Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Martin Tennessee to Benton Kentucky via Discovery Park of America

My brother Dave (aka Rabbi) turned 63 today. Happy birthday, brother.

I spent some time this morning finishing the blog entries from the Reunion. My attempts to reduce the writing and time involved seemed to be futile. It was late when we went to the breakfast room, so I missed whatever the meat of the day was. I included biscuits with the gravy and eggs, realizing after several sandwiches over the last couple of days that my no-carb diet would be on hold until we got home.

Butch had posted yesterday after we checked in here, inviting us to stay with them in Benton, Kentucky. Everything here was close together despite being in different states. I texted the fellow in Cape Girardeau and asked if we could pick up the Wing part tomorrow instead of today. Then I texted Butch and asked if the offer was still good for tonight. They both said yes, so now we had a plan.

After checking out about 10:00 AM, we drove back to Union City and found Discovery Park of America. I had expected something like our Science North, but it was so much more than that. A section on Native Americans had an arrowhead and spear tip collection dating back 20,000 years. There was an Earthquake Simulator explaining how Reelfoot Lake was formed by quake in 1812. There were military exhibits covering from the Civil War to current times. There was a collection of American cars and motorcycles extending from the beginning to the muscle car era. Where can you find replicas of the Rosetta Stone and the Ark Of The Covenant in the same room? Dinosaur skeletons dominated a whole chamber. A tower let visitors have an overview of the grounds and the surrounding area. And the third floor had science and space exhibits as well as an interactive space simulator. Outside, they had static exhibits, a pioneer village and other structures. For those with children, many features were designed to engage them and spark an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

A sign outside said "Please walk on the grass".

Two thumbs up for anyone passing through the area.


Damn, we were too early




Sandy and I before my morning coffee










Little Boy and Fat Man


Dukes of Hazzard cast autographs














Ark of the Covenant

Rosetta Stone


Vampire hunting kit


Rare original Coke dispenser












Two new hotels being constructed



Future I-69

No designated RV parking

This would be fun



Heavy metallic content in meteorite


Frost line 18 inches deep - Hahahahaha:-))

Big slide

Waiting for our space mission

Grumman F-11 Tiger - Slammer flew one of these




Republic F-84 Thunderjet

The biggest geode I have ever seen

Heading out

The window shade helped

We could have spent all day (or several days) at the park but had places to be. We left after 2:00 and, with my diet busted, had sandwiches at nearby Arby's. It was 95 F when we headed for Benton, Kentucky at 3:00 PM.

I had to respect the settlers who came to this area 150+ years ago with no AC, plus the native Americans who survived in this heat and humidity for millennia prior to that. They were some tough folks.

As we crossed into Kentucky, a motorcyclist we were following pulled off, removed his helmet and put it in his trunk. Some riders really don't like the brain buckets. Also, chrome mudflaps on big trucks should be illegal. Following one with the sun behind us was very disconcerting.






Butch and Teresa welcomed us into their home. We spent some time talking and then they were kind enough to let us watch the final competition night of America's Got Talent. Teresa went out and got Little Caesar's pizza, which hit the spot. We finally turned in about 11:00 PM.

Today's Route (74 Equinox miles):

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