Visiting Aunt Esther

An easy 5 1/2-hour drive that only takes 7 hours will get you to Burlington, Iowa, a Mississippi River town tucked in the southeastern corner of the state that has a great deal in common with Cape Girardeau.

My wife and I went there last weekend because my only surviving aunt lives there now, near a son and daughter-in-law. It was, except for the drive, a wonderful trip.

There is nothing wrong with the drive. It's just that my wife and I are finding long-distance road trips less and less tolerable.

As it turns out, U.S. 61, which used to be the main north-south highway into and out of Cape Girardeau, is the main highway to and from Burlington, too. Following the directions of the navigation system in our car, we enjoyed the four lanes of highway almost to the Iowa border, where U.S. 61 zigs, on two lanes, over to Keokuk, Iowa, and then zags north to Fort Madison and then Burlington.

It is that two-lane stretch that adds so much travel time. We were glad to see that part of Iowa, since it is one section of the state we had never visited -- at least as adults.

On the way home, we took a four-lane detour from Burlington over to Mount Pleasant and then south to Hannibal, Mo., enjoying the luxury of four straight nonstop lanes of highway. It cut off more than half an hour even though there were a few more miles.

As we negotiated the Mount Pleasant interchange, my wife remembered that her aunt and uncle had lived there when she was a girl, and she had visited them. She remembers riding from Missouri to Iowa with them, but she can't remember how she got home.

Her aunt and uncle both worked at a state mental hospital in Mount Pleasant, and when they retired they moved back to Missouri to be close to family. We remember many a dinner when Aunt Daisy and Uncle Mose would tell us stories of their days at the hospital -- stories they would be prohibited from telling under today's privacy laws. One our entire family remembers is about the woman who swallowed a pair of scissors. Yes, scissors. Even if I could remember all the gory details, I could never tell it like Aunt Daisy.

My Aunt Esther, in Burlington, lived in my favorite hometown in the Ozarks over yonder until shortly before my mother died. They were the last of five sisters and one brother.

My mother and all of my aunts were great cooks, but I'm pretty sure Aunt Esther was one of the best. Her chicken and dumplings are legendary among my cousins who got a sample at every family reunion until she moved to Iowa.

As for Burlington, it is a city of well-tended neighborhoods and a good-sized downtown full of commercial buildings and church steeples. One fascinating downtown feature is Snake Alley, a brick street that consists of a series of half-circles down a steep hill. It was built to give horse-drawn fire wagons quicker access to the gracious homes on top of the hill in case of fire. Now a special race is held there each year for bicyclists.

I promised my cousin I would make special mention of Snake Alley. He drove us around to show off the city's large and well-maintained parks. He has every right to be proud of them. He is the city's parks and recreation director.

Burlington's downtown is more connected to the Mississippi than Cape Girardeau's, but it also is more susceptible to flooding along parts of the riverfront.

If you're looking for a good weekend destination, I recommend Burlington. If you go, stop by and say hi to my Aunt Esther.

And the trip only takes 5 1/2 hours -- unless you stop along the way and go through Fort Madison.

jsullivan@semissourian.com;