Day 1: June 4, 2019 Two Hits and a Miss Comment via blog

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Before starting my own road trip, I managed to horn in on someone else's. I first met Kathryn in the ghost town of Glen Rio on Route 66 several years ago. She and Mike are now in the final stages of a North American tour that included bits of Canada, New York, Florida, and Tennessee. They are visiting from Australia and we met for breakfast where Kathryn presented me with some Vegemite flavored crackers designed to avoid the tedious task of manually spreading the tasty paste before eating. The visit was too short but great fun and we did manage to catch up a bit.

I met the Launching Pad's new owners ever so briefly and in the midst of about a hundred people shortly after they bought the place. I was looking forward to connecting in a better setting but it didn't happen. Holly and Tully have been busy reviving the restaurant and were off chasing equipment when I stopped in. The most recent project was a helmet-off refresh of the iconic Gemini Giant and he's certainly looking good. I've seen him before in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2016. Before the giant got his makeover, the restaurant was brought back to life and a mini-museum installed in the back. And there is indeed food. For me it was a pulled pork sandwich.

After I'd made arrangements for my mid-trip layover, I learned that Cincinnatian Ben Levin would be playing not too far from where I planned to sleep. The local Friends of the Blues club was hosting the performance at the Kankakee Valley Boat Club. This seems like a coincidence I really should take advantage of so I did along with a sizable percentage of the area's population. The place was packed to see Ben and his dad backed by drummer Marty Binder and bassist Chris Bernhardt.

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