The Scooter Strikes Back-A F&W 2017 TR- Bonus Features, Link to new TR 3/22

[Pinkocto]

You ladies are going to have a blast on the cruise. So sad to be missing it. I will live vicariously through the daily pics you send me... hint, hint.

You will be missed lovely lady Hopefully in the future we’ll all be able to go

 

[rentayenta]

You will be missed lovely lady Hopefully in the future we’ll all be able to go

Me too!!! I will be glued to my phone waiting for pics.

 

[pkondz]

I know! I've officially gone into stress mode where I am printing out daily Google docs to do lists which are incredibly micromanaging with things like "Take day pills", "Coffee", and "Breakfast" on the list cause seriously at this point of stress packing I might forget if it wasn't on the list!

Deep breaths.
Always remember that you're going on a cruise...
On a Disney cruise ship.
If you forget something, they probably have it.

Exactly and now they are getting brand new front loaders that are stacking on Friday.

Fancy-schmancy.

I'm hoping. But then again we will be asking a fair price, being like 4+ blocks from the beach and having in house washer dryer.

Four blocks?

So..... do you rent to Canadians?

Sure, I'll just get some more!

Yay!

Thanks! That was my regular lens which has zoom.

Thought so.

You know these rides aren't quite as exhilarating as you might think.

Obviously not!

She may be upset that it is not Hyperspace Mountain any longer.

Um... it's not?

We were just spokespeople...

Then let me rephrase. Convince anyone to buy?

Me neither, but not doing that much work u til after vacation!

It is a bit of work, isn't it? But the result! Yumm!

 

[Steppesister]

So here it is 2 weeks until I’m on my way to Florida

It's almost time!!!

I believe everything is in place for this trip, transportation, dining reservations, I’ve even set aside most of my clothes for the trip in Olga’s closet and just waiting to put them into the suitcases a couple days before we fly. I have put the first suitcase on the bed to put things like bathroom bags, shoes, and other items that one doesn’t worry if it wrinkles before the trip.

I'm mostly packed and still over a month out. Just finishing up the details and will throw in my toiletries at the last minute.

I’m also waist deep into planning my trip this Winter (Spring?) Our last full day is the first day of Spring. It will be me, Fran and my parents at the Beach Club in a 2 bedroom villa. I’ve got them to agree to all our ADRs and a loose schedule of parks. About two weeks after I get home from the cruise is our ADR day, and 5 days after the cruise we leave for Phoenix for a regional band conference, so having the WDW plans sorted out before hand was a must. The Phoenix conference doesn’t have any meetings or business, just a bunch of rehearsals, parties and a concert.

You sure have your work cut out for you the next bit!!

Jill looks constipated.

 

[jedijill]

Jill looks constipated.

I was REALLY upset that it wasn't Hyperspace Mountain anymore! LOL

Jill in CO

 

[Steppesister]

I was REALLY upset that it wasn't Hyperspace Mountain anymore! LOL

Jill in CO

I'm not entirely sure I could tell the difference it's been so long since I've been on with the mindset of comparing.

 

[jedijill]

I'm not entirely sure I could tell the difference it's been so long since I've been on with the mindset of comparing.

Ha! One is Star Wars and one is not.

Jill in CO

 

[Steppesister]

Ha! One is Star Wars and one is not.

Jill in CO

Oooohhh, got it! Honestly, not one of my faves as the track seems to always do serious damage to my neck.

 

[franandaj]

We had a wonderful weekend! I forgot we rode Guardians 3 times! We got our monies worth! Dinner was amazing! I think the marrow ended up on Jenny's plate before dinner was over.

I couldn't remember how many times we rode, but luckily we had photographic evidence!

I'm so ready for the cruise! I finished shopping for my FE gifts today. I need to make my packing list and start getting organized. I have to go to Philadelphia on business Monday-Wednesday of cruise week and I fly out Thursday evening so I need to get ready!

I don't know how you're going to be able to accomplish that! I would need to have everything ready to go before the Philly trip and then throw it all in the suitcase on Thursday morning.

Marrow was mine, mine, mine!

I thought so, but wasn't quite sure.

What a fun and delicious meal indeed! I love ordering that way where we all share and try some of everything. Michael's risotto is still better.......

I like that too! The more tastes the merrier!

You ladies are going to have a blast on the cruise. So sad to be missing it. I will live vicariously through the daily pics you send me... hint, hint.

I'll do my best, don't know how often I'll sign into the Wifi!

I didn't realize DeSoto #1 still wasn't finished.

It's got a ways to go.....not finished until we get back.

See ya Wednesday!

So much fun to get together again!

I'm going to go with "delicious", then.

That wasn't what I chose, but that's OK! I had a feeling that's what you were thinking!

I believe I need to find out!

You're more than welcome, but I rarely have more than a couple weeks notice on them, so you'll need to act fast when notice comes!

Nice update, your cruise is coming so fast! look forward to reading about all the fun times and yummy eats, I bet there is some Palo time booked?

And Remy

I really do love PTN, it's so bright and fun for sure.

It is! We're going to see it Monday one last time before it goes away.

I enjoyed your ride photos, we Loved GOTG, I think on our May trip we rode it about 6 times, but I think I've only had 3 of the songs. I'm looking forward to the special Halloween party version. Are you and Fran doing a Halloween party?

We are doing one in WDW next Friday!

Oh my goodness your Steakhouse 55 meal looks fantastic- and all those yummy wines! and 24 layer chocolate cake- wow!!

It was really awesome, so good and we even had leftovers!

In one of the first scenes, where there’s a skeleton against the wall and a little beach, there used to be part of a rotting boat with a mermaid skeleton tied up to it. They added it after Pirates 4. Right before the skeleton is steering the boat with thunder and lightning in the background.

I wonder if that's the pirate skeleton that's been in DL all the time....we've always had more rooms before the part of the ride where WDW's ride starts.

An awesome pre-Birthday celebration weekend! Love that Guardians ride

It was great fun. Considering that I spent my birthday night in band.

Glad you have been able to do so much for your spring trip. Sounds like you’ll be very busy after vacation!

Well just the weekend after. Although then I'll need to do ADRs once we get back.

Sounds like the apartment is coming along nicely.

Slowly but coming along nicely.

 

[franandaj]

Deep breaths.
Always remember that you're going on a cruise...
On a Disney cruise ship.
If you forget something, they probably have it.

Well no, when you're our size and have definite medical requirements we need to make sure that we bring everything that we need. Often times the stuff WE need is not available on a ship.

Fancy-schmancy.

When these tenants leave, she wants to jack up the rent since it's a real desirable property. This one is one block from the beach.

Four blocks?

So..... do you rent to Canadians?

Only if you plan on staying for a while..and you pass a credit check....

Um... it's not?

No they took it away earlier this year.

Then let me rephrase. Convince anyone to buy?

I think the woman we were talking to couldn't deal with the 11 month window of booking.

It is a bit of work, isn't it? But the result! Yumm!

Yes it is, but right now I'm concentrating on easy dishes that don't make a big mess and have a lot of clean up.

It's almost time!!!

Yes, I'm in single digits and we are flying a week from tomorrow!

I'm mostly packed and still over a month out. Just finishing up the details and will throw in my toiletries at the last minute.

I'm all ready to put my clothes in the suitcase. Fran has given me nearly nothing and I'm starting to panic!

You sure have your work cut out for you the next bit!!

Well not so much, we aren't going for any restaurants that are hugely popular, so I should have no problems with the ADRs.

Jill looks constipated.

I was REALLY upset that it wasn't Hyperspace Mountain anymore! LOL

Jill in CO

I can understand that!

I'm not entirely sure I could tell the difference it's been so long since I've been on with the mindset of comparing.

It's pretty obvious. As you start the ride you hear "Dun. Dun. Dun. Dun de dun, dun de Dun".....when it's Hyperspace Mtn. When it's space Mtn you hear "Wheeeeeeer.....oooooo......eeeeeaaaar.......eeeeeeeaaaaaaooooooooon"

Oooohhh, got it! Honestly, not one of my faves as the track seems to always do serious damage to my neck.

The one at DL? It's way smooth. I won't ride the one at WDW anymore as that one tore me up the last time I rode it, but DL is awesome, so smooth and totally rocks.

 

[Steppesister]

I'm all ready to put my clothes in the suitcase. Fran has given me nearly nothing and I'm starting to panic!

This is a... pattern.

It's pretty obvious. As you start the ride you hear "Dun. Dun. Dun. Dun de dun, dun de Dun".....when it's Hyperspace Mtn. When it's space Mtn you hear "Wheeeeeeer.....oooooo......eeeeeaaaar.......eeeeeeeaaaaaaooooooooon"

The one at DL? It's way smooth. I won't ride the one at WDW anymore as that one tore me up the last time I rode it, but DL is awesome, so smooth and totally rocks.

Then time to give that one another go.

 

[franandaj]

KC Bonus feature


So you’ll perhaps remember that back in May we went to Kansas City for a band conference. We had our grueling travel day, a day of leisure before our 6PM rehearsal which kicked off 52 or so hours of rehearsal, meetings, concert and minimal sleep in there somewhere. On that real life update I left off with us leaving Costco (where we hadn't planned on buying anything) with a Key Lime Pie, multiple bottles of wine, and other various goodies.


After visiting Costco, we checked into our hotel. It was a Hilton Garden Inn just on the other side of the state line in Kansas City, Kansas, or as the locals say KCK.The room wasn't ready yet so we sat in the lobby until 3PM when it was finally ready. We should have taken this as an omen.

While this room was not nearly as spacious and fancy as the other hotel, I felt that it suited us better. We had a microwave, coffee maker (though I never used it), and bathtub. Plus because we are Hilton Honors members we got the choice of 10,000 points or complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast each day. Who is going to refuse free bacon?

Anyways, here is the room.

Up in the room Fran went right to sleep. I started on laundry. I had brought laundry soap, dryer sheets and $15 in quarters. With the first load I realized how spoiled I am with my giant washer at home. I couldn't even get half of what I would do as a load into the tiny washer. So I ended up doing three loads instead of two like I would have at home.

I unpacked all our stuff in preparation for repacking a few days later. We weren't going to need our fancy black clothes, nor would we need our T-shirts from previous band conferences, so once those were clean and dry, I packed them back up.

While I was doing the laundry there was a Toy Story marathon going on and I came in somewhere in the middle of the first movie.

I was starting to get hungry, I wanted pasta, but I knew that wouldn't get Fran out of the room, so I found a German Restaurant via Google/Yelp, etc. By the time she finally woke up, I was well into Toy Story 3. I was afraid that she might not want to leave the hotel and I had even looked into what the hotel was offering for dinner, but that wasn't necessary, the lure of Weinerschnitzel did the trick. Sorry no pictures, but our portions were huge and we both took home half of our entrees.

Another thing that was putting a damper on my mood was that she was complaining about what there was to do in town, and why were we staying so many extra nights? It would have cost hundreds of extra dollars to fly home early, and at least that convinced her to make the best of it and look into fun activities.

The next day was Memorial Day and most of the things we wanted to do weren’t open. And because of how the day went I have pretty much no pictures until dinner. Our first stop was a grocery store. Fran needed some more Mtn Dew, I needed bandaids (my arms were all torn up as my skin is getting thin and it looked like Fran had been beating me.) We also wanted a styrofoam cooler to keep all our beverages from Costco, and the Mtn Dew cold as well. The refrigerator was pretty small. If you know us we ended up with a bunch of stuff we didn’t intend to buy, and we stumbled upon this!

We had found a box of this stuff at my parent’s house in an obscure grocery store and it turned out to be the most awesome fish batter. We tried several other brands since using this one and none even compared, so when we found this stuff on the dollar aisle we stocked up! One box will make two dinners, maybe three. I wasted the first box on one dinner before I realized we could split it up like all the other packaged dinners that I use. Amazon wanted $6.99 per box or it was sold out, so we stocked up! Who knows when we’ll be back to this part of the country!

But once we got through the checkout, I wasn’t feeling so hot. Or maybe I was feeling rather hot. If you remember just a few days prior it was 97° degrees out, and the weather hadn't cooled down much. It was kind of a combo of dehydration and perhaps a bit of backedupacation (if you get my drift). Normally I don’t like to talk about these kinds of subjects, but @Steppesister’s candid discussions have made me a little more open to this kind of subject. Instead of heading to our next destination, we went back to the hotel so I could make sure that I felt “up to our planned activities”.

It didn’t take long before I was feeling better, but my little break allowed Fran to lie down and that extended our break more than I had wanted. At the grocery store that morning we had picked up a loaf of bread, and she had me make her a schnitzel sandwich for her lunch. I wasn't hungry yet as my feeling icky sort of took away any chance of hunger.

After the grocery store, we had planned to go to the Steamboat Arabia museum and we knew that the last tour was normally at 3:30, but when we arrived at 3PM they informed us that they were closing an hour early for Memorial Day and the last tour had been at 2:30. So we gave up and decided to just sort of figure out our day for tomorrow and went home. We drove past Arthur Bryant’s where we planned to have lunch the next day and were glad that we weren’t going there today cause the line was out the door. Instead we went back to the hotel room. By then I was a tad bit hungry and I polished off the last of my leftovers from Joe's. There was just enough for a little snack, but it was perfect to tide me over until dinner at 7PM.

We got ready for our dinner reservation at the Hipster BBQ joint Q39. They seated us immediately. Fran started off with a beer flight.

I had a glass of red wine. I think it was either a Malbec or Zinfandel.

Our appetizers arrived quickly. macaroni and cheese, five cheeses, herb bread crumbs

This was so yummy and creamy! It was very rich and we took half of it to go.

smoked and grilled pork belly, white bean cassoulet, onion straws

I need not tell you how good the pork belly was, nor the onion straws, but even the cassoulet was super tasty! We ate all of this.

jumbo beef short rib, All barbeque plates include apple coleslaw and your choice of beans or potato salad.

For $3 you could add a rib so we got a pork rib as well, so of course we added that!

The beef rib was giant! And so so so tender, we came home with so much leftovers it was crazy!

We were done with dinner in record time. I think it was 8:30PM when we were heading home to our hotel. I don’t remember if it was this night or the last night or both where we had the ice wine from Missouri with our Key Lime Pie, but I’m pretty sure we did it both nights.


The next morning we had our free breakfast downstairs, Fran got the omelette every day, I shared it with her a couple times, but I made us a waffle every day except the last one. And every day they gave us bacon, and it was really good bacon! Thick cut and just the right amount of salty. It was so much bacon that Fran kept taking it back to the room and by the end of our stay we had more than half a pound of bacon in a baggie in our fridge!

Today we were going to go back to the Arabia Museum, Fran is a big fan of steamboats and a huge Civil War history buff, so this was totally up her alley! I like history too, so I had no problem with this being our first stop!

Before we get into this exhibit one thing that needs to be understood is that in the mid 19th Century how absolutely important the rivers were in commerce and transportation in this developing region. Barges and steamboats were loaded up with all kinds of goods and they were transported up and down the rivers. While this was the primary means of delivery for goods and persons, it was also very dangerous. Steam engines were volatile and many many boats were lost due to engine fires along the rivers over the decades. Also take into account the perils of the river itself with debris and other things floating in the river, and you have a dangerous business commerce.

One very different thing about rivers in 19th century America than present day rivers is that they were free flowing. Their banks shifted constantly, between erosion, sediment deposits, the rivers flowed past the outer banks of its curves, and the soil would erode. Eventually the trees on the sides of the river would lose their ground and fall into the river. After flowing down river, they may get lodged in the sediment and the current would slant their trunks down river as a nice surprise spike underneath the water waiting for unsuspecting ships. Also with no restrictions on banks of the rivers, the course of the river could travel miles in any direction depending on the current. It wasn't until the 1920s that the Army Corp of engineers started to reign in the banks of the rivers across the country to help prevent flooding.

With an understanding of rivers there were also political factors shaping the region. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the aforementioned territories and a lot of political BS, but I'm not here to talk about all that. One of the side effects of the KS-NE Act was that it drew settlers west to the frontier of the United States. People were creating towns and settlements and they needed all sorts of things to help them build their American Dream.

Since Walmart or even the traditional grocery stores had not been invented yet, they did the next best thing, loaded everything up on steamships and took the goods to the trading posts up the Missouri river. This is where our next attraction comes in, the Steamship Arabia. It was built in 1853 and logged thousands of miles along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers before its final journey. Launching from St. Louis, MO loaded with 220 tons of cargo and 130 passengers, ready to start a new life on the frontier she headed up the Missouri river. After a stop in what would become Kansas City, MO she headed upstream and hit a tree snag on September 5, 1856.

From Wikipedia:

The snag ripped open the hull, which rapidly filled with water. The upper decks stayed above water long enough until the passengers could be evacuated. The only casualty was a mule that was tied to sawmill equipment and overlooked.​

The boat sank so rapidly into the mud that by the next morning, only the smokestacks and pilot house remained visible. Within a few days, these traces were also swept away. Numerous salvage attempts failed, and eventually the Arabia was completely covered by water. Over time, the river shifted a half a mile (800 m) to the east. The site of the sinking is in a field in the area of present-day Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1987, Bob Hawley and his sons, Greg and David, set out to find the Arabia. They used old maps and a proton magnetometer to figure out the probable location, and finally discovered it half a mile (800 m) from the modern location of the river under 45 feet (14 m) of silt and topsoil.

The owners of the farm gave permission for excavation, with the condition that the work be completed before the spring planting. The Hawleys, along with family friends Jerry Mackey and David Luttrell, set out to excavate the Arabia during the winter months while the water table was at its lowest point. They performed a series of drilling tests to determine the exact location of the hull, then marked the perimeter with powdered chalk. Heavy equipment, including a 100-ton crane, was brought in by both river and road transport during the summer and fall. 20 irrigation pumps were installed around the site to lower the water level and to keep the site from flooding. The 65-foot (20 m) deep wells removed 20,000 US gallons (76,000 l) per minute from the ground.

On November 26, 1988, the Arabia was exposed. Four days later, artifacts from it began to appear, beginning with a Goodyear rubber overshoe. On December 5, a wooden crate filled with elegant china was unearthed. The mud was such an effective preserver that the yellow packing straw was still visible. Thousands of artifacts were recovered intact, including jars of preserved food that are still edible. The artifacts that were recovered are housed in the Arabia Steamboat Museum.​

When the above citation mentions that food was still edible, there was a jar of pickles that they found. I believe it was Bob Hawley who actually ate one of the pickles from the jar, but I get ahead of myself. Now that you have the background, let's take the tour! We then entered a room with part of the hull of the ship.

There were pictures on the wall in this room of what the excavation looked like, and yes it was completed in time to plant corn the next spring.

After this we were taken to a small theater room where we watched a short video about the search and excavation process. When it was over a young man told us that he was one of the family members. He was not old enough to have participated in the excavation, but with the discovery, it has been the family business for over 30 years now. He told us that the #1 question they are asked is if the guy who ate the pickles lived. And then he introduced the guy who ate the pickle who took some questions and then we entered the actual nitty gritty of the museum.

We were led into a small room which had a random sampling of the goods that were found on the ship. Our guide wrapped up the tour by telling us some very interesting facts of how the discovery of this ship actually brought into question some of the things we believed about history. One myth that was debunked was that life on the prairie was very spartan and folks had only the bare necessities and did not enjoy any luxuries. However, these dishes show that the new settlers wanted all the same finerys that they enjoyed in their previous homes.

A few other revelations were particularly interesting to me as a former Civil War reenactor. Fran was always a stickler for authenticity and made me comply. It was believed that people did not have pierced ears back then, however, all the earrings that they discovered were of the pierced style. The other interesting thing was with respect to shoes. She always told us that it didn't matter which shoes was which that they didn't make right and left shoes back then, however our guide explained that while the women's and children's shoes were still made like that, all the men's shoes they found were actually made for right or left feet!

At this point our guide set us loose on the exhibit to wander and explore. I wasn't really ready for the sheer volume of stuff that was found, and the man who ate the pickle told us that they still have about ⅓ of the cargo to left to sort through.

Look at all that cutlery!

It wasn't just Bed, Bath, and Beyond….it was a Home Dept too.

The boat had a Rite Aid division as well!

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

There was an interesting story about these beads. In most families, if the children misbehaved they were sent to bed without dinner or some other such punishment. In this family you were sent to grandmas to wash beads!

There was a shoe dept...

And a workshop department

There was a small display area which demonstrated the process of recovering the mud soaked artifacts.

This child's shoe was what they were working on that day.

Remember that bowl of nails that I showed you earlier? This is how they began.

This next section is supposed to represent the size of the ship.

Not all the pieces survived their internment.

They were able to retrieve the steam engine and placed it in the correct place in the ship's replica.

In this shot, the wheel is not authentic, but the other wooden parts were.

This is looking down the length of what could have been the ship. The door at the end of this picture is the one I showed when we moved into the part of the exhibit representing the ship and its size.

Here's another shot of the wheel and the mechanism.

Here is the one casualty of the Steamship Arabia. The horse was tethered to a post. The man who owned the horse claimed he set it free and it swam away. Our guide pointed out to the kids to never lie, because even 150 years later the truth can be discovered.

The museum runs in a circle and you complete your tour back at the piece of the hull where it began.

We really enjoyed this museum and spent a good three hours there!

But now we were hungry, so off to Arthur Bryants for some burnt ends and pulled pork. Today there were only about three people ahead of us in line.

Yummy!

Then we went to the Jazz museum. It was a nice little museum.

They focused on basically only five artists, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald, though others were mentioned in the small print. This is Charlie Parker's saxophone. I thought it was cool!

The exhibits were centered around these little kiosks, and there was one for each of the artists I mentioned above.

The rest of the museum was hands on learning stations to give non musicians a taste of the types of instruments (reeds, brass, strings, percussion) as well as other concepts like rhythm, melody, and composing. Besides the fact that Fran and I didn't need to do these activities, you had to wear headphones and I wasn't sure how many classroom kids had visited the museum and had their grubby little hands all over the stations.

They had some ancient devices from the previous century that folks used for listening to music.

Anyone recognize this bad boy?

They did have some fun photo ops. This one complete with wind instruments for posing. My friend Leonard is always teasing me that the “saxomophone" is a sub par instrument and other such crap so I couldn't resist this photo op when there was a trumpet on hand.

And one in my natural habitat….

And a funny one….

Fran wanted to visit a HD store and there were several, each about half an hours drive from our current location so we picked one and headed that way. She got a couple of shirts and I even found one too. Then we hopped back on the freeway and drove back to our hotel. Most of you would have probably complained about the traffic, but we were constantly moving so it wasn’t bad. We didn't even come to a halt when construction reduced the three lanes to two.

We came back to find the room had not been serviced. The next morning when I complained at the front desk that the room wasn't cleaned the woman there told me that maid service was only every other day and I would assuredly have the room serviced that day.

Back in the room, neither of us was hungry enough after our big lunch to go out, and besides we had amassed quite a collection of leftovers not to mention we had a good amount of Key Lime pie left.

I ate my leftover schnitzel with the spaetzle while Fran ate her skirt steak skillet from breakfast the other morning, and of course we both had pie. And we just chilled watching TV before going to bed.

 

[pooh'smate]

The Arabia Museum is on our list of things to do the next time we make it to KC. The museum looks really neat and I am looking forward to it. We find the traffic in KC isn't to bad either but my dh is use to Montreal trafic so it doesn't bother him.

 

[Steppesister]

Holy Mother of all updates. The Arabia finds/display was incredible! Thanks for sharing that! The facts about shoes and earrings were very interesting.

Your sassy photo with the sax cracked me up. LOL!!

 

[jedijill]

I need to get back to the Arabia musuem. Last time I was there they had barely started the restoration of the goods...It really is an incredible story! The same family believes they have found another sunken ship and are working to excavate it as well.

I'm drooling over all the BBQ. Arthur Bryant's is one of my favorites!

Jill in CO (formerly of KC!)

 

[pkondz]

That wasn't what I chose, but that's OK! I had a feeling that's what you were thinking!

You're more than welcome, but I rarely have more than a couple weeks notice on them, so you'll need to act fast when notice comes!

<scurries off to check flights.....>

Well no, when you're our size and have definite medical requirements we need to make sure that we bring everything that we need. Often times the stuff WE need is not available on a ship.

I knew you'd say that.
True.... but concentrate on those things. The rest... common sundries etc... sure, pack them of course, but it you forget those. No biggie.

When these tenants leave, she wants to jack up the rent since it's a real desirable property. This one is one block from the beach.

Nice! And... I can see why she'd want to raise the rent, then.

Only if you plan on staying for a while..and you pass a credit check....

I'm in!!!!

Oh... wait.... Ruby says "No."

No they took it away earlier this year.

Huh. Had no idea.

I think the woman we were talking to couldn't deal with the 11 month window of booking.

Not true DISers, then.

Yes it is, but right now I'm concentrating on easy dishes that don't make a big mess and have a lot of clean up.

Oh, I get that.

 

[pkondz]

So you’ll perhaps remember that back in May we went to Kansas City for a band conference.

before our 6PM rehearsal which kicked off 52 or so hours of rehearsal, meetings, concert and minimal sleep in there somewhere.

Good Lord. How exhausted were you?

The room wasn't ready yet so we sat in the lobby until 3PM when it was finally ready. We should have taken this as an omen.

Uh, oh...

Who is going to refuse free bacon?

No one. That's who.

While I was doing the laundry there was a Toy Story marathon going on and I came in somewhere in the middle of the first movie.

I have yet to see #3. And I'm not even positive I saw the second one either.

the lure of Weinerschnitzel did the trick.

That would do it for me too! I just had some on Monday. Yum.

Another thing that was putting a damper on my mood was that she was complaining about what there was to do in town, and why were we staying so many extra nights?

I needed bandaids (my arms were all torn up as my skin is getting thin and it looked like Fran had been beating me.)

Oh, dear.

We had found a box of this stuff at my parent’s house in an obscure grocery store and it turned out to be the most awesome fish batter.

Really! I wouldn't have guessed. Huh!

Or maybe I was feeling rather hot.

Of course you were. You are hot.

perhaps a bit of backedupacation (if you get my drift).

but @Steppesister’s candid discussions have made me a little more open to this kind of subject.

Sure. Let's blame it on her.

we went back to the hotel so I could make sure that I felt “up to our planned activities”.

ahem

but when we arrived at 3PM they informed us that they were closing an hour early for Memorial Day and the last tour had been at 2:30.

Well, poop.



Oops! Sorry. Poor choice of words there.

This was so yummy and creamy! It was very rich and we took half of it to go.

Looks really good, too.

For $3 you could add a rib so we got a pork rib as well, so of course we added that!

Of course.

And every day they gave us bacon, and it was really good bacon! Thick cut and just the right amount of salty.

Really! I would've thought they'd skimp on that.

It was so much bacon that Fran kept taking it back to the room and by the end of our stay we had more than half a pound of bacon in a baggie in our fridge!

Holy crap!



Oops! Again... poor choice of words.

it was also very dangerous. Steam engines were volatile and many many boats were lost due to engine fires along the rivers over the decades.

Really! I had no idea.

One very different thing about rivers in 19th century America than present day rivers is that they were free flowing. Their banks shifted constantly, between erosion, sediment deposits, the rivers flowed past the outer banks of its curves, and the soil would erode. Eventually the trees on the sides of the river would lose their ground and fall into the river. After flowing down river, they may get lodged in the sediment and the current would slant their trunks down river as a nice surprise spike underneath the water waiting for unsuspecting ships. Also with no restrictions on banks of the rivers, the course of the river could travel miles in any direction depending on the current. It wasn't until the 1920s that the Army Corp of engineers started to reign in the banks of the rivers across the country to help prevent flooding.

Thanks for that. I found it very interesting.

Since Walmart or even the traditional grocery stores had not been invented yet,

There was a time when there was no Walmart?????

And then he introduced the guy who ate the pickle

No. Way!

Fran was always a stickler for authenticity and made me comply. It was believed that people did not have pierced ears back then, however, all the earrings that they discovered were of the pierced style.

So there!

I wasn't really ready for the sheer volume of stuff that was found, and the man who ate the pickle told us that they still have about ⅓ of the cargo to left to sort through.

Whoa..... And there's so much! I was pretty flabbergasted at the sheer volume of artifacts from one ship.

There was an interesting story about these beads. In most families, if the children misbehaved they were sent to bed without dinner or some other such punishment. In this family you were sent to grandmas to wash beads!

I'm betting the kids were pretty good.

Remember that bowl of nails that I showed you earlier? This is how they began.

Oh, man. The work that must take!

They were able to retrieve the steam engine and placed it in the correct place in the ship's replica.

Nice! I like that they did that.... and could!

Here is the one casualty of the Steamship Arabia. The horse was tethered to a post. The man who owned the horse claimed he set it free and it swam away. Our guide pointed out to the kids to never lie, because even 150 years later the truth can be discovered.

Today there were only about three people ahead of us in line.

Huh. I wonder why yesterday it was so packed and today it wasn't.

This is Charlie Parker's saxophone. I thought it was cool!

Me too!

Besides the fact that Fran and I didn't need to do these activities, you had to wear headphones and I wasn't sure how many classroom kids had visited the museum and had their grubby little hands all over the stations.

ew

They had some ancient devices from the previous century that folks used for listening to music.

Anyone recognize this bad boy?

hmmm... no? At least not that particular model.

ooooh… so saxy.

Fran wanted to visit a HD store

Yay!

We came back to find the room had not been serviced. The next morning when I complained at the front desk that the room wasn't cleaned the woman there told me that maid service was only every other day and I would assuredly have the room serviced that day.

Really? This is a thing?

 

[irene_dsc]

Oops - I totally forgot you had this TR going! That Arabia museum and story are just insane! I had no clue about those steamship stores even existing (probably like the vast majority of us), much less about this particular one. So.Much.Stuff...

And yes, I love both the trumpet and sax photos!

 

[franandaj]

The Arabia Museum is on our list of things to do the next time we make it to KC. The museum looks really neat and I am looking forward to it. We find the traffic in KC isn't to bad either but my dh is use to Montreal trafic so it doesn't bother him.

I thought it was totally fascinating! We spent way more time in there than most people, so much to read and look at.

Holy Mother of all updates. The Arabia finds/display was incredible! Thanks for sharing that! The facts about shoes and earrings were very interesting.

Your sassy photo with the sax cracked me up. LOL!!

You're welcome! And as Jill mentioned, the family thinks they may have located another such wreck, but he was pretty tight lipped about it, lest someone else steal their find.

I wasn't sure whether or not to post the saxophone pic, but I figured why the heck not?

I need to get back to the Arabia musuem. Last time I was there they had barely started the restoration of the goods...It really is an incredible story! The same family believes they have found another sunken ship and are working to excavate it as well.

Yeah, he mentioned that. He mentioned a whole bunch of other things in a Q&A with our group in the theater, but I thought the pictures were the best way to tell the story.

I'm drooling over all the BBQ. Arthur Bryant's is one of my favorites!

I've been there twice now, and I always seem to get the burnt ends, love them!

<scurries off to check flights.....>

I haven't set a date for the next one, but I'm leaning toward the end of September.

I knew you'd say that.
True.... but concentrate on those things. The rest... common sundries etc... sure, pack them of course, but it you forget those. No biggie.

See those are the ones I don't forget because I have a dedicated travel bathroom bag with all that kind of stuff. I rotate out the things like shampoo and deodorant, when I run out in my bedroom/bathroom, but I have an entire dresser dedicated to "stuff we use on vacation". Extra phone chargers, special pillow, Door magnet decorations, MBs, the creature comforts we like in the rooms....

Nice! And... I can see why she'd want to raise the rent, then.

They've been in there for over four years now and I've only done two rent increases since then. The two bedroom unit in front rented for more than they were paying for their three bedroom unit!

I'm in!!!!

Oh... wait.... Ruby says "No."

Huh. Had no idea.

Yeah, a tear was shed by both Jill and myself. I believe that they did it just after I got back from KC, and didn't have the time to go for one last hurrah.

Not true DISers, then.

Not at all, or even close.

Oh, I get that.

Yeah, tonight is Turkey a la King. Sauteed veggies, get turned into bechamel sauce, add turkey, serve over toast. Or English Muffins in my case. Tomorrow I'm using up the rest of the Pepper from tonight with fajitas. Only dirties one pan each night.

Good Lord. How exhausted were you?

Incredibly exhausted. I ordered room service around midnight after the concert and slept until the last possible moment and we checked out right at noon.

No one. That's who.

I have yet to see #3. And I'm not even positive I saw the second one either.

I liked the second one, it had lots of humor in it. The third one is bittersweet for me, partially because of the subject matter. I saw that one at the El Capitan Theater and cried almost the whole way through it. I know this because they had a Toy Story Fun Zone in the back for patrons to enjoy after the movie. Then we went to the Disney Studio Store and Soda Fountain after the movie. But that's closed now.

That would do it for me too! I just had some on Monday. Yum.

I think I'll put that on the menu for when we get back from Phoenix next month. I haven't made it in a while.

Oh, dear.

Well the kittens started it, they kept scratching me back then cause they didn't know their own strength. I had the same thing while you were visiting too. They have finally calmed down and stopped biting and playing with my forearms, but for a period of about six months my arms looked awful. There were a couple times (like getting our stuff out from under the bottom of the bus) where my arms got scraped and I was bleeding all over. Luckily that was after the concert and not before.

Really! I wouldn't have guessed. Huh!

We bought it because of Larry the Cable Guy, but when I finally got up the courage to make it, the batter was excellent!

Of course you were. You are hot.

Sure. Let's blame it on her.

ahem

Well, poop.



Oops! Sorry. Poor choice of words there.

Looks really good, too.

It really was!

Of course.

Really! I would've thought they'd skimp on that.

Well, the folks who were paying for it paid something like $9.95 or $12.95 for the "buffet". It was part buffet, and then there were a few different cooked to order entrees you could choose from. They gave each of us at least four pieces every morning, between that all everything else, omelettes, waffles, fruit, toast, potatoes, and sausage too, we couldn't eat that much bacon in one sitting.

Holy crap!



Oops! Again... poor choice of words.

Really! I had no idea.

They had a map on one of the walls with all the shipwrecks along the rivers and more than half I believe were explosions or steam engine fires.

Thanks for that. I found it very interesting.

You're welcome, I also learned about that on the Mississippi river cruise.

There was a time when there was no Walmart?????

No. Way!

way

So there!

Yeah, but I can't say that to her.....

Whoa..... And there's so much! I was pretty flabbergasted at the sheer volume of artifacts from one ship.

And how many of each of the items that there were was astonishing.

I'm betting the kids were pretty good.

Really, those must have been really tedious to clean, but the kid said that the whole family was involved for as long as he could remember.

Oh, man. The work that must take!

They explained part of the process and it takes a lot of distilled water and some other chemicals, but not a lot, the chemicals damage the stuff.

Nice! I like that they did that.... and could!

It also gave you a real sense of the size of the boat.

Huh. I wonder why yesterday it was so packed and today it wasn't.

The Day before was Memorial Day, I'm sure you're aware of the significance of that holiday. Most people don't realize that we are supposed to be celebrating fallen soldiers and not the first weekend of Barbeque.

ew

Exactly why I didn't want to put the headphones on.

hmmm... no? At least not that particular model.

I just meant the fact that it was an 8 track tape player. I wonder how many folks here remember those....

ooooh… so saxy.

Really? This is a thing?

I expect it with DVC, but not with a regular hotel.

Oops - I totally forgot you had this TR going! That Arabia museum and story are just insane! I had no clue about those steamship stores even existing (probably like the vast majority of us), much less about this particular one. So.Much.Stuff...

I knew about travel and commerce, but mostly transporting farmer's goods to market, not bringing goods to consumers.

And yes, I love both the trumpet and sax photos!

Thanks! I was trying to be humorous.