Day 2, May 31, 2018
Nashville, TN – Omaha, NE
763 miles/11 hours
Whoowee…long day. I must commend the children. They were
incredibly well behaved and there was minimal fighting in the car. Honestly,
there’s not much to tell, as it’s a drive we’ve made before, so the landscape
wasn’t all that surprising. Southern Illinois is beautiful and flat, as is
Iowa. We were fortunate to avoid any bad weather, except for a stretch of I70,
between St. Louis and Kansas City, where the sky south of us got eerily black.
I had to brace the wheel rather tightly as the wind was rocking the car, but we
managed to out run the storm. Every time I’m in that stretch of country I get a
queasy stomach, convinced that a tornado will take us away.
Here’s my one interesting experience of the day. I couldn’t locate
an independent bookstore that was close to where we are and/or was still open
after dinner. I settled for the local Barnes and Noble, because I like to
browse books and see if and how the different franchises curate their displays.
Yes, I’m a complete book geek (and if I ever win the lotto I will open my own
bookstore!!!). The Omaha B&N is located in a mall, which is a bit unusual. I
parked the car and noticed that there weren’t many people there. Also, the sidewalks were in very bad shape. We
entered the mall and it was dark and stuffy. The only light was from the
skylights from above. Most stores were closed, with the gates down. It was only
7:15 P.M. I started to turn around, feeling as though we were reenacting the
beginning of a horror movie. Audrey spotted a woman walking towards us and
asked if the mall was open. She said yes. Okay? I asked if there was a B&N
in the mall, and she pointed us in the right direction. You guys – it was
creepy weird! It was a mall ghost town. Nothing was open. All the shops were
gated or empty. The escalator was frozen. And there were only emergency lights
leading the way. I mean, I’ve read about malls closing and being abandoned, but
to actually experience it. It was very sad.
Lo and behold, as we rounded the corner and there was
B&N, illuminated in all her glory with bight fluorescent lights. I immediately
chatted up the ladies at the information desk. The mall has been closed for
years. Only B&N and Target remain. I
asked them if they were okay. “Okay?” At this point I believe they were
wondering if I was okay. Yes! I was desperate to know if they had business and
were going to stay open. They assured me that they were very busy and the rent
was affordable, so they expected to be there for a while. Phew.
My only picture from Omaha!:
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