Paris and New London - Where Are We? - Saturday, May 29, 2021

Missouri Counties walking weekend: day 2.

Cold air, cold wind; this is going to be a chilly walk today. From Hannibal, Missouri, we headed 40 minutes southeast to Paris for our start at the Monroe County Courthouse at 9 a.m. On a weekday, the courthouse would be open and we could use their restrooms. Not so on a weekend. 

Several nearby gas stations with restrooms were available 24/7. Unfortunately, we came into town a different way and did not see the gas stations. We did, however, find a small park with a pit toilet about two blocks away from our start point. Luckily the bathroom was open; no toilet paper, however. In my backpack, I carry a roll of T.P. for just such an occasion. It came in handy today!

In front of the courthouse at 9 a.m., we signed in and received our walk instructions. The locals were having a farmer's market near our start point. Jams, jellies, bread, pastries, pie, vegetables, jewelry, and other wares tempted us as we walked by. Carrying our purchases around for six miles did not sound like a good plan. On the way back to our car, we could stop and shop if anything was left.

Walk registration at the courthouse.

Monroe County Courthouse - front.

Monroe County Courthouse - back.

After walking halfway around the Monroe County Courthouse, we then branched off and walked back and forth on the city streets. Our route was through residential neighborhoods, the county fairgrounds, old town Paris, as well as by historic structures.

When we finished walking around the fairgrounds and exited, it was obvious our instructions were lacking. We were supposed to turn on Locust to Fairview St. However, the streets just outside the fairgrounds had no street signs. Susan Medlin had to look up our location on her phone. Finding our location solved the problem and we made it through this part of the instructions.

Pretty butterfly wind spinner.

Susan Medlin steppin' out.

Up and down hills in Paris, Missouri.

Pretty open spaces.

As we walked, we enjoyed the homes, churches, and libraries we passed. The brick detail on many of these large structures is beautiful.

Paris's Public Library.

A couple of period homes.

A church with beautiful stained glass.

Stained glass in the Presbyterian Church.

The front of the Presbyterian Church.

I loved this home.

We had a turn immediately after the above home. An elderly lady was walking her dog and I stopped to talk to her. After a quick chat, Susan had already walked a couple of blocks. I hurried to catch up to her. I was in charge of following the instructions. After three blocks, we realized none of the streets were matching where we were supposed to be. Susan checked her phone again to see where we were.

It was at this point we realized we were lost. The intersection of the roads at this grain elevator was nowhere in our instructions. We finally found our location on Susan's cell phone and found we were a few blocks away from our start point. Between us, we decided to finish the walk instead of trying to find where we messed up. We headed back to the courthouse.

Several walkers who had recently finished the walk were talking on the sidewalk outside the courthouse. As we arrived, we let them know we had gotten lost three times on the walk. Someone said, "Didn't you get a map?" Well, no, we didn't. They apologized. Susan and I made the walk a 7k instead of a 10k. 

It was a 45-minute drive to our next walk in New London, Missouri. On the way, Susan set Garmin to look for a restaurant in town that wasn't a chain. Garmin found Tubby's Pub & Grub. Okay, we'll bite. When we got there, we entered Tubby's Pub & Grub. The sign on the door said it was under new management.

Tubby's Pub & Grub.

It was clean and open inside. The menu was adequate. The service was excellent. I ordered a BLT on Texas Toast with a side salad, Susan had beef nachos. My lunch was very good. Susan's nachos were a bit sparse. It didn't seem like they had very much on them in the way of cheese, sour cream, and salsa.

With full tummies, we waited for the club members to set up the start table. Susan needed to change her shoes and socks, so I went off to take photos in the immediate vicinity. There were a lot of photo ops!

The next five photos are a wall of murals showing life in New London through the years.

The old downtown across from the 
courthouse.

The historical marker in
front of the courthouse.

Historical marker, part 2.

Patriotic mural across the street.

The cannon in front of the 
courthouse.

Ralls County Courthouse, Missouri.

It's time to take a walk. Susan and I checked in and off we went. After crisscrossing multiple streets, we entered the Barkley Cemetery. After walking counterclockwise on the road, we exited the cemetery. 

Me in front of the Barkley
Cemetery gates.

Barkley Cemetery.

A cute, covered wagon design mailbox.

A psychedelic VW bug from the '70s.

Too bad it's abandoned and overgrown.

As we rounded the corner from Marshall onto 7th St., we saw a big property. I could see a gentleman in the back of the house. It looked there was a baby stroller there and a couple of dogs. We continued on. Just as we were almost past the house, two dogs came racing down the yard straight at us, barking and snapping. I told the first dog to back off and yelled at it. Then, I turned and continued walking. 

I thought if I ignored the second dog everything would be fine. NOT! The second dog attacked my leg and bit my jeans, locking his teeth onto the leg of my jeans. Thankfully, I had long pants on. If I had been in shorts, I would have been bitten hard. I turned on the dog a screamed at it to back off. I kept yelling and would not turn my back on it again. Finally, the owner came down the yard, got between the dog and me, and herded it back to the house. We let him know several walkers were going to be coming by his house. He didn't say anything.

We liked this Southern-inspired house.

We passed the Old School Market Place, a school modified with several small antique shops inside. Just around the corner was New London City Park. Families were barbecuing in the pavilion. 

New London City Park.

The whole side of this garage is 
covered in license plates. It looks
like a quilt. Very cool.

Love this!

Another pretty house.

Ralls County Mural at the end of 
the walk.

Signs in downtown New London.

This was a 10k walk. When we finished, we headed to our hotel in Hannibal. A restaurant called Fiddlesticks located in front of the hotel was recommended to us. Both of us had soup, salad, and a fiddlestick (breadstick with Mozzarella cheese melted in the middle). It was good. 

That's all for today.