March 21- I gotta tell ya, that cold weather was just for the
birds. Thank goodness it warmed up to a bright, sunny day to visit
Harry Truman's birthplace. It's a small unassuming house with a big
Austrian Pine in front that Harry's Dad planted for Harry. No running
water, an outhouse in the yard, and one of the most powerful men in
the world was born downstairs in the front room. The Truman's only
lived there for eleven months, and the National Park Service chose to
make their historical site for Truman in Independence instead, but
since one of the most important qualifications to become President of
the United States is to have been born in the United States, this
house, run by the State of Missouri, has real significance. When we
arrived, the house was empty, and the door was unlocked. We walked
right in and looked around a few moments before the State of Missouri
Interior representative scurried from the house across the way to
show us around. That's how they do it, she watches from her window
and listens to a baby monitor, hears folks arrive and runs right
over. Plain and simple and all American, just like Harry. As we were
leaving, another car pulled up to see the house. On our way out of
Missouri, we stopped in Carthage and found a nice old piece of the
original Route 66.
The
ladies who showed us the way said that Carthage is the "Crossroads
of America". The crew wanted to spend the night
in
a bed and breakfast in Mississippi so we headed southeast. There's a
cutoff road just past Springfield called "J" that took us
on a dreamy sunset trip to the Crossroads CafßE I drove all night
through Arkansas to get to Spahn House
in
Senatobia, Mississippi.