We learned a lot today about this very interesting and tight knit community on a food tour. About 2500 people live in this neighborhood – the largest Italian American enclave in the nation. Our tour began at Guido’s.

In the bright orange shirt, John, the owner of Eat St Louis. Because of demand there were three tours today spaced 30 minutes apart and John had to lead one of them. Nice touch: the orange water bottles, one for each of us. A good idea too, since it was hot (84 degrees) and humid (71%).

This tasting – the first of six! – was pizza St Louis style. Thin crust, provel cheese, and cut into squares.

On to one of two Italian grocers on The Hill:

We walked through the grocery section, past the kitchen prep area, to the back of the restaurant:

Delicious shaved beef/cheese sandwich (warm and wrapped in foil, ready at each table setting) plus delicious Italian stuffed olives:

We learned a lot about the neighborhood as we walked between stops including these shotgun houses built for the Italian miners who came to The Hill to work in the clay mines.

Next was a salumeria – a delicatessan – but this one specialized in sausages. Jill, in the green shirt, was our guide:

These are charcuterie cones were filled with an assortment of the meats available inside.

Inside the shop:

Next, Mama Toscano’s:

This is where Toasted Ravioli began. These were meat filled and hot. Delicious!

Two stops to go, time for dessert?

Jill brought out a box of …

cannolis!!!

A stop at Piazza Imo. Behind the fountain are several tables with chess sets. There are also a couple of bocce court venues in the neighborhood.

This marble fountain is relatively new – imported in 2019 from Italy – pristine with no signs of weathering yet. In the background is St Ambrose Church, another focal point of the community:

Final stop … for gelato. Before we went in, Jill said it would be perfectly fine if we asked for a taste of EVERY flavor. Be still my heart. I tried a few, but quickly knew salted caramel was the perfect choice.

It was really really good … and I forgot to take a picture. Great food tour, excellent guide – thank you Jill – great information about The Hill. We might have to come back to this neighborhood and do more exploring. And eating.

Monday June 21. Dani, Kathy, Rich, Cheryl, Cindy:

Tuesday June 22. Dani, Kathy, Cheryl, Cindy:

Friday June 25. Practicing for the Breathe Bike Trek in September. Jonathan took this picture of Cindy, Dani, Cheryl, Kathy:

Saturday June 26. To Old Sac and back. Amal, Carmen, and friend:

To Dave’s Fresh Produce in W Sacramento. Jonathan took this picture of Cindy, Kathy, and Cheryl:

Great rides this week. Go team!

It was a rainy day, so we drove to see Superman’s hometown.

15 feet tall and recently repainted, in front of city hall:

We walked down to see the Ohio River, Indiana is on the other side:

Our campsite at Tom Sawyer was full sun all day and it was hot. We left Saturday morning and drove to Sikeston MO for one night. And our site was (sad face) in the full sun again and it was still hot.

On Sunday we continued north to Marion Illinois. Crossing the Ohio River into Illinois:

Taffy in the front office at Marion RV Park & Campground was so kind and gave us a full-shade site. Even the parked car is in the shade. And it has cooled off. Thank goodness.

Monday June 14. Dani, Kathy, Cheryl, Leo, Jane. What’s your caption for this photo?

Tuesday June 15. Dani, Leo, Cheryl, Kathy:

Wednesday June 16. Dani, Jonathan, Cheryl, Kathy, Jane.

Thursday June 17. Kathy, Leo, Dani, Cheryl. 32 miles starting at 7 am. My weather app said Sacramento had a high of 107 degrees with 10% humidity today. This is when someone might say, “Yes, but it’s a dry heat.” My comparison: today I rode 21 miles beginning at 6:15 am, 93 degrees with 41% humidity today, W Memphis AR-Memphis TN and back. Hot is hot. Ride early.

Saturday June 19. Dani Art, Kathy, Leo, Cheryl:

Knowing where we were going made all the difference this morning. And we left at 6:15.

The Memphis River Walk has the potential to be a good trail. It’s a series of individual parks, starting with this one:

We went through some nice neighborhoods with great views of the river:

But the third park and trail was closed. Yesterday we had to find a detour, today we knew what to do. We rode past Beale Street and found some construction happening. In the background, the local riverboats that offer tours, Mud Island, and the closed I-40 bridge:

A right turn on Monroe Ave took us to Main St with an empty trolley going by:

Main St in Memphis at 7:15 am, looking north:

South:

On the corner:

This is the detour we had to take around one of the closed parks. The left lane on S Riverside Dr was blocked to vehicle traffic. In the right lane, the correct place to ride, there was no bike lane or shoulder (or sidewalk). But there was plenty of partially protected space in the blocked left lane so that’s where we rode.

Approaching the bridge from the east side of the river:

A better view of the park underneath the three bridges:

At the W Memphis end of the Big River Crossing, we turned left on S Loop Rd for about 3 miles to get back to the turn off for the campground. Industrial sections on the right, the levee and river on the left. It had a great shoulder most of the way and very little traffic.

21 miles. Hurray! We got to ride two days in a row which also meant Starbucks both days. And we were back in the air conditioned RV by 8:45 am!

It was still hot so we completed any outside tasks in the early morning. By 9 am it was time to sit and do something else. If a breeze was blowing, it was possible to find a good patch shade by the river to sit and watch the traffic go by.

There is no recreational boating, it’s all commercial. Push-boats moving barges up or down the river.

Sitting high in the water, going upriver, means the barge is empty:

When something unique came up/down the river, other camera-ready RVers came out:

Like this one. Nine barges rafted together, each holding 36 shipping containers. That’s 324 trucks not driving down the road each pulling one container on a trailer.