Really Laid Back!

This is Main Street in bustling downtown Arrow Rock Missouri! This little town of less than 100 people is on the Missouri River, a little north of I-70 and northwest of Columbia.

It was very quiet during our weekday morning visit in late September...and prior to the fall color tours. Arrow Rock was the location where the Santa Fe Trail crossed the Missouri River and, as such it's been a stopover for visitors since 1829. Many of the older Federal-style buildings comprise the Arrow Rock State Historic Site.

There is at least one nice gift shop...attested to by Laurie, (my better half), plus a couple of places to eat, a handful of B&B's and the former home of artist George Caleb Bingham.

Another major attraction in town is the 334-seat Arrow Rock Lyceum Theater, Missouri's oldest professional theater. The theater offers musicals, comedies and dramas from June through Labor Day.

Other nearby attractions include the Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge, Boone's Lick State Historical Site and Sappington Cemetery State Historical Site. Close by the latter is Prairie Park, a restored 1844 Greek Revival mansion. The home was built by Dr. John Sappington, the physician who popularized the use of quinine to treat malaria.

This is the Old Tavern, a handsome 2-story Federal-style building that is now occupied by a restaurant.

To visit Arrow Rock, a popular weekend trip for folks from Kansas City, take I-70 east to Exit 89, K Highway, then drive north to MO Highway 41 and continue north to the village. The drive takes about an hour and 40 minutes.

For more information, go to http://www.arrowrock.org/.

Missouri...The End of The Line!

While we were in St. Louis, I talked Bill and Ken, Laurie's brother-in-laws, into a day trip to the county's Museum of transport. As Laurie had my camera with her, Ken acted as my photographer. Thanks Ken!


This unusual 2+D+ 2 Class S-2 locomotive was built in 1906 by ALCO-GE for use on electrified tracks between Grand Central Station and Harmon, New York. This locomotive has served as the prototype for thousands of Lionel and Ives electric model trains. I had no idea that electric trains were in use so early in the 20th century.


We saw many interesting and unusual locomotives as well as various units of rolling stock. This is a Class B electric freight B+B locomotive. It was built in 1918 by the Illinois Terminal Railroad in it's Decatur Illinois shops.

Moving a bit further along in railroad history, this E-8au 2,400 HP locomotive was built by General Motor's Electro-Motive Division in 1950. It was delivered to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. It served in both a long-haul passenger and as a Chicago-area commuter role.


The St. Louis County Museum of Transport has over 70 locomotives in it's care, with half of them one-of-a-kind or sole survivors of their type!

The museum is located at 3015 Barrett Station Road in St. Louis, Missouri. Web Site: http://www.museumoftransport.org/. Phone: 314-965-6885

Wall to Wall Stuff!!

As we travel around North America, we are occasionally surprised by small local museums that far surpass our expectations. This place is apparently the result of a collector gone wild! If it wasn't for the fact that this huge quantity of collectibles is well organized, this would be a prime example of hoarding...good 'stuff' only!




How about Indian pottery, baskets, peace pipes, beads/bead work, 10,000 arrowheads, spear points, tools, grinding stones and other artifacts... Add to that, there are 35 complex imagery pictures formed out of arrowheads!


How about rocks and minerals? The world's largest Turquoise carving...a 2-ton Quartz crystal cluster, a petrified tree and hundreds of mineral specimens from around the world. Then there's a large Amethyst display plus Fluorite and Selenite clusters. This collection just goes on and on...








Or, if Indian artifacts aren't you cup of tea, there is this collection of rose bowls and related items...or the vaseline glass, a huge selection of Carnival Glass, yellow glassware, vases, Custard glass, Black Amethyst Glass, Fenton, Flo Blue and cut/leaded glass. Then there's the hundreds of pieces of pottery in every shape and design that can be imagined.




Do you prefer antique guns? There is a very large collection of rifles, muskets, shotguns, pistols and ammunition. There are also war relics including Civil War items, swords, bayonets, shells and cannon balls.







How about unusual items? A collection of old irons! Or, toothpick holders, a baseball card collection, Elvis and Marilyn memorabilia, coins, a lunchbox collection, Kewpie dolls, etc., etc...


This museum is the result of 2 family collections/museums coming together back in 1993. The Arlis Cogar family from Arkansas had created the "Trail of Tears Museum". It was combined with the wide ranging collections assembled by Prier family in their museum in Golden, Missouri.

Did I mention the Black memorabilia, the collection of glass bells, the barbed wire display, the Chinese items, the eyeglass/optical display, the porcelain bird display or the case full of hand held fans of every variety? The list goes on and on...





One of our favorite displays at the museum was this grouping of face jugs... They're relatively rare, especially in excellent condition.


One of the best parts about this museum is that it's FREE! No charge for admission! They do have a box at the entrance and the exit for donations. What a deal!


The Golden Pioneer Museum is located at the intersection of Missouri Highway 86 and County Road J in Golden Missouri. It's on Table Rock Lake between Branson Missouri and Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It's open from April 1 through October 31 from 10:30 am until 4:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday. Phone: 417-271-3300.

Small Plate Dining?!

Now, anyone who knows me is very aware that I'm not a 'small plate' kind of guy. They also know that I have a few food dislikes which can impact fine dining...




Well, all of these 'issues' were blown aside during a recent visit to St. Louis Missouri. Based on a tip from Laurie's sister, Bonnie, we decided to skip one of the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives joints I had in mind and instead, Bonnie and her husband Bill, went with us to the Farmhaus Restaurant. We all shared a number of small plates...and it was a great experience!




We started out with this plate...Beatje Farms Bloomsdale and Marcoot Jersey Creamery Swiss, with damson plum gastrique, local honey, chow chow and crostini. All the taste buds were immediately engaged!

At about the same time, we shared the Farmhaus Local Vegetable Salad. This included beans, corn, tomatoes, grilled okra, zucchini, cucumber, herbs, vinaigrette, beets, Baetje Farms goat's cheese & lavash. Another winner!

We also had the House Mozzarella Bruschetta which included Marcoot Jersey Creamery curds, Fournie Farms tomatoes, all drizzled with a balsamic reduction. If there was a 'miss' among the plates we ordered, this was it... It looked great but we all agreed it lacked much 'pop'.

Then there were the Fried Green Tomatoes...Fournie tomatoes, bacon goat cheese dressing and tomato sauce. We were back on track...another winner!

We also ordered, but failed to photograph, the Local Vegetable Succotash. This was also a hit...and it included corn, tomatillo, peppers, okra, tomatoes, spoon bread and ground cherries in a tomato merlot reduction.

Double Wow!! Next came the Chilled Roast Beef served with horseradish panna cotta, truffle espuma, jus and lavash. The only thing wrong with this creation is that we only ordered one of them! The truffle espuma just kicked this up way above any roast beef dish that we'd ever experienced.

We did order 2 small plates of the Hawaiian Seabass. This delectable fish was cast iron roasted and came with spoon bread, roasted corn, smoked sausage and crawfish tail meat in a spicy butter emulsion. The one downside that we all agreed on was that the sausage was a bit too salty.

How about Basil Ice Cream with Lemon Cake!? Sounds a bit weird...but when you combine the homemade Basil Ice Cream with the moist Lemon Cake, the taste buds had a riot! The chef is a creative genius...

We also shared a great Fried Apple Pie with some terrific homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Yum!

What a meal! This was a great experience... Gourmet food...that this gourmand really enjoyed!

Farmhaus Restaurant is reputed to be the place that area chefs frequent after a long day in their own kitchens. Chef & owner, Kevin Willmann, is from Illinois and he focuses on fresh organic produce and local ingredients wherever possible. He uses local cheese makers, bakers and coffee roasters. We all can attest to the fact that he has a great culinary imagination!

Farmhaus Restaurant is located in an out of the way neighborhood at 3257 Ivanho in St. Louis, Missouri. Website: http://www.farmhausrestaurant.com/. Phone: 618-980-7306

Going, Going, Gone...

In this day and age, it's hard to believe that in the not so distant past, a great many small towns across the USA had regular passenger and freight rail service. Many small towns were served by Interurban Cars/self-powered units. Many towns have already lost their symbols of the past...the old railroad depot.

Here are 3 derelict old rail depots...in declining health or worse. The photo above is the first example. It's the abandoned Norfolk & Western Depot in Rural Retreat, VA. It's still standing but it is slowly falling apart. It's a shame as it's over 100 years old and handsome in it's own way...

The second example is the not so handsome remains of the former passenger depot in Newstead, KY. It was built by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and in it's final days, it's being used for storage

The last of these fast fading railroad depots is the completely abandoned passenger station located in Grand Junction, TN. It was built by the Illinois Central Railroad.

The ironic part of this depot's story is that the town is called 'Grand Junction' for a reason. Even today, it's a major rail junction for north-south and east-west railroad traffic.

Bensenville Illinois - CGC RR

This handsome little locomotive is on static display at Veterans Park in Bensenville, Illinois. It's about a mile from the last place I worked just before I retired.

This is a Chicago Gravel Company 1922 ALCO 0-6-0 Locomotive. The sad thing is that this little train is fenced in and while it has stairs for access and I'm sure it must have visitors, I never saw anyone stopping by to check it out.

Originally, this locomotive was built in Schenectady New York for the Studebaker Corporation in South Bend, Indiana. In 1948, it was sold to the East St. Louis Junction Railroad Company before ending up it's working career with the Chicago Gravel Company.

Ham AND Bacon!!

Fond of Country Ham? Crazy for Great Bacon!!? We like country ham, but being from the midwest, we aren't quite used to it... We're learning and it works very nicely in casseroles, with scalloped potatoes, etc.



But it's the BACON that knocks our socks off! What a great product... The Hickory smoke flavor is strong, so it is a little much when just eaten along side a couple of over easy eggs. But, put it in a BLT, a bacon cheeseburger or use it in a salad...and life just doesn't get much better than that!




Benton's Smoky Mountain Hams processing facility and 'store' is a hard to notice cinder block structure at 2603 Highway 411 just a bit north of Madisonville, TN. Upon entering the building, you spot an old deli display case, a lot of hanging hams and sides of bacon...and you're immediately greeted by a heavy hickory smoke scent. Allan Benton may be there to greet you...and he's very friendly. He's an ex-educator who purchased Benton's in 1973 from it's founder, a local farmer who started the business back in 1947.



Benton's sells a lot of ham, bacon and prosciutto to gourmet restaurants and high-end chefs across the USA. But, whenever we shop at Benton's, the place always seems to have plenty of walk in customers. In addition to the products already mentioned, they'll cut prime steaks in any thickness you might want. We've also picked up fresh eggs and some great hot dogs. Check out Benton's in person or on-line at http://www.bentonshams.com/. Phone: 423-442-5003.