There is not much I can say today, since the landscape, (aside from hills along the way), were pretty boring. I had major carcolepsy, which means I fell asleep for two hours, which is a first on this trip. We ate two tailgate meals along the way, but our dinner tonight made up for it all. We left Little Rock and hot-footed it to Birmingham, Alabama.

Our hotel, which was built in 1925, was unusual and beautiful, but we were disappointed that the restaurant was closed, so we took a hike to “Helen” for dinner and we were not disappointed. Great dinner menu and ambiance. We are at the end of our travels. Bill is ready. I am never ready. I could travel forever.

The roads between Oklahoma City and Little Rock, Arkansas were less than stellar, but we were delighted with hills and valleys as we entered Arkansas. and our stop at a mini-mart for our “lunchables’ revealed accents that were not distinguishable, but entertaining, as I tried to decipher their words. (But, I digress.) We arrived in Little Rock with one stop in mind. The Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

We parked by the most beautiful school we have ever seen, which was the site of forced desegregation in 1957. This was the height of the civil rights movement. We visited the National Historic Site and were impressed, once again, with the amazing exhibits depicting the events of the struggles of equality and justice of the nine who stood alone against mobs. This site was worth the drive and was as sobering as the Oklahoma bombing site.

We checked into Baker House in the Argenta Arts District of Little Rock, which was built in 1898 in the Queen Anne Victorian style, and is listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. We settled in before our walk about the district, enjoying a drink at FlyAway Brewing outdoors with fancy cars driving by blaring their loud music.

The meal was more than delightful at Ristorante Capeo, where the hubby delved into elk and I remained true to my Italian tastebuds with Veal Piccata, a good Barolo wine, and the finale of my favorite–Tiramisu. Off to dreamland, until we arrive in Birmingham tomorrow, where we expect the sun gods will continue to shine on our month of adventures,

By this time, my readers are probably as sick of my travels as we used to be sitting through other families’ slide shows, but we are almost at the end of our journey. We left the adorable Santa Fe Motel and Inn, which we highly recommend, and had a long drive to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. There was not much to see out of the window, except flat plains, miles of wind turbines, and cotton fields in full white bloom. As we approached Oklahoma, the earth turned red and the mounds and terrain became more interesting. And, of course, the sun was shining!

We only had time for one museum and made reservations yesterday to see the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum and Outdoor Symbolic Memorial. Listed by TripAdvisor as one of the top 25 museums, we were impressed by the scope and depth of the exhibits. Bill and I were teary-eyed through the entire museum. It was extremely difficult to see the destruction, lives lost senselessly, and the number of artifacts saved that depicted the horror of the bombing in 1995.

We walked around the Children’s Plaza, the Survivor Tree, the Reflecting Pool, and the fence with love letters, tokens, and photos hanging. The Field of Empty Chairs was heartwrenching in its quiet simplicity, with a chair for each life claimed. The small chairs for the children were especially sad to see.

We checked into our “bougie” Bradford House hotel near the city. (Priceline.com is great for deals!) The independent boutique hotel was originally luxury apartment homes built in 1912. Our room is in the newer section and is beautifully appointed, as is the restaurant, lounges and other rooms. The courtyard outside our room is perfect for Bill’s nightly scotch and cigar, as he watches sports.

Tonight we dined in the artsy restaurant at the hotel, savoring homemade Gazpacho, other delicious dishes, and broke loose with two desserts. We are headed east tomorrow to Little Rock, Arkansas to yet another city we have never seen.

Bill and I had a wonderful reservation only breakfast, seated in the outdoor alcove of the Inn. It meant we were alone for our start of the day, before heading to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in the center of Santa Fe. We had not been to mass since spring but thought this would be a great time to go. Upon our arrival, they asked if we had a reservation. (No, we did not.) “You are in luck! You two are the last walk-ins to be allowed in!” After submitting our names and phone number for contact tracing, spritzing on hand sanitizer, and agreeing to masks throughout service, we were seated in the distanced designated seat.

Since today was the feast day of St. Francis, and the namesake of the Basilica, Archbishop John Weston presided over the service. The orchestra and singing were astounding for a Sunday mass and we felt like we were at a performance. There were probably less than 100 attendees in this beautiful Cathedral, constructed in 1869 on the site of the original adobe church and founded in the same year as the city of Santa Fe in 1610. Once the sacrament was distributed, we had to leave the church and partake outside. We walked around the church park and saw an engraved tree with the Prayer of St. Francis adorning the trunk.

We walked around the beautiful shops in the square until our 11:30 reservation at the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, passing a  bronze statue outside the YMCA building with four children forming the letters. Only a few were allowed in at a time, and Bill and I enjoyed the exhibit immensely before our next reservation for lunch at the Plaza Cafe overlooking the square. It was another perfect weather day to sit outside and enjoy the music from the park and people watching.

This was a day of reservations only, and we are getting the hang of it, so we made reservations for the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum for tomorrow. We had thought about a drive to Taos, but our activities took too long and we have a long drive tomorrow to Oklahoma City, so we picked up our laundry and relaxed for the afternoon. I am impressed with the way New Mexico handles the COVID precautions, even in the restaurants.