After my dad’s memorial, we had a chance to explore some of the things I loved about my birth state and the home of my alma mater- Missouri. A mini-vacation, if you will. It’s not something I made public before we left, because I think that’s just weird to broadcast your out-of-state travel plans to the world and then up and leave your house and all your possessions for someone to come and take. But maybe that’s just me.
We went to my dad’s hometown of Glasgow, Missouri and visited the park there called Stump Island. As you can see, it’s a bit famous and as we learned about Lewis and Clark’s trip this year in homeschool, the kids were a bit tickled to see the petrified tree stumps that Lewis and Clark also witnessed some 211 years ago.
Isaac fished in the lake where the log house my dad built sits.
All five of us, including Uncle Mike (my brother), went to the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri. This is a really awesome, albeit out-of-the-way place to visit. After World War II, the President of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri invited Winston Churchill to give a speech at the college. Harry Truman endorsed the invitation letter and Churchill accepted. This speech was made famous by Churchill’s quote, “…An iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”
Later, the college decided to buy and rebuild a London church that had first been destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 and was rebuilt by Christopher Wren. Then, in 1941, the church was severely damaged in the London blitz and was slated to be leveled in the 1960s. The college bought the structure, dismantled it, and shipped the stone blocks to Fulton, Missouri where it was painstakingly put back together. As the website states, “The foundation stone was laid in October 1966, 300 years after the Great Fire of London.” It is an awesome bit of London in the middle of Missouri.
When Philip and I got engaged, this is the place where I wanted to get married. Alas, no one was willing to help with wedding expenses and after us both spending hundreds of dollars in long-distance calls the first month we were apart, we scrapped the idea of a nice wedding ceremony and reception. Instead, we eloped.
We told the kids this and when Philip and I were both in the sanctuary, Samara pretended to be the officiant and “marry” us at the altar. ;-0
Another neat thing about the National Churchill Museum is Breakthrough- The Cold War Memorial, a sculpture by Winston Churchill’s granddaughter which is carved out of eight sections of the former Berlin Wall.
We ate at a Thai restaurant and Philip- so used to the blandness of all the foods in Pennsylvania (even the Thai food)- ordered a curry with a 7-8 out of 10 spiciness scale. He said it was almost too much. ;-0
Then we went to Rock Bridge Park. Rock Bridge has an actual rock bridge:
Rock Bridge, Columbia, Missouri
But also many caves.
Devil’s Ice Box, Rock Bridge State Park, Columbia, Missouri
This area of Columbia has been riddled with sinkholes for decades and it’s becoming increasingly problematic. I remember having to watch out for sinkholes when my dad, mom, and I went morel mushroom hunting nearby this park some 20+ years ago.
On another day, we went to visit my alma mater- Truman State University.
Truman State is only one of 16 public liberal arts and sciences universities in the U.S.
The girls loved the library:
We didn’t have much in the way of culinary adventures and my efforts to explore the Amish food culture of mid-Missouri fell woefully short, but overall it was a good and meaningful trip.
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