In November, 2015, My Own True Love and I set out on an adventure. We headed south for a three-week trip along the Great River Road, a conglomeration of 3000 miles of local and state roads that follow the length of the Mississippi River. We started in Memphis, went south until we reached the end of the road in Louisiana, then headed back toward Chicago, stopping at whatever took our fancy. We made it as far as north as Vicksburg,(1) where we ran out of steam and the weather turned nasty. I blogged about it as we went. (If you’re interested, you can find those posts in the category Road Trip Through History.)

In a few weeks we’re setting out again. This time we’re starting at the headwaters of the river at Lake Itasca State Park, and traveling south through Minnesota and Iowa toward Chicago. Once again, we’ll stop at anyplace that catches our eye. We only have a week, so we may not even make it across the Minnesota border before we have to head home.  More blog posts will ensure.

Once again, I’m asking the Marginalia for suggestions about places we should stop at, historical or simply hysterical, famous and obscure. Are there regional specialties we need to try? What little town has a great restaurant, bakery, farmer’s market, or music venue? Traveling history nerds want to know.

(1) I apparently never wrote a blog post on Vicksburg National Military Park, which is a shame because it was fascinating. I knew I left some posts unwritten, but sheesh! It may be time to dip back into those notes.