Day 16: The Road to the STL

We woke up to a rain-free morning and a partly sunny sky – something we had not seen in quite a while.

What's that blue stuff up there?

As I gazed out upon Tennessee’s capitol city below, I did see an image that I will never be able to unsee, thus, I shall share it with you now. As I peered down over the plaza, I noticed a homeless man sleeping on the granite behind the Military Museum some 20 stories below. For a moment, I felt sad for him, as non-heartless folk do. Sadness quickly turned to confusion as I watched him fumbling under a leather jacket when suddenly the man had two heads. It turns out that it was not a lone man, but a biker couple, who apparently decided to sleep under the stars rather than drop cash on a heavenly bed in a hotel room. And they weren’t fumbling beneath the jacket because of the low temperatures, if you catch my drift. Thus, the seared image that I can never unsee. Fortunately, there was no nudity to behold, so this post stays Rated PG, but there was pant zippage. Yes, I did zoom in on them – not because I wanted to deliberately photograph them, but because I was trying to quell my confusion and now I must wash my eyes and die.

Alas, it was our final day of vaykay, which included a 5 ½ hour drive from Nashville to St. Louis. As we drove along, I came to the realization that I would no longer be able to partake of the precious Bojangles and I began to cry quietly to myself. That quiet cry soon gave way to high-decibel wailing, but I eventually got over it (not really). Until we meet again, Bojangles… Stay the way you are.

Once we crossed the border into Illinois, it was time to visit Metropolis, the fictional home of Superman. It was a nice diversion, one of those “biggest ball o’ twine” type things, but I would not veer off the beaten path again to see it, unlike the McKay stores from a few states ago.

The Superman statue is kinda cool in its enormity, but the store at the Super Museum was ridiculously overpriced. For instance, they wanted $59.95 for seasons of Smallville on DVD – the very same items I can get on Amazon right now in the $20-$30 range. If you wait for the super sales at Target or Best Buy, you can get them in the $10-$15 range. So why the massive markup? Is it really worth it to buy them in Metropolis for $30-$50 extra just to make the claim that you bought them in Superman’s not-real hometown? Would I pay double to buy Purple Rain in Minneapolis just because Prince lives there? No, I would not, and it’s not Prince’s fictional home, but the actual place of his domicile. So there you have it. I have spoken.

Superman and Supergirl

The rest of the ride home was relatively uneventful. We got home around 3 p.m. to unload the Avenger of our massive 2012 Road Trip haul and to see The Dings after 16 days. We took the car back to the airport and got our official trip mileage of 3,569 miles driven! It’s good to be home, although I could probably stay on a road trip for the rest of my livelong days, but as I heard Mike and Mike say on ESPN Radio Monday on the way to work, at least I have a job the I enjoy going back to. What a difference a year makes, huh?

Thanks again to Cousin Cindi, her Mini-Me, Gary, Bill, Myrline, Ricky, Mildred, Debbie, Brooke(s), The Mayor, Susan, Carey, Casey, Bree, Brook(e), Vernon, Kellie, Kiley, Peyton, Johnny the Captain, Jim, Ellen, "Mountain Man" Ray Ball and anyone else who made the 2012 Road Trip super awesome. If I forgot you, it’s because I’m old and A.D.D. or maybe I just didn't want to list you. You decide.

Hopefully I’ll be posting more with less of a break in between posts, but life happens and seems to alter the best laid plans… Either way, see you back here in 343 days!

Click HERE to see the photos from Day 16.