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Today the plan was to get from Columbia, MO to Little Rock, and along the way see the St. Louis Arch, Fort Knox Kentucky, and eat somewhere in Tennessee. This turned out to be a bit much for one day and I ended up stopping in Jackson, TN just outside of Memphis

When I started today it was raining, and the rain seemed to get worse as the day went on. By the time I made it to the St. Louis Arch it was raining cats and dogs. However by the time I realized that there was nowhere close enough to park where I wouldn’t get soaking wet (I should mention I threw out the cheap poncho I had in Yosemite) the rain let up enough that I could get a couple of pictures of the Arch.

Next on the list was the Fort Knox Gold Vault. I made my way into Kentucky through southern Illinois and Indiana and I wasn’t exactly sure where the Gold Vault was, but I knew it would be on my left going south on 31W and I knew there would be an interchange right after I went past it from looking at Google Maps during my planning. I came across a few buildings that I thought might possibly be the vault, but when I got to the actual vault there was no mistaking it. It is an imposing building in a clearing surrounded by fences with guard posts all around it. The main gate looked like you would need to pass through a series of gates to gain entry, although of course they don’t give tours, and I didn’t ask for an exception Fort Knox itself was pretty interesting as well. My Dad was stationed here as a tank instructor so I’ve heard lots of stories and it was cool to see the older WWII and Vietnam era tanks that are on display around the outskirts of the base.

I was getting pretty hungry so I decided to have Foodio54 give me a recommendation for nearby Elizabethtown, and the site sent me to Green Bamboo Chinese Restaurant. I initially ordered the General Tso’s Chicken, however the waitress suggested that what I probably wanted was the Mandarin Chicken because their General Tso’s Chicken was not the same as what other places have. I took her suggestion and she brought out some noodles, then an egg roll, and then the chicken. For some reason I can usually eat a ton of Chinese food, but only in several attempts and I think I filled up a bit too much on noodles and the egg roll before the main course came out, but I was able to eat about half of it there and it was delicious. I then made the mistake a trying to eat the rest of it in the car about an hour later and I made a complete mess, although luckily I remembered to bring a roll of paper towels on the trip and so I don’t think I made any permanent stains (on the car at least).

The plan called for me to eat in Tennessee, but it became evident that was not going to work because by the time I was hungry after eating the Chinese food most everything was closed. Instead I decided to stop in Jackson, TN and eat in Tennessee tomorrow.

Tags: Big Road Trip