As we enter our eighth month of cruising on the Great Circle Loop, we have now begun our journey on the river system portion of our trip. We have now cruised the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers.
We are so impressed and honored to meet the people who live in these small towns along the river system. Some of these towns have a population of 1,000 or less… oftentimes much less.
The women and men in these towns greet you with “darlin, honey, sweetie, ya’ll be safe, God bless you, and come back and see us.” They say these sayings from the bottoms of their heart and they mean them with all their hearts.
These small river towns fly the American flag with pride and have memorials in the middle of their town squares with plaques and flags to honor their fallen military. They send their sons and daughters to join the military and are proud to be able to do so.
These small river towns don’t have big, fancy stores or malls. Quite the contrary, they are so small, the Dollar General store often serves as a grocery store with everything you need… including fresh produce and dairy. If the town happens to have a real grocery store, it also has wine and liquor because there is no liquor store within many miles.
These are the towns and people that have made a lasting impression on us They are kind, sincere, patriotic, friendly, and willing to lend a hand to anyone at anytime. We feel so blessed and grateful to have made friendships with these people, however fleeting our time with them is.
Every day the words to America the Beautiful (O Beautiful for Spacious Skies) come to mind as we begin our journey through America’s heartland and meet the people who add the heart to our heartland.
God Bless America!🇺🇸🇺🇸