Star Trip - St. Louis, Nashville, Indianapolis, and Chicago

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Well, after almost three years of a pause on travel to prevent the spread of the covid virus and not be complicit in the increasing death toll, we finally took a Canadian family vacation in July to visit Montreal Toronto and Ottawa. I will catch up on that blog before the end of the year. This blog is for my first trip out of the country in three years to the USA for a work conference. I left on November 1 so that I could enjoy Halloween with Riley the night before. I left at 5am to Uber to the YVR airport and had a direct flight to Chicago. Unfortunately, it was a newly purchased refurbished plane for Air Canada Jazz with no wifi or entertainment system. Fortunately, I had books and music to keep me busy. When I arrived in Chicago, I took the skytrain to the Car Rental building and started my drive down to Champaign for the conference. There was lots of freeway construction so Google Maps took me all through the countryside. The conference took two days and was a great way to catch up with my colleagues, many of whom I had not seen in person for three years. Now it was time for my vacation.

I had five days of solo travel to explore, adventure and see a new part of the world. I started my drive to St. Louis, stopping in Effingham to see Sara Lake and The Cross. Then I drove to the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (where the largest pre-Columbian First Nation city complex north of Mexico was located over a thousand years ago). I climbed up the largest mound and could see for miles in every direction. Then I headed to the free St. Louis Zoo (but paid $15 for parking), walked all around, stopped at the Oyo hotel and left the car there. I walked through downtown to the St. Louis Arch and took a 1960s tram up with a guy named Jess (also visiting town for work) to see the view form the top of the arch. Luckily, we did not get stuck. I went for dinner at the Ballpark Village next to the Busch Stadium. I could imagine it being filled with thousands of people for game day. I drove over to The Pageant to see the Gin Blossoms concert to wrap up my evening. Great show! There were a couple drops of rain on the way out but I had sun and 20 degree weather for most of my trip.

I left before 7am heading to Nashville. I took some extra time to drive through the Land between the Lakes and visit the Elk and Bison Sanctuary. I manage to spot seven elk and a heard of bison. Then I grabbed some Arby’s (which is hard to find in BC these days) before heading on to Nashville (the drive took over 5 hours in total). I had planned to go see the Country Music Hal of Fame but was amazed at the lively atmosphere on Broadway in downtown Nashville on a Saturday afternoon. There were tons of people dressed up, busy bars, restaurants, live music, rooftop patios, dancing buses, beer bikes, bachelorette parties and more. After going around the Hall of Fame, I came back to grab a prime rib sandwich at the Jason Aldean Kitchen +Rooftop Bar (you can skip the reservations line if you sit at the bar). I headed up to the rooftop where they had a second live band and looked out over the masses of people and neon lights as the sun started to set behind the buildings. Later, I head out to go see the country acts at the Grande Ole Opry – Darin & Brooke Aldridge, John Conlee, Neon Union, Jessica Willis Fisher, Kaitlin Butts, Flatland Cavalry, Charlie Worsham (best singer) and the Riders in the Sky (funniest act). I stay at the Baymont by Wyndham in Goodlettsville (as it was half the price of downtown hotels).

The time has changed but there are two time zones in Kentucky and I am not sure which one applies so head out early. I arrive at the Mammoth Caves an hour before my tour. It is the largest cave network in the world. The ‘rooms’ are massive and we descend to 310 feet below ground. Later on, I drive through Hodgenville to see the Abraham Lincoln birthplace memorial and his childhood home, then head to Louisville. I stop at Churchill Downs to see the famous Kentucky Derby home. I visit the museum and get a tour inside the racetrack, see the horses and jockeys getting ready and watch the final race of the day. I find the Louisville Hotel near the university district. I catch up on some work. I drive to the Big Four Bridge to see the light display and walk across the Ohio River from Kentucky to Indiana. I go to the Whiskey Row but it was really quiet on a Sunday. The next day, I work in the morning, then drive to Cincinnati and go for a long walk through Smale Riverfront Park, the business district, to On-the-Rhine and Findlay Market (that was closed for the season). There was lots of great street art. I drive to Indianapolis and stay at the Omni Severin Hotel (quite fancy). I go for a walk and see the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Monument Circle then have dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.



The next day, I visited the Indianapolis Zoo (that was mostly under construction), then stop at the Indy 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I see the museum, old race cars and go on a simulator. I drove an hour at of my way through country roads to find the Turkey Run State Park, It was delightful, with awesome canyons carved through the rock and many great hiking trails. I still had three more hours to drive to reach Chicago. I stayed at the HI Chicago Hostel where I met Murray and Bruno. We had a great chat amount the different cultural norms in Australia, Brazil and North America. I went for a walk through Millennium Park, up the Magnificent Mile, then found Fado Irish Pub for dinner. I still needed something to do for the evening so stopped in at Mother Hubbard’s Sport Pub for a beer and ended up playing pool for a couple hours with a bunch of new friends. I played pretty well even though I was rusty. For my last day, I visited the free Lincoln Park Zoo, got some gas and returned the rental car. I had no issues at Chicago O’Hare Airport, so had time to get a burger from the Billy Goat Tavern, some fancy whiskey for Steven at duty free and a couple small gifts. Fortunately, the flight home had in-flight movies so it passed by quickly. Not a bad trip for five days in the mid west USA.

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