December 14, 2012 by Rae

Colonial Williamsburg, Part One: Introduction and the Hopes Plantation

It is a very weary and happy time travel who posts tonight! My day in Colonial Williamsburg was much too full to do it justice in just one post, so I will be breaking it up into several.

Williamsburg is known as the Revolutionary City. It was the first capital of Virginia and the centre of political activity that would lead to the United States declaring its independence from England.

The historical part of the city, Colonial Williamsburg, is a huge living history museum set circa 1774, just before the American Revolution and the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. I’ll get a little more into some of the history as I work my way through the exhibits.

While Colonial Williamsburg is a living history museum, it is not like so many others I have visited where the costumed interpreters play a part and pretend they are actually living in that era. While they may take on the persona of an 18th-century whatever, they are still their 21st century selves and can answer questions as such.

In order to visit all the exhibits, you must purchase a ticket, which is $39.95 for one day. I got lucky and was able to buy my ticket through Groupon for $19.95. But, spoiler, $39.95 is a bargain!

My tips for Colonial Williamsburg: wear comfortable shoes, bring your own water and a picnic, don’t think you’ll find one-of-a-kind souvenirs, and if you absolutely want to pay huge prices for dinner, reserve very early to eat at one of the taverns. Yes, much of Colonial Williamsburg is a giant tourist trap, but one that is still well worth doing!

Plan a lot of time to visit Colonial Williamsburg properly. I arrived at 9AM and by noon I hadn’t even set foot in the core of the city yet! Many visitable buildings include tours of 20 to 45 minutes in duration and you can easily spend 10 to 15 minutes in each of the other ones watching demonstrations. I decided to work my way through the city, devote myself wholly to the activity in which I was engaged, and not bemoan missing anything when the day ended.

One interpreter gave me a valuable tip. While the town buildings and tours close at 5PM, the museum closes at 7PM. A good way to organize you day is to travel clockwise around the city, finish with the museum, and then hop on the free shuttle to get back to the Visitors’ Centre.

I don’t take notes, so the following pictures provide information I remember, but in no way encompass the whole of what I learned during my visit. You’ll just have to come to Colonial Williamsburg one day!

: Colonial Williamsburg Visitors’ Centre: get your tickets and map here

: If you take the shuttle from the Visitors’ Centre, you miss the Hopes Plantation, an imagined place that represents a typical middle class farm. Most Virginians lived like this.

: The farm is several acres large and has many out buildings including a kitchen, smokehouse, tobacco shed, and slave quarters. The cash crops were tobacco, wheat, and corn.

: Mmm, ham.

: I saw stairs like these at the Pamplin Historical Park. They are still scary!

: Period kitchen.

: There were still veggies in the garden, but these are rather frosty.

: Hot peppers.

: The shingles are made of cypress and the resulting roof can last 50 years!

: This man is making shingles.

: He has a little machine for holding the shingle, which he then planes and sizes. He can make 100 per day.

: More shingle shaping.

: She’s making pegs to hold joints.

: He’s making joints.

: There is no rock in Virginia, so unless folks could afford brick, their houses had no foundations. Most buildings were not considered permanent as they would rot out within a generation. So they would have plank roofs rather than shingle ones. No sense spending time and money on a structure that won’t last.

: Slave quarters. There could be 12 people crammed into a tiny cabin with a dirt floor. The top floor was used for storage.

: I crossed a number of these tunnels with a babbling brook by the sidewalk.

: Looking towards town.

: There is a little orientation building between the plantation and the governor’s palace. Inside, you can see the Frenchman’s map, the only surviving period survey of Colonial Williamsburg, and which allowed the museum to be laid out much as the town was. The French text says: “Map of the city of Williamsburg and the surrounding area, Virginia, America. 11th May, 1786. Surveyed on foot.”

: The scale is 100 to something.

: The Frenchman’s map

: Maison des foux=lunatic asylum (more on that later!)

: College

: Capitol

: The walls of the governor’s palace.

: First glimpse of the city

: There lots of carriages about.

: You can reserve a carriage ride for a fee.

April 26, 2012 by Rae

The St Louis City Museum

The only way I can describe the St Louis City Museum is that it is a giant playground. It was apparently first created for adults, but now it is overrun by kids. The highlight is exploring all the nooks and crannies of various structures that let you climb, slide, and crawl. I had a blast but have to say that it would have been even better if there was an adults only time. There are a lot of structures that I would have liked to try but which I knew I couldn’t clear quickly enough for kids eager to get by. I was proven right when I descended a particularly slick structure, kids decided to come up, and one pushed me such that I got disoriented and stood up, right into a steel bar. I have a nice egg on the top of my head tonight. 😀

I’m going to put the rest of the bla bla bla into the gallery because this place is impossible to describe in words! I think that even the pictures don’t convey it really well. At $13 it is the most expensive St Louis attraction that I could find, but since everything else is so cheap or free and you could easily spend a whole day here I think it gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Wear long-sleeved pants you don’t mind getting dirty and closed-toed shoes. My sandals were a bit too slick in some areas.

entrance to the City Museum

cave tunnel to crawl through

or you can take stairs (you can get through a lot of this place without getting on your hands and knees, but you will need to do so to get the full experience!)

another narrow tunnel (writing says that kids must be accompanied by an adult)

turtles

octopus-like sculpture

entrance into a sea cave

This guy decided to come out and say hi by being vicious and hissing at me.

what the heck is that?!

turtle playing by himself

Big Fish is roaming around

Mr. Turtle takes off in a huff

Big Fish obviously does not find me interesting

Great quote by Jack Kerouac, “The only people for me are the MAD ones…”

this exhibit sounded cool but I think it was under repair

giant Sphinx

architecture museum

about the architecture museum (asks if a 100 year old courthouse should be demolished because it is not ADA)

there is an amazing vintage clothing store on the top floor! this is surely a St Louis hidden gem!

racks and racks and racks of vintage clothing; I didn’t see anything over $25!

stairs up to the vintage clothing shop

this is a wall of safety deposit boxes

entrance to the vault

the inner vault door

pretty arch way

deep in the heart of the cave system

I do not recommend turning around too quicky in the cave system unless you want to embarrass yourself by shrieking. I wasn’t expecting a giant dinosaur, okay?

I climbed up a super narrow staircase only to face this. I turned back. 🙂

looking up towards the top of the TEN STOREY SLIDE

climbing up to the top of the TEN STOREY SLIDE; it is a bunch of spiral staircases that get more wobbly the closer you get to the top…

four floors to go, *pant, pant*

Top of the TEN STOREY slide, looking down. I actually slid down it! Wheeeeee!

the outside portion looks like a mess of metal and get every inch of it is meant to be played on

Can you see the kid in the red shirt climbing up in front of the plane?

Can you see the kid in what looks like a giant slinky?

I didn’t break a sweat crossing this!

kids coming out of the giant slinky

Looking down to the ball pit

Close up of the slinky that leads to the plane. Most of the structures were accessible in a number of ways. I would end up getting very close to that plane.

I went over the walkway, but a smaller person could slide under it and crawl across!

I liked the random columns in the parking area.

There is a giant slinky going from the airplane to the top of the keep.

I bonked my head really well coming down this green structure.

bottom of the keep; the ‘stair risers’ would get higher and higher

partway up the keep, looking at the other plane

At the top of the keep. This slinky was short enough that had there not been a bunch of kids in the plane I would have gone over there.

I started up this structure, but it got really narrow and crowded.

it just keeps spiraling up

this is the lobby area where you buy your tickets

This sign announces the ‘circus’, which is a pretty good clown act. Be prepared to tip the clown as she is a volunteer.

April 26, 2012 by Rae

The St Louis Gateway Arch

The St Louis Gateway Arch was built in the early 1960s to symbolize America’s westward expansion. In the 19th century, St Louis was the last big city before the unexplored western frontier and was soon established as a railway hub. The Arch is a weighted or flattened catenary arch that measures 630ft.

My first reaction upon seen it was vertigo. I thought, “There’s no way in hell I’m going up that thing!”

As it turns out, the tram to the top is completely enclosed, so the ride up and down in a cramped car is not terrifying in the least. At the top, there are narrow windows through which you can view the Mississippi River and the city, but it’s almost impossible to look straight down. So folks with a fear of heights shouldn’t be worried about going to the top of the Arch.

To tour the Arch, you have to enter below it. There is an airport-style security checkpoint (I got through without incident). You then buy your ticket ($7 today even though it says $10 on the website) and are told when to line up. They are very strict about being at the gate on time and not a second before. You are assigned at tram car, then hustled up to the tram doors.

The trams sit five and are very small. It’s a four minute climb to the top and you can spend as long up there as you want. When you are ready to come down, you are assigned a tram number. The ride down takes three minutes. I somehow managed to reveal myself as a full-time RVer on both trips and was even asked my blog address. If any of my fellow tram car passengers are reading this, please let me know in the comments! 🙂

The Arch tours are well organized, but the Arch was not constructed for the amount of visitors today. I was on the 9:25 tram and the ones after that had way too many people.

There was one more stop to make in the base of the Arch, but first I decided to take a coffee break. I’d run out of milk this morning, so I hadn’t had coffee. I decided to check out the general store that promised hot beverages. $2 got me a cup of truly excellent coffee made of beans roasted 19th century style. It made me glad I’d run out of milk or I wouldn’t have tried it. It tasted almost like what comes out of my French press and most definitely not like typical brewed coffee. So I’d recommend coming to the Arch first thing to avoid the crowds and then enjoy a coffee before continuing with your day.

standing at the base of the Arch

touching the Arch

the Mississippi River

St Louis

630 ft up, *gulp*

the Mississippi River

okay, that’s a long way down

the Mississippi River

St Louis

the tram doors were 4.5 feet high and surrounded by steel so we had to duck!

coffee from Levee Mercantile

about how coffee was brought to the west

perfect and yummy!

April 26, 2012 by Rae

St Louis Almost Charms the Pants Off Me

I just got in from a full day spent touring St Louis, Mo.

Before I get into the good stuff, I have to get something off my chest. Missourians, why do you hate tourists so much? Driving in St Louis was horrible! I have driven in much bigger cities and never been honked at once. Just about every time I stopped at a red light, I was honked at if I didn’t hit the gas the second the light went green. I earned multiple honks for being cautious when turning left with tons of oncoming traffic bearing down on me. But my absolute favourite nasty habit was that every single time I would signal to change lanes, and I mean every single time, if there was a car behind me in the next lane, it would speed up when my turn signal came on, making it impossible for me to make the lane change and causing me to miss exits and turns. What a way to cause accidents, folks, by getting tourists really frazzled! The other thing that irked me was inconsistent signage to tourist-related things. For example, there is an inexpensive parking lot for visitors of the Arch. You get a few signs indicating which way to go, then good luck, you’re on your own! Even though there is a nice big RV lot, I would not go there without having first plotted out the route and having a navigator.

Okay, enough of that! When I wasn’t hopelessly lost with an equally confused GPS, I was having an amazing day! St Louis was on my bucket list because of its place in American expansion history, but I never really read up much on it. I had no idea that its touristy part would feel so quaint and old worldly. I love walkable cities and appreciated St Louis’ acres and acres of green spaces, walking paths, and easy to navigate city streets. If someone had told me that I would one day visit St Louis while traveling east in a modern day covered wagon, I would have laughed. It just goes to show that you need to leave room in your life plans for surprises.

This post is just generally about my day and I will shortly follow up with individual posts about each attraction, with most of the information given in the photo gallery for each post.

The first thing on the agenda was to find the right parking lot that is just $6 for the day. I’m not sure I found it, but I did find a lot that said $5 for the day that was reasonably close to the Arch, so that was good enough for me. I put a $5 bill in the machine and that got me two gold coins back. Once I was parked, I looked at them and realised they were US $1 coins, which I have only seen once, back in 2007, and which I had a dickens of a time getting people to accept. So, I had put $5 in and got $2 back in change. Why? I went back to the entrance and read the fine print on the sign. Early bird discount! I’d left early to be one of the first up the Arch before the throngs came and it paid off. 🙂

It took a bit of guesswork to find the Arch, but I finally did and was on the last uncrowded tour. I came down and went to the Museum of Westward Expansion, which is in the base of the Arch. It was still really early at that point, so I decided to do the City Museum. The gal at the information kiosk under the Arch said that the City Museum wasn’t walking distance, but it was only about 17 blocks, of which I’d have to walk three just to get back to my car.

By the time I was five blocks or so from the City Museum, it was just past 11:00 and I was hungry. Since the City Museum is interactive and promotes physical activity, I decided it would be a good idea to have lunch first. I was walking down Washington Avenue, a major thoroughfare, so I figured I’d come across a few restaurants. I did, and one of them was a sushi bar, Mizu. It was hot out, so I didn’t want anything too heavy, so this was perfect! The sushi was excellent; I was very impressed! $18 including the tip got me a miso soup that was included in my lunch combo of a tuna roll with four pieces of nigiri, and I added one piece octopus. The salmon sashimi was particularly memorable as it literally melted in my mouth, the way good sashimi should. Mizi Sushi Bar was definitely an expected surprise and I am so glad I gave it a try!

I then spent a couple of hours at the City Museum until the chaos of the children variety drove me out of there.

It was only about 2:00, so I ambled back to the car, and, after much trouble, made it to the Forest Park section of town to visit the Missouri Museum of History. I got out of there in about an hour and decided that I was done for the day. So, I set the GPS for home, was promptly squeezed out of the lane I needed to merge into, and found myself detouring through a section of St Louis I’m pretty sure tourists aren’t supposed to see. I would have taken pictures, but I was afraid to stop the car. 😀

More below:

first glimpse of the Arch

first good glimpse of the Arch

old worldly kind of feel

Eads bridge

the Arch

the Drury Inn was lovely

Mizi Sushi bar; excellent!

Next to Mizi, a pub was serving a beer and cheese soup. If I hadn’t been so full, I would have been tempted. 🙂

nice building seen from the corner of Washington and Tucker

This guy was cleaning the street, and I mean cleaning it. I’ve never seen someone apply cleanser and then scrub a city garbage can before! St Louis was very clean and I complimente this man on his hard work.

Illinois is across the river

final glimpse of the Arch

ice cream truck! haven’t seen one of those in ages!

walking down to the river

Eads bridge, which spans the Mississippi River

September 12, 2011 by Rae

Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park

Jody wanted to give me something special for my three-year RVing anniversary. But what do you give an RVer that won’t end up as clutter? The answer for this RVer is obvious: give her an experience. So Jody got together with Donna and planned an adventure for the three of us that would take us deep into the southern Alberta Badlands to a place where history is literally carved into the landscape: Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park.

So early Sunday morning (September 11th), Jody and I set off eastwards to Taber to pick up Donna, then we swung south to Milk River where we veered further east into the park. The weather was perfect and hot. It was about 11:30 when we arrived and we decided that lunch was the first priority. So we headed down into the campground area to tuck into the picnic Gary had packed for us.

There was still a couple of hours before our guided tour of the rock art, so we explored the hoodoos, which really put Drumheller to shame! The Blackfoot who traveled this land felt it was sacred and the place thrummed with its immense power. I am absolutely in love with the Alberta Badlands. Both Writing-On-Stone and Drumheller feature amazing landscapes, but Writing-On-Stone’s hoodoos really do give this more remote location an edge.

The only way to access the archaeological preserve that is the site of the rock art is to take a guided tour. It started from the still new visitors’ centre where you get onto a minibus that takes you to the start of the hike. The hike itself isn’t too difficult, but it does require sturdy closed-shoes because of the uneven terrain and cacti, and a wide-brimmed had and plenty of water (at least one litre) is needed on hot days. It was 45C (113) along the trail mid-afternoon Sunday!

Our guide, Bonnie, was a formidable woman whose love and respect for the area and the Blackfoot people shone through every word. She was a great storyteller and interpreter. Even though the hike only covers about three city blocks, it lasts about two hours.

After our unforgettable afternoon, we gals piled back into Jody’s van, returned to Taber to pick up Ken, and made it to Lethbridge where Gary had another delicious meal waiting for us.

I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect way to celebrate my three years on the road but to spend it with two of the dearest friends I have encountered along the way. Thanks, gals!