Friday, April 24 — from Evanston to O'Hare and then... AU REVOIR!

The last morning in the United States...

As I type this final posting at 3:30 on Friday afternoon, Marie Therese and Anne Marie are waiting in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, ready to board their flight to Madrid. Their ultimate destination is Lyon, France.

How can I describe the feeling of being solo, after four weeks of intense and uninterrupted togetherness? I already miss my companions! I want to ask them if they have comfortable seats in the airport. 

We began this morning with breakfast at the home of my friends, Coral and Michael, in Evanston. Marie Therese and Anne Marie went outside with Michael to admire his vegetable garden. We enjoyed their company very much.

Michael, Coral, Marie Therese, Anne Marie

 Here we are — the three travelers, together for another two or three hours.

We left Coral and Michael's house and went straight to Lake Michigan for a final look at the lake.

Just north of Evanston is the Bahá'i Temple. We drove up there to take a look. It's really a spectacular building.

When Marie stepped into the sanctuary here, she felt a peacefulness. She could breathe. Anne Marie, on the other hand, found it uncomfortable. The place made her feel ill at ease. Isn't it interesting how we differ? 

I did not go inside because there were too many stairs, but I do admire the Baha'i belief that all religions are good, that we should respect each other. The Bahá'ís are dedicated to eliminating racial prejudice and to advancing the equality of men and women. 

The magnolia trees in front of the temple are almost at their peak of beauty today.

What is good? What is beauty? 

I know this for certain — Marie Therese and Anne Marie are good and beautiful people. Their minds are open, they are tireless in their determination to use their time well, to learn as much as they can, to experience everything, even when it's uncomfortable. 

I have learned much from these two women, and have been very privileged to be in their company for the past four weeks. Thank you! Bon Voyage! 

Thursday, April 23 — St. Louis to Chicago

On the road again....

We woke up to a beautiful morning, blue skies, a flowering tree outside our hotel in Fairview Heights, Illinois.  (This place is just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.)

We were hungry, but I just could not subject Marie Therese and Anne Marie to yet another breakfast at McDonald's. 

We drove north along Interstate 55, hoping to find a place to eat. 

Nothing.

Happily, we came to a rest area and stopped to pick up a map of Illinois. I asked if there was a place to eat nearby, and was told to get off at the very next exit. 

There was an historic restaurant right on old Highway 66!  

Weezy's — a fine place for breakfast!

Marie Therese and Anne Marie had pancakes.  I had eggs and bacon and potatoes. We all had coffee. It was a very satisfying breakfast!

Marie Therese and Anne Marie wanted to check out a pretty lake they saw on the side of the road, and wanted to take a look at Springfield, the capital city of Illinois.

Alas, the lake had no public access, but we drove into the city to see the capitol building.

As we got closer to Chicago, the traffic became very congested. It took us a long time to reach the city.

I wanted to show Marie Therese and Anne Marie the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen, where I worked from 1979 to 1982.

This is Casa Aztlan:

The Instituto del Progreso Latino used to be up on the 3rd floor.

Mexican-American artists had studios on the second floor. Thirty-five years ago, it was a very active place, a real social center. Today, the doors were closed.

We were thirsty, so we went to Nuevo Leon, a Mexican restaurant on 18th Street, where we had nachos, hot pickled carrots, and something to drink. Marie and I each had a horchata — a drink made with rice. Anne Marie had lemonade.

The plate in the center is nachos — tortilla chips covered with refried beans, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream. Beware of those carrots — they are RED HOT!  (Marie ate several!)

We left the restaurant at 5:30, the peak of "rush hour." We enjoyed being stuck in traffic on Lake Shore Drive, watching a few sail boats and several people jogging in the park. Marie Therese has now added "traffic jam" to her English vocabulary.

An hour and a half later, we arrived in Evanston, a suburb north of Chicago, at the home of my friends, Coral and Michael.

Here we are, inspecting Michael's vegetable garden behind the house.

Alas, c'est le dernier jour aux States, nous avons revisite notre voyage et décrit nos aventures c'est fantastique!

Wednesday, April 22 — from Memphis to St. Louis.... via Cape Girardeau

Just when you think you're in for a boring day on the road, something unexpected turns up to catch your interest. That's the kind of day it was today.

After getting stuck in a traffic jam BEFORE COFFEE this morning — the Interstate was closed because of... an accident? a drug bust? (There were 10 or 15 plain black cars all parked on the shoulder...) — we finally found ourselves in Arkansas, across the Mississippi River from Memphis.

Believe it or not, we all had breakfast at McDonald's. Here is the documentation of this incredible event:

The landscape in Arkansas was uniform — huge corporate farm fields.

We had our picnic lunch in Missouri. The weather had turned cold suddenly, and we needed our jackets.

We decided to stop in the river town of Cape Girardeau, because it is so full of history.

It's right on the west bank of the Mississippi River:

Looking South along the river. You can see Anne Marie and Marie Therese walking in the distance.

Facing North

Cape Girardeau has built a very high wall to protect the town from flood waters. They have decorated the wall with murals depicting the history of the town.

From about 500 AD to 1200 AD, Mississippian Indians inhabited this place. 

The Spanish conquistador, Hernando de Soto, was the first European to come here. He arrived in 1540 from Cuba. 

Père Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary from France, and Louis Joliet, a fur trader, came down the rivers from Canada in 1673.

Sieur Jean Baptiste Girardot, from France, established a trading post here in 1735.

In 1803, Napoleon renounced his ownership of Louisiana. This land then became territory of the United States.

In 1838 and 1839, U.S. President Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy forced the people of the Cherokee Nation to give up their lands east of the Mississippi River and to walk to Oklahoma. Thousands of people died in this migration, many here near Cape Girardeau. The Cherokee people call this journey "The Trail of Tears."

There are many many more paintings in this mural, too many to put here!

More recent history can be found on the wall of a building:

Ah hah!  Around the corner, on that same building, a sign caught our attention!

It was absolutely necessary to go inside and inspect the flavors.

Anne Marie chose praline pecan. Marie Therese had strawberry cheesecake, and I had my favorite — mocha almond fudge. 

Mmmmm!

At the end of the day, we arrived in St. Louis.

Nous sommes arrivées en Illinois en hiver, fait le tour des states avec la douce chaleur du printemps et nous voila presque revenues au point de départ, tout est vert, mais il fait froid!

Tuesday, April 21 — on the road from New Orleans to Memphis

Today was another whole day on the road.

After a quick breakfast with Zach, we said our goodbyes and found our way back to Interstate 10 and then to Interstate 55, headed North into Mississippi.

At one point, when we were still in Louisiana, we left the highway to buy gas. On the side road, we saw a man selling vegetables. Marie Therese and Anne Marie bought a tomato and a cucumber and a basket of strawberries. I bought a bag of boiled peanuts.

None of us had ever had boiled peanuts before. The shells were still soaking wet. 

We all agree that we prefer our peanuts roasted. 

We enjoyed our picnic lunch at a rest area in Mississippi.

The highway in Mississippi has high dense walls of trees on either side. We desperately needed to get off the highway to see something of Mississippi. 

So, for about half an hour, we drove along a 2-lane road that runs parallel to the fast-moving interstate.

What did we see?  Road signs:

PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD!

READY FOR THE RAPTURE?

Around 6:00 we finally got to our hotel on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee. We were charmed by the azaleas near the door.

We checked into the hotel and quickly got back in the car. We were eager to see the Mississippi River here in Memphis, and to check out the famous music scene.

Alas, we got a bit lost on our way into the city, and that turned out to be a good thing! We found ourselves in a very poor area of the city, many abandoned businesses, empty storefronts. This is a part of Memphis that tourists do not see. We will not forget that this, too, is part of the reality of Memphis.

Finally, we got to the Mississippi River, just as the sun was about to set.

We left our car here and walked to Beale Street, which was full of lights and color and people!

And music!  And noise!

Like the French Quarter in New Orleans, all the people on Beale Street are tourists.

We had dinner at King's Palace Cafe, where we all tasted their gumbo. It was fine!

Monday, April 20 — our second day in New Orleans

This morning, Marie Therese and Anne Marie went out on their own. They walked around New Orleans alone for hours! They took the ferry across the Mississippi River to Algiers and back! They shopped in the markets!

They took many photos but it is impossible to connect their photos to my computer. So, if you are in France reading this, you will see their pictures next weekend.

Meanwhile, I had breakfast with my son, Zach, and his friend, Cassidy. After breakfast, we went to a different spot on the Mississippi and looked at the ships as they passed by. 

Here is one very large ship:

The name of the ship is SF Destiny. We don't know which country it's from, but it has a very big letter 

"S" on the smokestack. Sweden? Senegal? 

We met Marie Therese and Anne Marie downtown. They were very hungry, so we went to Hanks Super Market to buy shrimp "Po Boys."

We all went back to our AirBnB where Marie Therese and Anne Marie enjoyed their sandwiches at a table.

This is a photo of the courtyard of our lodging:

To get to the toilet and the shower we have to walk across this courtyard. We are very happy that it has not been raining at night!

The outside of the place is decorated with a large mural.  

This building was previously used as a garage and as an oyster-shucking shack. It was very recently converted into a lodging.

After lunch, Zach drove us through the Lower 9th Ward, the area of New Orleans that was most seriously destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

There are many empty lots where houses used to stand. We went to a lookout stand to view part of the Industrial Canal.

Next we went to Mid-City to meet friends of mine whom I have not seen since 2004.  

Marie Therese, Zach, Anne Marie, Gene, Ellen

Anne Marie, Marie Therese, Phyllis, Gene, Ellen

We wanted to take a ride on a streetcar!  Our favorites are the pretty red ones, but we were content to ride green streetcars along St. Charles Avenue, since they took us to our dinner.

The fare is normally $1.25 per person, but we were happy to learn that it is only 40 cents for senior citizens!

The driver was very friendly!  I think he enjoys his job.

We had dinner at Superior Seafood, a restaurant on St. Charles Avenue. Sorry — I forgot to take photos of the restaurant. Marie Therese and Anne Marie had blackened catfish. Zach had moules et frites, and I had shrimp and grits. It was all terrific.

After dinner we went to the French Quarter to hear some music. There was an extremely long line for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, so instead we went to the Spotted Cat, an excellent place. 

We sat right in front, very close to the musicians, and that was exactly what we wanted.

Tomorrow morning we will say goodbye to Zach and drive away toward Memphis, Tennessee.