Wednesday, July 19, 2017

A Second Day in Columbia

The children slept remarkably late this morning.  That was likely partly because of the time change, and partly because we were up late last night.  It's been so fun being with our Brinkerhoff cousins again.  What's not to love about being together all the time after months of separation?

Michelle suggested we get an early start before it got stifling hot and bike along the MKT Trail.  This is the Missouri-Kansas-Texas trail that was built along an old railway line.  It is a beautiful trail, tree lined, running through rural parts of Columbia.  The Brinkerhoffs have three bikes and Michelle borrowed three more so we could all ride together.  Unfortunately, the bike borrowed for Blythe did not suit her tastes, being, in her opinion, too pink.  This led to much pouting, a fair bit of yelling, and even more irritation.  Kent patiently stayed with Blythe while she refused to mount the bike for the whole 30 minutes of biking we were going to do.  Michelle, Lydia, Brandt, and I biked along the trail, and eventually Kent and Blythe caught up with us as we were making our way back to the car.  It seemed to me that we could have gone much further than we did, but it was sweltering hot, so I should be content with what we biking we were able to do.


 

After a delicious leftover lunch, Michelle sent me and Kent off to Fulton, about 30 minutes away, to the National Churchill Museum on Westminster College campus.  Well you may ask why there is a Churchill museum in rural Missouri, but on March 5, 1946 Churchill delivered his very well known "Iron Curtain" speech at the college.  They have a very detailed, very interesting museum all about his life from infancy to death, with many artifacts and audio visual stations, and really great stuff.  Kent read Churchill's six volume history of World War II and really likes him, so it was a fun visit.  All very interesting.

The Churchill Museum is under the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury.  The church dates from the 12th century, but was redesigned by Sir Christopher Wren in 1677 after it was destroyed during the Great Fire of London.  It was left in ruins by World War II, but was saved from demolition and reconstructed and restored on Westminster College campus in the 1960s.  We walked through it, and then out onto campus.

Just across from the church is an 11-foot-high by 32-foot-long structure sculpted from 8 sections of the Berlin Wall.  Titled "Breakthrough."  It was dedicated one year after the November 9, 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, and was created by Churchill's granddaughter, Edwina Sandys.  So many interesting things all in one place in the middle of nowhere.


 






On the way back, Kent and I stopped at an antique's store.  They had wonderful stuff! Lots of large, fantastic pieces from stores and estates, plus quite nice small items, too.  I would have bought six or seven things if we didn't live two large states away.  Nothing would fit in our suitcases.  Ah well!

In our absence, Michelle took the kids to a park to play and run around, and then they stopped and had a snow cone.  Michelle is an awful lot of fun, especially as she is not me and like all doting aunts, gives the children whatever they want.  She's had chips and Fitz sodas practically every meal, and treats in between.  How could they not love being with her?

This evening, Tad, Michelle, Kent, and I went to dinner at Las Margaritas, a Mexican restaurant where Tess works.  It was super busy, a testament to how delicious the food was.  I can add my witness to other's that it was very good.  The company was even better.  It has been so fun to visit with Tad and Michelle, to talk and catch up and share.  They live too far away and we don't get to see them often enough.  We will have to make a visit to them an annual event because we all miss them.
While we were out, the kids were home with Lydia and her darling friend Kate (she's a Kathryn, so naturally, I like her very much), eating chicken dinos and playing Wii.  They also watched Kronk's New Groove.  They had a good time and we had a good time, so everyone was happy.

Once again, we stayed up very late visiting.  When you're only together a short time, you've got to pack in a lot of talk because you don't know when you'll be together again.  Kent and I climbed into bed about 12:30am.  We really are so glad we came!

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