WE'RE BACK!...VACATION PART 1

Well we're back from vacation. There's always mixed emotions at the end of vacation...you know the ones...so sad it's over but also glad to be back home.  Of course, it's the going back to work that is the part we could all do without! Hehehe.

Vacation was a blast!  We didn't get to do a lot of the things we were planning on, like taking the boat out for a spin...because the lake was just WAY too flooded for our comfort.

Normally the water is a nice blue green and beautiful but not this time. Most of the boat ramps were closed and though I don't have pictures of it, there was LOTS of debris floating around.  Too dangerous for boating in our little boat!! However we made everyday a new adventure as we took little day trips to see the sights in the surrounding area. We went to Paris and Mexico

Ha, don't you just love it!!! Paris and Mexico just 26 miles apart...I WISH!!!

We also traveled to Florida...Florida, Missouri that is...

The birthplace of Samuel L. Clemens...aka, Mark Twain.

The famous author of novels involving the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. We also visited the town of Hannibal where Mark Twain grew up and where many of the stories that he wrote took place. Pretty cool!!!

The visitor center in Florida has a fabulous museum and houses the original cabin Samuel was born in...

Yes that is a full size cabin inside of another building.  The picture makes it look tiny and indeed it was small but a full size cabin just the same.



Here the pictures of my family in front of it gives you a better sense of the actual size...

It was so neat!! You can just see the excitement and enthusiasm on hubs' face, can't you?

The inside was furnished just as it might have been the day Samuel was born.  A small kitchen/cooking area along with a bed in the main living area...

Love the old time worn table...WAY smaller but very similar to the farmhouse style tables everyone is swooning over nowadays...

Not sure they had very comfortable nights sleep in those lumpy beds back then...hehehe, but you gotta love the handmade quilt...GORGEOUS!! Notice the trundle?  Yes two beds in one!! Very efficient for a family with more than a few kiddos!

This cabin had two rooms, the living area and a separate "master" bedroom equipped with yet another lumpy bed, a chifferobe closet (far left) and of course a cradle for baby...

This cabin was so cute and really very efficient for the day. I think it would've been pretty comfortable to live in...well that is if it would've had air conditioning!!!

Out in the "yard" behind the cabin was a few linen making tools...

The ladies made their own high quality, all natural linens, clothes and rugs (like the ones shown on the floors of the cabin) from homegrown flax back then. Not quite as easy as buying them on ebay from France like some of y'all do now. Hehe.

The other side of the museum had various displays depicting other parts of Mark Twain's (Samuel Clemens') life...

Like his life as a boy living along the Mississippi River in Hannibal, and that, before he became a world renowned writer he was a riverboat captain and much, much more.

They even had his old horse drawn carriage on display...

This museum also had one of the best displays I have ever seen in a museum...ANYWHERE...a display where a local artist made very realistic virtual scenes from the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which I did not take pictures of). I know, poo on me, right?  Anyway, if you want to see those you will just have to make the trip to Florida, Missouri to see them for yourself.  You won't be disappointed!

After leaving the museum we decided to travel the 1/4 mile up the road into the town of Florida to where the original cabin was found and I couldn't resist taking a picture of this GORGEOUS old cabin that looks like a mansion in comparison to the one Clemens was born in.

It's a beauty isn't it? Boy times sure were different back then! You gotta love American History.  

The best part of this day trip is it was all FREE. Visiting the museum and seeing all this fabulous stuff costs nothing. Well, unless you want to buy a few of Mr.Twain's novels that are for sale in the lobby. Even those are very inexpensive. Sis got the classic, infamous book mentioned above for only $4. Can't beat that.

I don't want to bore you with my vacation but I hope to be back later this week with a few other adventures, like our trips to visit the two covered bridges I mentioned a few weeks ago...See I told you I would talk the hubs into it...hehehehe.

See you soon!!