Today started with a little nostalgia.

(And this is Tuesday, so it can be my regular newsletter!)

Before leaving the Buffalo area, I stopped at Tim Hortons. I worked in Canada about 20 years ago, so stopping at “Timmy’s” brought back some memories. Apparently, my road trip through American history needed a little Canadian coffee-shop history first!

Then it was time to get moving.

Stop #1 — A Long Drive and a Ferry Surprise

My next major destination was Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial in Ohio.

This one required about a three-and-a-half-hour drive. Then, as I got closer, I discovered one small detail that apparently had escaped my research.

The last five miles required a ferry.

Oops.

Then I discovered something else. The huge monument that is the main attraction is currently closed for renovations.

So now I had a decision to make. Do I take the ferry for the final five miles to visit a National Park unit whose biggest attraction I can’t visit anyway?

I invoked what we might call the Driveby Tourist Five-Mile Rule.

I was close enough!

I’m checking Perry’s Victory off my list. Maybe it deserves an asterisk, but I’m taking it.

Sometimes National Park travel requires hiking boots. Sometimes it requires advance reservations.

Apparently, sometimes it requires better research about ferries.

Stop #2 — River Raisin and a Much More Serious Story

From there, I continued to River Raisin National Battlefield Park in Monroe, Michigan.

River Raisin tells a much more serious story from the War of 1812. American forces fought British troops and their Native American allies here in January 1813.

The relationship between the British and Native nations was complicated. Native people had their own reasons for resisting American expansion, especially as settlers continued moving onto their lands.

The battle ended in a devastating American defeat. The aftermath became even darker when wounded American prisoners were killed in what became known as the River Raisin Massacre.

The phrase “Remember the Raisin!” later became an American rallying cry during the war.

But the story here goes beyond one battle. The conflict was also part of the much larger struggle over Native American lands and westward American expansion.

Years later, federal policies such as the Indian Removal Act forced thousands of Native Americans from their homelands. That history eventually included the terrible journeys remembered as the Trail of Tears.

River Raisin is one of those National Park sites where the history is complicated. There are military stories, political stories, and human stories all intertwined.

And Then, Another Conversation

After River Raisin, it was finally time to call it a day.

Tonight I’m staying at a TownePlace Suites by Marriott. I had some Marriott points available, so tonight’s room cost me exactly the right amount: nothing.

That’s always a nice ending to a long road-trip day.

At check-in, I had another one of those conversations that keeps happening on this trip. The young woman working the front desk and I started talking about travel and different parts of the country.

I even told her about my Perry’s Victory dilemma—driving all that way, discovering the ferry, and then finding out the monument was closed anyway.

Not every conversation today went anywhere. My brief interaction with the ranger at River Raisin was pretty straightforward. But then another conversation happens unexpectedly at a hotel desk.

That has become one of the recurring themes of this trip.

I can plan the National Parks, presidential sites, museums, and roadside attractions. I can map the highways and figure out where I’m going next.

I can’t plan the people.

And sometimes those unexpected conversations become as much a part of the journey as the places themselves.

Today started with “Timmy’s,” included a three-and-a-half-hour drive, a ferry I didn’t take, a monument I couldn’t visit, and a sobering piece of War of 1812 history.

Then it ended with a free hotel room and another conversation about travel.

The places give me somewhere to go.

The people I meet along the way often give me the stories.

“Take It Easy” — Eagles,

Thanks for following!

Stan