"What was your favorite part?" - a state by state answer

"What was your favorite part?" is an understandably common question after coming home from a six months road trip. But it's also very hard for me to answer. Other than the honest, but cheesy general answers like "Spending time with Sandra", "Visiting National Park and Presidential Libraries" or "The Freedom of Life on the Road", how can you pick just one thing when you just had such a potpourri of experiences?

But I understand the need to choose favorites, nobody has the time or patience to hear about everything we did each and every day, so I picked one place, event or experience from each of the 22 states we visited this year. They are not necessarily my favorite places overall and definitely not my favorite pictures, but some of my favorite memories from this past trip:

Nevada
We saw "Hamilton" in Las Vegas and it instantly became our favorite musical.
Now we finally know what all the fuss is about. We will see this again!

Utah
Our surprise visit at the Olympic Park in Park City.
I was a tour guide at the Olympic Park in Munich,
but compared to our tour guide here, I was terrible.

Wyoming
We became part of the Gunslinger show in Cheyenne.
Definitely not the best show I have ever seen,
but so glad they did not hang me.

Nebraska
Fort Robinson State Park had it all:
Interesting history, a free rodeo, a fun cookout, and and
a private horseback ride into the mountains

South Dakota
Mount Rushmore - yes, it's 'only' four heads carved in stone,
but we love any ranger tour, talk or walk at any National Park Service site,
and we got to join six programs here!

Iowa
Grotto of the Redemption - I am still in awe that in the middle of rural Iowa
there is this gem of a chapel. Actually millions of gems since every square inch of this
huge complex, inside and out, is covered with gems, rocks, fossils and shells.

Illinois
By pure persistence and a lucky coincidence we got into the
sold out show of "1776" at the historic Old State House.
What a treat for us hobby nerds of American history!

Indiana
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - we thought we were not interested in auto racing,
but the tour of the Indi 500 track was fascinating!

Kentucky
Churchill Downs - great museum and behind the scenes tours
of the home of the Kentucky Derby 

Ohio
Rutherford B. Hayes Home and Museum at Spiegel Grove in Fremont.
Coincidentally meeting our long lost cousin Christie Weininger  

West Virginia
The Palace of Gold in New Vrindaban is part of a still active community of Hare Krishnas.
It is both beautiful and run down; it is also very welcoming and eerie at the same time.

Pennsylvania
Falling Waters - one of five Frank Llyod Wright buildings we saw on this tour.
Our experience of getting on a tour, even though they were sold out for days,
is proof that being lucky and persistent beats good planning any day.

Washington DC
We were so impressed how well organized the public tours at the Capitol were, until they told us we had
to go  see our representative to see the house and senate chambers. Turns out the visit at Senator's Hirono's
office and the underground tram ride back to the capitol was the highlight of the whole experience. 

Delaware
We thoroughly enjoyed all the DuPont sites (Hagley, Longwood Gardens, Winterthur and Nemours Estate),
we are also constantly amazed by the quality of the (often volunteer) tour guides at many historic sites,
but our private tour with Duncan at Winterthur was Simply the Best! 

Wisconsin
We got to tour the SC Johnson company headquarters in Racine. This great tour brings alive the history
of the company, the story of its founders and the architecture by Frank Llyod Wright.

Michigan
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Mackinac Island might be our favorite place in Michigan,
but the surreal experience of meeting these sword fighters on our hike through the dunes and them
giving us a lesson in their medieval German sword fighting techniques was really unique. 

Ontario
African Safari Park in Hamilton. We are not the only ones enjoying Joy, our RV.
The monkeys at this safari park used it as a jungle gym and caused
way more amusement than damage.

Missouri
after a day of touring all the Mark Twain sites in Hannibal,
what's better than meeting the man himself and hear him talk
about himself, politics and life in general.

Kansas
We have been to 10 state capitols on this trip alone. The one in Topeka is our favorite!
In all the other ones we looked up the dome and wished we could go up. Here they let us.
The stairs to get to the top reminded me of Hogwarts and the view from the top was amazing! 

Arkansas
Lost Valley at Buffalo National River. I love adventures that feel dangerous, but are actually really safe.
Spelunking in the Lost Valley to the Eden Falls inside a cave was just exciting enough to be fun,
but not too scary to still enjoy it.

Texas
The Alamo - so nice that we finally know what we are supposed to remember!
That and the Riverwalk made San Antonio our favorite city in Texas.

Hawaii
Technically not on our road trip, but we did spend 6 months in Hawaii this year.
My favorite experience was hiking to the lava flow wit my dad in February, when that was still safe..

Some really awesome things did not make it on the list, such as seeing our niece play at the Ultimate Frisbee World Championships in Cincinnati, several National Parks, any of the Presidential Libraries or our favorite disc golf course, great concerts like Def Leopard or Greenfield Village, our favorite museum in the world! But I guess rather than complaining that I could not all fit it in this list, we should be grateful we got to enjoy so many experiences on our trip. 

Life is good.

More to remember than the Alamo - 16th and last update from Chrisandra’s Road trip

Aloha all,

we are back on Maui, but here is the last blog about our 2018 road trip. Sorry, it’s another long one, but if you want to know which president I changed my mind about, which city is our favorite in Texas, where to eat the best Jägerschnitzel and who shot JFK, then you might want to read on. No rush, you have half a year to read it. The blog is called “Best of Both Worlds” because living on the road for 6 months and on Maui for the other 6 months is the best of both those worlds for us. But I will not blog about going to the beach or playing frisbee, so nothing to read until we are back on the road.

We spent the last two weeks in Texas. Looking at a map and seeing how little of this big state we have seen, I think we could spend a year there and not see everything we would like to see. At least we have now seen all of their three Presidential Libraries and have sampled a good share of the Jägerschnitzels in the German towns of the Hill Country, but otherwise, we have barely scratched the surface of Texas. 

Chris messing with Texas

We spent three days in Dallas. Well, actually we spent one day walking around town, one full day in Georg W. Bush’s Library and most of a day on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. If you are wondering why we would spend so much time in a school book depository, then I assume that you were not alive on Nov 22, 1963. They have converted the space from where JFK was shot into a museum about him and the assassination. Of course it would be interesting to know what he might have achieved if he had served two full terms as president, but killing him obviously did not kill his legacy: There were huge long lines to get into this museum. In fact, I’d say it was busier than any of the Presidential Museums we have been to on this trip. A little bit of trivia: He also remains the only president who always had an approval rating over 50%. In case you were wondering whether Oswald acted alone or whether there was a conspiracy: Even after a full day at this museum we don’t know that for sure. But they are pretty sure Ted Cruz’s dad was not involved.

JFK was shot from right here

I remember when George W. Bush left office some people were joking whether he would even open a Presidential Library, since they usually don’t contain coloring books. Not so funny anymore, right? W. was and is not my favorite president. But either I am a sucker for a well curated museum or it’s the new perspective after the 2016 election. George W. Bush has built a wonderful Presidential Library and I really changed my mind about him to a certain degree. Like the other libraries, it contains hardly any books, coloring or otherwise, but great exhibits about him and his presidency. My favorite part was the ‘Decision Theater’, where you can hear about various issues, make your own decision and then hear W explain his decision. I still think invading Iraq was a terrible mistake, but overall, I think he was a decent president and a relatively smart and likable person. So we will keep an open mind and we will continue to visit as many presidential libraries as we can of ANY of the first 44 presidents…

George W. Bush Presidential Library

We also got to go to an NBA basketball game in Dallas. Unfortunately, their super star and fellow German immigrant Dirk Nowitzki was injured. But we still got to see how beloved he is in Dallas: The night we were there, he was given the ‘key to the city’ by the mayor. Did you know: Nowitzki has played for the Mavericks longer than some of his team mates have been alive. And just in case he has to retire after all; they have a new German. And Maxi Kleber (which by the way loosely translates to ‘super glue’) helped the Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets in a very exciting game.

Dirk Nowitzki gets the Key to the City

Just south of Dallas is Waco. Even though it is sometimes possible to visit the compound for which Waco is mostly known, we did not get there on this trip. Instead, we visited the Waco Mammoth National Monument. This is one of the best preserved findings of mammoths in the world and the only place they were able to dig up a whole nursing herd of mammoths. Listening to the NP ranger talk about the discovery and the things they continue to find and learn from this site made me want to start digging myself. But hearing that what we heard on the 45 min tour took over 40 years to uncover, I doubt I would have the patience, so it’s good that there are professional archeologists who are even more curious and more patient than us.

Mammoth herd discovered in Waco, TX 

We spent three full days on the footsteps of LBJ. This is very fitting after visiting the spot where JFK got shot since that was the day Lyndon B. Johnson became president. First we visited his boyhood home in Johnson City, which is not named after him, but after a relative who founded the town. We also visited the ranch where he lived and what became known as the “Texas White House”. We also saw the simple building where he was born and the family cemetery just down the road where he is buried. We also visited the re-constructed school where LBJ went. We have been to a lot of old school houses throughout this country; so far, there had always been portraits of Washington and Lincoln on the walls. Here it was Washington and Robert E. Lee. As cold as it was, we couldn’t tell by the weather, but now we knew we were definitely in the South.

At the LBJ Ranch 

Of course we also spent a full day at the LBJ Presidential Library when we were in Austin later, where we got to learn a lot  more about him. What an interesting man, I wish I could have been to one of his backyard BBQ summits, where he invited world leaders to his Texas ranch. Of course, Vietnam is a big part of his legacy. But there is so much more, like his plans for the “Great Society” and the “War on Poverty”, which is hard to really win, but he was a lot more successful than in Vietnam. Interesting also that he was deeply rooted in Texas, but he was the one to push for and to sign the civil rights act and the voting rights act and change the racist immigration laws that were still in place in the early 60’s. It seems a lot of the progress we take for granted today was initiated by LBJ.

LBJ Presidential Library

Fredericksburg is in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Not sure who came up with that name, there are some small, rolling hills, but it’s not a very striking feature. I’d rather call it Jägerschnitzel Country. Fredericksburg and New Braunfels were founded by German immigrants right as Texas became a state and still have a distinct Texas-German character today. In the Pioneer Museum we learnt that the process was a lot more organized than I thought: For a year’s worth of wages, you could buy a package that included the trip from Germany to Texas, supplies for a year and a plot of land. Sounds as easy as booking an all-inclusive vacation package, right? That might have been what they were promised, but I’d say if you think of the exact opposite of an all inclusive vacation, you are much closer to the true pioneer experience. 

Enchanted Rock State Park

The Texas Hill Country is an up and coming wine destination. Way up actually, with 9 million acres, they are the second largest wine region only behind Napa Valley. We stayed at a vineyard overnight after a wine tasting, thanks to the “Harvest Host” club we belong to. Before our trip, we thought we’d use that all the time since they have hundreds of vineyards, breweries, museums and farms that let you park your RV overnight for free. They only ask that you sample their wine or beer, visit their museum or buy some produce. What a great deal…unfortunately, in reality, most of the time the next Walmart or RV park was closer, easier or more convenient.  

Champagne from the vineyard we stayed at the night before our anniversary

Fredericksburg is also home to Admiral Nimitz. That’s why they have the most comprehensive museum about the Pacific War. I’m usually not that interested in every detail of every battle of a war. But this museum also gave great insights into the causes for the war, the personal tragedies and sacrifices, the tough choices and the ultimate triumph. Learning about World War II has one big advantage over other wars: It’s fairly easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. The line only get’s a little blurry when the Japanese-Americans get sent to internment camps and then get recruited to fight for the Allies. There is a separate museum about Admiral Nimitz himself, it’s nice to put a face to the highway on Oahu.

I have heard that we were supposed to “Remember the Alamo” countless times since moving to America. That was really tricky since I didn’t know what the Alamo was all about. Since it happened in 1836, I knew that this was not about a rental car reservation. In two days in San Antonio, we went into the Alamo, we watched two movies about the Alamo, we went on a guided tour around the Alamo, listened to a history talk in the Alamo and visited a museum about the Alamo. So it will be hard for us not to remember the Alamo now.

A selfie to help a remember

The museum was actually called “The Battle for Texas -The Experience”. They advertise it as a “sensory journey like no other”. Apparently, the ticket agent has gotten so many disappointed visitors that he greets every guests with “Do you realize we are a museum?”.  Petra was not with us, so it did not scare us away. 

In case you need a little refresher what you are supposed to remember, here is the history in 100 words or less: Mexico invites Americans to settle their Texas territory by offering cheap land and independence. Santa Anna becomes president/dictator of Mexico, voids the constitution and the Americans rebel. Mexican soldiers ask for a canon back, the Americans raise a flag “Come and Take It”. That works great in the Battle of Gonzales against a handful off soldiers. The rebels quickly take over large parts of Texas, including the Alamo. But it prompts Santa Anna to attack the under 100-200 rebels with an army about ten times the size. Of course the Mexicans took their cannon back and killed all rebels at the Alamo, including James Bowie and David Crockett. But very soon afterwards, the rebels win Texas independence under the battle cry “Remember the Alamo”. 

The other great attraction of San Antonio is the Riverwalk. I have never seen a city do so much with such a little river. We just loved it that from almost anywhere in downtown, you can walk down a few steps and you are in a different world. Instead of your normal city traffic, you find yourself in a amusement park atmosphere, with boat tours, bars, restaurants and walking trails. The Christmas lights made it even more magical. We also used the riverwalk to get to the revolving restaurant for a great lunch over our new favorite city in Texas and to the Alamodome to watch a high schools football playoff game.

San Antonio Riverwalk

Revolving Restaurant at the Towers of the Americas

High school football playoff at the Alamodome

Since Austin is the state capital, of course we had to visit the state capitol. Since this is Texas, it looks a little different than most and of course is a little bigger than most. Actually since they added a lot of underground office space during the last renovation, it is now the largest state capitol by square footage. 

Texas State Capitol in Austin

We also had the best BBQ of the trip in Austin, played the last round of disc golf of this trip and winterized Joy and put her in storage. But we promised her we’d come back soon. So much more to see! 

One of about 20 disc golf courses we played on this trip

For now we are still happy to spent the winter in Hawaii, since it is still the favorite of all 49 states we have been to so far. But I hear Oklahoma is OK, so we should check it out before declaring Hawaii our favorite state.

Aloha from Maui,

Chris & Sandra & Joy

The Show Me & The Natural State - 15th update from Chrisandra’s Roadtrip

Aloha all,

most state slogans are a little weird. Missouri is known as “The Show Me State”, even though nobody seem to be able to “show me” where that name really comes from. And Arkansas is “The Natural State”, as if all the other states were artificial. But we saw several shows in Missouri and after driving through the beautiful nature of Arkansas, even that name kind of makes sense. I’d still rather call Arkansas  “The Penultimate State”. Arkansas was the 49th state Sandra and I have visited. So we still can’t tell you which one is our favorite, since we have not seen them all yet. I am leaning towards Hawaii. But I will withhold my judgment until we have seen them all. Maybe Oklahoma will surprise us, but we will probably not get there on this trip. 

Joy enjoys the fall colors ion Missouri

The very first morning after returning from our European side trip, we went to the Ulysses Grant National Historical Site just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. We always enjoy historical presidential sites. We learnt about President Grant in the visitor center, on the tour of his house and during a long chat with the park ranger. But my favorite part at the site was totally unrelated to Grant: They had a show by an actress impersonating Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Surprisingly the show was at 10 o’clock in the morning, with no apparent connection to President Grant and the show was free of charge. Got to love the Show Me State!

Mary Shelley One Woman Show

Continuing with the tradition of visiting homes of authors I have never read, we went to the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She wrote the “Little House” book series. Sandra had at least seen the “Little House on the Prairie” TV show, I knew nothing about it except that so many people love her stories. We got to tour the simple, but charming house where she started writing the books and also the much more modern ‘Rock House’ on the same property that her daughter had built for her and her husband. Apparently they moved in for several years because they did not want to appear ungrateful, but eventually they moved back into their original home, because it was home. 

Laura Ingalls Wilder's little house in Mansfield, Missouri

Now I know a little more about the Little House stories. The more I tried to find out what the stories are about, the more surprised I got how popular they are. It seems to be a rural version of Seinfeld: “A show about nothing”. Tell me if I am missing something, but it seems to be about normal life on the prairie just like Seinfeld is about normal life in the city. Seinfeld can be very entertaining without really being about anything, so maybe I should read the Little Prairie books, too. I’ll do that right after I finish my first full book by Mark Twain.

Our last stop in Missouri was Branson. We had heard a lot about it, but honestly we did not really know what to expect. It reminded us a lot of Las Vegas, just without the gambling and without the adult entertainment. Also with a much prettier setting: The Ozark Mountains are a lot more scenic and a lot more colorful this time of the year than the Nevada desert. Most of the shows and attractions of Branson seem pretty tacky, so even during our short stay, we fled a couple of times to just walk through the woods around Branson. 

We did visit one of the tourist attractions: The Titanic Museum, which was surprisingly informative. For example: Did you know that passengers from 40 countries were on the Titanic, but athletes from only 28 countries competed at the Olympics the same year? Interesting also how little the White Star Line felt responsible for the accident. The museum had a letter displayed that was sent to a widow, requesting her to pay a hefty fee if she wanted the remains of her husband shipped to her. I was also surprised to learn that you had a better chance of survival as a woman in 3rd class than as a man in 1st class. The museum was very engaging, highlighting many aspects and personal stories. They also had some hands-on exhibits or maybe I should say “hands-in” exhibits: Reading that the water was 28 degrees F (minus 2 degrees Celsius) is one thing. Actually sticking your hand in water this cold is something different. I was determined to leave my hand in there long enough to convince myself that I would have survived until I made it onto a life raft. But after only 20 seconds, my hand pulled out without even consulting me.

Titanic Museum in Branson, MO

We also picked one of the 42 million shows offered in Branson. They all seem to involve country music, but the Dolly Parton Stampede also includes horses and a dinner, so it was a pretty easy decision.

Dolly Parton's Stampede Dinner Show

The show was fun, but I was even more impressed how they serve a sit down dinner to over 1,000 people in a matter of minutes. Surprisingly, it was all hot and actually pretty delicious for such a mass feeding. However, it paled in comparison to our last culinary experience in Branson: The Keeter Center at the College of the Ozarks campus gives students a chance to get job training and us one of our best lunches of the trip.

Welcome to "The Natural State"

Arkansas impressed us from the very beginning. The welcome center was very welcoming and gave us all kinds of good suggestions. The hike in the Lost Valley at the Buffalo National River was  amazing: The fall colors were gorgeous and the waterfalls were spectacular. Especially the one you had to go spelunking to get to. Eden Falls Cave is just scary enough to be an adventure, but safe enough to be fun. After ducking, squeezing and crawling for 10 minutes you come to this large cave with a 35ft waterfall coming out of the rock ceiling. I love things that feel like a real adventure, but are actually very safe.

Spelunking in the Lost Valley in Arkansas

The next day we went to the first State Park of Arkansas. I can see why Petite Jean was the first area they wanted to protect: It’s beautiful! Maybe I’m forgetting something and Sandra might correct me when she proofreads this, but I’d say in the first two days in Arkansas we did our two prettiest hikes of the whole trip, with a nice lunch at a CCC lodge as an extra bonus.

Grotto at the Petite Jean State Park

Little Rock offered everything we love about road trips and one thing that made us miss Maui. It has a presidential library, a state capitol, a National Park Service site, a history museum, a small local theater, a riverfront area and a very central and very affordable RV Park. Unfortunately, it also had ridiculous cold weather - so we won’t mind going back to our little tropical island without any state capitol or presidential library.

Of course we spent a full day at the Clinton Presidential Library, but I want to be honest: It’s not my favorite. The building is kind of cool, first because it has its own pedestrian bridge that basically connect it directly with our RV Park on the other side of the Arkansas river. Also, it looks more like a library than any of the other presidential libraries. But we did not find it to be as engaging as most of the other presidential libraries we have been to. This surprised me, since it is one of the most modern ones. We did enjoy the guided tour and I have to say, I also enjoyed every little clip of Clinton speaking. Love him or hate him, he sure is a great orator, not just in comparison to “You Know Who”. 

Bridge from our campground to the Clinton Presidential Library

The Arkansas State Capitol is much less ornate than others, but still very impressive. For now Iowa is still my favorite. The marble staircases, the hallways and the dome are more plain, with very little artwork. 

Arkansas Capitol in Little Rock, plain, but impressive

But they have portraits of former governors on the walls, of course including Bill Clinton. Elected when he was only 32 years old, he looks like a kid, but obviously the people of Arkansas saw the potential he had and elected the kid as their governor five times. 

Billy The Kid

The Old State Capitol is now a history museum. This is where I learnt that Arkansas actually voted to stay in the Union just a few weeks before joining the Confederacy. There was also an attempt to re-join the union before the end of the civil war. And they sent troops to both sides of the conflict! The more we learn, the more complicated it gets. It’ was so much easier when everybody south of the Mason-Dixon Line was bad and everybody north of it was good. It’s just not true.

The most interesting site to visit in Little Rock I thought was the National Historical Site at the Little Rock Central High School. This is where the de-segregation fight happened in 1957 when “The Little Rock Nine” students tried to attend the prestigious, formerly all white school after the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. The courts had evolved enough, but many white people had not. The mob of angry white people attacking the nine innocent, smart and extremely well behaved black students looks ridiculous from today’s perspective. 

Integration is 'unchristian', 'illegal' and 'Communism' - sounds like a parody today

But even this black against white story is not as black and white as it first appears:

Governor Faubus, who refused to accept the law and actually uses the national guard to keep the black students out of the school looks pretty bad, right? 

President Eisenhower, who sends in the 101st Airborne Division to escort and protect the ‘Litte Rock Nine” looks pretty good, right?

Good and bad looked so easy to determine until we took a guided tour with a park ranger to the school (it’s still a regular public high school today) and I did a little more research: Turns out Governor Faubus was actually relatively progressive and more open to desegregation than others in the south at the time. It’s true that without Eisenhower sending federal troops there is no way the black kids could have gone to school that year. Ike could have take even more credit since he had nominated Chief Justice Warren, who swung the vote in Brown vs. Board in favor of desegregation. However, Eisenhower apparently was very sympathetic to white parents who did not want black students at their schools and he is quoted saying: “I made two mistakes. They both sit on the Supreme Court.” - it’s always more complicated than it sounds at first. But one thing is simple: The country is a better place thanks to the brave nine kids. They had to declare not to retaliate, no matter the verbal and physical abuse they were subjected to. One of them dared to call students “white trash” when they physically assaulted her. The white students were not punished, she got expelled. 

Ranger tour at the Little Rock Central High School

When we first arrived at Hot Springs National Park, it was cold, but still beautiful. We were thrilled to find out that the observation tower was just the right distance from the campground for a little  afternoon hike. One of us was less thrilled that the hike got a little longer because the elevator was out of order, but the view from the top was well worth the extra climb. 

View from the Observation tower to Hot Springs, AK

When we were back in Joy, it started snowing and ironically, Hot Springs was the coldest night we ever had on a road trip. But with extra heaters, we managed to keep Joy’s pipes from freezing and she kept us nice and cozy.

Unusual November snow at the Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs

The national park visitor center of Hot Springs is in the historic Fordyce Bathhouse. This 1915 bathhouse was the grandest of them all and also the first one to go out of business in 1962. We took a tour through the Fordyce Bathhouse which explained the history and the procedures in great detail. It all sounded like a weird mix of luxurious spa experience and medieval torture chamber. Electroshocking patients in bathtubs and injecting them with mercury was all part of the treatment plans back then. 

On the other hand, the facilities were built lavishly and several of the treatments sounded very enjoyable. No wonder they attracted lots of rich men and even the baseball stars of the days, including Babe Ruth. The bathhouses make somewhat of a comeback, minus the electroshocks and the mercury injections. We opted for the Quapaw Bathhouse, because soaking in hot pools is about the best thing to do when it’s freezing and snowing outside. 

Soaking at the Quapaw Bathhouse

But enough with the laziness! After a day of soaking in Hot Springs, it was time to go back to history class. The Clinton Library had been a little light on his early years, so we filled in the gaps when we visited his home at his birthplace in Hope, AK. This is where William Blythe grew up. Yes, that was Bill Clinton’s name at birth. His dad passed before he was born and he later took on his stepfather’s name. 

Private tour of Clintons Birthplace Home

For the last two days we’ve been easing our way from Arkansas to Texas. Yesterday, we spent all day in the Historic Washington State Park. Washington was the last stop in Arkansas on the Southwest Trail. Many pioneers and settlers traveled a similar route we took from St. Louis to Texas, including Sam Houston, James Bowie and Davy Crockett. We have a lot to learn about this part of American history. I know nothing about these American heroes except that a city, a knife and a Disney movie are named after them, respectively.

The town of Washington used to be a pretty big deal. Not only was it the capital of the county, it was even the confederate state capital of Arkansas during the civil war. They were doing so well, that they actually voted not to have the railroad come to their town. They did not expect that this was the beginning of the end for Washington and the beginning of the new town of Hope. They probably also did not expect that the small town of Hope, which the railroad founded instead of stopping in Washington would go on to produce a governor and president (Clinton) and another governor and presidential candidate (Huckabee).

Historic Washington - Arkansas Sate Park

The town of Washington went downhill so quickly, that most of the buildings were simply left empty  until a group of local ladies lobbied for the preservation and restoration of this part of early Arkansas history. Today, the town is a small Williamsburg. We visited several historic homes, the local doctor, the courthouse, the print shop and the blacksmith and had lunch in the 1832 William Tavern.

One of the historic homes, left half remodeled, right half left as it was found

They also have the state’s largest magnolia tree and a moon tree. In case you are as ignorant as we were until yesterday and don’t know what a moon tree is: The astronauts on Apollo 14 took 500 tree seeds with them around the moon in 1971. They wanted to see whether being in space would have any effect on the seeds. Apparently it did not. The seedlings did about the same as the earthbound control group. 47 years later, 80 of them still survive throughout the world and at least the moon tree we saw in Washington looked an awful lot like a regular pine tree. 

Texarkana's post office sits half in Texas, half in Arkansas

Today we visited Texarkana, which, as the name suggests, sits right on the state line between Arkansas and Texas. In fact, they have the only dual-state post office in the country, right in the middle on the state line, serving both towns: Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas. Combined they have a population of almost 70,000. It’s one of the weirdest towns we have been to and a little depressing:

• We have been to ghost towns that seemed more alive than downtown Texarkana 
• There are many abandoned buildings, but no homeless and no shady characters, apparently even those have abandoned downtown
• Sadly, the building that seemed to be in the best shape was the Juvenile Correction Center
• The only place where we saw people playing was the prison courtyard, which is only a block from the historical center of town.
• There were only a handful of business open in downtown. Three of them are the historical places we visited and ironically, they tell the story of how grand Texarkana used to be. 
• The Grim Hotel, which used to be the grandest hotel in town is totally abandoned and now truly a grim sight. The Super 8 and Motel 6 outside of town is doing fine.
• There is a sign at the former Grim Hotel, announcing ambitious plans to revitalize the building “coming soon”. After talking to a local, it sounds a lot like the “Jesus Coming Soon” sign on the church in Lahaina. I would not hold my breath for either one.
• Ironically, we had finally thought about looking for an RV friendly parking lot for Joy before heading downtown. At first we were happy that the large, central parking lot was basically empty and offered free, unlimited parking. But soon we noticed that we could have parked sideways in the middle of the main street and it would not have caused any issues whatsoever.

When I asked the young lady at the museum when the heydays of Texarkana had been, she did not really understand the question. She was born in the 80’s and apparently to her, this is what downtown Texarkana has always looked. I guess she never questioned why there were these grand, but abandoned buildings. She did not even know whether she was in Texas or Arkansas. Our tour guide at the other two sites was a British lady and relatively new to the town, but luckily a whole lot better informed. Especially the tour of the interestingly shaped “Ace of Clubs House” was a true highlight in this desolate place.

I don't even want to know how depressing downtown Texarkana
must feel if the weather is not this beautiful...

Overall, Texarkana was the kind of place I am glad we visited, but we are even gladder we don’t live there. Even the listing for a 4 bedroom renovated home right downtown with a wrap around porch for $79K did not tempt us.

Now we are in Texas. Their slogan is “Go Big or Go Home”. But you know what I think of slogans. We’ll just change that to “Go for a small tour and Go home”.  

Aloha from the town of Lone Star in the Lone Star State,

Chris & Sandra