Travel Log: Labor Day 2006
Saturday
A hassle free 3 hr drive from Kansas City brings us to our home base destination in Shelbina, MO population 1,900 (pronounced Shelb-eye-na, not Shel-bee-na which was our first instinct).
We pulled up to what appears to be a small ranch house in the midldle of a corn field. This is America's Best Value Inn. The building is actually larger than it looks with a back wing allowing it to boast 24 rental rooms. The room was clean and comfortable - and it had wireless internet and cable. The only disturbing factor was that the room theme appeared to be "cats".
Gretch broght her own pillow and comforter - I was particularly jealous of the comforter as the bed had a plastic sheet liner that left me with that weird chilled feeling the first night - the second I slept on top of the blankets with only they nylon bedspread on me and it was fine.
After a short rest it was off to Bethel, MO (Pop. 121) for the Sheep and Fiber Arts festival.
For such a little town - they seem like a pretty active bunch.
The post office.
Some of the shops downtown were open - but there was nothing much tempting. There was a spectacular hooked rug show - sadly none of it was for sale. We did score some heavenly snickerdoodles off a Menonite woman. She had whole homemade pies for $7 each - were it not for the quantity commitment, I would have snapped one up.
In the little shown barn area there were lots of little food booths and a few crafts. Speaks for itself.
Healthy young men in well fitting denium overalls abounded. They were sooo swoon worthy. I know overalls don't sound sexy - but that's because we're all used to seeing them worn 5 sizes too big and with one strap undone and trailing sparks as it repeatededly assaults the pavement. You'll just have to trust me - those cornfed boys have got it going on.
Unfortunately, a desire to mate has never been sufficient remedy for my compulsion to goof. I'm a sucker for these little painted face boards. These were meant for children to pose in - so I had to stoop. I don't know how the farm boys could resist a beauty like me while bent over with my face through a hole in a piece of painted plywood, but somehow they did succeed.
The people were friendly and interesting. This man was baking apples for apple butter/sauce. He said the flies gave it protien.
There was a larger fair ground area with tents for Angora rabbits and fur for spinning, livestock for sale and shearing demonstrations, a livestock judging barn, and a big crafts tent. I was somewhat tempted by some handspun mohair yarn that was green with little bits of lilac running through it, but it was $32 for 200 yards so my pocket book passed.
After all this excitement we headed back to Shelbina for dinner. I was completely stoked to find the menu for The Restaurant in the little binder the hotel had - mainly because it listed cake for $1 and pie for $1.50. But we had consumed so much that we had no room left for dessert.
My Pork Tenderloin sandwich.
In spite of our bulging stomachs - we managed to take a 1.5 mile walk along the fields that evening before calling it a night. I knit a wash cloth and Gretchen got some studying done.
Sunday
I had decided that I would be fine with not going back to the Fiber festival. Instead we planned a day trip to Hannibal, MO - the boyhood home of Mark Twain. Gretchen and I had been to Hannibal 4 or so years ago, so we didn't partake in all the town had to offer. Mostly we shopped and took in vistas of the Might Missippi. (Gretchen was obsessed with the word "vista" for the duration of the trip).
We climbed many, many stairs to get up to the lighthouse at the North end of the down town. The first flight.
The second flight.
There was a third flight but I was foul tempered by the time I reached it - so you'll have to imagine.
The Mississippi river looking upstream - Illinois is on the opposite side of the bridge.
Looking downstream.
The award for best signage in Hannibal goes to The Mark Twain Dinette who has not only a ships wheel sign, but the largest rotating rootbeer mug that I've ever seen.
Seriously - it's one of my all time favorite signs.
I bought a book of Mark Twain short stories (he is, btw, my ideal man - I would love to go back in time and make him my life partner). Gretchen bought a really fabulous lamp with a glass stand and finial.
We capped off our morning with a late lunch at the pizza buffet - where I drank an ice cold Miller lite in about 20 seconds flat, I'm not really a big drinker, but it really hit the spot. We also make some pressed pennies at the pizza place.
And of course, the trip would not have been complete with out a photo opp. Don't I make the best Becky Thatcher ever! The key to taking a good face board picture is to really get your head in there as much as you can. I should write a How To book on the subject.
We went back to Shelbina and took some rest at the hotel. Then, because The Restaurant was closed, we drove 30 miles to Macon (pop. 5,500) for dinner at a Mexican place. It was just par. We were growing weary with food and travel, so it was another quiet night in at the hotel.
Monday
We rose early and checked out of the hotel. The plan was work our way through a few sites on the way home. First stop was Rock Bridge Park just south of Columbia. We got there around 10:00 and spent about an hour hiking trails around a really neat cave and waterway system. The natural bridge formation that has a trail beneath it was closed for repairs, but another sink-hole trail brought us close enough to get an inspection of it. There was also a stairway down to entrances of a couple of caves - including the Devil's Icebox, but we weren't equipped to do much exploration there.
Back on the road and by Noon we had arrived in Rocheport. The bistro at the winery was closed, but I ended up having some bread, cheese and meat from the tasting A-frame with my wine which served as my lunch. The wine I sampled was called Pink Fox and it was very sweet and lovely. The vista from the picnic area was overlooking the Missouri river and I-70.
The Missouri is a rather large water way, but it is a mere trickle compared to the Mississippi which it empties into. The whole weekend Indigo Girls lyrics were the soundtrack in my head:
and the mississippi's mighty
but it starts in minnesota
at a place that you can walk across
with five steps down
and i guess that's how you started
like a pinprick to my heart
but at this point you rush right through me
and i start to drown
Don'tcha love it when music is both artistic and educational.
Following the wine, we went to downtown Rocheport - which is a small stretch of streets. They have a great access point for the Katy Trail and we very nearly rented a side by side tricycle to test out on the trail. But Gretch had ordered a sandwich that took 40 minutes to be delivered by which time we had been lulled into a near stupor and thought it best to head home.
Return trips are already in the planning stages.