the time 'dinner' was over, I was assuming that going to St. Louis was out of the question for tomorrow... But that's okay; we'll play tomorrow by ear and do St. Louis on Friday. Him getting better is most important, because otherwise this entire vacation will suck for both of us.