LAST 2 STOPS ON THE WAY HOME

 We left Hamilton, MO headed for Columbia, MO on Wednesday, October 6th for a one night stop. It was only about a 3 hr. drive so it made for an early day. We stayed at Cottonwoods Campground where we have stayed before about 4 years ago. It's a nice CG and we had a long pull thru with easy access to get back on the road. Since we arrived early and didn't feel like cooking we looked around for an close, easy place to get something to eat. We decided to try a Bar B Que place nearby called Como Smoke and Fire. They did not disappoint. We both ordered their brisket and it was perfect and plenty of it. It was very tender and had no fat, perfectly cooked. It's not easy to find brisket this good and they had a good selection of sides. After that we were done for the night. Excellent brisket.

The next day would be a longer drive, so we got an early start. We were headed for a new CG (to us) in Grand Rivers, KY called Tween the Lakes Campground. It sits between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake south of Paducah, KY. It is a popular destination for fishermen and water recreation.

We drove through St Louis headed east and the traffic was congested.

Nicky and Bentley decided to share the bed on the dashboard even though they were too big for the 2 of them to fit. Bentley is perfectly content to sleep there alone, but Nickie has to be with his bro.

                                                I guess at some point it became just too much.

The Tween the Lakes Campground was not great, but it had FHU which is what me needed. We could get some TV, but the internet wasn't accessible. There was no office. We registered online. They assigned us a site with our name on it. They texted me the CG info and a map and directions to our site and that was it. It was actually less time consuming than having to stop and go inside to register especially since I had already paid. It had a concrete pad, a picnic table and a fire ring and it was only $30 for the night. Good Deal !

One reason to stop at the Tween the Lakes campground was to go to dinner at Patti's 1880 Settlement.

We ate there once before and the meal was excellent. We thought it would be a fitting last meal for the end of our vacation. Patti's was only about 3 miles from our CG.

                                                Patti's 1880's Settlement - Patti's (pattis1880s.com) 

Patti's did NOT disappoint. You really need reservations to avoid waiting as they are always busy, even for a Thursday night. The female wait staff is dressed in long dresses of the 1880 period and the men in overalls. It looks pretty hokey, but that's the way they do it. They had expanded since we were there and they even had their xmas decorations up. 

I ordered the bacon wrapped filet with a fully loaded baked potato and a salad. It was the best filet I have ever had and I've ordered a lot of filets.. The meat was perfectly cooked and was so tender. It melted in your mouth. Even the potato was superior to others. David ordered the salmon and he said it was fantastic. We ordered a piece of Kentucky chocolate pecan pie to go, topped with whipped cream which as also very good. They are known for their mile high 6-8" meringue cream pies, but we decided to share this one later at the MH. We were so stuffed and miserable the rest of the night. That was one perfect meal.

The next day we headed home (or to the storage lot). The traffic on I-24 going thru Nashville was bad, and going down Monteagle is always scary. When you are coming downhill on a steep grade in a HM, towing a car with all the big trucks around you and the runaway truck ramps all around it is one scary ride. As bad a s the traffic was around Nashville it was HORRIBLE as we neared Chattanooga near Bennet Lake and the Tennessee River. We didn't know what the hold up was, but it went all the way thru on I-24. We decided since our storage facility was off of 153 we would avoid going I-24 thru Chattanooga and go up 27 as soon as we could to save time. We got home over an hour later than expected.

But it sure was good to see the lush green mountains around Chattanooga and the Tennessee River.

 It was good to be home. The kitties were all back to their favorite spots in the house and loved being able to sit outside on the screened in porch whenever they wanted.

HAMILTON MISSOURI--QUILTOWN USA

 This was our second visit to Hamilton, the Home of Missouri Star Quilt Company. The story of this poor little town out in the middle of no where is very interesting and should be an inspiration to anyone.  .about (missouriquiltco.com)

Every quilter knows the name Missouri Star Quilt Company, and their video tutorials but not everyone has had the chance to visit. But if you do, here's some information. Home - Visit MSQC

The last time we were here we stayed at a campground that was about 20 miles west of here. The campground was horrible even though it had some good reviews. The grass had not been cut & there was no internet.  For this visit however, some smart person opened up a very small campground .75 miles from the middle of downtown. It was extremely nice, clean and the owner could not have been nicer. I think 95% of the people there were quilters. Less than 5 minutes from all the shops.,

We were there for 3 nights, so the first day we did a walk through Hamilton and the shops. There is nothing I needed, but you do have to look at all the different stores and fabrics anyway. Each store has a different theme, so it is harder to coordinate fabrics if you are trying to add solids or blenders to a floral. Not a problem since I didn't need anything. We just missed their big anniversary week (sale) by about 2 weeks, The last time we visited we just happened to come during the time and got a lot of freebies.

Of course Bentley had a great time getting there.

                                                                      

They had some new shops in town too. One was a knit shop and another was a Nancy's Notions store. I did get something at the knit shop. A beautiful green Ella Rae yarn for a sweater.

The first day we went to Eggos Cafe for an excellent breakfast and then on to the shop. If you go early in the AM or after 3PM the shops are not crowded.

A very nice CG and they even had some red squirrels for the kitties.

                                                              The main store for MSQC

                                                           Eggos Cafe and Miss Mailin's.

There are quilt murals all around downtown and a railroad mural on the side of one of the buildings.

We checked out the shops and I did get a few of their BLOCK books which were almost a cheap as regular patterns. They have 10 quilt patterns in every book and no advertising.

New, in Hamilton is a quilt museum which we visited the next day. We were so impressed and it was actually better than any of the others we visited. It was housed in the old High School and on the corner was the worlds largest spool of thread.

The school house was great with 3 floors and every old classroom had a different display of quilts. Some were very old (1830s), some new.

                            This was a newer one, but English Paper Pieced, all by hand.

This quilt was very interesting if you can read the info next to it. Made in the 1840's by African Americans in Mississippi and they used old coffee grounds to dye the fabric brown. It had the old batting with cotton seeds still in it.

                                           There were a few Millifiore quilts hanging.

                                               A modern Kim Mclean quilt with Kaffe fabrics.

                                                      An old quilt that was well used and deteriorating.

 And LOOKY HERE --- another of the same quilts I saw in 2 other museums. AND, the mystery is solved as to where the pattern came from. It was published in the Jan. 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal. This quilt was pieced in 1915 and is in much better shape that the 2 others I saw. The colors are much more vibrant.

                                                                   Yes, Einstein in a quilt.

I loved how they used the old blackboards to write info about the quilt and displays.

                                            

The world's largest rotary cutter.

The museum also house a very large miniature quilt collection. These were amazing. Some had pieces 1/4" in size.

In th basement was the old gym which had a borrowed display from the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky.

In addition to the miniatures quilts, they had a huge room with hundreds of working toy sewing machines from all over the world and every manufacturer and a thimble collection.

Needless to say we had a wonderful time in Hamilton, MO. I can't wait to see what they will add for next time.

The next 2 stops will be just overnight as was get home on Friday, Oct 8th. First the Columbia, MO and Cottonwoods Rv Park.

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA AND THE LAND OF CORNHUSKER FOOTBALL

 We left Pender, NE headed for Lincoln. The corn fields were either full of dried corn or stripped of everything. Now I know where the Cornhuskers got their name. There was really nothing to see as we drove thru little townships east towards Omaha and them south to Lincoln. A boring drive, but we did see some quilt blocks on buildings and houses.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast, which was a quick bite so that we could get on the road. After we arrived we looked up some restaurants in the area and decided on Laslo's which happened to be in the Haymarket District. Old buildings in the downtown area turned into new businesses and lots of restaurants and brew pubs. I wish I had taken more pictures because it was such an interesting area. We passed the arena and stadium on the way here. Lots of young guys with man buns and lots of young people in general. Many were riding push scooters all around. It is definitely a college town.

The campground we were in was quite a surprise as it was in a beautiful park like setting, but sitting between two major highways. If you were sitting outside you could hear some of the traffic, but it was not bothersome. The CG had lots of trees and lots of squirrels--the kitties LOVED it. We always carry peanuts with us when we travel to entice the squirrels and the squirrels and our kitties were pretty happy about it.

Finnegan, who is always afraid of everything just couldn't stop looking out the door while Bentley was out in the stroller. And Nicholas was right behind him.

                                                     

The weather was cool here 68-72, so we sat out with the kitties and watched the squirrels as much as we could. There were red squirrels and black squirrels here. Black squirrels were new to us.

The second night we brought Finnegan out in the stroller to watch the squirrels. He was a happy camper and it was Bentley's turn to look out through the door.

                                   There are just so many squirrels they didn't know which way to look. 

On Saturday we went to the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln. I have been wanting to go there for years, however it was disappointing to me. It was a huge building, but very few quilts hanging. It used a lot of space for people instead of quilts. They could have displayed 4 times as many quilts as they did. They had 2 exhibits there with modern quilts that were OK, but not my style.

                            This was one of the quilts in the Paying It Forward Exhibit

  This exhibit was on Making the Sense of Loss with a lot of memory quilts. 9-11 quilts, etc.

                                                       This quilt was made of match books.

 Most of the quilts display had "maker unknown", but they were all made between late 1890s and 1936. Most were machine pieced and hand quilted.

The lily quilt looks to be the same quilt pattern we saw in the Iowa Museum. It must have been a pattern published in a newspaper, Kansas City Star or something to turn up in 2 museums.

It was a nice visit, but the National Quilt Museum in Paducah Kentucky has them all beat.

We really enjoyed our stop here in Lincoln. The weather and campground were great. Next stop Hamilton, MO. Home of Missouri Star Quilt Company.