I have always been a huge fan of Churchill. One of my heroes of the 20th Century. He had no problem with drawing things in black and white, because he knew that shades of gray gave people an out.
Two years ago, I had just finished a crazy stretch of work, and had to take time off to unwind. I had a lot of vacation time, my wife had far less than me, so I took a road trip. No plan, just packed a bunch of things, jumped in my car, and took off for a week with no destination.
How rare and wonderful is that? I went to do some horseback riding in the Shenandoah mountains, but it poured rain for the two days I was there, even the people who ran the place went off and left me there all by myself!
After two days, I was bored out of my gourd, no horseback riding, no phone, no Internet, and it was pouring rain constantly and I was all alone. So I got out a map, and picked the Four Corners Monument in Utah as my destination, and started out at 0400 the next morning. I got as far a Louisville, KY, and when I sat down to have dinner, I realized there was no way I could make it to Four Corners and get back home again. I only had a four more days. So I pulled out a map, and said "Where do I want to go? Hey...I've never been to Nebraska!" I put my finger down on the state and landed on Falls City, NE. But as I read more, the small town looked like it was best known for a murder of a transsexual there. The article I read said it was a destination for some in that part of society (oddly enough) so I figured I might take another stab at a different small town. When my finger came down, it was on Tecumseh, NE. Population 1,677. That is where I was going to go.
I tried to drive straight through from Louisville to Tecumseh, but at around 0100, I could see that wasn't going to happen, so I stopped about 20 miles north of St. Louis for the night.
Early the next morning, I left around 0700 to drive north, and as I drove north, I saw the sign for the National Churchill Museum! I didn't even know there was such a thing, and with the freedom that being on the road with no destination has, I veered off the exit to make that my destination. I may never get a chance to be that free in my life again...:)
It was just the coolest thing! Great museum and beautiful church.
I made it up to Tecumseh the next day, and it was Small Town USA, said as a compliment. (The town was originally named Frances who was the mistress of a married Army Officer who fought Tecumseh, and the town changed the name to Tecumseh a few decades later after they had a spat with the same old Colonel whose mistress the town was named after...there is some interesting small town bitter politics in THAT name change! (The official story was that Frances was his wife, but the historic record is...muddled!
It was great. I just stayed there two nights at the Super 7 Inn, and the morning I left, I had breakfast with the Mayor of the town who I just struck up a conversation with (didn't know he was the mayor) in a dinky little breakfast place!