Month: January 2017

Do you have a hankering for diamonds? Not afraid to get muddy? Then include a stop at Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park.

The Ozarks extend from Missouri well into Arkansas and have provided a rich place of folk art and music. Another type of music predominates in the delta region.

In the spring of 2001, I decided to introduce myself to this state. I started on the eastern side, drove through the rice growing region, and paused in a river town.

Barges, levees, and a local museum made the day interesting. Then I headed west across the state. The landscape changed, more hills, more forest, and by the time I reached Fort Smith, I was on the edge of the Great Plains. Abundant variety. Needed more time to explore fully.

Show Me. Convince Me. Prove It.

At the crossroads of North, South, East, and West American culture — Missourians tend to be skeptical. Location also makes for contrasts in many areas. We have delta in the southeast. Wooded mountains in south central. A portion of the Great Plains in the northwest, and rich mid-west farmland in the northeast. Don’t like the weather? Wait until tomorrow. It’s sure to change. Sometimes from one season to the next.

Location also makes for great variety for both resident and visitor. Like history? The Pony Express started in St. Joseph. Steamboats plied the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Prefer the outdoors? Hiking and canoeing are popular in the Ozark area. Night life more your style? Try the Branson theaters or the urban delights of Kansas City and St. Louis.

Enjoy a stroll in a public garden.

Straight roads. The width and surface varies as Iowa roads follow the section lines. Think late summer, tall corn on both sides, and you detect on-coming traffic by the dust cloud on the gravel road.

Yes, the norm is changing. Modern highways cross the state. More roads are paved. But the corn still grows tall, interspersed with soybeans and farmsteads with large hog houses.

The constant wind sends greetings from the pigs to passing motorists. Don’t turn up your nose as you pass. Think — BACON!

The Mississippi River forms the eastern boundary of this fine state and here the land is rolling and fertile. The cities are small and proud. Their factories process food and manufacture machinery.

Pause as you drive through the state and discover little treasures.

Buffalo Bill is one of Iowa’s notable sons.

Lakes. Fish. Lakes. Cornfields. Lakes. Boats. Lakes.

Land of 10,000 lakes. Possibly more. They range in size from easy to jog around to drive for most of a day along Lake Superior — a portion of this mighty lake’s, not containment. Lake Itasca enjoys the official designation as the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Our family visited this state often. Our family would roll down the windows to enjoy the scent of linseed oil as we crossed the bridge into our favorite small city for shopping. Relatives lived in Minneapolis and introduced the “farm kids” to fine museums, parks, and theater.

Farming. Mining. Manufacturing. Minnesota is important in all of these areas. Visitors can expect a warm welcome — but don’t be in too much of a hurry. The descendants of the hardy Scandinavian and German settlers insert pauses and make leisurely conversation. Enjoy the Great Outdoors in the North Woods — or cozy up with a companion at a music festival.

We’ve made a turn on our tour of the United States. It’s time to follow the       west bank of the Mississippi River.

Cheese. Beer. Sausages.  Do you see a trend here?

From the thriving cities on the shores of Lake Michigan to the quieter resort towns scattered near Lake Superior, water demonstrates importance in Wisconsin. Large portions of the state’s boundaries are water – the lakes mentioned above or the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers on the west. In addition the land is dotted with smaller lakes and rivers, creeks, and farm ponds.

Due to living in this state from birth to young adulthood, and visiting since then, I’ve too much to tell in one (or even several) blogs. Do I tell of the iconic farmstead with white house and red barn? Or catching a fish from shore, dock or boat? Visiting a university campus? The fine museums and parks of Milwaukee?

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I bid you to visit whether you are interested in a glimpse of rural America, fine art, or history. Somewhere over the hill or on the other side of the lake you’ll find it here. (You can even walk on water — in the winter.)

The Land of Lincoln.

The Land of Windmills. Have you driven in the flat parts of this state in recent years? They have wind farms popping up everywhere. You even see their parts being transported to the building sites on long specialized trucks.

The Northeast portion of this state hugs Lake Michigan and includes the city of Chicago. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Several of my relatives migrated to Chicago for jobs immediately prior and after WWII. This made the city a place for my mother and I to visit twice during my youth. (Usually they came to see us on the farm.) It was always exciting – the people, traffic, museums, and cousins.

I’ve gone back as an adult. Even took my own children. Enjoyed the energy of the city but remain uncertain if I’d want to live there. I think I’ll content myself with the occasional visit where I can enjoy new sites and watch The Lake lap at the city edge.

Beautiful Chicago Lakefront in 2008

A couple of states ago, we reached the Great Lakes. Today’s visit — to the Hoosier State — continues that theme.

The first Europeans to establish a fort in the territory were French. Then the British gained control. During the Revolutionary War, Gen. George Rogers Clark captured the important fort at Vincennes, key to control in the West.

Don’t bother to check the time when driving east or west across the state. The boundary between Eastern and Central time zones winds its way down the center. Even natives I asked when at a business meeting in Indianapolis couldn’t explain it.

Today Indiana is home to manufacturing, including steel and automobiles. Agriculture remains important with fields of corn and soybeans growing to the edge of country roads.

On a visit back in 2001, I drove some of the country roads in the Western portion of the state in search of covered bridges. And look what I found: