There’s No Place Like Home

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Dorothy is right as always but for us leaving home and seeing new places is a constant draw. On this motor home trip through the South and more we have seen a lot, learned a lot, and tried some new adventures.

We fulfilled a milestone. On the outside of the motor home is a map of the adjacent forty-eight states. Anna Lee visited her forty-eighth in Delaware and Jerry put his last state on our map in Kansas.

What’s missing on the map are the two non-adjacent states. We, without the motor home, have been to Alaska and Hawaii several times. Anyone wanting to drive with Jerry to Alaska in the motor home, let him know; Anna Lee passes on that journey. A drive to Hawaii awaits the completion of either the bridge or tunnel.

In eighty-six days of travel we drove through 27 states for 9289 miles. The CRV, our tow car, added a couple of thousand miles. Three states, Delaware, Arkansas, and West Virginia, were just nicked (ten or twenty miles) as we drove through them on the way to somewhere else.

To make the miles go faster, we listened to four audio books. The best was Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck. Anna Lee hated the book when she read it in the early 60s; but, on this trip, the book became a travelogue, history and sociology textbook, and a predictor of the future (meaning the twenty-first century). Now Anna Lee can’t stop recommending it, including choosing it for her book club.

While places and activities are memorable, visits and travels with family and friends are heartwarming. Both the family reunion and the Sippin,’ Trippin,’ and All Things Legal caravan were filled with memorable events. Even visits of a few hours or a couple of days with friends and family were extra bonuses to treasure.

While Anna Lee planned the intended route multiple times, it is the unplanned that always delights us. These surprises include watching the space shuttle lift off for the next to last time, boating in the Louisiana swamp, rafting in Ohiopyle, and the town of Chattanooga. Among the cities we would return to are Charleston, Savannah, Philadelphia and St. Louis. Places that exceeded expectations include the Frank Lloyd Wright home Fallingwater, Graceland, the many botanical and sculpture gardens and the St. Louis Arch.

This was a journey aimed at seeing the South and learning about that part of this country. Our goal was more than fulfilled. We saw lovely places and met wonderful people. The beautiful landscape along the highways and byways in the South are not to be missed. We learned history we had either forgotten or not been taught. While we knew the Civil War was the most significant event for this area, we saw and heard that the war and its political, governmental and cultural aftermaths continue today. Revisionist history is occurring and that is most disturbing.

Having now toured all 50 states, we are happy to call California home and it greeted us with bouquets of wild flowers along Interstate 80. Now we can enjoy remembering the trip through the more than 8000 photographs we have to edit and cut.

Leap Frogging Home

Since we left Abilene, we have had a series of one night stands heading west toward home. Our stops have been brief but enjoyable.

Goodland, Kansas, is the only US site and one of only six places in the world to have a giant painting of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. As the center for sunflower seed and oil production, the city has a park with this painting as its center point.

Cousin Barbara recommended we stop in Burlington, Colorado, to see a wonderful Philadelphia Toboggan Company 1906 carousel. As children growing up in Denver, one of the nicest outings we had was to the lovely Elitch’s Gardens. Donate by John and Mary Elitch (we just learned that fact), the old grounds were delightful for all ages (the gardens have been moved and are now more amusement park than gardens). The night before we got married, we went with our bridal party to Elitch’s. One of the fun things we did was ride the carrousel. This was the second carousel on the site (another fact we learned).

Going to Burlington to ride the original one was wonderful and a bit intimidating. It circles at speeds of 10-15 mph with the centrifugal force causing riders of the stationary animals to tilt outward. The musical accompaniment for our ride was provided by the Mighty Wurlitzer Band Organ.

Through great effort, the animals and paintings have been cleaned of decades of grime and are among the few antique carousel decorations to have their original paint. This carousel was moved in 1928 from Elitch’s.

Next to the carousel is a small but fine museum giving the history of carousels, this one in particular.

Our stop in Denver was to visit cousins Joann (she was in the bridal party) and Rich. We had a fabulous dinner at Highlands Garden Café and caught up on each others lives. We briefly saw their son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren who were visiting from NY and whom we saw earlier at the reunion in Philadelphia.

Our final activity took place in Salt Lake City at the Red Butte Botanical Garden. This is a small, lovely garden which, unlike many gardens we visited that have their best color in spring, is planted to show off a blaze of blooms throughout the year. Paths lead to the various of gardens. The park has a popular concert series and is great for weddings and parties. It has a great place for children. This year’s summer camp focuses on art so the flower beds have information about artists and creating art, ie a picture of Andy Warhol’s Tomato Soup Cans next to tomato plants.

This evening we enjoyed our last dinner on the road at our favorite Mexican restaurant, The Red Iguana (see previous blogs). We have enough for leftovers for our next dinner.

Another Presidential Library

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Following our Truman Library visit, we went to see his successor’s boyhood home and museum. Though born in Texas, Eisenhower spent his youth in Abilene, Kansas. Unlike many of the historical small towns we have visited, this town is well maintained and charming. However, life was not charming for the Eisenhower family.

The family of six boys (one died in childhood) was poor. To get an education, Eisenhower applied to the Naval Academy but was rejected because they did not admit new midshipmen who were 20 years or older. He was 20. He was accepted at West Point and after that only returned to the family home for visits. It remains as it was when his mother died there in 1947. It then became part of the Eisenhower Foundation. The homes that used to be nearby have been replaced by the museum and library.

The entry to the visitor’s center is ringed with a set of murals of Eisenhower’s life.

President Eisenhower, Mamie Eisenhower and one infant son are buried in the lovely Place of Meditation.

The Museum chronicles Eisenhower’s early military role for the Army before Pearl Harbor. Then it goes on to show his role as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces. This was his actual Cadillac staff car.

Mamie is given her own area showing her clothing and dinner services.

Both the Democrats and Republicans wanted him to run on their ticket for president in 1952. Truman and Eisenhower had been friends since their youth and Truman wanted Ike to run as a Democrat. His choice of the Republicans caused a rift with Truman.

Along with the issues he faced as President, exhibits show the changes occurring in America in the 1950s. The growth of suburbia and the increasing role of television were part of the politics of the era.

He is praised for guiding the US into a position of international leadership, the beginning of NASA, and the interstate highway system. His position on Civil Rights is generally criticized as lacking leadership as it was his belief that the plight of minorities would resolve with the passage of time.

His final speech as President is both quoted and shown. His warning to beware of the military-industrial complex went unheeded as retired military persons went to work for defense contractors. His warning about business’ strong influence on research in universities rings ever more true today.

Visiting the museums and libraries of the men who were Presidents during our formative years gave us an opportunity to reflect on how the country and the world has changed.

Independence Days

Jerry has always been an advocate of Ben Franklin’s instruction to observe Independence Day with fireworks and other celebrations. As a teenage, Jerry bought illegal fireworks. As a father, he would try to buy the biggest box but was held back by Anna Lee. He had more fun than Jeff and Cheryl lighting the rockets and sparklers. Now he is happy finding shows as we travel. This year he is very happy. Actually, he would still stop and shop at the fireworks superstores but Anna Lee doesn’t let him.

The campground we are in is on the grounds of a casino right across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. The Eads Bridge, built in 1874, is right near us. It was the first to use steel as a primary structural material. The mile-plus-long bridge is an auto, tram and pedestrian bridge. To avoid the hassles of parking, we took our folding canvass chairs and walked across the bridge to start our weekend celebrations.

Our Fourth of July started on the second with a two-hour parade in downtown St. Louis. It was great fun but we would have enjoyed more marching bands.

As we returned across the bridge, the two-hour air show began and we had a great view of the aerobatic planes twisting and spinning and the military planes roaring over the water in front of the Arch.

Wilted from the 106-degree heat index, we took a nap and were awakened by a reprise of the air show. Our mouths gaped as the planes made their turns right over our heads.

Right in front of our campground and across from the arch, we watch twenty minutes of fireworks light up the St. Louis sky.

On the third, we were on the Missouri River under a newly opened bridge. While the lights on the bridge went from red to white to blue, fireworks filled the sky.

On the 4th, we watched the fireworks show in Junction City, Kansas.

In reflecting on our time in Missouri, we found that the Show Me State showed us a lot and we hope to return for it to show us more.

Independence Day in Independence, Missouri

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When Anna Lee was in high school, she went with a youth group to a convention in Kansas City. The highlight, and only thing she remembers, is going to the newly opened Truman Library, listening to Former President Harry S. Truman talk and shaking his hand. She was eager to return.

The mural in the entry lobby was designed under Truman’s direction and he painted the blue sky in the upper right corner of the part showing the Santa Fe trail west.

We started our visit with a movie giving background on his personal life and political career. A Truman impersonator then held a news conference answering our questions in view of the 1950s but with a hint of current times.

We had an excellent volunteer guide take us through the museum where outstanding displays tell of his romance with Bess that started when they were five but did not blossom until after high school. The issues he faced with dropping the bomb, restoring Europe, recognizing Israel, the Korean War and the firing of General MacArthur are discussed in detail. The area showing his Whistle Stop tour for reelection includes excerpts from speeches he made throughout the country.

The Oval Office contains the real items from his own office.

His sign, "The Buck Stops Here", was carved by prisoners and says “I’m from Missouri” on the back.

The area regarding the establishment of Israel contains a Torah presented by Chaim Weitzman.

Truman had an office in the museum and was there almost everyday meeting people, writing or reading from his large personal library.

He, Bess, and his daughter and son-in-law are buried there. His grandsons are still active in working on behalf of the museum.

We wanted to have lunch at the Clinton Soda Shop where Truman worked as a teenager but it was closed.

Bess’ great-grandparents built the family home in 1867 and her grandparents enlarged it. Bess’ mother moved back there with her children after the father’s suicide. This was the home Harry Truman moved into after he married Bess and the home where they raised Margaret.

Two homes nearby were built for Bess’s brothers. Bess’ mother lived in the home with the Trumans and also in the White House though she did not consider Harry good enough for her daughter. When Bess died she gave the home and everything in it to the United States. The Trumans kept everything and there are over 50,000 items from the four story home (basement, main floor, bedroom floor and attic) being sorted and stored.

Tours are of the main floor only and photography is not allowed. We entered from the back porch into the very 1950s small kitchen. The dining room was set for a formal dinner of that time. Harry’s office was lined with books and music. The parlor was the only room where guests, such as Churchill and Nixon, were allowed and they could only stay for a little while. Most touching of all was Harry’s coats and cane still on the rack near the back door. He used them on his daily walks and Bess asked that they remain as he left them. The home was for the family and they treasured their privacy letting bushes grow tall to keep rude strangers from peering in.

Our visit enhanced our respect for this great President who made his decisions based on a deep understanding of history, respect for the Constitution, and concern for all the people in the US.

Missouri Botanical Garden

We spent five warm, humid hours in the wonderful gardens created in 1859 by Henry Shaw. An Englishman who made his fortune in St. Louis and retired at the age of 39, Shaw spent the rest of his life developing Tower Grove as a garden for “the poor” of St. Louis to enjoy. He brought over a botanist from Kew Gardens in London and turned 79 acres of prairie grassland into a wonderful series of gardens.

A tram goes throughout the gardens but we opted to walk and enjoyed our wanderings. Because it is summer, several of the gardens are not in bloom. In the spring, this must be an overwhelmingly beautiful place.

The 34 garden areas include two rose gardens, a Center for Home Gardening, a Chinese Garden

Japanese Garden

A tribute to George Washington Carver

a Climatron which much like a conservatory. Dale Chihuly glass sculptures are featured in the entrance and in several gardens. The ones in this pond tilted and bounced in the breeze providing wonderful reflective shapes in the water.

a 9/11 Memorial

a daylily garden for breeding unusual color combinations and patterns

and a temporary Extreme Tree House display

Tower Grove, Shaw’s home, is divided into two sections. On one side are his two bedrooms and two sitting rooms which contain much of his original furnishings. The other side is where his slaves lived and worked. There are no remnants of what would have been his kitchen or outbuildings. Downstairs is a display about his slaves and implements that may have been used in the house or gardens.

Shaw is buried in a mausoleum near the home.

Outside his home is a lovely Victorian Garden. The sculpture of a child playing with a sundial is in a thyme garden.

Shaw also owned more than 200 acres nearby. His will requires that it be kept as a Victorian Park. It is a wonderful place with various picnic pavilions, places for recreation, and acres and acres of grass and trees.