The expectations I set as a young boy were probably those of big city lights and big time excitement, those were not met, by my choice! The expectations of a middle-aged man to whom taking pictures of a sunset is big time excitement, those expectations were met in spades.
The road that is now Highway 45 is not the same as it was "back in the day." Through most of the route in Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky, the original road has been widen to at least 4 lanes and in many cases, routed around the small towns that dot the landscape. On a trip where the destination is the focus, that might be fine but on one that the purpose was the journey, it leaves a lot to be desired.
Four-lane highways mimic the interstates with their purpose to limit access and reduce the driving time of those using the path. By-passed are the small towns with their general stores city halls and their festivals. Those have been replaced with Dollar General stores on the out-skirts beside the super-gas station/convenience story/fast food restaurant.
What Highway 45 did provide was a view of agriculture on a scale I've never witnessed. Northern Mississippi and southern Tennessee featured vast fields of cotton, showing its white bolls awaiting harvesting. These gave way in northern Tennessee and into Kentucky to the soy beans fields that stretched on for miles, the field interrupted only by the groups of silos for storing the beans.
Northern Kentucky and Illinois begins corn country which stretches into Wisconsin and Michigan.
Now, I thought I had seen corn fields but nothing I've ever seen in my life compares to the seemly endless fields of corn, the stalks so dense and tall that it seemed impenetrable. But that's not the noticeable thing about these field. To me the most interesting part is that there little land that wasn't covered with corn. The corn grew up to the right-of-way of the road and up to the edge of the yard of the homesteads that were miles apart. Even in entering the towns, the corn fields reluctantly gave way to the homes and businesses. We spent a night in Mattoon, Illinois. The corn field ended at the edge of the hotel's parking lot and the shopping center next door.
Each farm house featured a large, traditional-shaped and colored barns surrounded by more modern metal structures and the ubiquitous silos. It appeared the only variation between them was the shape of the home itself, the remaining structures virtual clones of the ones down the road.
The road in this part of the country is flat and straight, making 90 degree turns in the towns only to return to flat and straight. Traffic mostly came in the form of farm implements moving from one field to another, their name or function I can only guess.
Many of the grain silos bore business names that indicate the corn was destined to be consumed as fuel in an automobile rather than roasted on the cob!
As we neared northern Illinois, we found mixed in with the centuries old farming the new trend in farming: wind farms. Rising out of the corn fields were the titan structures with their three-bladed wind mills to harness nature and provide electrical power to the region.
The view of Chicago from Highway 45 was a distant one. 45 skirts the Windy City passing through metro area on the south and west side. The tall buildings of downtown can occasionally be seen from high points on hills or businesses. O'Hare International Airport is bordered by 45 but on this trip highway construction kept the passage from being anywhere near enjoyable.
Leaving the Chicago metro area puts one right back into corn fields, this time in Wisconsin. But the trees that were scarce in Illinois become much more common and close in state famous for its cheese., that is until you get to Milwaukee. Highway 45 merges with an interstate for several miles. Our arrival was poorly timed and we got to experience a Friday afternoon rush hour with its expected slowdown.
Our arrival in Wisconsin also coincided with the arrival of a cold front that brought cold temperatures and a cold rain. This wouldn't have been a problem except that our packing of clothes was based on a weather report or daily temperatures in the mid-50"s with overnight lows in the mid-40's. turns out our daily high was 40!
The next day we rolled into Ontonagon Michigan and the end of Highway 45 (or as they claim, the beginning of the highway)! A quick selfie (usie) in the rain and then into Syl's Restaurant for a lo
cal treat, the pastie! That's pronounced past-ee, we soon learned. The pastie is ground beef and grounded pork, diced potatoes, rutabagas, onions and carrots stuffed into a tart-like pastry and baked. It is really very good. It is a treat the UP is renown for.
Although our vacation continued in the land of those who talk funny for several more days, this was the end of 45 was the intended goal and the stated purpose of the trip. So this tale will end here.
But first, some other unexpected highlights of the trip:
Finding that Jackson Tennessee is the home of the famous railroad engineer Casey Jones. His grave is here and although we found the cemetery, we couldn't get in as it was locked. I should note that Jones baptism took place at a Catholic church in Whistler Alabama, less than one mile from Highway 45!
The first city one encounters in Illinois while traveling on this road, is Metropolis. And what citizen is the most famous from Metropolis? Why,it's the Man of Steel, Superman! He is honored with a larger-than life statue at the courthouse.
In upper Wisconsin and into Michigan, we began to see broad stripe of some white-colored substance, crossing the highway every couple of miles or so. My first impression was this was markings that allowed for aerial speed monitoring but they weren't at regular intervals. After several miles we deduced that these are special surfaces to allow snowmobiles to cross the highway without damaging the pavement! Not something one sees very often in south Alabama!
Another noteworthy observation of this trip, only one person made fun of my speech!
A journey of this sort is not the right trip for everyone to take. If fact, I don't know if I'll ever undertake a similar trip, especially of this length but it was important for reasons previously mentioned to make this journey. There are some beautiful sights along the way, from the corn fields of Illinois to the backwoods of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. So if you choose to try this trip, be sure and tell Superman I said hello and enjoy a pastie for me at the other end of the highway!
