Day 30 Day off in St. Joseph, MO
We all enjoyed a well deserved day off, 3 July 2006, here in metropolitan St. Joseph, Missouri, located about 35 miles north of Kansas City. I "slept in" until about 0800 and found about half our bikers in the lobby eating the Drury Inn breakfast while vicariously riding in the Tour de France via HD television.
With about 25 miles left in the second stage of the tour, the rain began outside and I think we were all glad we weren't riding today. While I'm sure we all have the rain gear to ride in precipitation, our first choice is to stay dry. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Around 1030, Arlene and I ventured out to Best Buy to get a new digital camera since my current one is on the fritz. We found the one we were looking for and we are now back in business.
We then headed to the "Tour de Museums"! In just a scant four hours we saw Jesse James birthplace, the Partee (i.e. "party") Museum, the Black Archives Museum, and the Glore Psychiatric Museum. Whew! Without a doubt, riding a bike 5 hours a day is much, repeat much easier!
Here's a few of the revelations we learned on our museum trek:
- Jesse James married his first cousin, and died while straightening a picture in his house here in St. Joe. The Governor Crittenden of Missouri promised the Ford brothers $10,000 if they brought Jesse in "Dead or Alive". After the Fords shot Jesse in the back, the governor not only refused to pay the $10,000, but had them arrested, tried for murder and then sentenced to death. The governor then commuted their sentences and kept the money.
- The Partee Museum was previously a hotel that the Pony Express riders used before they departed on their 1966 mile ride. Today it houses museum artifacts that were a potpourri of things that would make you smile and sometimes shake your head at the same time. We learned a few things and had quite a few chuckles along the way. Did you know that the 3 guys who founded the Pony Express lost $500,000 in this operation that only lasted 19 months and was made obsolete by the telegraph and automobile?
-The Black Archives and the Glore Psychiatric Museum were housed in the same building together along with a Native American exhibit and a tribute to Ruth Warrick, a local TV star from All My Children fame. Imagine reading the story of the slave trade and viewing a pair of handcuff-like restraints hanging on the wall and then turning around and seeing a large photo of Ruth Warrick's Hollywood Walk of Fame star. Eeegh! I'm not trying to belittle or be exceedingly critical but in these museums and the previous Partee Museum, there were really a lot of "non sequitars"--things that didn't seem to fit. Again, we just kind of nervously smiled and kept moving.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed a little local color and were happy to have a little time together. Tonight we are headed to Boudreax's, a Cajun restaurant down by the Missouri river. We'll take Larry, Scott Terpstra, and Tim Trelfa for something a little different than our standard buffet dinner.
I'll stretch a little tonight to get some of my muscles loose and pray for clear skies.
With about 25 miles left in the second stage of the tour, the rain began outside and I think we were all glad we weren't riding today. While I'm sure we all have the rain gear to ride in precipitation, our first choice is to stay dry. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Around 1030, Arlene and I ventured out to Best Buy to get a new digital camera since my current one is on the fritz. We found the one we were looking for and we are now back in business.
We then headed to the "Tour de Museums"! In just a scant four hours we saw Jesse James birthplace, the Partee (i.e. "party") Museum, the Black Archives Museum, and the Glore Psychiatric Museum. Whew! Without a doubt, riding a bike 5 hours a day is much, repeat much easier!
Here's a few of the revelations we learned on our museum trek:
- Jesse James married his first cousin, and died while straightening a picture in his house here in St. Joe. The Governor Crittenden of Missouri promised the Ford brothers $10,000 if they brought Jesse in "Dead or Alive". After the Fords shot Jesse in the back, the governor not only refused to pay the $10,000, but had them arrested, tried for murder and then sentenced to death. The governor then commuted their sentences and kept the money.
- The Partee Museum was previously a hotel that the Pony Express riders used before they departed on their 1966 mile ride. Today it houses museum artifacts that were a potpourri of things that would make you smile and sometimes shake your head at the same time. We learned a few things and had quite a few chuckles along the way. Did you know that the 3 guys who founded the Pony Express lost $500,000 in this operation that only lasted 19 months and was made obsolete by the telegraph and automobile?
-The Black Archives and the Glore Psychiatric Museum were housed in the same building together along with a Native American exhibit and a tribute to Ruth Warrick, a local TV star from All My Children fame. Imagine reading the story of the slave trade and viewing a pair of handcuff-like restraints hanging on the wall and then turning around and seeing a large photo of Ruth Warrick's Hollywood Walk of Fame star. Eeegh! I'm not trying to belittle or be exceedingly critical but in these museums and the previous Partee Museum, there were really a lot of "non sequitars"--things that didn't seem to fit. Again, we just kind of nervously smiled and kept moving.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed a little local color and were happy to have a little time together. Tonight we are headed to Boudreax's, a Cajun restaurant down by the Missouri river. We'll take Larry, Scott Terpstra, and Tim Trelfa for something a little different than our standard buffet dinner.
I'll stretch a little tonight to get some of my muscles loose and pray for clear skies.
posted by Steve King at 3:10 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home