Still in Missouri

Well it was a bright shiny morning and I got an early start.  Off I went to Hannibal, the childhood home of Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain.  Hannibal has changed as little as possible from the early days when the  Clemens' first moved there.  It is quite charming though filled with antique shops and other stores named for characters and events out of Mark Twain books.  I did take the Mark Twain House and Museum tour.  It went through his boyhood home, his father's law office and courthouse, the home of his best girl friend who became Becky Thatcher and both the new and old museums.  The new museum has 15 original Norman Rockwell's, that he did as illustrations for the first edition of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.  The sketches for the painting were so much better than the paintings I couldn't believe it.  The paintings were dark and drab, so unlike the usual Rockwell.

After Hannibal I was off to Independence to see the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.  I forget that everything is further away than I think and is going to take longer than I plan. I arrived at 4:30 with the library closing at 5:00.  So I will return tomorrow.  Luckily I am very close to Kansas City, Missouri and can get want I want to do there done tomorrow as well.  Fingers crossed.

I think I'm going into Kansas after that but I won't decide until tomorrow at breakfast.  I'll surprise myself.

Since beside a travel blog this is a trip of personal discovery anyone not interested can stop reading now.

I have discovered I am not much for planning which gets me into a lot of trouble and wastes time.  It also frustrates me which is not good.  I don't handle the frustration well and become self-destructive.  I need to pay more attention to instructions and details.  Right now I'm driving myself crazy.  I seem to be too early or too late for everything.  Tours start on May,  night hours start in May, I'm a day off here.  I'm just sloppy.  If the trip is to be a success I need to clean up my act!

St Louis day two

Today I went to see the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.  It has the most outstanding mosaics all over the interior, it has the largest collections of mosaics anywhere in the world.  It was done in the Romanesque style but was done in 1917.  Some of the mosaics seem to be fairly recent.  I heard a docent explaining the stories to some students.  I enjoyed the visit.

I then went to the City Garden.  It is filled with charming modern sculpture.  Many more than you would expect in such a small space.  Just as I was finishing up photographing the last piece my battery failed.  I was quite surprised since I had just charged it.

I took the camera back to the motel and tried to charge the battery but it wouldn't take a charge.  Off I went to Best Buy only to learn that batteries are no longer made for my camera - it is too old!  Well my choice was to not take pictures for the rest of the trip or buy another camera. So I bought another camera.  This is getting to be a very expensive trip without it even being the trip.

After buying the new camera I went off to see the Botanical Garden.  I thought it was open until 8:00 PM because it is Wednesday.  Turns out that is only true in the summer.  The nice woman at the admission desk let me in and said just pretend that I got lost.  The gardens were very lovely.  The azaleas were in blooms which really cheers a garden up.  They use the color green in so many wonderful ways, playing the shades off each other.  This is a Chilhulily arch, name spelled incorrectly.

Tomorrow it is off to Hannibal.

Another strange day

Well I went to Crystal Bridges, which is the name of the Walmart family museum.  Guess what - It's closed on Tuesday.  Leave it to Walmart to be different.  Every other museum I've ever been to is closed either Sunday or Monday.  The grounds were open and I did a 1.5 mile loop of gardens that had some art displayed.  The grounds are carefully planned and planted.  Everywhere you go there are grounds crews either clearing weeds and dead plants or planting fresh plants or new areas.  I'm just going to have to stop back on my way to New Orleans.

I returned to Eureka Springs to visit Quigley Castle.  It was well worth the return.  The woman and her children who built it, with the the husband's eventual help, did an amazing and unique job.  She collected every little rock that went into building the house.  The house is two stories high with two sides of windows.  For the first 3 winters they had 7 layers of sack cloth over the window spaces as they couldn't get glass.  They have 2 story hibiscus trees, ferns and other plants just inside the windows.  Everywhere you look you see collections of things she collected.  It might be mussel shells, butterflies or arrow heads, but everything is mounted and hung on the walls.  The granddaughter and her family are still living in the house.  They do a marvelous job of maintaining the surrounding gardens, including the large numbers of bottle trees.

The rest of the day was spent driving to St. Louis.  It took longer than I thought it would which is typical.  I have also found the only Comfort Inn suites that is so exclusive that you can't find it.  You sort of have to stumble across a small sign or get on some elusive ring road.  I am not in St. Louis proper but in a town just outside.  I'm supposed to stay here for two nights but will only do that if I can find it again tomorrow night.

Eureka Springs and getting lost

Well leaving early and getting to your destination early really works.  It was a long slow meandering trip on blue roads but I still got to Eureka Springs before 11:30.  I went immediately to the information center and Historical Museum.  The curator was extraordinarily helpful.  She helped me with a map of the area, told me about the town and showed me around the museum.  She also told me about her family and that she was originally from the West, Vegas and Arizona.  We had a good time for about an hour.  She told me about a great local cafe for lunch and she was absolutely correct.

The town is noted for its Victorian buildings, many of them have been turned into businesses or little hotels.  Slightly out of the Downtown more of the houses are in their original condition.  Some have been restored and are gorgeous.  Hot Springs is really a more interesting city.

The curator sent me up to the Crescent Hotel because it has great views and a crystal dining room.  Well the view was disappointing and the crystal dining room was a joke.  The hotel is old and historic but just looked seedy.  There were a number of people staying there though.  They did have a fancy new Spa and Salon which was just amazing.

I then went looking for this funky castle that was built by a woman during World War II.  She couldn't get all the things she wanted so she made do with what she could get.  It should be a hoot.  Well I never did find it so I'll have to hunt it down tomorrow.  I wound up in Bentonville and it was already 4:30.

As I was driving along on my way to Eureka Springs I was amazed at the vistas of the Ozarks.  It is outstanding when you see how much land is undeveloped and just beautiful.  The Ozarks are soft like the Smokies, the roads are twisty and a real challenge to drive.  It keeps you on your toes, it is the type of driving I really enjoy.  I was also struck by the poverty along the way in the little towns.  Some had signs up that said population 85 or 396.  Young people get out if there is any possible way.

Lazy Sunday

Today started rather slowly.  I found a UU church but services didn't start until 11:00.  I made my way to their church, which had a beautiful sanctuary.  I was very warmly greeted and passed around.  They invited me to stay after the service for their version of Lunch Bunch, which is lunch served in the Fellowship Hall. The service was quite different from ours.  It was lovely and their choir was very good.  The choir was almost as large as ours.  The congregation is about 165 people and they seem to be a very active and friendly group.

I went to the Clinton Library and it was very impressive.  I forgot how good we had it under his administration.  It made me incredibly sad to think of the state we have descended to.  It made for a depressing end to the day and visit to Little Rock.

Well tomorrow I will get an early start on my trip to Eureka Springs.

Saturday and some discoveries

My major discovery is that my schedule is upside down.  I should be traveling early in the morning rather than killing time until museums and exhibits open.  I have been so frustrated but it came to me today.  So since tomorrow is Sunday I will stay two nights in Little Rock and leave early for Eureka Springs, Arkansas on Monday.  I found a UU church on the web and will attend tomorrow.  Then after lunch I can get my sightseeing in.  Oh joy I will be on a normal schedule.  I also discovered I'm a little too friendly.  I need to cut back on that.  Most people don't seem to want to talk to strangers.  I'll work that out as well.

Anyway today I discovered the Cotton Museum, which is part of the Cotton Exchange.  I was fascinated by all the things that are done with every single bit of the cotton plant.  I really learned so much.  They had the history of the start of cotton growth and of course it wasn't so nice.  After the end of slavery the cotton plantation owners mechanized and threw the sharecroppers out of work.  Besides the process of cotton growing they explained all the different uses for the different parts of the plant.  Then they went into the different musicians that made up the Memphis sound.  I actually recognized Muddy Waters and maybe one or two others.  The history went back to the early 1800's.  It was a good accidental find.  Originally I was going to a museum that didn't open until noon.

I've wound up in Little Rock.  I spent 45 minutes searching for the Tour office that AAA said was at 500 President Clinton Ave.  I looked at other things, I wasn't just being dumb.  Well  no one has ever heard of this office.  500 P C Ave is the Museum of Discovery.  Little Rock has an electric trolley system that loops around the city.  It was free today, even though it is only fifty cents regularly.  So off I went to orient myself to the city.  This lets me know where I will be going tomorrow.

Casey Jones and the Parthenon

Today was an interesting day in Nashville and beyond.  The first thing I did this morning was make my way to a giant replica of the Parthenon as it is the same size as the one in Greece.  It was built for the 1897 Exposition.  People standing next to the columns look incredibly small.  It is quite impressive.  Downstairs they have an art collection, which in my snobbish way I found inadequate.  Upstairs they had a replica of the statue of Athena as she looked in Greece.  She is almost 42 feet tall.  The statue is really quite ugly but there you have it, not all Greek statues were beautiful.

My next stop was The Grand Ole Opry.  I went on a behind the scenes tour as I didn't want to stay until night to see a show.  The tour was interesting even though I didn't know many of the performers named.  The dressing rooms were decorated to the hilt and named for members of the Opry.  It is a great honor to be asked to become a member of the Opry family.  You also have to be asked to perform, you can't volunteer.

As I was driving to Memphis, my next destination, I happened to notice a sign for the Casey Jones Railroad Museum.  Well my curiosity was piqued.  Off I went to learn more about Casey Jones.  He was a real man and quite a hero.  He came from Cacey TN and that's how he got his nickname.  He was noted for always being on time.  Well on this particular day he had taken over from someone else who was way behind and he was almost caught up.  Up ahead he saw that a freight train hadn't made it onto the side track as it was supposed to, he slowed that train from 75 to 35 when it crashed into the other train.  He was killed but the passenger cars stayed upright and a few people had a few bruises.  The exhibits at the museum include the house he and his wife lived in and raised their three children.  It was a fascinating experience.

My final place was the Grotto of the Crystal Shrine.  This is in the middle of a cemetery.  The grotto is man-made and filled with crystal niches.  Each one is some scene of Christ or his disciples, I think.  One has a beautiful tree with some one hiding in it.  Another is Jesus and the others carved out of beautiful dark wood with black crystal as a roof in the niche.  It was a lot of fun.

Now it's time to write postcards to two special people, so more about Memphis tomorrow.