Tobacco Curing Barn

One of our last stops along the Natchez Trace was this period tobacco barn. In it tobacco bandeliers were hung from the rafters to cure and dry. Although, website photos show it decked out with bundles of tobacco, there was only one still hanging when we were there. Anne posed her suspicion that kids might have stolen the rest, but I think that that is just the teacher in her blowing smoke.

I had a dentist appointment this morning, which meant that I had to drive out to far west county, or just east of Kansas City. On the highway out, I was treated to a spectacle. Rolling Thunder the Vietnam veterans motorcycle organization was passing through town, eastbound, heading towards our nation’s capitol and their Memorial Day appointment there this weekend. The police were treating them like a presidential motorcade. They had stopped traffic on all of the highway entrance ramps. The front of this parade was a phalanx of motorcycle cops, with lights flashing and sirens whirling. Their V-formation was similar to that used by Canada geese. Behind this tip were hundreds, nay thousands of other motorcyclists riding in a loose continuous stream that filled all three lanes and ran on for eight miles. At the very end was another bunch of motorcycle cops and three MODOT trucks, each sporting a large LED sign that I read in my rearview mirror, “Do Not Pass”. Saint Louis really does love its parades.

I enjoyed seeing the motorcycle version of Rolling Thunder. I’m not so sure how much I will like mother nature’s tonight. The weather system that has been roiling Texas and Oklahoma is scheduled to hit town tonight. The Blues hockey team is playing in town and they hope to clinch a Stanley Cup playoff berth for the first time in fifty years. Plus, the Cardinals are also playing in town tonight. We have dinner and a show at the Fox tonight, so it could all prove interesting.