We spent a few hours this morning in Carterville doing a nostalgia thing. After an ineffective attempt to find Papa's parents' grave, we went to City Hall and got directions. While we were in downtown Carterville, between the two traffic signals, we went into the library to see the plaque there with Anna K.'s name. Back to the graveyard, we found the graves with little difficulty and Mema put some fresh flowers in the urn there. Other than a failed effort to find picture postcards of Carterville (the drug store had some a few years ago, but they were all gone), we were finished with Papa's hometown and headed for the interstate. Eastern Illinois and Indiana slid past with maddening sameness until we stopped to enjoy lunch at the Oak Inn in the middle of nowhere, Indiana. We sped through Louisville, KY and Lexington, then stopped in Winchester, KY for the night at a Best Western where our station wagon was the smallest vehicle to be seen -- all the others were trucks with winches and other machinery mounted on them. Dinner at Applebee's followed and preceded SkipBo and the consumption of a wine from Illinois I bought this morning in Carterville at Kindling, which offered food, spirits, and flowers. Tomorrow we head toward Richmond, maybe one long day's drive, maybe two shorter days. No hurry.
Photos, from bottom: At the Carterville Public Library; Papa with a plaque denoting a contribution Gordon made in memory of his wife Anna K., Papa's sister; detail of the plaque; at the grave of Clyde and Marie McCluskey, Papa's parents; the grave; the veteran's marker for Clyde.
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