Author: Easin' Along

This morning we are reluctantly leaving Harbor Springs, MI and heading toward Sault St. Marie and the shores of Lake Huron.  We’ve had an incredible trip so far and can’t wait to share it with Easin’ Along readers, but that will have to wait until we less to do and more time to write. Remember, retirement does give us a few options…

While you’re waiting for our next article about our trip through the Heartland, check out a recent post about a retirement activity that turned out to be a lot of fun.  Click here for a link.

Please come back next Friday when we will share our wonderful experiences in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Until then, we’re joyfully Easin’ Along through the Heartland of America.

 

As this post is written we are about an hour away from leaving for the friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago to take in a baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants. Helen (adorable wife) is organizing all of her baseball appropriate outfits and prepping for the day and I’m hopeful that I can use all of that time to tell Easin’ Along readers about our trip to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. We were staying at Hoge Hall, an IHG facility on post.

I had been to Ft. Leavenworth for some classwork about 20 years ago when I was an instructor in the Army Reserve and teaching fellow Reservists enrolled in the Army’s Command and General Staff College. The college is headquartered at Ft. Leavenworth. At that time I was impressed by the uniqueness of Ft. Leavenworth and held out hope that I would be able to return at some point in the future.

Ft. Leavenworth is about thirty miles west of Kansas City. It was established in 1827 and was the first Army base west of the Missouri River. Since that time, the US Army has worked hard to preserve the quaint feel of that period by preserving and maintaining many of the early homes and buildings that were constructed for the original soldiers and their families. We took a self guided tour of the post and were charmed by the many old homes, some of which were built in the 1830’s and had a distinct early western quality about them.  We could easily envision a young Army wife and her children on one of the porches looking out to the prairie for any site of her soldier returning from a mission to the west.

In addition to the homes, we passed by the original US Army Disciplinary Barracks (prison) that was originally built in 1874 with a capacity of 515 inmates. This old stone structure has a castle like appearance and is somewhat foreboding.  This prison was replaced by a newer and more modern facility in 2002 which is located about a mile from the old one.  We didn’t go there.

Later we drove by the Federal Prison at Leavenworth which is huge. This prison first accepted inmates in 1910 and has 1870 beds. On the day we drove by (quickly) it was Saturday and it appeared that there were a lot of visitors. Outside of the prison there was a herd of bison who seemed unaffected by it all and continued to graze lazily on the pasture adjacent to the prison yard.

Back inside the base we visited the starting point for the Santa Fe Trail which dates back to the early 1800’s and the Oregon Trail that was established around 1840.  Settlers were ferried across the Missouri River and disembarked on the western bank then loaded on to their carts and wagons or walked up a bank to begin their journey.  A deep cut was made in that bank by those brave souls as they climbed up the slope and is still visible today. You can make it out in this photograph, although I’m pretty certain that the cut was not grass covered at the time it was created.

One of the duties for soldiers at Ft. Leavenworth was to provide escorts for supplies and travelers moving west as far as the Pacific Coast. Additional duties included maintaining peace on the frontier, and protecting trading activities in the region. This outpost was truly the edge of the frontier.

In 1881 General William Sherman established the US Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth.  Most of our distinguished Army Generals have passed through here including General Dwight Eisenhower who graduated at the top of his class in 1926.

After our tour, we began to search for a place to eat.  Food is always a big part of Easin’ Along and we love to explore the offerings that are available wherever we land. As usual Helen began her search on Trip Advisor where the number one listing for Leavenworth, Kansas was Marfield’s.  Bear in mind that the town of Leavenworth is a two stop light town so the choices were not exhaustive.  We asked the young desk clerk at our Army Lodge for his opinion of Marfield’s and he sort of rolled his eyes and said he much preferred a place called Grinder’s High Noon. We passed his suggestion off as a place for the younger set and set out for Marfield’s. It turned out that Marfield’s was about the size of a phone booth and barely large enough for the beer neon in the window.  We went to Grinder’s High Noon. Good decision.

Grinder’s served burgers, sandwiches, and salads.  It was a lively place and really crowded for an early evening in a small town. We were seated promptly and handed menus.  At the suggestion of our waitress, I ordered the Philly cheesesteak because I LOVE cheesesteak.  Helen ordered a Reuben sandwich and a pear salad. Once again, she won. My Philly was really good, but her Reuben was the best I have ever had anywhere. The tender corn beef was served on a marbled rye bread that was exquisite.  The corn beef was tender and flavorful, and the sauerkraut was flavored with jalapeño…awesome. Her pear salad was on fresh greens and the pears tasted fresh, not canned. We landed on our feet here.

Well, Helen is ready to head for Minnesota Lake Country, so we’ll be Easin’ Along for now. Come back next week and we will take you to Minnesota and to most lovely small town on a beautiful small lake. Retirement is so good…

Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO

We’re having a wonderful time on our trip through the Heartland. We have a lot to share with Easin’ Along readers and we will share all of it with you over the next few weeks, but today we want to tell you about a few of the highlights of our visit to St. Louis, MO.

After a lovely visit with our niece, Jonnie, and her husband Caleb (Army Lieutenant), in Clarksville, TN we set out for St. Louis and Scott Air Force Base.  After checking into a spacious room on base, we went into town for a ride up to the top of one of the most prominent landmarks in America–the Gateway arch. We were able to park near our destination and walk to the entry. With the help of our National Park Senior Pass and a military discount, we were admitted for a fee of $8.00 (age does have benefits).

The line was short and we were loaded into an elevator within minutes for a ride to the peak of the arch which is 630 above ground.  We were cautioned that the elevators and the viewing area was a bit confining and if claustrophobia is an issue, think before going.

Well, I’m 6’4″ and EVERYTHING is tight for me, but I decided to suck it up and go for it. Good decision…the view was tremendous.  The viewing area was full, but everyone was considerate and moved away from the smallish windows quickly to allow others to share the view. We could see St. Louis and beyond.

That evening we went to dinner at Cunetto House of Pasta at the suggestion of a friend from church.  This restaurant had excellent reviews on Trip Advisor and we were eager to give it a try even though we knew that it might be crowded on a Friday night. As it turned out, the crowd was heavy, but we were promptly seated at the rear of one of the dining rooms and smothered with great service by a very pleasant waitress.

Helen (adorable wife) ordered an incredible serving of Filet of Sole that had been lightly breaded and covered with a mushroom cream sauce.  This out of this world dish also came with a side order of pasta Alfredo which was more than anyone could eat.

I chose a pasta dish which consisted of Linguini, shrimp, and crab. It was good, but to be completely honest, it was not great.  There was a lot of parsley in it, and it came across as slightly bitter to me.  Oh well, Helen couldn’t finish her Sole, so I was allowed to share.  Again, it was awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning we checked out and set our GPS in the direction of the St. Louis Cathedral or Basilica as it had been designated by the Pope John Paul II on his visit to the cathedral in 1997. We had heard that the mosaics were not to be missed and we were not disappointed.  The tiles, many designed and installed by Tiffany Studios in addition to other artisans, cover 83,000 square feet. The installations began in 1912 and were completed in 1988.  The beauty and detail of the artwork are impossible to describe in words…this is a must see for all. After our cathedral visit, we moved on to the Missouri Botanical Garden a few miles away.

Regular readers of Easin’ Along know how much we love flowers so it should be no surprise that we were excited about this part of our trip to St. Louis even though we were running short on time. Nevertheless, this too was a must see for us, so rather than pay attention to the individual gardens we strolled through the paths as they came to us and dwelled on the beauty of the blooms.

The Missouri Botanical Garden was founded in 1859 and is a National Historic Landmark.  It is well known as a center for botanical research and science education. The Garden covers 79 acres and there is something beautiful to see everywhere one casts their eyes.  I let my camera record the beauty for viewing on a cold winter day when I need a lift.  A few of the more delightful flowers we spotted are shown below.  I hope you enjoy them.

Needless to say, there were many millions more flowers to see and we will post a picture gallery of them in the coming days to share them with everyone.  Please come back next week when we will take to to the origin of the Santa Fe Trail in Leavenworth, Kansas.

In the meantime, we’re just smellin’ the roses and Easin’ Along…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here they are: