The rest of the story!

Wednesday we went to the Missouri History Museum, and of most interest to us were the exhibits that related to the 1904 World's Fair and the Charles A. Lindbergh exhibit.   We spent about three hours at the museum, and then ate lunch in the cafe and headed out for a walk.   It was very warm -- 90's but we stayed in the shade as much as possible so it was bearable.   From the History Museum we drove to the World's Fair Pavilion (the only building remaining at the site).   It had been restored, and overlooked a fountain and a paddle boat pond.   The building itself was an open air facility with nothing to indicate what it was.   There was a group there decorating for an exclusive fund raiser to be held on Thursday.   It evidently was THE social event of the season, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the park.   The big attraction was the fabulous hats that the socialites would be wearing.  

By that time it was mid afternoon and we started back toward the campground.   Noticed a Shrine of the Black Madonna on the attractions, so decided to go see it.   It was built by a Franciscan brother and took him 35 years to do it.   It reminded me a good deal of the Grotto in Iowa.  

Thursday we started the day at the Scott Joplin house.   Scott Joplin is famous for his ragtime music --if  you are old enough to know the movie The Sting, six of his songs were used in the movie.   There was a girls' chorus there at the same time, so we not only heard Scott's music, but they graced us with two songs that they would be singing at a church that night.   They were from Arkansas or Oklahoma and were going to tour this summer.   From the Joplin house we went in search of the Samuel Cupples House, which was built in 1888.   The mansion is 42 rooms over three floors.   It has fantastic woodwork and Tiffany-style windows.   St. Louis University owns it, and has art from 1500-1930, as well as an extensive collection of Steuben and Tiffany glassware.   The trick is finding the place with the GPS system!   We finally gave up after the GPS had us going around in circles and called the house.  Surprise!   It was right behind the building we were parked in front of!   It seems the University had the street closed to vehicular traffic, and the only way to get to it was to park on another street and walk over!   It was worth the trip!

Today's our last day in St. Louis, so we had to choose our sights carefully!   We decided to go to the U. S. Grant National Historic site.   Wonderful choice!   We learned that Grant met his wife, Julia Dent, while he was serving at the Jefferson Barracks and after serving in California resigned his commission and took up farming at White Haven, on land that his father-in-law had given them at the time of their marriage.   We toured the house and outbuildings, as well as an extensive museum outlining their lives.  There was a 30 minute movie to watch as well.    From there we traveled back downtown to the Eugene Field house (he wrote Wynken, Blynken and Nod, and The Calico Cat among other poetry and short stories).    As an added bonus, there was also a toy museum and period toys located throughout the boyhood home.  Eugene's father Roswell Fields was the lawyer who initiated the lawsuit that led to  the Dred Scott Supreme Court Decision.   While he did not travel to Washington to plead the case, he asked his friend Mr. Blair (of the Washington Blair House) to stand in for him.   

We are now back in Eureka and are hitched up so we can make an early departure to Hannibal, MO to explore the Mark Twain stories of Samuel Clemens.   Stay tuned!