Our Road Trip and the Top 20

Sit tight. I'm going to take you on a long ride. A 2,786-mile long ride.

The journey started with a little seed. An old coworker/friend of mine took his family on this road trip last Summer to see his wife's family in east Wisconsin and I thought it looked like so much fun that it planted a seed in my head. 

Fast forward to the following Spring...Ben's mom had been wanting us to come visit her in Wisconsin in the Summer. We decided that it would be a nice belated birthday {she celebrated a milestone in February} gift to her. Seeing as though we have a family of four {all old enough to purchase plane tickets for now - tickets that cost over $500 each for round-trip to Minneapolis}. So rather than dropping $2,000 on flights, we decided to go cheap make it an adventure and see the country. Most places which Ben and I had never seen, much less our kids. So off we went. Here's our itinerary. It was flexible and changed vastly in some cases from what I had laid out, but this is how it all shook down. Oh, and did I mention I didn't have a camera for the trip, so all of my photos are Instagram. I still managed to take 158 photos!

Day 1: Friday, June 29

Leave Tallahassee 2 p.m.

Dinner in Montgomery, AL

El Rey Burrito

Play at a park in Montgomery
Visit Derk's Filet & Vine {excellent beer and wine selection}

Arrive Nashville, Courtyard Marriott Vanderbilt - 10 p.m.

493 miles

Start of our trip in Tallahassee, FL

El Rey Burrito in Montgomery, AL

Farm fresh and organic Mexican food and awesome beer selection

Great koi pond out back and the waiter gave us some fish food to entertain the kids

Oak Park in Montgomery provided a place for the kids to stretch their legs

Picked up these great Birmngham beers from Derk's Filet & Vine.

Our hotel in Nashville was purchased on Priceline for $75. Despite the low sticker price, Ben decided that this was the second and last time he would ever use Priceline for hotel stays.

Day 2: Saturday, June 30

Tour Nashville 8 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Drive down Music Row
Walk down Broadway

Tour Country Music Hall of Fame

Grand Ole Opry

Lunch at Aquarium, Opry Mills

Leave Nashville 12:30 p.m.

Arrive Louisville, KY - 4 p.m.

Churchill Downs
Louisville Beer Store
Louisville Slugger Factory

Eat dinner - Lynn’s Paradise Café

Depart 7 p.m.

Arrive Indianapolis, IN at 9 p.m.

Hyatt Place Indianapolis Airport

287 miles

Along Broadway

Country Music Hall of Fame

Taylor Swift exhibits were all throughout the museum

Jack liked the long horns on the front of the car

Elvis' solid gold cadillac

Country music greats from my day

Everyone loves Charlie Daniels and The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Manuscripts from a few of my favs

More Taylor Swift

The actual Hall of Fame didn't have as many people as I would have thought, but I loved the words etched around the rotunda...Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Howdy Padnah!

Grand Ole Opry

I purchased harmonicas from the Grand Ole Opry gift shop. They proved to be great car entertainment for the kids although probably not the best idea for the adults on a large car trip.

We chose the Aquarium restaurant for the kids, but had little expectations about the food. The service was annoying at best with the many sales pitches throughout the meal. But the tank sure was cool!

This heat didn't break the whole trip. I never knew it could be so hot that your eyeballs could burn between blinking!

Ah, quiet time on the road between Nashville and Louisville. The kids were great. Everytime I told them it was time to rest, they obliged.

Churchill Downs Museum. The horse that could have won us a nice little chunk of change had we been able to place our online bet this past May. Dumb luck!

You could practice being a jockey with this horse race simulator.

Starting gates

Grand stands

Churchill Downs tours close at 5 p.m., so if you go, get there earlier than we did. I would have loved to do the one and a half tour which includes tours of Millionaire's Row and the Suites, however with kids I don't advise. Ours barely made it through the half hour tour.

We stopped at the Louisville Beer Store, which had a great selection of craft brews and I went a little overboard.

Then swung by the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. We didn't go inside, but we had to check out the huge bat!

Food stops were big on my to do list after the main attractions. Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville

Jack dubbed it best restaurant ever.

We enjoyed tasting the local beers. This one was aptly aged in a Kentucky bourbon barrel. Had we had more time I would have loved to stop by the Jack Daniels or Maker's Mark Distillery to check them out while we were in Tennessee or Kentucky.

A unique gift shop located inside Lynn's

Hyatt Place Indianapolis. This is the second Hyatt Place - Hyatt's budget friendly hotel option - that I've stayed at {Reno being the first}. Impressed by both of them and highly recommend you check one out if you are on the road.

The rooms are huge and great for families.

Day 3: Sunday, July 1

Free breakfast in hotel lobby 8-9 a.m.

9 - 10 a.m. Tour Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Leave Indianapolis at 11 a.m.

Arrive Chicago at 1:30 p.m.

Eat lunch at Portillo’s

Willis Tower {got rained out and spent our time in McDonald’s ducking away from the storm)

Leave Chicago at 3 p.m.

Arrive Madison, WI

Play at a park in Madison, WI

Dinner at The Old Fashioned 6 p.m.

Arrive Hudson, WI at 10 p.m.

563 miles

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway track was built in 1909 and they thought cars would go a max of 100 miles an hour, so the incline is only a surprising 9%. The track itself is 2.5 miles long and there is a golf course that surrounds the track and 4 holes are inside the race track. See I learned a lot! ;-)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

You pay two prices, one to tour the museum and one to take a track lap - they should make a price and include both. It would be silly to do one and not the other. 

The Pagoda.

Winner's circle. I thought of Cars and the Piston Cup when I saw this.

The museum has a real Indy car that you can get your photo taken in.

The museum was actually really small, but one of the highlights was this trophy (those are faces sticking out).

This was also interesting. A 1911 Indy Car and a 2011 Indy Car {which goes over 200 miles an hour}.

The lap and museum only took about an hour, so it's a great quick stop. Then we were on the road again {Willie Nelson is playing in my head now}.

Somewhere in Indiana were these vast windmill farms - you can't tell but the windmills go on as far as the eye can see in both directions.

Getting close to Chi Town. There was a McDonald's in the center lanes of the toll road with a drive through.

Stopped for lunch in Chicago.

Portillo's famous Chicago hot dogs

Ben ate an Italian Beef and Sausage sandwich. He said it was pretty spicy.

I opted for the Chicago Dog and cheese fries.

We of course had to check out the two story McDonald's at Jack's request and got a chocolate shake for the kids. They shared it sweetly.

Then we got stuck inside in a rain shower, so we checked out the McDonald's museum.

The 50's and first shake machine.

Since it rained we opted out of the Willis Tower and headed on to Madison.

Tenney Park on Lake Mendota. Jack and Paige got to watch the boats come in and out of the lock system. That was a neat thing to learn about.

And then we grabbed a bite to eat at The Old Fashioned in downtown Madison.

They had 52 beers on tap...all local brews.

And famous fried Wisconsin cheese curds.

And the Lazy Susan No. 6 which featured pickles, summer sausage, smoked trout, pickled herring, deviled eggs, some sort of pate and two cheese spreads.

Pretty Wisconsin sunet

We finally arrived in Hudson, WI, where we would stay with Ben's mom and sisters for the next four days and five nights. They have a beautiful home along the St. Croix River {which is the dividing line between two states - one river bank is Minnesota and the other Wisconsin}.

Day 4: Monday, July 2

We woke up slowly and wandered down to the St. Croix River.

The water was cool, but refreshing.

Ben and Jack took a morning dip and Paige and the rest of us stayed and played on the sand. The river was real high the whole time we were there, so there wasn't much "beach" to speak of.

Ben and I ventured into St. Paul late morning and took his older sister, Katie's, hot yoga {not technically hot yoga, but 97 degrees qualifies as hot to me} class at Core Power. Think hot yoga, plus power yoga. I sort of knew what I was in for, but not really - I've never taken power yoga in a 97 degree room. And Ben was totally oblivious. The first time she said chaturanga, downward facing dog, upward facing dog, he gave me a bewildered look. I had to hold back laughing tears because all I was thinking about was Nick {Bethenney's foodie friend} from Bethenney Ever After taking yoga with Bethenny {see  below}.

I only wish I had a camera so I could have documented our pain and Ben's inexperience. But if you need a good laugh, just watch the entire video of Nick doing yoga and you'll have a pretty good idea of what we were dealing with. Add about a bucket full of sweat and you'll have a very good idea! All kidding aside, her class was a great workout. Probably the best workout I've ever had. And when it was all over, I did feel better.

After yoga torture class, we did some boating and swimming on the St. Croix.

Paige and Nana Ann {Ben's mom}.

Jack and Ben's sister, Katie. She's the oldest of the two girls, both are younger than Ben.

We boated to a little beach island in the middle of the river and hung out here for a few hours.

Then we boated to a restaurant on the St. Croix called Current in Afton.

My crew with Ben's youngest sister, Kim.

Nana Ann, Katie and her boyfriend, Chris. Hopefully, Chris will join our family in the near future. ;-)

We got back to the dock in time for a beautiful sunset and full moon over the Stillwater Bridge.

Day 5: Tuesday, July 3:
We headed to downtown Minneapolis to check out the Science Museum of Minneapolis. They had a cool Real Pirates exhibit featuring the story of the Whydah Gally, a slave ship turned pirate ship of the pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy that sank off the coast of Cape Cod. The treasures and artifacts were carefully recovered and on display at the Science Museum.

Pieces of eight

Gold dubloons

Concretion - the mineral mass recovered from the sea floor that encapsulates and naturally preserves the artifacts under the sea - which undergoes an arduous process to remove and preserve the artifacts from disintegrating once exposed to air .

After Pirates we ventured over to Cosetta's for lunch then back to the museum to keep the natives from getting restless. Jack has said that the Science Museum was his favorite part of the whole trip.

Captains of the Mississippi River tug boat.

Overlooking the Mississippi River. The museum also features a cool outdoor mini golf course, which you can see in the bottom of the photo. It was much too hot to venture out there though.

She loves puzzles.

You could move the T-Rex jaw.

Creating a tornado.

That night we ate dinner back at home and were joined by Ben's grandmother, Norma and Katie's boyfriend, Chris' parents.

Day 6: Wednesday, July 4


Ben's brother Josh and family {Stacia, Caen and Lillian} met us at Andrea's to go boating and swimming on the St. Croix for the day. Ben woke up early to save us a spot on our island along with Katie's boyfriend, Chris.

Our nephew Caen and Ben's brother, Josh who lives in Minneapolis.

Paige and Josh's daughter, Lillian.

The crew camped out under the shade. I think it was around 98 degrees this day.

Ben and Josh's step-sister, Lisa, her husband Jason and their three kids, Cameron, Claire and Chase joined us for grilling out back at Andrea's house.

Me, Claire and Stacia showing off our stars and stripes.

Chase and Jack watching movies in the basement.

The crew crowded in the kitchen talking.

We ended the long day with watching the Stillwater fireworks over a field and doing sparklers back at the house.

Day 7: Thursday, July 5


We drove out to New Richmond, WI to see {one of} Ben's dad's grave site. It was a quaint little cemetery. Most of his ashes are laid to rest next to Vicki's first husband Mark who died when her four kids were younger. He also has a headstone and ashes in Alexandria in the Grooters family plot where is mother and father rest. That is about a 2 hour drive northwest of Minneapolis.

We watered the plants around the grave from this old-fashioned well.

Ben and his dad planted that tree over Mark's grave when Ben was a boy. Jack was asking lots of questions about death and dying while we were here. So hard to try and explain such abstract things to little kids.

The tree Ben and Roger planted.

He misses Papa. I'm glad he still remembers him.

Back at the house everyone relaxed while I did laundry and started packing.

Lillian and Paige watching Nemo.

That night Josh and family headed back home and the rest of us went out to dinner at Pier 500 in downtown Hudson.

Our last evening with our Hudson family.

Day 8: Friday, July 6

Leave Hudson at 9 a.m.

Arrive Cedar Rapids, IA at 1 p.m.

Lunch at Flying Weinie

Play at a splash pad at a local park

Arrive St. Louis at 8 p.m.

Dinner Fitz’s Root Beer

Stay at Moonrise Hotel, Delmar Loop

577 miles

More windmills in Iowa.

Flying Weine in Cedar Rapids. Cool place, decent food, rude staff and not in that endearing kind of way.

A splash pad for some cooler fun in Cedar Rapids. Too bad Paige was so uninterested. And why don't we have these in Tallahassee? I'm quite certain we have more hot weather than any of these states that we drove through.

The Moonrise Hotel on Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis

The best hotel stay on the route. Swanky vibe. Great location. Kid-friendly. Helpful staff. Clean rooms. Comfy beds and peaceful nights sleep.

Fitz's on Delmar. Cool root beer bottling plant right on site. Too bad the bottling ended at 8 and we just missed it. Many different flavors of soda pop. Not the best food and not the best wait staff, but super kid-friendly.

Paige enjoying a root beer float for dessert.

The famous Blueberry Hill {we should have eaten here instead}.

Day 9: Saturday, July 7

Breakfast in the hotel

Tour St. Louis from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Gateway Arch/Museum

Drive-by Busch Stadium

Arrive Memphis at 4:30 p.m.

Peabody Hotel/Beale Street

Eat dinner with friends at Charles Vergo’s Rendezvous

Stay in Olive Branch, MS with the Jackson’s

304 miles

Gateway Arch. Couldn't get the whole thing in the photo.

So I opted for pieces and parts. It was truly enormous and a sight to behold.

The museum and trams to the top are under ground below the arch.

The museum was about the U.S. Westward Expansion.

Covered wagon

My Little House on the Prairie girl.
She willingly put the bonnet on, but wouldn't willingly stand still for the photo. 

We opted not to do the ride to the top. The lines were long, we didn't have a ton of time and we weren't sure how the kids would handle it. Maybe next time. We did get to see what the trams were like though and pretend.

The Eads Bridge. Don't know anything about it, except it is an important site. Perhaps some sort of engineering feat for the times when it was built????

Busch Stadium.
Sure wish we could have seen a ball game, although I wouldn't have wanted to sit in the unbearable heat.

More sleep between St. Louis and Memphis.

We met Ben's dental school classmate Andrew and his wife Shannon and three girls {and one more in Shannon's belly right now} at the Peabody in downtown Memphis to watch the ducks walk. They were very good friends when we lived in New Orleans and Shannon and I were pregnant with Jack and Anna Claire at the same time {just born two months apart}.

If you've never seen the duck march, it is quite cute. They do it at the one in Orlando, too.

Hard to see the ducks, but they are walking from the fountain down the red carpeted steps toward the elevator to head up to the rooftop. They do this every morning from the roof down to the lobby fountain, too.

Then we headed for dinner at the famous Rendezvous BBQ.

Jack and Anna Claire were fast friends again after all these years.

The kids all did really well together and had fun at their sleepover.

Day 9: Sunday, July 8

Leave Olive Branch at 8:30 a.m.

Lunch in Birmingham

Stop at Sweet P’s Eats and Treats south of Montgomery

Arrive Tallahassee at 7 p.m.

512 miles

We enjoyed a quick breakfast at the Jackson's at headed out homeward bound {now I have Simon and Garfunkel in my head}. We tried to find a good local stop in Birmingham, but the first place was closed on the weekend, so Ben got frustrated and we found a sandwich deli off of the Interstate in Birmingham. It wasn't anything to write home about. Needless to say, he drove most of the trip and by this time was just ready to be home.

We did manage to talk him into swinging in to the pink cow place we saw on the drive up.

Sweet P's Eats and Treats. Getting our picture with Sweet P was a highlight. We should have stopped here for lunch!

The ice cream was refreshing.

And the cupcakes were to die for.

It looks like a cute little general store.

With rockers, adirondacks and swings on the porch.

And picnic tables out back and swing. It was a perfect place for the kids to run around once more.

Here's our Top 20 List from our road trip:


20. Prettiest state - Wisconsin
19. Best restaurant - Lynn's Paradise Cafe, Louisville, KY
18. Worst city - Cedar Rapids, IA {perhaps we were just on the wrong side of town though}
17. Best attraction - Gateway Arch
16. Best thing we ate - Fried Brie Cheese Curds and Lingonberry Ketchup from Pier 500 in Hudson
15. Best hotel - The Moonrise Hotel, St. Louis
14. Worst part of the trip - The weather!!!
13. Most unique thing we saw - A pink cow
12. Best city - St. Louis, MO {I like Minneapolis, too}
11. Best memory - Boating on the St. Croix
10. Worst attraction - Country Music Hall of Fame {according to Ben - it wasn't worth the money, but he's really not a country music fan either}
9. Funniest thing on the trip - Hot yoga
8. Favorite movie of the trip - Finding Nemo
7. Worst state to drive thru - Iowa {it's just so unbelievably remote and there is nothing to see but corn fields}
6. What I wish I would have done - So many things...Willis Tower, Wrigley Field, Mammoth Cave (KY), Jack Daniels Distillery (TN)
5. Best brew - Good People Brown Ale {Shannon's pic}, Birmingham, AL. Ben liked the Good People IPA. As far as IPA's go, I did like the Naughty Girl from Louisville.
4. Best dessert - Derby Pie {Lynn's, Louisville}
3. Most interesting thing I learned - There's a golf course in the middle of the Indy 500 track
2. One place I'd like to go back to - Churchill Downs {I really want to go to the Kentucky Derby once} and of course, I'd like to go back to the Gateway Arch and ride to the top and Chicago, because I could spend a whole week there.
1. I wish we would have stopped in this city- I would have liked to work in Knoxville and Lexington on the route, but there just wasn't enough time for everything. But then maybe we could make Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina a trip of their own some time.


Ah, sweet, blissful memories. I will cherish them forever. Many people thought we were absolutely out of our minds to drive two little kids all the way across the country. They did beyond great despite temperatures hovering around and above 100 the whole time. Probably better than two teenagers would have done on a family road trip.

I can't wait to make an annual summer road trip tradition in our family. What should be next? Head out west, I-10 to San Diego? Or Eastern seaboard to Maine? Hmm, I can't decide...