Last week I gave some tips on how to begin planning a road trip. On Thursdays, I plan on alternating between posts with an overview of our trip and posts with general tips and information. Today is part 1 of my and Ashley’s Great American Road Trip!
Our trip started in Mechanicsville, VA for Bethany and Kyle’s wedding. After the wedding we stayed in Arlington, VA and then drove through parts of Maryland, PA, and Ohio and finally to Indianapolis where we stayed the night. We were so impressed by the city of Indianapolis! We definitely want to go back there and explore some more!
After Indiana we drove through Illinois where we drove right past the town of Casey which is known for having 8 of the World’s Largest items. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Oh, just wait. If you go on a long road trip you WILL see signs for the world’s largest this or the world’s largest that.
No road trip of the west is complete without a stop at The Gateway Arch, so we made our way through St. Louis, MO for lunch and a trip to the top of the arch and then finally ended up in Manhattan, KS to stay with our dear friend, Eleanor! Here are some things we learned from this part of the trip…
1. Take the time to pull over at scenic overlooks!
I am so glad that our plan was flexible, because we were able to pretty much stop wherever we wanted and not have to worry about being somewhere at a certain time. If there was a scenic overlook and we had time to stop, we did! Granted, some were better than others, but we wouldn’t know unless we tried! There are some things that can only be experienced, not planned out!
2. See The World’s Largest Anything
You have Ashley to thank for this one! If it were me, I probably wouldn’t have pulled over when we saw the signs for Casey, IL. The World’s Largest Wind Chime may not be what you have in mind of grand sights to see when you go on a trip, but it definitely gives you a story to tell and it definitely doesn’t hurt to stop! You might be surprised at what you see, or you might think, “well, that was crazy.” But at least you saw it! I am so glad Ashley made us stop for so many of these whimsical attractions!
3. Sometimes it is worth it to pay the fee to do that really trouisty attraction!
Riding the car to the top of The Gateway Arch is one example. It was pretty expensive, but we had a blast and are so glad we did it!! Sometimes the “touristy” things are worth it, and that was definitely one of them!
And now on to the photos…
We stopped at a scenic overlook somewhere in Maryland. I loved these little plants. They look so whimsical.
We saw butterflies, too!
This one’s wing was torn 🙁
Lots of corn in Indiana!
Indianapolis was amazing! The architecture was so beautiful.
Casey, IL has 8 of the World’s Largest Items! The wind chime was so cool, but I only got a video!
The mailbox actually worked! You could put a letter in and the flag would go up!
Lots of places like this have maps where you can pin where you are from!
On to St. Louis!
The view from the top!
Finally made it to Eleanor’s in Manhattan, KS!
Happy Traveling,
– Christi
