Geez… where does the time go!?! I’m being honest when I say that I did not intend to have a nearly six week gap between posts. I’ve sat down to write out a trip summary at least a dozen times over the last month and only managed to ever get a paragraph or two written before I either ran out of time or got interrupted. I finally finished last night. Because of this, my apologies in advance if this report isn’t as congruent as it could be.
A little background on what led to our anniversary road trip…
Ten years ago, when Wife and I were planning our wedding, we could not decide on a destination for our honeymoon. It was making us both anxious. Then one day it hit me – what if we didn’t plan a honeymoon at all and left it to chance? I bought a map of the US, mounted to a board, and covered it in paper so you couldn’t tell which end was up. I mounted this board to a stand so it could be spun around. During the reception, Wife and I both threw a dart at the board (after my brother had spun it around a bunch). I hit Valentine, Nebraska and she hit Wheeling, West Virginia. Instead of doing a dollar dance, we had everyone vote as to where we should go by putting their dollars in one of the two jars. Thankfully Wheeling won (no offense Nebraska… okay, maybe a little). This gave us our road trip destination. While we didn’t spend the whole week in Wheeling, we did spend a couple days there.
Fast forward ten years, we found ourselves in the same situation. We couldn’t settle on where to go, so I suggested we throw another dart. Eventually Wife agreed to the idea. This time around, we had Sis and Smasher throw the darts for us. Sis landed on Kalispel, MT, while Smasher landed in the Atlantic Ocean near the North Carolina outer banks area. We both wanted to go to Montana, but because of the time of year we figured it’d be safer to head to NC and avoid any snow issues (which ended up occurring during the week we were gone). The week before we were going to leave for North Carolina, a tropical storm hit our intended destination and caused a lot of flooding and damage. The day we left, we decided to just head East with the idea of heading towards NC, but not obliging ourselves to actually get there.
The only rule Wife set for the trip is that each morning we would stop at a local coffee shop. That was literally it. Coffee. In a bunch of random places. Sounds good to me…
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Day 1 – Des Moines, IA to Columbia, MO
We originally planned on leaving no later than mid-morning on Sunday, but didn’t get on the road until early afternoon. Saturday ended up being a lot busier than expected so we didn’t have much time to prepare for the trip. I probably set a new personal record for how quickly I mowed the yard before leaving. Not my best mow job, but certainly the quickest. Once on the road, we still weren’t certain where exactly we were heading, but we needed to head east and south. South seemed as good a direction as anything, so that’s where I pointed the nose of the car. We ended up in Columbia, which ended up being a nice surprise. We found a good place to eat on Sunday night and the downtown area seemed like a neat area when we wandered around looking for a coffee shop the next morning.
Day 2 – Columbia, MO to Nashville, TN
After getting some good coffee, we hit the road to Nashville, taking a few backroads along the way and just enjoying the drive. When we arrived in Nashville and went to check into the hotel, we were informed that there was a problem with the room and that there were no other available rooms at that hotel. This actually worked out pretty well for us because they took the liberty of booking us a room at the nicer hotel next door and refunded us our money. Nicer hotel for free? Heck yeah! We arrived in time to catch the last few minutes of the complimentary happy hour. We knew we were in a party town when the bartender poured us three drinks instead of just giving us one because the happy hour was ending soon, and she wanted to make sure we got all of our allotted drinks. After finishing our drinks at the hotel, we hit the town to find some dinner and live music. We ended up going to 3-4 places (it got a little fuzzy as the night went on) and staying out way too late (or early, depending on how you look at it).
Day 3 – Nashville, TN
Over breakfast the next morning, we decided to stay an extra day and see what else the city had to offer. We ended up going to the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. The museum was a little bit of a letdown, although I can’t pinpoint exactly why. I found it to be interesting and informational, but also kind of sterile, if that makes any sense. I wouldn’t deter anyone from going if they are interested in country music history, but at the same time, I wouldn’t say that it’s a ‘must see’ attraction either. This being GJ, there was an exhibit you guys might find interesting.
For lunch, we found some authentic Nashville Hot chicken, which was great, and well worth the 30 minutes we had to wait in line. We wandered around again that night and caught a couple more shows but knowing that we were going to be hitting the road the next day, decided it would be prudent to not repeat the previous night.
Day 4 – Nashville, TN to Gatlinburg, TN by way of Lynchburg, TN
We hit the road at a good time and headed to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. We had an awesome tour guide and it was fun to get a peak behind the scenes of the process and the history of the company. I’d definitely recommend this tour. We chose the ‘Angel’s Share’ tour option which allowed us to sample some of the top shelf products they offer. I’m not sure if it was worth the extra $5 over the standard tour with samples at the end because I had a heck of a time noticing the differences between the 3 of the 5 whiskeys, but it was fun all the same.
I couldn’t help but take a picture of this sign that hangs on the building where they process the hardwood for making the filtering charcoal. Might have to print this one off and find a spot for it in the shop so whenever I make a mistake, I can just look at the sign and remember that I was just following protocol.
The rest of the day was spent on a mix of highways and backroads as we made our way towards Gatlinburg. We rented a VRBO cabin in the mountains. The only mistake we made was arriving after dark. Driving to the cabin was a bit unnerving on the narrow, twisty mountain roads, but we made it without incident.
Day 5 – Gatlinburg, TN
The next morning, we were greeted by some amazing views from the cabin.
By now we had resigned ourselves to the fact that we were not going to make it to the North Carolina coast because we were just having too much fun in Tennessee. We spent the day in the Gatlinburg tourist trap area, but it was fun just wandering around instead of sitting in the car. We really didn’t do anything particularly interesting, but that was just fine with us. We celebrated our 10th anniversary with a quiet night at the VRBO enjoying the beautiful scenery around us while grilling steaks for dinner.
Day 6 – Gatlinburg, TN to Lexington, KY by way of The Cumberland Gap
Fellas, I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to this day. Growing up, I was a bookworm. Early American history was my genre of choice - cowboys, native americans, pioneers, mountain men, etc. Daniel Boone has always been a historical hero of mine and getting a chance to go to The Cumberland Gap and walk in his footsteps has always been a dream of mine. Well, I finally got to check that one off the list.
The ‘hike’ to the gap is pretty easy from the nearby parking lot – only a half mile or so. It was kind of funny when we got to the sign marking the peak of the gap, Wife wanted to stop and stretch her foot (plantar fasciitis) and I said something like “take your time, we’re here…” She looked around puzzled and then noticed the sign along the trail. “This is it?” she asked. I said “Yep…”. She expected it to be a little more of a destination than just a small sign. It was a perfect day for the hike because there were very few people on the trail. On our way in, we ran into a couple leaving. We stayed at the gap for a good 15 minutes before heading back to the car. On our way out, we ran into a couple coming in. After that, we drove around the area for a while and checked out some of the other scenic spots before heading towards Lexington, KY.
Day 7 – Lexington, KY to Louisville, KY by way of Perryville, KY
One of my favorite things about road trips like this is stumbling into interesting experiences. This turned out to be one of those days. Over coffee, we were trying to figure out what to do for the day. I suggested that we check out a civil war battle site since we were in an area that seemed to have quite a few. Wife wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about this idea but couldn’t come up with anything better. Randomly, we chose to head to Perryville. Of all days to check out that site, it happened to be the 161st anniversary of the Battle of Perryville, complete with people dressed in period attire, guided walking tours of the battlefield, and even an ordinance demonstration. Wife admitted that she found the detour really interesting. The rest of the day was spent on the backroads meandering our way to Louisville.
Day 8 – Louisville, KY to St. Louis MO
Nothing really to report about this leg of the trip. As usual, we stuck to back roads and found some lunch in a small town along the way. We’ve been to St. Louis a few times already, so opted to stay on the outskirts of the city. Ended up finding a fantastic Korean BBQ place near our hotel. You know it was legit because they didn’t have forks. I’m not that great with chopsticks, and I know I was getting judgmental side-eyes from the other patrons, but the food was so good I didn’t care.
Day 9 – St. Louis MO to Amana, IA
Again, taking backroads along the Mississippi river for as long as made sense, we headed north back to Iowa. We could have pushed straight home from St. Louis, but my MIL insisted that she had everything handled with the kids and we should not cut our trip short. Spending a day at Amana is kind of full circle for us because this was the last stop we made on our way home from our honeymoon ten years ago. We only spent the afternoon there but have always wanted to go back and spend a day wandering around.
Most of the shops were closed by the time we got there, so we enjoyed some craft beer at Millstream Brewing, and a nice meal at one of the local restaurants. We stayed at Hotel Millwright in the Tapestry Suite… swanky to say the least.
Hotel Rooms in Amana Iowa. The Iowa Colonies newest hotel offers meetings, rooms, and delicious eats. Located near Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.
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The hotel used to be a textile mill before it was converted to a hotel and event center. They did a wonderful job of creating a great atmosphere. Not cheap, but worth a stay if you ever find yourself in the area.
Day 10 – Amana, IA to Des Moines, IA
We spent the better part of the day wandering around the different shops. Probably my favorite stop was the furniture shop. The level of craftsmanship in the products was absolutely humbling to an amateur like me. Something to strive for, but it’s going to take a lot of practice to get to the level these guys are on.
Before we headed home, Wife stocked up on a bunch of traditional German foodstuffs at the general store, and I picked up a new throw blanket for my easy chair. Admittedly, I’m a bit of a blanket snob. Being tall, most throw blankets are simply too small. I’m also very picky about the weight in that I like having something to take the edge off during the cooler months, but hate being hot. This blanket has quickly become my favorite.
Surround yourself with nature (without all the pesky bugs)! The Iowa Park Series cotton throw blankets allow you to escape to your favorite natural oasis from the comfort of your home. This captivating blanket, made with recycled eco-friendly yarn and 100% natural cotton yarn, brings color to...
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Driving home was a bit surreal after spending ten days on the road. The time went by way too fast, but at the same time, I was eager to get home. One thing is for sure, the trip was an absolute success. Without getting too sappy, I’ll just say that I feel extremely blessed to have found the partner in life that I did, and I know she feels the same way. I’m also very thankful to my Mom and my MIL for watching the kids and making this trip a reality.
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So that’s the long over-due trip report. Hard to believe that was already a month ago. Regarding garage related activities, there’s nothing much to report. I’ve stagnated hard over the last month – just can’t seem to find the motivation to do much other than keeping up with the leaves and prepping the yard/house for winter. It’s all good though. Soon enough I won’t want to be outside and will dig back into something.
