Fall 2024 Florida trip

[DonnaR57]

Day 9 - CHICKAMAUGA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

Despite the look of a cloudy day, we started out at a decent hour. First stop, though, was at the neighboring Walmart store for a few things. which included Krispy Kreme donuts, and then at McDonald's for coffee. We went down to Chickamauga using a combination of a map they'd sent us, and our GyPSy.

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We ate our donuts in front of this impressive looking visitor center, before going into the building for further information, movie, etc.

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Like many (but not all) battlefields, you follow the driving tour signs, making your stops in designated areas where there is both an interpretive sign and description on the NMP brochure. One thing to be noted about Chickamauga is that the monuments here are very intricately carved. Like other parks, though, there are so many that you couldn't possibly see them all unless you took a week and did a lot of hiking. We noted a lot of people doing just that - hiking or cycling in specific areas. Well, it was a Sunday, so we weren't too surprised.

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Along the 8-stop tour, there were two old cabins. Though they won't let you go into them, the "doors" were full-length metal gates that would allow you to peer in, either with your eyes/nose, phone camera, camera lens, or all 3. They were bare, not much in them except a fireplace and maybe some stairs into the loft area.

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Many of these signs, red for Confederate and blue for Union, were available to be read. They are made of cast iron, we found out, and many have been in place since 1890's when Chattanooga-Chickamauga became the first National Military Park (NMP). This sign, in particular, caught my attention since reading earlier that Longstreet was a cousin of Julia Dent Grant (Ulysses S Grant's wife). Note that Longstreet was a Rebel.

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A look into one of those cabins:

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Talk about an intricately carved monument!

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This is Wilson's Tower, one of those that has steps inside to the top with a view. It's a good cardio workout -- yes, we went up it.

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View from the top:

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The second cabin on the tour, Snodgrass Cabin on Snodgrass Hill, was about the final stop on the tour.

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We spent what was left of the day catching up on the laundry and other little chores that needed doing, before going to dinner. The restaurant we chose was on the other side of Chattanooga, we found out, meaning we had to traverse that Interchange-Under-Construction-I-24 & I-75. We ran into the problem that we've seen before - restaurants that are closed on Sundays and/or Mondays - so we didn't get our choice of places. Most of the ones recommended to us were closed both days we were there. So we ate at chains that we did not have nearby at home. (That is our rule of thumb for chains, eat at the ones that we don't have close to us. We make exception for the occasional breakfast at McDonald's, though we prefer Cracker Barrel or Huddle House for breakfasts.).

[DonnaR57]

Day 10 - Chattanooga National Military Park at Point Park, Lookout Mountain

We waited a bit that morning, to let the clouds (fog) burn off a little down in Lookout Valley where we were staying. Looking up to what we knew to be Lookout Mountain, we could see clouds up there. Well, that battle was known as "the battle in the clouds", so we figured maybe we'd see it as the Civil War soldiers saw it. So off we went.

Our GyPSy took us up Lookout Mountain but I had to program it twice to get us to the Visitor Center for the military park. There's a lot on Lookout Mountain - an incline railway, I think Rock City is somewhere around there, and Ruby Falls. We weren't interested in the commercialized stuff like those three.

Once at Point Park, we were lucky to get "front row parking", but there is a small lot up there, too. While Chickamauga did not charge an entrance fee, evidently Chattanooga NMP section does, though no one was in the booth to look at our pass and we didn't figure any need to play with the self-service machine to buy a pass since we have a Lifetime Pass.

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This battlefield is ALL WALKING, not driving. It's not very large, but it does involve a lot of stairs so it is definitely not "accessible". We were definitely walking in the clouds, at least for a while.

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About the only memorial in this park was right in the middle.

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To get to some of the views, you had to climb up some rocks. Hubby is braver (or crazier) than me about this. And yes, it was cold in Chattanooga while we were there. When we stepped outside after so many days in Florida, we had to grab jackets!

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When we first got onto the mountain, this was covered in clouds. Now we could start to see that some of the views could be stunning! This shows the Tennessee River. If you are on I-24, you are on one side of that river for a mile or so as it curves around.

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Pretty soon, the clouds burned off and I was able to pick out several things including the Walmart we'd shopped at the day before, AND, because of its blue roof, our lodge. All because it was easy to follow the river, and I-24.

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We left Point Park quite disappointed. The ranger had told us that when the park was established,in 1890, the folks in Chattanooga did not wish to remember that part of the war. By that time, much of Missionary Ridge was privately owned and owners wanted it to stay that way - even if it meant they had little white monuments in their yard that they were not allowed to destroy, deface or remove. Much of the Chattanooga portion of the war took place on Missionary Ridge. Another thing we learned from that ranger, and that was the price to replace some of those cast iron red and blue signs. Those were initially placed in the 1890s, marked by veteran soldiers who came and marked everything, "this was here, that was there", etc. Replacing ONE today is over $5200. A broken one was in the visitor center, but the ranger stated that Mother Nature broke that one by sending a tree down on it.

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We drove around Chattanooga a little bit, and once again had dinner on the other side of town.

[AZBuck]

Wow, that brings back memories. I visited Chickamauga a number of years ago and took a Ranger led tour around the battlefield. At some point during that tour I mentioned to him that my great-great-grandfather had fought there and he asked which unit. I told him the 21st Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment and his eyes lit up. It turns out that the 21st was part of General Thomas' Corps and helped him earn the sobriquet of "The Rock of Chickamauga". Here's the monument to the 21st. In military usage, the acorn is a symbol of strength, perseverance and hard work.



AZBuck

[DonnaR57]

Was that on Snodgrass Hill, AZBuck?

DAY 11 - TUESDAY TRAVELS

After Chattanooga, it was time to head northwest again toward home. It would be too far to go from Chattanooga to our home in one day, so we decided ahead of time to make it a two-day drive. Before leaving home, we had reserved one place and then changed to another place in a different city. The destination that day was the southwest side of St Louis.

Heading out on I-24, where traffic was fairly light, our first stop was in Kimball for fuel. We'd decided that we needed a tank of a Top Tier rated fuel, so we chose Shell. Neither of us was hungry yet, so we continued on. The Monteagle Grade was beautiful, as it had been on the way down, and for truckers' sakes, we were happy that no trucks needed those emergency ramps. If you aren't aware, this Grade was mentioned in the opening song for the old movie, "Smokey and the Bandit".

Traffic was getting heavier, so we decided to let the Nashville rush hour "rush on" without us by eating breakfast in Manchester. Our stomachs were still on Eastern time, though the digital clocks all changed to Central just before Monteagle Pass. Though there was a Cracker Barrel there, we decided to give the local place, Emma's, a try. Food was okay. Priced a little less than CB. But in the meantime, Rush Hour went by.

Nashville traffic wasn't all that bad. We had only one place of slow-n-go. After Clarksville, though, right as we were coming across the state line into Kentucky, traffic stopped. We inched into the KY Welcome Center for a couple of reasons, and also found out what the hold up was. About a half mile north of the Welcome Center, a big chunk of I-24 westbound in the right lane was pretty much gone, all the way down to rebar. We all went around it in the left lane (DOT had already prepped it for rebuild) and moved on.

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Our next stop was in Paducah, for fuel again, then at the IL Welcome Center on I-24, which is one at an exit accessible by both directions. We debated turning around, taking US-60/62 to I-57 to I-55N, but decided to continue with our original plans using the same highways we came out on. That meant finishing up I-24, catching I-57 North, then I-64 west.

Crossing the Ohio River:

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Along I-64, we stopped in Fairview Heights. They have a Total Wine store that is about a mile off the freeway, and hubby was looking for something specific that he used to get in San Diego, could not buy at any of our local liquor stores or departments, so he figured he'd stop and try Total Wine. They didn't have it either (maraschino cherry juice), so we ended up ordering it from Amazon, but shopping at TW is always fun because you never know what you are going to find. And they have tastings.

We got on I-255 and as I looked out my passenger window to the west, I could see the downtown St Louis skyline AND the Arch. I have to admit that this was the first time I'd seen the Arch in our 3 years of living in MO. In years past, we've been there and of course went up in the tram, but not since we moved here.

Crossing the Mississippi River on the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. Both of us commented that the River was low!

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Our hotel choice was a brand we haven't stayed in, in over 30 years, Drury. Even that was at insurance expense (due to a car accident in 1993 that totaled our van while on a trip). Once in, which was supposed to be an overnight only, we decided to stay an extra night and do some things in St Louis while we were there. It was a nice hotel, plus it offered a "Pick me up" at 5:30 (like dinner, but they don't call it that), hot breakfast which included waffles AND pancakes and more.

For that evening, we tried their "Pick Me Up" offering, which was Pulled-Pork sliders and a lot of sides were offered. After dinner, we discovered that one of the places we thought we'd do, would be closed. But I had some alternatives.

[DonnaR57]

Day 12- Final Day of Sightseeing

After enjoying that lovely room in the hotel, we tried their breakfast. Normally, motel/hotel/lodge breakfasts aren't something we "do" very often, but we thought we'd try this one. It was a decent buffet - scrambled eggs, sausage, a waffle maker, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, all sorts of carb choices, all sorts of juices, coffee and tea, fruit.

After St Louis Rush Hour was mostly done, we headed out on the "back roads" to the Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, just outside of Grant's Farm. Thanks to a good map and our iPhone's GyPSy (which is what we use these days), we found it without issue.

It seems ironic that Ulysses S Grant, an abolitionist, should marry into a family of slaveowners, the Dents.

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As I had read two books that featured the plantation, I was surprised to see that the house was green. The two books were "Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule" by Jennifer Chiaverini, and "The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant". The name of the plantation is White Haven. I guess it's named for the place in New England they came from, not for the color of the house.

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As we took in this view, we noted that you had to be on a tour to see the inside of the house, and then that a tour was forming outside of the visitor center. We rushed to be able to join that tour (free). It was a very interesting tour done by a well-versed ranger. Later, when I commented to the ranger that the gift shop did not sell the Chiaverini book (though it sold one of her other books, "The Union Quilters"), she said yes, she'd read it and found it so well researched and that yes, they should carry the book.

The house was owned by Former President Grant and his wife after the president purchased it from his father-in-law, who was in financial straits. After the Grants sold it, just after they moved permanently to the East Coast, it was owned by two different families. Eventually the NPS took it over, but not until after some damage had been done -- lots parceled off to become a neighborhood ("Grantwood"), much of it sold to Anheuser-Busch who runs that as Grant's Farm, a commercial entity. Ulysses' former cabin, Hardscrabble, got moved several times and is now on the Grant's Farm property. The backside of it can be seen from a major roadway, but the Grant's Farm tram does not take you to it. So the fact that Grant's Farm was closed, wasn't as much a disappointment when we found out we couldn't get to Hardscrabble.

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Dishes found on the property:

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It's nice to see the NPS taking care of their property:

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The summer kitchen, which for awhile was turned into a garage for subsequent owners, but restored to kitchen status by the NPS:

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One of the first editions of Ulysses S. Grant personal memoirs. He was urged to write them when suffering from throat cancer. Mark Twain offered to publish them when they were completed. Grant finished them, then died not too long afterward. Julia was able to live on the proceeds, and went on to write her own. This copy was in the Visitor Center museum, which is in "the old barn" but looks new. Unlike other visitor center museums, you're encouraged to visit the museum last. The self-tour takes you around the property first, then into the museum before sending you back to to the visitor center.

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Visitor Center and Museum:

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With the closure of Grant's Farm, and not wanting to fight the parking etc downtown St Louis, it was high time to do some shopping. The area where we live used to have 3 outlet malls within 40 miles. Now, one has about 10 stores left (from its high of 120+ stores), another has shut down completely and the third is ready to do the same. The one with 10 stores left is allowing the tenant to stay until their lease is up, and no lease renewals are allowed. We know that St Louis' Chesterfield Mall is about to be razed, and two of the others are losing tenants quickly. But we found West County Center and spent the afternoon there, getting some early Christmas shopping done.

[DonnaR57]

Day 13 - Homeward Bound

We debated staying yet another day to see if we could get to Grant's Farm and Hardscrabble, but obligations at home made us decide in the favor of heading home. Still, we weren't in any hurry to experience St Louis Rush Hour even if going in the opposite direction, and home was only 3 or 4 hours drive. So we packed out leisurely, got fuel up on MO-141, then got on the freeway. We didn't stop much, except for brunch in Sullivan, and getting home a little over 3 hours later, we found everything in good shape. Our daughter checks on it periodically for us.

Expense log:

$311 for gasoline (Premium)
Highest price per gallon: $3.67 (Shell, Kimball TN)
Lowest price per gallon: $3.19 (Sam's in Clarksville TN)
Brands used: Sam's (4x), RaceTrax (2x), Phillips 66 (2x), Shell (1x)
Average gas mileage: 25.6mpg

$2200 for lodging
Highest was in St Augustine, FL
Lowest per night was in Chattanooga TN

$1230 for food
Average per day, around $100.

$350 for souvenirs, gifts, and misc. I did not include the mall shopping in this amount.
The gifts included were those bought in St Aug or at one of the battlefields.
It included the wine from St Aug but not the liquor from the Total Wine in IL.

Mileage on car: 2411 miles added, total
Longest driving day: St Augustine FL to Chattanooga, 499 miles
Shortest driving day: STL to home, 180 miles
Total driving day miles: 2254 miles
Sightseeing miles: 157 miles (usually I "budget" 25% miles for sightseeing. Because of the ability to park the car in StAug and not use it for 4 days, it made a big difference in the miles used.)


That concludes this trip. Where are we going next? When are we going next? That discussion usually takes place as we travel home on our final day, and this was no exception. We just didn't come to any decisions on either one, except "maybe in the spring".


Donna