US road trip heads north

We arrived in St Louis in a rainstorm so didn't do much on our first night apart from having a meal at Chuck Berry's former club Blueberry Hill and checking out his statue opposite. Next day we went to the city's biggest landmark the Gateway Arch. I've been up before so gave the trip to the top a miss but it was a first time for Alan and John S. From there we drove to the cemetery out of town where Chuck's mausoleum is located.

In the evening we went to Hammerstones bar in the Soulard district for the John McVey blues band. John is a big man who plays and sings Texas blues and his band comprises bass player Tecora Morgan and her brother Riley who manages to combine drumming with playing keyboards at the same time, tucking a drum stick under his arm while doing so.

Before leaving St Louis next morning we did a tour of the National Blues Museum which is glitzy and colourful if a little superficial. On the road heading north again we went to Hannibal, boyhood home of Mark Twain where there are many touristy reminders of his time there. We also visited a small museum called Jim's Journey (organised by Alan). Founded and curated by a lady called Faye Dant it is devoted to the struggle for equality undertaken by African Americans and was featured on a Channel 4 series about the Mississippi with Nick Knowles.

The following day we continued our journey north stopping off at Fort Madison where the Chicago to LA railway crosses the river. There are up to 80 very long freight trains passing every day plus a couple of Amtrak passenger trains and a webcam showing the activity is viewed by hundreds of people every day. Two very enthusiastic ladies made us welcome and we had a good brunch at a newly opened restaurant and bar on the river front. Continuing alongside the river we stopped off at Burlington, Iowa, where there is another preserved loco and a curious road which is claimed to be the second most crooked street in the US.