One of the things Kacie and I had determined we wanted to do to make the best possible time on our road trip was to bring a box of Nutrigrain bars in the car to serve as breakfast. Neither of us are big breakfast eaters anyway, and we figured a Nutrigrain bar and a cup of motel coffee was enough to power us through to lunch on most days. Day 2 of our journey ended up being an exception.
The strains of the Mamma Mia soundtrack punctuated Day 2, as we drove through the pastoral, green hills of Sullivan County, Tennessee. Cows chomped away on grass as we drove the half hour or so to beautiful Bluff City, Tennessee, home of my ancestors. Back when they lived there it was known as Union Depot, and I learned through my research that the town changed names quite a few times before settling on Bluff City. I am descended from the Rhea family, and in the course of my research have found many cousins!
There I am, clutching said cup of motel coffee, right at the city line. I was told by a more experienced genealogist that my ancestors lived in a little stone house "where the Holston River meets the Southern Railway." That happened to coincide rather neatly with the area around the welcome sign, and I tried to imagine what it must have looked like then without cars and power lines. As we drove along, we encountered the Bluff City Diner and we could not resist going in for a quick breakfast.
The food was extraordinary. Delicious scrambled eggs, bacon and home fries, and our combined bill came to about $10. I could not believe the low price. (A New York City native, I often experience culture shock when purchasing things out of state.)
We left Bluff City and my ancestors behind and began the trek west. Somewhere along the way we gained an hour due to the timezone change, which was nice. I had never been out of EST. We took I-40 to Nashville and then headed northwest, passing into Kentucky.
Kentucky was very pretty, with rolling hills and blue-green farmland. I never thought we would be hungry again after that breakfast, but somehow we were. It's amazing what sitting in a car and doing nothing will do for you.
Somewhere in Kentucky, we stopped at a Flying J travel plaza for gas and lunch. There was some kind of sit down restaurant in the rest area that gave travelers the option of ordering a la carte or ordering the buffet. Due to our schedule, we decided to just do a la carte. I ordered a hot open roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes. I received a mountain of food swimming in a sea of thick, brown gravy. It was delicious, but I think I ate about 1/8th of it. It made me glad we didn't do the buffet.
We crossed from Kentucky into southern Illinois, but there was no conveniently placed "Welcome" sign at the state line. So, we kept going and eventually crossed the mighty Mississippi.
It was my first time west of the Mississippi River, and I was extremely excited. Once we got across, we saw the "Welcome to Missouri" sign, which was accessible but a little close to bridge so we did have a few cars zooming by us.
Have you ever wondered exactly where a state line begins? Well if you are entering Missouri from southern Illinois, fear not. Someone has helpfully labeled it for you:
Thank you, kind stranger.
Anyway, Missouri was gorgeous. For the longest time we drove through flat, picturesque farmland before making our way through the winding roads of the Ozarks. It was sunny and peaceful, and we tuned into a country station for the ride. Our goal was to end the day in Mansfield, a tiny little town in western Missouri, which happens to be where Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of the Little House series) spent most of her adult life on a farm named Rocky Ridge.
When we got to Mansfield the sun was going down and we found that there were precious few hotels or restaurants in the town, and even fewer that were open. Kacie ducked into a convenience store and asked for advice. She told us that in a town called Ava, a few miles south, there was a Super 8 motel which sometimes had a buffet. (?) We thanked her and decided to stay there, buffet or not.
Well, there was no buffet. But the woman behind the front desk was lovely and... had KNOWN Laura Ingalls Wilder!!! We were so excited. She told us lovely stories about meeting the elderly Laura as a child.
After the long day, we were starving and we seemed to be mostly out of luck. But in the room, we found an ad for a Pizza Hut and we ordered a pizza to be delivered to the room. And so, day 2 ended with Pizza Hut and beers in a Super 8 in Ava, Missouri. We couldn't complain, and we were excited to head to Rocky Ridge the next morning.
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