We recently shared the story of an Italian road trip that brought two former BG Newsers back together. Well, this takes it a bit further.
You see, not only did Karl Smith and Mizell Stewart work in various parts of what is now Falcon Media back in the ’80s (the BG News, WFAL – now Falcon Radio, the Key, BG24), they came to BGSU having known each other since middle school and serving as co-editors of their high school newspaper, Bedford High School’s The Fourth Estate.
After they went their separate ways to seek their professional fortunes, they reunited in 1993 for an epic, two-week road trip across the West that covered about 4,000 miles in an era before Google Maps, cell phones, and booking things online. All they had was a paper atlas, a rental car, and a vague notion of where they wanted to go.
Well, fast forward to just a few months ago when Mizell said to Karl, “we need to go on another road trip.” Just like that, they blocked out four days, jumped in a car and were on their way.
Kansas City was the initial destination, but Karl has slowly been whittling down his list of states to visit in his quest to get to all 50. Having marked South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana off his list earlier in the year, he saw an opportunity to check a straggler off the list – Arkansas, which would be #47.
Mizell took the planning from there, creating an itinerary that would check Arkansas off the list, return him some old haunts, and provide some great stops.
A few highlights:
- Lunch stop in Indianapolis at the amazing food hall in what used to be part of the historic Coca-Cola bottling plant.
- Touring Evansville, Indiana, where Mizell served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper. In addition to visiting numerous landmarks from his tenure, we had to stop at Turoni’s Pizza, which lived up to Mizell’s hype. He recalled the one election night he didn’t order from Turoni’s, opting instead for a wing bar. Bad move.
- Once in Arkansas, a stop to see a spot that’s hard to call a landmark, maybe better described as a point of interest Karl happened across. On U.S. 61, just north of Basset, AR are two cement pillars that bookend a gravel path, and a historic marker. It’s the site of a WWII POW camp for German prisoners. As journalists are prone to do, Mizell and Karl read the sign, learning that this was one of 8 POW camps across Arkansas; later they would learn more than 400,000 German POWs were housed in more than 700 camps across the country. The conversation on the next portion of the ride centered on how so much of history we don’t learn and seems to fade away.
- Karl’s rule for crossing a state off the list mandates at least one of three things – sleeping in the state, eating in the state, or doing something substantial in the state. Since the roadside stop may not have qualified (and they had dinner plans elsewhere), they stopped at the Southland Casino. They walked in with $30 and with Mizell’s strategic guidance, walked out with $68. Victory!
- Lunch at the world famous Memphis Barbecue Company (located in Horn Lake, MS) more than lived up to the hype.
- Sunday evening on Beale Street in Memphis, where they were treated to a rendition of “At Last” that would have drawn cheers from Etta James.
- Satisfying Mizell’s craving for Whataburger, with a detour through Nashville.
- A 5-star meal in Louisville.
- Lastly, after stopping to check out Mizell’s old condo in Cincinnati, a stop at Jungle Jim’s, home to an amazing selection of exotic beers, candy, and food.
But at the end of the day, the highlight of the trip was the conversation. As miles of unremarkable highway slipped past, they retold old stories, contemplated the future, recalled old friends, learned a few things from each other, and wrestled with the issues of our time. As Marci and Dina reminded us, travel is all about relationships. Karl and Mizell found that out 30 years ago and this four-day road trip confirmed that lesson.
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For inquiring minds, the three states left on Karl’s list – Idaho, Alaska, and Hawaii.