Day 97 -- Knox County Tour

As much as I have been over to Knox County to see Danny and Sharon, when we got to Knox City to meet Danny for breakfast and then a little tour, it all became new territory for me through his eyes.  We had a great breakfast at Bud's Cafe which was a fine country breakfast and then we got in his pickup and he began to drive us around to see some sights I hadn't seen.  First, he drove us over to Benjamin and the first stop was the Knox County Veterans' Memorial in downtown.  I had seen the beginnings of this memorial before, but when we got out and he took us to the last panel in front, he pointed out Cody's name on the memorial and that was a shock and quite moving.  I guess I only think of dead veterans' names being on a memorial and for a second it just washed over me.  But I am very proud that he has been honored by being on that slab of granite because he has given and is still giving plenty for his country and I am so proud of him!  We walked around and looked at all the panels, silently giving our respect to them for their service to our country--there were many names I knew on those panels including Sharon's relatives, friends' relatives, etc.  This tiny little county seat town has done well by those who have served our country who lived there.

Danny took us over to the county museum but it wasn't opened and as we started to drive away, I saw a little shop that looked cute and asked what it was--a quilt shop and Carol had quite a fit about going in there.  So we went in and she was able to get "Texas" quilt material for making a block of a quilt she is planning to capture their travels.

Carol in front of quilt shop

I loved these two quilts!  They wouldn't sell them to me though--
told me I had to make them!

Knox County Museum

When we  dragged Carol out of the quilt shop, Danny drove us out of town to a beautiful roadside park in an area called the "narrows" that was spectacularly beautiful in its rugged landscape.  We stopped and got quite a few photos of the area--and luckily saw no rattlesnakes!

The Narrows

Then we wound through the countryside back to Rhineland to show Carol and Dave the Catholic Church out there.  We walked through it and they were completely awed by the beauty of the church so far out from nowhere.  Dave said there is a St. Joseph's Catholic Church in their area in Illinois that is very similar in style to this one.  We were all struck by the quietness and peacefulness of the area while we were out there.

St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Rhineland
Construction started in 1927, finished 1951