Our Wonderfull Road Trip to Missouri Day Three

To read from day one please scroll down and read up.

Day Three: Monday March 16, 2009

Sleeping in just a little today we got a late start. But we made it to the Arabia Museum by 11:00. This is so far the HIGHLIGHT of our travels. Souvenir shopping while we waited for our tour to start I added a bird to my collection and picked up a button bracelet made with (replica's of course) the buttons found in the lost loot of the sunken Arabia.


Oh, and of course a book about the Arabia's whole ordeal. And some minty chocolate things for our starving children (we brought a small grocery store along for the ride but we left it in the van). The Arabia is a steamboat that used to travel the Missouri River and hit a snag that caused it to sink in 1856.

No lives were lost except for one poor mule who's owner said he cut its line and couldn't get it to move so he had to leave it. Poor thing. The Arabia was found over a hundred years later (1987)with all its oh so perfectly preserved cargo. This includes the mule who was still saddled and STILL tied up! I wonder if the owner lied often or if he was just embarrassed to admit he forgot to bring his mule on the life raft. The treasure hunters only actually found 0.26 and very little gold (some jewelry). The things that were recovered may not be treasures to you but to me they certainly are.
It was mutually decided that these treasures could not be sold or separated. The five men found resources to open a museum so we could all see these amazing things. They are cleaning each piece i-n-d-i-v-d-u-a-l-l-y I mean nail by nail. They have been cleaning since they finished digging it all up (it took four months) and they estimate it will take 15 more years to finish. Hundreds of shoes,tools,dishes,windows,jars. Awesome! Thousands of nails, beads, buttons. Skeleton Keys. Sigh. Canned pickles and fruits. OK, that's it get into your cars now and go see this place. Now. Leave tonight I will meet you there. I may have to dedicate my entire blog to the Arabia. Maybe I will become a treasure hunter. If I do I'll give all of you the pirate-y kind. I only want this kind. To see those things brand new makes you feel like we are not so much further advanced than they were. I'm pretty sure you can still get the same dishes at Crate and Barrel. You should have seen the barrel of ipods,blackberries,cell phones...OK JK. I could probably live without the shoes that didn't have a specific right/left though.


I could talk about this all day so please click on the link and check out the website where you can read all about it and see photos too! If you ever make it to Kansas City, MO you can not miss this museum.

Here is the only remaining paddle all patched up.


Oooh just one more thing the boat was found in the middle of a cornfield. Curious? Click the link.
After this we went back to the Union Station to eat at the Harvey House Diner we had seen the day before.

There is a movie about the girls that used to work here starring Judy Garland. We have not seen it yet...

Then leaving K.C. we headed to a town called Sedelia to check out the Bothwell Lodge

(which was closed for tours on this day :( sad). There was a nifty hiking trail on the property where we collected "goose eggs" (rocks) with fossils of sea shells and other sea creatures. One even had a real shell still inside when we broke it open. That's right a sea shell. On the top of a mountain. In a rock. Hmmm I wonder...Oh yes, the Flood. There is no denying it now. The Bradfords have proof! Even if it is in a walmart bag currently sitting in the living room floor. Cecily also collected some flint and then entertained herself for many miles making pop pops. Oh,dear.
We ate dinner at the Wheel Inn

where the Guber Burger was so highly recommended on the Internet this was the actual reason for the stop in Sedelia. The Guber Burger is a regular hamburger with P.B. melted onto the meat. You heard me people. And you know what? It tastes exactly like a regular hamburger with P.B. melted onto the meat. Don't knock it till you try it and all that. Would I have bought the t-shirt if it was, as Silas would say eww-wah? A great little diner 50's style. Super clean, nice people, and a little car that Silas loved to drive around. Cecily played Pac-Man and Clara put on some tunes at the Juke Box. Yes, we may just move in.
A short little jaunt over to Jefferson City for the night. The girls were super hyper so they swam in the pool till it closed and then bed. Ahhhhhhh.