Winter Escape 2023 - Week 7 (Arkansas to Kansas)

 Monday, February 27, 2023 – the morning was spent shutting things down on the RV as we readied to leave Flagler.  Made a run to the post office to drop a package and to a gas station to fill up the car.  We then finished up at Beverly Beach Camptown RV park and went north on Hwy A1A to St. Augustine Beach.  I made a stop at Winn-Dixie for some groceries and then we pulled into St. Augustine Beach Holiday KOA at around 10:30 a.m.  It was a bit early but the site was ready so we were good.  On the way to the site, filled the propane on the RV.  Once at our site – we hooked up and then went to Oasis restaurant for lunch.  I had a fish sandwich and of course Key Lime pie and was not disappointed.  Back to the RV for a nap.  Mid-afternoon we made it to St. Augustine Beach and found that the beach was filled with shells.  We spent an hour walking and picking.  We then went to our favorite go-to restaurant, Salt Life and found it to be closed until tomorrow.  Went down the road a bit and found the Sunset Grill, so we went in and ordered a salad and a bowl, seafood of course and a side of Key Lime pie.  This was the first time that we were a bit disappointed with the pie.  It had an off-taste, most likely condensed milk, but…. We then went back to the RV to watch the finals of Food Network’s Kid’s Baking Championship and NBC’s Champions America’s Got Talent.  I also spent some time working on schedule / stops on our way home.  Truly the Winter Escape 2023 is beginning to wind down.

Tuesday, February 28, 2023 – we are up and around and getting ready to take the St. Augustine Trolley to go into Old Town and spend some time looking around.  Took the hotel shuttle from the KOA to the oldest Catholic church in America, stop #14 and got onto the St. Augustine Trolley.  We then endured the driver’s constant talk of restaurants and alcohol and bars with a historical tidbit thrown in on occasion, through stop #22 and finally ended our tour at stop #7, at the Columbia Restaurant.  The Columbia is a branch of the Tampa restaurant, which is the oldest Cuban restaurant in America.  Got there at 11:00 a.m. as they opened and ordered 2 – (½ and ½ ‘s) which is ½ of the traditional 1908 salad, prepared table side and ½ of the traditional Cuban sandwich.  We ordered a ½ & ½ over a month ago in Tampa and it was a great way to begin to wind down our Winter Escape 2023.  After lunch we walked St. George Street stopping to check out a few of the shops and picking up a few gifts for friends and family.  After that we walked across the square for a restroom break and to check out another shop.  At that point, we saw the 12:30 hotel shuttle pulling up, so we caught that back to the KOA for afternoon naps.  After naps it was a trip to Home Depot for some bug spray for the plants.  We then made a trip to Bee’s Quilts to browse one last time.  After that, we made a trip out to the Nut House, exit #298 on I-95 for some more gifts and over to the Salt Life in St. Augustine Beach for dinner.  If you are on I-95 stop at the Nut House as it is one of the original family owned fruit stands left in Florida.

After dinner, it was back to the RV to stow away what we could for an early morning start for our journey back to Kansas.  After a couple of phone-calls it was laundry time and then some TV before another phone call and calling it a night.  Tomorrow begins our trip to Crestview, FL which will be our stopping point for the night.

Wednesday, March 1, 2023 – after getting up and around, and shutting down the RV, we made our way west through some back roads to Lake City and I-10 west.  The reason for the back roads was to avoid the rush hour traffic of I-95/I-10 around Jacksonville.  Once on I-10 west-bound, it was an uneventful road trip back to Crestview and A Quilter’s Place to pick up some All-Florida Shop Hop fabric that wasn’t available until March 1st.  After that we made our way to Destin and The Donut Hole for lunch/dinner.  The Donut Hole is a Destin area favorite and they did not disappoint with the egg & cheese omelet and cheese grits.  After that it was back to Crestview and Country Inn & Suites.  Sidenote, we will not be staying at another Country Inn & Suites.  After dropping Nancy off, I went to Great Clips to get a haircut.  Another good day as we wind down the Winter Escape 2023.

Thursday, March 2, 2023 we left Crestview, FL for Montgomery, AL to go to Eastbrook Antique Mall.  It was filled with lots of glassware, walnut 1960’s/70’s furniture, clothes, books and some “antiques”.  Did find a few things, but it’s not on our list for next time.  After finishing at Eastbrook, we made the decision to cancel our reservations at Hampton Inn in Tupelo, MS and Springfield, MO because the weather north & west of us was throwing a fit.  We went west out of Montgomery towards Mississippi’s I-55 to avoid the rain that was moving towards and through Birmingham.  It was a good decision, as we missed most of the rain (having to stop only once because of a huge downpour). The roads were a combination of 2-lane and 4-lane across to I-55.  However, Alabama and Mississippi US Hwy 82 is one of the roughest roads that we have traveled on this Winter Escape.  At lunch, made the decision to locate a hotel for the night.  Tried first in Southaven, MS and the price was $100 more than one 30 miles south in Batesville, MS.  We made our way to the Batesville Hampton Inn and settled in for the night.  We began to figure out our Friday plans over dinner.  The more we looked at the weather app, the more it became certain that we would not be going north on Friday.

Friday, March 3, 2023 dawned with the last of the night’s rain, lots of clouds and WIND of 20+ mph with gusts of 30-40+ mph.  Tried to move the RV to Southaven for the day, but the wind gusts wouldn’t let it happen.  Pulled off at Cabo, MS and parked it for the day at a gas station and made our way into Memphis for some sightseeing. 

The morning was spent at the National Civil Rights Museum / Lorraine Motel – the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by James Earl Ray.  The museum is a comprehensive history of much of the civil rights movement in various media with some significant artifacts.  As you come to the end of part 1, you are at the room where MLK Jr. walked out of on the late afternoon of his assassination, #306.  Once you make your way through the gift shop and book store – you walk across the street to part 2, which is more history in various media, taking one up to the room where James Earl Ray carried out the assassination.  You then walk over to a huge display of the personal belongings of James Earl Ray that tied him to the assassination.  It’s well worth the time to make this stop and to spend some time contemplating another perspective of the Civil Rights struggle that began in ernest in the 1950’s.

Time for lunch, and just across the street from the Museum parking lot is Central BBQ, one of the 10 must eat bar-b-que’s in Memphis.  We made our way in just before lunch and the place was full but no line.  We ordered a brisket sandwich and a fried bologna sandwich with no sides.  It’s classic bar-b-que and a Memphis must STOP.

After lunch we made our south to Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley.  There’s a huge paid parking lot on the west side of Hwy 51, from Graceland.  We made our way in and bought tickets – which gave us the “tour plus express pass” with some narration and admission to all of the various “museums” featuring aspects of Elvis’ life with a huge number of artifacts (cars, motorcycles, golf carts, military, family, jump suits, gold records and icons of the Elvis era.  On the express bus we made our way to Graceland for a narrated and self-guided tour of the Elvis family home.  In some ways it’s much smaller than I imagined, and yet – there were a number of rooms that are classic 70’s Elvis and was well worth the time and money.  The final stop on the tour at Graceland, is the small meditation garden, the final resting place of Elvis, his parents, his grandmother, his daughter and her son.  There’s also a marker for Elvis’ twin brother, stillborn and buried in Tupelo, MS.  After touring a number of the museums it was time to call it a day.

We went south on Hwy 51 into Southaven and had dinner at Dale’s Restaurant, a classic meat & three.  The food is classic southern and was more than we could eat.  Since we are spending the night in another hotel, we didn’t box up the leftovers.  With the wind now moderated, we made our way back to the RV and trekked a little over 50 miles north to Marion, AR for a night’s stay at a Hampton Inn.  We made our reservation early morning before leaving Batesville.  When we got to the door – there was a note indicating that they were sold out for the night.  Another God moment in the midst of many on this Winter Escape 2023.

Saturday, March 4, 2023 – weather in Marion, Arkansas gave us a break and we woke up to a cloudy sky and the wind all but gone.  Ate breakfast and we were on our way.  Traveling through Arkansas was a mix of 4-lane freeways and 2-lane roads.  It wasn’t until we were nearing the end of the Arkansas roads that we had the twists and turns of the Ozarks.  Not all that bad, except that it slowed us down and you have to feel for the line of cars that accumulates behind an RV.  Missouri was without event as we made our way to Springfield on our way to lunch at Smith’s Restaurant in Bolivar, MO.  After a pork tenderloin sandwich that we split, (it really is that big) it was back on the road for our final 2 ½ hours to home.  We made it back to our home in Lawrence around 4:30. It was now, 1 ½ hours of emptying the RV of our stuff and taking it back to the storage lot as you aren’t supposed to leave an RV in our neighborhood overnight.  And with that, our Winter Escape 2023 has come to a close.