We kicked off the trip with a late night drive into Springfield, IL. We spent a short morning visiting the State Capital and then the Lincoln Museum. There was a lot more to see in the area, so I am sure we will visit again some day. Novali said her school takes the 8th graders so she got a little head start. We saw all of that, got lunch and hit the road to Oxford.
Novali enjoyed the drive and is a great roadtrip partner. She loves reading an Atlas and tracking where we are on the map. Listing cities with funny names, enjoying the new landscape and taking videos of us crossing the Mississippi River and state lines. We arrived in Oxford around dinner time.
Miguel and Kate are faculty at Ole Miss and we got a late night tour of campus and of course got to play with Javi and Zoe before their bedtime.
Saturday was out full day in Oxford. We kicked it off at BottleTree Bakery. Novali loved it because she wants to be a baker, loves pastries AND the place is on Oprah's List of favorite things...
We spent part of the day enjoying time at a park with the kids, some time at home playing with toys (and trains), Novali and Miguel made ice cream and time just catching up. For dinner we want to Ajax Diner a place in downtown Oxford on their square. Downtown Oxford is called the Square and is very well maintained and has a great Southern classic look and feel. We ran into an impromptu parade with kilts and bagpipes, and the kids got to run around.
Sunday morning we had a delicious brunch at Big Bad Breakfast. Luckily we arrived in time to beat the crazy lined that formed after we arrived. It was an amazing combo of grits, locally produced meats, and other southern items. After breakfast we rolled over to the home of William Faulkner. Miguel and Kate were great hosts and we hope to visit them and the kids again soon!
Then we hit the road... on Miguel's recommendation we planned a dinner stop in Sikestons, MO for "Throwed Rolls" at Lamberts Cafe. Novali didn't believe me that they would actually throw rolls... I wasn't sure either, but man they did! It was a fun family style dinner where they brought around all you can eat sides, and of course threw rolls at you (to catch and eat). Novali refused to catch any at first... but finally before we left she caught half of a roll (the rolls were huge) thrown by our guy.
We spent the last night in St. Louis at a Double Tree... we munched on some cookies and got some sleep. We woke early to a big breakfast and trip into St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch. We saw some of the park, walked along the Mississippi and then packed back into the car...
It was a fun roadtrip. We proved that sometimes an Atlas is better than a GPS. We proved that stretching out in a rest area parking lot will get you a lot of stares. We proved that a large Dominos pizza can be eaten while you drive (and makes a good in car table, and also a second meal...). We proved that you can have fun on a budget and short on time.
Full pictures at Novali's site: Novali