You're Doing It Wrong

Let’s wrap this up before summer is over.

We took a bus to Independence to visit the Harry Truman Presidential Library which was phenomenal. I think I’ve confessed before that my U.S. history is weak mostly because I took history in summer school so I could do a special program my senior year where I only went to school half day and I had a job in the afternoon. Summer school history is remedial history. Safe to say I had no trouble passing. I think I was the only student who didn’t go smoke behind the autoshop at the break.

This means my knowledge of presidents is vague and when Bob signed me up for this adventure I didn’t understand what an incredible time period that Truman served in. WWII ending, post WWII and Korean War. This isn’t going to be a history lesson but the library covered Truman from a political and historical perspective as well as his biography. A lot to think about to look back at that time now.

Remember I mentioned we walked around Thomas Hart Benton’s house while we were waiting to get seated at BBQ? He painted the mural at the library. Sorry that’s not the greatest photo.

Bob made sure to point out the replica of the liberty bell at the library. I said: I saw the real liberty bell last year and I wasn’t impressed.

We also went to the Harry Truman historical courtroom. To be honest, we went in there to use the bathroom but then we went into the visitor center and they asked if we were there for the tour and we said yes. The regular tour guide wasn’t there so this other guy took us through and he was great. He had gotten married there and he had some good stories. There was a little art museum in there and I would love to tell you more because the featured artist had an interesting story but Internet Search Tool is failing me and I don’t have all day to write this.

Now that I’m trying to get links, I guess we went to two courthouses? We went to this one, which is called the historical courthouse.

This is what you get when you don’t take notes on vacation, kids.

If you are a history nerd and find yourself in a position to visit Independence, I recommend.

I also recommend taking the bus if you want an authentic experience. Bob and I don’t mind public transportation and this journey kept it real. For the trip home we were waiting to board the bus and the driver helped a clearly intoxicated man in a wheelchair deboard. The man insisted he hadn’t been anywhere near alcohol and the bus driver exits the bus carrying a half empty 40 that he sets down on the sidewalk. I guess I should say half full 40 because a kid that was waiting to board the bus picked it up and put it in his backpack.

The last place we visited before we went to the airport was the American Jazz Museum (of course, if you know Bob) and it was also super interesting. They have so much historical footage of early jazz acts plus lots of information on performers and jazz clubs.

I’ll take notes next time so I have better stories to tell.

St. Louis, MO, Vacation Wrap Up Part 2

I tried to make this pretty but I am afraid while the mighty Mississippi River has many things going for it, beauty is not one of them. But we enjoyed the boat tour and learned about boat and recreational traffic on the river. I think my earlier post might have given the impression that I was afraid I would have to go whale watching in Missouri.

That was not my concern.

We stopped in the Old Cathedral while we were around the Arch park. They are very particular about their silence.

It is the oldest building in St. Louis. Construction began in 1831 and the church was dedicated in 1834. Right now there is a huge renovation project going on down at the park where the Arch is so there are land movers and fences and big piles of dirt. It’s supposed to be done next year and should be really cool.

We also went to the Dred Scott Court House, the history museum and the art museum in Forest Park which was the site of the World’s Fair in 1904.

Missouri has a lot of interesting history because of its location. When the US was in full burn pioneer mode, the settlers would gear up in Missouri before setting out.

Forest Park is beautiful and we enjoyed the museums. Unfortunately, we were caught in a thunder shower while we were walking around. Bob said: Quick, let’s wait under this tree. And a tree can be decent coverage for a certain kind of rain but not the sky opening up and gushing. There was some sort of venue but I don’t think it was public and we started running for that and then spotted a restroom. So we ducked into a stinky park restroom for 20 minutes until the rain stopped.

My summer sandals are probably going to have to be retired after this summer. They didn’t bounce back from the slosh.

Next stop. Kansas City.

This is vacation wrap up Part 1.

For the first time in forever, I didn’t take any notes on this trip. I brought no writing materials of any kind except for the ability to note take on my phone which is not an activity I enjoy and I do only when I have to.

We’ll see if I can remember anything interesting.

We started our trip in St. Louis. I’ve lived on the west coast my entire life and found it adorable that St. Louis calls itself the gateway to the west.

They were in between heat domes so the weather was tolerable. I have concluded that I don’t dislike the heat as much as I dislike going back and forth between the A/C and the heat. I get chilled so easily so I’m always dragging around long sleeves and I hate to have my legs bare. I’ve had good luck with those special travel clothes that are lightweight and dry fast and do magic tricks. I don’t know what they are called but worth it to track down.

When Bob was telling me about St. Louis he mentioned a boat tour and a trip to the top of the Arch. I don’t like boats or high places but I was trying to be game. Turns out the boat tour was a paddleboat on the Mississippi. Of course I wanted to do that. The kind of boat trip I don’t want to do is whale watching in high seas. I kept an open mind about the Arch but then I saw this in the visitor center.

You get into one of these things and ride to the top. For 5 minutes.

We did not do that.

Later, on the boat, a lady talked about doing it and said up in the Arch it shakes. So doubly glad we skipped it.

The Cardinals baseball field is downtown. They were on an extended away streak while we were there but we wandered around the field. I know know who Stan Musial is. He is a rock star in Cardinals history.

More to come.