SHAHRISABZ, UZBEKISTAN: AK-SARAY PALACE AND AMIR TIMUR

As we finished our visit to Kok Bumbaz Mosque in Shahrisabz, Uzbekistan, in the distance we noticed two crumbling towers. They turned out to be our next destination.

This is what remains of Ak-Saray, the Mongol conqueror Timur's summer palace and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000:

Of everything Timur built, Ak-Saray ("the White Palace") was planned to be the most magnificent. Construction began in about 1380 and took roughly 25 years to complete. According this this site, the exterior measurements of the entire palace are not known, but the main inner courtyard was about 400 x 800 feet. A football field is about 160 feet wide and 350 feet long, so the courtyard was bigger than four football fields!  If the courtyard was that enormous, imagine the size of the entire palace!

The entrance gate, the only part still standing, once towered 230 feet (over 20 stories) and was a symbol of Timur's power. Our guide had a drawing of what experts thought it looked like. It must have been stunning.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF EDGAR ALLAN POE

American poet, short story writer, and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) lived in this small home from 1833 to 1835:

This isn't the only Poe home that is a museum. There's another one that I'd like to see in Richmond, Virginia, and another in Philadelphia, as well as his dorm room at the University of Virginia. Then there is his house in the Bronx, where his wife died in 1847. All of these are museums. If you are a member of the Poe Cult, there is plenty to see.

Even in Baltimore, as the museum points out, there are plenty of Poe sites:

Poe lived here on Amity Street with his grandmother, aunt, and two cousins. It was in this house that, at age 27, he married his first cousin Virginia Clemm, who was only 13. Yeah, it's a little creepy.

The Poe family tree shows the kinship of Edgar and Virginia:

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND: AROUND TOWN AND ST. ANNE'S CHURCH

We couldn't find a parking space in downtown Annapolis near the State House, so we parked about a mile away. The good part about that was that we got to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Chesapeake Bay. The bad part is that it was about 100° and about 90% humidity.

As we got near to downtown Annapolis, it was a nice surprise to come upon this public art piece showing a man telling stories to three children:

That soda behind the girl on the right almost looks like it belongs there.

Then we learned that it's not just ANY man--it's Alex Haley, author of the epic saga Roots (1976), which became a record-breaking television miniseries in 1977. (By the way, did you know Haley also co-authored The Autobiography of Malcolm X? That came out in 1965.) Roots tells the story of six generations of Haley's own family. The Kunta Kinte - Alex Haley Memorial commemorates the arrival of Haley's ancestor and other slaves in this very harbor:

I had a flashback to the Kunta Kinte statue in Atlanta outside the Martin Luther King Museum, which shows Kunta Kinte holding aloft his baby daughter Kizzy, much like Mufasa holds up his newborn cub Simba in The Lion King.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: SNELLING STATE PARK AND MINNEHAHA FALLS

The name "Minnesota" comes from the Dakota word for "clear blue water," and Minnesota's nickname is "Land of 10,000 Lakes." It should come as no surprise that two of the first sites we visited on our trip to Minnesota involved water.

Our first destination was Snelling State Park, which sits on the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The Dakota Indians, who lived here before the Europeans arrived, considered this confluence to be the center of the world.

We were there on a cool, overcast day in October. As we drove through the park, the nearby city seemed far, far away. The breeze tickled the feathery pampas grass, but the water in the lakes sprinkled throughout the park appeared to be a flat, hard mirror.

The park has miles of biking, hiking, and cross-country skiing trails, but we saw no one as we drove around.

Bob was understandably excited when we came upon this flock of wild turkeys:

. . . and I was yet again grateful that digital cameras have replaced film:

IOWA CITY, IOWA: THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA AND THE IOWA AVENUE LITERARY WALK

We have discovered the joys of domestic travel. There is as much to see in the United States as in any country we have visited--or more! The US is full of hidden gems. Last June, after spending some time in Kansas City, we traveled through Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, three states not necessarily known for their tourism, but which we learned are LOADED with things to see. 

Here is a map of our meanderings. We began in Kansas City and nearby sites in Missouri (bottom middle), then drove north to Des Moines. From there we went east to Iowa City and West Branch, then turned around and went back through Des Moines and west to Council Bluffs. Next was Winter Quarters, Nebraska, followed by Omaha and Lincoln (left side of map above center). Continuing south, we went to Abilene, Kansas, then turned east towards Topeka, ending up back in Kansas City.

Our longest drive was the first stretch from Kansas City to Iowa City, a distance of about 300 miles. However, we like to drive, and we had a good book going from our Audible.com acount (Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson), so we didn't mind. 

We left in the late afternoon so we could sleep in Iowa City and get an early start the next day. 

I fell head-over-heels in love with radiant Iowa. (And with Kansas. And with Nebraska.) 

It didn't hurt my initial impression of that our first stop was the Iowa Avenue Literary Walk, located on both sides of three blocks of Iowa Avenue, which runs alongside of the University of Iowa.