This morning Scott and I set out early from Louisville. With flights to catch on Monday afternoon, we realized that we were running a bit behind on our schedule, so we were facing almost 600 miles of driving today.

The first 100 miles or so was needed just to drive south from Louisville to reconnect with the Trail of Tears. Once that was accomplished, we were back on the hilly, windy green hills of Kentucky, roughly following the original route that the Cherokees walked.

The day’s trip would involve driving west from Hopkinsville, KY to Tahlequah, OK. Our route (which is essentially the Cherokees’ northern route) would take us from Kentucky through Illinois Missouri, and Arkansas, before we crossed the border into the old Indian Territory of Oklahoma.

It was still early in the morning on a Sunday in rural Kentucky, so we were pretty much the only ones on the road. As two California boys, we had to chuckle at the Kentuckians’ idea of congestion.

Mid-morning we arrived at Mantle Rock, near the bank of the Ohio River. This is where the Cherokees camped (some for up to two weeks) while waiting for ice on the river to break up enough to permit a ferry crossing. We hiked a short section of trail to get to Mantle Rock.

I get the sense that this was one of the more commodious stops along the TOT. It’s hard to imagine the pain, discomfort, and danger of spending three months out on the trail like this.

After we got back to the car, we made a short drive to the river and took a ferry across the Ohio River to Golconda, Illinois, and continued in the Cherokees footsteps.

It was now close to noon, and we settled in for a long drive along the rest of the route, taking in the scenes of rolling hills and endless forests in Illinois Missouri, and Arkansas. About 10 pm we finally crossed the state line into Oklahoma, which at the time of the TOT was the Indian Territory, and the new home for the Cherokees. Tomorrow morning we will explore their national capital of Tahlequah, and complete the trip.

BREW OF THE DAY

Today’s BOTD comes from the J Street Brew Company in Perryville, Missouri. Perryville is another of the many quaint, quiet, historic towns we passed along our journey. I had a Pineapple Habanero Saison. It’s lighter than I normally drink, but this place seems to specialize in pepper-infused beers. (They also had a Mango Chile IPA, a Jalapeno Lime Lager, and a Poblano Pale Ale). The saison is an uncommon style of beer these days, but it’s refreshing as an afternoon beer in summer. This one tasted somewhat sour, coming, I think, from the combination of the pineapple and peppers. The body is quite light. It’s very fizzy, almost like champagne. The ABV of 5.8 is friendly for a mid-day driving stop.