When Ted and I updated the interior of our house in 2022-23, we deliberately chose not to re-hang artwork or to set out decorative objects that we were getting tired of looking at. We also decided to simply leave the affected walls and surfaces bare in order to provide incentive for us to shop for new things.
It takes patience to find something that tells you, “This is the one.” We’ve been browsing in a variety of places every now and then–not too often, because you have to give the stores time to put out new stuff if you don’t like what you see. When I see furniture ads on TV, I don’t look at the furniture–I look at the artwork on the walls and at the accessories on the tables. If it looks appealing, we check out that store.
Last weekend, we went to Main Street in St. Charles to browse at the annual Mosaics Fine Art Festival. We weren’t sure we wanted a mosaic piece, but we’ve seen beautiful mosaic work on our travels, so it was worth a look. Not only that, but the weather was beautiful for a stroll through a festival. Surprise! We saw just about every variety of art–except mosaics!
After walking the half mile up Main Street where the displays were placed, and then the half mile down Main Street to get back to where we started, we liked only one thing. Wouldn’t you know it? We saw it at the third booth we visited! The walk gave us time to think it over, though, and to come back after some time had passed to see if we still liked it. This piece said, “Take me home,” so we did.
We hung it the next day, and it looks just as good as we hoped it would. It was made by an artist from Iowa. He titled the piece “Out of Balance.” We had to make a decision about which horizontal line to level when we hung it, because none of the horizontal lines is parallel to any of the others–therefore, they’re “Out of Balance”! It goes well with the vases Kathy bought from the Chicago Art Museum and gave to us for Christmas one year. We like it!
P.S. The small bowl in front of the vases is also from Kathy. She’s so artistic!
It takes 2-3 weeks to receive the official copy of the title for a new car in Missouri these days, so Ted and I went back to the dealer a few days ago to pick up the title for my new car. While we were at the dealer, I walked over to the “trophy wall” (as I call it) to see if our picture was included. It was.
That’s our salesman, Scott, standing on the right side of the “I ♥ Spirit Lexus” sign.
When we go back for the 5,000 mile free maintenance visit, I’ll check to see how long they keep these photos on display. After all, that countertop has a finite length.
While we were visiting my Aunt Ruth on our Wisconsin road trip, she showed me some family pictures. One was a portrait of my parents’ wedding party. (Aunt Ruth and my mother were sisters.) Ruth asked if I’d like to have the picture and I gratefully said “yes.”
I have a wedding picture of my parents, but not of their wedding party. The bridesmaids are (left to right) my dad’s sisters, Lenore (Lynn) and Geraldine (Gerry). Of course, my mother is the bride and her sister, Shirley, is the junior bridesmaid. I think the groomsman on the left is my first cousin once removed, the son of my grandpa’s sister and therefore my mother’s cousin. I have no idea who the other groomsman is. My dad is in his Army Air Force uniform because he was on furlough from active duty. After serving in Europe and North Africa, he was expecting to be sent to South Carolina. While my parents were on their honeymoon, however, Japan surrendered, and active combat ended. My dad was released from service, but not discharged. He remained in the Air Force reserves until he retired as a full colonel at the age of 60.
This is a picture of my grandpa on his 90th birthday with his five children–my mom and her siblings. My grandma died eight years before this and Donald, the sixth child, died at the age of eight from a ruptured appendix. In the back row are my mother with her brothers, Rollie (left) and Gibby (right). Grandpa is in the center and my aunts, Ruth (left) and Shirley (right) are in the front. This photo was in a frame for nearly 40 years, and I didn’t want Aunt Ruth to damage it by removing it for me to take a picture of it, so there’s some glass reflection in my photo.
This picture was also taken on my grandpa’s 90th birthday and shows him with his brother, Garry. My great-grandpa immigrated from Germany to Wisconsin. When he was settled, my great-grandma followed with their three young children–my grandpa (Lorenz), his brother Garry, and his sister Lydia. What courage that must have taken for both of my great-grandparents!
Ted and I have a photo gallery in our house, and I plan to frame these photos and add them to the gallery with other family photos dating from the very early 1900s through our latest addition, our great-grandson.
It normally takes Ted and me about nine hours to go from Kiel to our house, but there was so much road construction along the way, that the trip was longer this time. Driving I-55 from Chicago to St. Louis includes Route 66 travel.
We had a happy adventure on our way home when we stopped for gas at Wally’s in Pontiac, IL.
I’ll let a screenshot from Wally’s website describe what you’’ll find at Wally’s.
I took some pictures in the store. It’s so big, that it’s hard to show it in a photo, but try to look all the way across the store in the picture below. It’s not Wall Drug (South Dakota), but Wally’s takes the gas station convenience store to a whole new level!
There’s an entire room offering a huge variety of ice-cold beer. (For people who are going to drive?)
The wall art at the entrances to the restrooms is impressive. That’s a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere towing a vintage Shasta trailer, in case you’re wondering.
Buy a t-shirt and express the joy of Wally’s. Wallelujah to all!
A vintage Winnebago motor home is parked in the store. It’s a perfect backdrop for the camping gear you can buy at Wally’s.
Wally’s mascot bear is “driving” the Winnebago.
After this stop, Ted and I were refreshed and ready to hit the road for the last stretch to our house. It was a wonderful nine days, and we loved seeing our friends and family members in person again. There were so many laughs and so many good memories to be shared at every stop, that we are still feeling the joy of the fun we had with everyone. Long live the American Road Trip!
Our last stop on this trip was a visit with Ted’s brother, Gary, and a reunion with Ted’s high school classmates.
We had a funny experience as we drove to Gary’s house. I was driving through a small town on a state highway and, as I passed an intersection, a black van marked “Sheriff” pulled into the traffic behind me. That was fine; I hadn’t been doing anything wrong. As I continued driving, I noticed a string of three identical black vans behind me. I knew the first one was the sheriff, but as we crested a hill, it looked like the second car also had a light bar on the top. With a sheriff–or possibly, two sheriffs–directly behind me, I made sure to drive no faster than the 55 mph speed limit.
As we drove through small town after small town, I repeatedly adjusted my speed from 55 to 45 to 35 to 25 to 35 to 45 to 55 again. The three black vans stayed right behind me. As we rounded a curve, I identified the third van as another sheriff! I don’t think I’ve ever been followed by three consecutive sheriffs! Ted and I laughed about it and I continued driving exactly at the speed limit, forcing the officers of the law to do the same or to–gasp!–break the law by speeding to pass me. We wondered if the sheriffs were getting frustrated at having to drive at the speed limit. Do they (slightly) exceed the speed limit like the rest of us when there is no one to see them?
The sheriffs’ convoy followed us for nearly an hour. I could have turned onto a side road, let them pass, made a U-turn, and come back to the highway, but frankly, it was kind of amusing to keep three sheriffs within the law. We were going to arrive two hours before Gary would be ready for us anyway, so we had plenty of time to dawdle our way across the state. Eventually, however, I had to turn to go to Gary’s house, and the sheriffs continued on the state highway and probably followed someone else. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Now, back to our visit with Gary. A few years ago, there was a fire in Gary’s apartment building. It wasn’t in Gary’s apartment, but there are only four apartments in the building, and they all had water and smoke damage. When the damage was repaired, Gary was able to move to a different unit than his original apartment. He (and Ted and I) like this unit much better because the window views are open land rather than the cul de sac on which the apartment is located. This is the kitchen/living room area. There are three bedrooms along the right side of the apartment (obviously, not shown here).
On our first night together, we went out for pizza and then played sheephead, a popular Wisconsin card game. The next night, we went to a more upscale local restaurant that featured Early American decor.
The ladies’ room had an old-fashioned, comfy appearance.
Ted and I planned our trip to include time for me to see my college friends while Eileen was in Madison for a UW football weekend, and we planned our time in Kiel so that Ted could attend his high school class’s annual reunion lunch at the Altona Supper Club. Our kids used to chuckle over the term “supper club” when we traveled with them to Wisconsin. I have no idea why these restaurants have that designation, but a Google search says that “supper clubs are an iconic mainstay of Wisconsin, filled with comfort food and good conversation.” This noon meal included all the Wisconsin noontime “dinner” goodies—a variety of meats and seafood, potatoes, salad, vegetables, dinner rolls, and dessert–and everything was delicious.
Three class reunions were taking place simultaneously at the supper club. Ted attended his 50th class reunion, but that was the only time after his high school graduation that he’d seen his classmates until now, so it took us a few minutes to locate someone he recognized. After we picked up our name tags, things became easier. Without them, Ted admitted there were very few people he recognized on sight. It was a nice gathering, and Ted enjoyed talking with some of his old friends. The midday reunions have been held annually for several years, and a group picture is taken every year. Ted is the third man from the right in the back row.
Before leaving this part of Wisconsin, Ted and I stopped at the Gibbsville Cheese Factory to buy some “real” (i.e., not supermarket) Wisconsin cheese to take home with us. Gibbsville offered a new version of Ted’s favorite, super sharp cheddar. The “Special Reserve Super Sharp Cheddar” brought a smile and a quick “That’s really good!” from Ted. He bought six pounds of it to take home with us. We also stopped at the Oostburg Bakery to get some bakery favorites: hard (this does not mean firm or stale) rolls, filled coffee cakes, and Danish pastries.
Of course, we needed a picture of Ted and his brother on our last evening together before Ted and I left in the morning for our long drive home.
Holmen, WI is a small town near La Crosse. It’s where my favorite aunt and three of my cousins–including two more of the six Girl Cousins–and their families live. Sadly, my (also favorite) uncle died a year ago just two months before his 98th birthday. One of the Girl Cousins—Lara—was traveling out-of-state on business, so we didn’t have a chance to see each other this time.
Ted and I stayed in an interesting hotel, themed on Wisconsin wilderness, fishing, and hunting. The supports for a ceiling overhang in the pool room, as well as the wall above the overhang, were painted to look like tall evergreen trees.
We didn’t try sitting in this chair, but it looks like an early attempt at ergonometric design.
On our first day in town, we had dinner at Aunt Ruth’s house and one of my boy cousins—David—and his friend, Deb, joined us. Later, Jim, Lara’s husband (she’s the Girl Cousin who was out of town), came over for a little while. The following day, Aunt Ruth treated all of us to a dinner cruise on the Mississippi River. “All of us” included Aunt Ruth, David and Deb, Jim, Ted and me, and Linda—the second Girl Cousin at this stop—and her friend, Paul. At first, I was puzzled that we had to be at the dock by 9:30 a.m. for a dinner cruise, but I soon remembered that, in the upper Midwest, people eat breakfast, dinner, and supper, so dinner would be served at noon. As we entered the park at the boat dock, we passed this “Sister City” garden. La Crosse has six sister cities and each of them has a portion of this garden designed to represent itself.
The weather was perfect for a river cruise, and we saw one beautiful sight after another during the three-hour cruise. The boat had a paddle wheel, and the captain assured us that it was a true paddle wheeler—the paddle provided the power to move the boat.
A short distance upriver, we passed through—not under—a “swing bridge.” As a watercraft approaches, the bridge rotates (swings) ninety degrees to allow the boat to pass, as the boat in the left part of the photo below is doing.
After the boat passes, the bridge swings back. In this picture, it is nearly completely closed.
There are 27 locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River between Minneapolis, MN and Cape Girardeau, MO. On our river cruise, we passed through Lock & Dam 7 twice—once going upstream, then again going downstream.
Here’s a picture of a barge making a delivery upstream. According to the captain’s narration, most barge traffic serves either the Upper Mississippi River from Minneapolis, MN to St. Louis, MO or the Lower Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans, LA.
These homes have a beautiful river view.
Here’s a picture of boathouses and houseboats. Do you know the difference? A houseboat has an engine; a boathouse does not. 😊 Boathouses are technically not for habitation, but some have amenities to make them more than simply a shed.
Ted and I have traveled along the Mississippi River from Menominee, WI to New Orleans, LA, but this is the first time I’ve seen a Mississippi River sand beach. It reminded me of all the glacier-formed sand-bottom lakes that I enjoyed while growing up in Wisconsin.
It was a great day to be outside on the deck. Not too hot (upper 70s) and not windy. Here’s part of our group. From left to right, Paul, Linda, me, Deb, and David. Ted took the picture.
The dinner was delicious. Turkey and chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, coleslaw, dinner rolls, and carrot cake. David managed to extend his arm far enough to get all of us into his picture. Again, left to right you can see Ted, me, Jim, Aunt Ruth, Linda, Paul, Deb, and David—or at least the idea of David.
After all the passengers had left the ship, one of the crew members took a picture of our group. Once more, left to right, you can see Deb, Ruth, David, me, Jim, Linda, Paul, and Ted. We all had a wonderful time and repeatedly thanked Aunt Ruth for the treat.
Jim, Ted, and I visited with Aunt Ruth for a little while after we returned to her house. As with our other visits, our time together ended too soon. Jim had to run some errands, and Ted and I needed to head for our next hotel.
Ted’s and my third stop on our road trip was Lake Geneva, WI, where I was able to visit with two of my Girl Cousins from my mother’s side of the family. (We have boy cousins, but our brothers don’t have much interaction among themselves.) Years ago, we girls named ourselves the “Girl Cousins.” Once we had a Girl Cousin Weekend and it was a blast! We talk about having another one, but we’re all too busy to organize it, so it hasn’t happened yet. Donna lives in Lake Geneva and Judi lives in Brookfield, about an hour away from Lake Geneva. Donna moved to Lake Geneva a few years ago, and Ted and I hadn’t seen her new house, so we had a tour. Jon builds large, intricate, and detailed model boats and we enjoyed seeing some of his collection.
Donna served her Grandma Drott’s outstanding lasagna for lunch, and Judi contributed lemon bars for dessert. Then we got down to business, telling funny family stories for several hours because, as Judi said, “Nobody understands the craziness of your family better than your cousins.”
Judi also came in a new car. Mine was one week old; hers was two days old. Ted and I left home for this road trip only five days after I picked up my car and, with trip prep chores to do, we didn’t have time to do more than figure out how the essentials on the car worked: gas cap opener, bright/dim headlights, cruise control, radio, etc. We decided to wait until we returned home to program the garage door opener. Judi said they did the same before coming to Donna and Jon’s house for this visit. We both have lane assist in our new cars and noticed that it’s firm, but easily overridden, if necessary. Just for fun, as we drove to Donna and Jon’s house, we both (in our own cars) had held our hands just barely off the steering wheel to allow the car to turn itself on a curve. I even let mine do an S-curve. It was amazing! Almost like a self-driving car! Then we each (again, in our own cars) heard a warning beep and had a warning light with a message: “Driver does not have hands on steering wheel.” Oops! It was good for a laugh that we both did the same thing.
Much too soon, it was time for Judi and Larry to go home and for Ted and me to head for our hotel de jour, but first, we took pictures.
Here are half of the six Girl Cousins—me, Judi, and Donna.
Then, our husbands. All three men are so nice, and they enjoy each other’s company. We women decided that, in choosing these guys, “We all done good.” This photo features Larry, Ted, and Jon.
We finished with a group photo. Judi propped her camera on a chair back, set the timer, and with only one try, we got this picture, featuring Ted and me, Jon and Donna, and Larry and Judi. Good times!
Although we’ve kept in touch, Ted and I have not visited our Wisconsin friends and families since 2018. It was time to head north. On (to) Wisconsin!
Our grandchildren are growing up and moving away from home, so Sky no longer lives only a few minutes from our house. Our first road trip stop was in Rockford, IL where Sky relocated for his job with Quik Trip. The apartment where he and Adelle live is charming, in an older house with lots of windows.
Sky might have enough Lego to build a Legoland of his own. For his recent birthday, he bought himself the Lego Star Wars Venator—one of the biggest Star Wars kits to date. It’s nearly as large as the dining room table. On the shelf behind the table, you can see the bouquets of Lego flowers Sky has built.
Luckily, the apartment has an extra bedroom that Sky can use to store all of his Lego. The walls are filled with shelves of boxed Lego pieces, all sorted by type and color. Here are some of the Lego people Sky has—all sorted, of course. He said he has three more shelves to add to this wall for additional Lego.
The living room, like that in many older houses, has multi-paned windows and crown molding.
When we sat down to visit with each other for a little while, the oversized teddy bear seemed interested in our conversation.
Because the weather was so nice, we decided to take a walk along the Rock River before going out to dinner. We saw this colorful sculpture.
These benches accommodate adults (left) and children (right).
A little later, we walked past this pretty gazebo.
Before long, the sun was setting over the Rock River. It was time to have dinner and then to take a guided, personalized tour of the new Rockford Quik Trip where Sky works in a beginning management position, and which he helped set up for its grand opening.
After our visit with Sky, Ted and I stopped for gas. While Ted was paying for it, a Black man at the gas station asked if that was Ted’s car. Ted told him it’s my car, to which the man replied, “If that’s your wife’s car, she’s a hot mama!” Maybe I should change my car’s name from Gigi to Hot Mama. With a full gas tank, we drove to our hotel in Madison, WI.
The following morning, I met with two of the six members of the Orchard Street Gang–the women I shared a house with during my senior year of college. Four of us had known each other from our freshman year dorm days; the other two were wonderful additions to our group. Eileen lives in Marquette, MI, but was in Madison for a college football weekend and to visit her son; Leila has lived in Madison since we graduated from college. It was a great opportunity to see both women, so Ted and I planned a stop in Madison. Leila was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 15 years ago and is in an assisted living unit, making it the easiest place for all of us to meet, eat, and visit. Eileen (left) and I are standing; Leila is in the wheelchair.
Eileen brought breakfast food, and we had a wonderful three-hour visit. There was so much to catch up on—our families, our current activities, and even some long-ago college memories that we shared. All these years later, we are still BFFs.
In February 1999, I bought my first car—a red Toyota Celica. I loved that car! (Sorry about the photo quality. It’s a 25-year-old Polaroid print.)
Of course, Ted and I have shopped for and bought cars together since we were married, but we always needed a car for him to drive to work and one in which our entire family could sit. Even after I began working, I was the one who drove the “family” car. The Celica was the first car I ever picked out just for me–and titled in my name! It was pretty exciting to finally buy a car for myself, and the Celica had a stick shift, heated seats, a moonroof, and a 6-disc CD changer. Whoo-ee!
Twelve years later, in April 2011, I traded my red Celica for a red Lexus IS-C. That’s for “Intelligent Sport Convertible.” I loved that car. It had such a nice ride that, even on long road trips, Ted and I didn’t feel stiff or ach-y after hours of driving. It had heated and cooled seats, navigation, Bluetooth, and SiriusXM.
The #1 fun factor of my IS-C was the power convertible top. It was fun to watch and a bit amazing to see how the car top and rear window fit in the trunk and still left room for other things within the cargo net space. If people were passing by while I put the top up or down, at least one of them would stop to watch and then make a comment to me about how awesome that was.
Thirteen years later, in August 2024, I parted with my red IS-C and bought a red Lexus RC F Sport. I love this car! (There’s a pattern in my cars.) The “RC” stands for “Radical Coupé” and the “F” is for “Fuji Raceway.” One reviewer begged to differ, saying that the “F” is for “fun, fast, and ferocious.” That works for me.
The fun factors in this car include all the new technology (including a touch screen), incredibly comfortable bucket seats that wrap around the occupants, heated and cooled seats and a heated steering wheel, cornering lights, headlight cleaners, de-icing windshield wipers, a moonroof (again), and a low-slung, sporty look. Ted says he’ll be able to reach more than halfway across the top when it’s time for him to wash it. Unbelievably, although it’s far sportier than my IS-C, the ride is even smoother and quieter. And then there’s the F Sport engine that has a discrete growl rather than a near-silent purr.
I had no complaints about my IS-C–in fact, we never repaired the IS-C because nothing ever broke–I just wanted to ride in something different after 13 years. Although the convertible was loads of fun, the car handled more like a sedan than my Celica—and remember that I loved my Celica. The RC combines the best of both worlds: the Lexus luxuries with what some of the reviews call “aggressive” styling. I went from this . . .
. . . to this.
As I walked into the garage on the third day I had my RC, my car’s name popped into my head. It’s “Gigi” because I’m a Great-Grandmother (G. G.) and the name Gigi is a perfect fit.
Ted and I celebrate our birthdays and our wedding anniversary at Bentley’s every year. Ted says their grilled salmon is the best he’s ever tasted (he orders it frequently), and I love their pepper steak (which few restaurants even offer). The meal is always worth the 2.5-hour drive each way. We’ve become well-acquainted with the owner over the years, and we have a favorite server.
We belatedly celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary at Bentley’s in July and, as usual, we asked for one of Merrill’s tables. This time, Merrill had some news for us: (1) he thinks he’s going to retire within the year; and (2) Bill, the owner, had a stroke, so he no longer greets guests at the door, although he still oversees the kitchen. Merrill thought Bill’s condition might improve enough for him to greet guests in the future.
We had our usual delicious meal and finished with our favorite desserts. I like Bentley’s nice, thick whipped cream-topped grasshoppers, and Ted loves “The Thing”–an ice cream sundae with walnuts, strawberries, and a hard chocolate coating, topped with whipped cream.
Ted’s birthday will be here soon, and we’ll be back at Bentley’s to celebrate it.
The ranks of retired people added a member in July. One of the office staff members that I hired during my working years retired, and I was invited to the party, described as a “high tea” for “Her Grace.”
It was wonderful to see so many of the staff and teachers I hired and worked with—still there 12 years later—and it was fun to see that they all enjoy working and celebrating together, just as we did while I was an active part of the team. I started as a one-woman show, but the Adult Education program grew too large for me to handle alone. The first person I hired was Jeanette (also retired now), on the left in the photo below. Her Grace, Sonja, is in the center, and I’m on the right.
The two ladies in the front in the photo below are Lynn and Ellen, who were hired after I retired. Those in the back row were some of my co-workers: (L->R) Patty, a lead ESL teacher; Lindsay, a GED teacher (almost invisible behind Lynn); Sonja, an office staff member; Mandy, my second-in-command who took my place; me; and Ingrid, a lead ESL teacher. By the time we decided we needed a group picture, quite a few people had already left or we’d have a much bigger crowd in the photo.
In keeping with the English tea party theme, the party favors were little cardboard teapots with candy inside.
When I retired, the staff gathered photos of our group from throughout my tenure, wrote a story to go with the photos, and had it all bound into a book titled “A Tale of the Star Kingdom.” Our AEL (Adult Education & Literacy) program—the “Star Kingdom”—was one of a limited number of the 26 statewide AEL programs that had achieved Star status for excellence. In the book, I was designated as the Empress. The current staff made a similar book for Sonja. In her book, Her Grace, Sonja, was recognized as the Duchess. Shall I assume that when Mandy retires from the dean’s position that she accepted after my retirement, she will be referred to as an Empress in a similar book? I hope so.
In addition to the book, invited guests were asked to send stories about their memories of Sonja. Those stories were put into a binder for Sonja, and each of us who was present read our own story aloud to Sonja and the group. It was fun to hear all those memories. Among other things, my story included a trivial but true lesson I learned from Sonja. It was about candy. Sonja worked at the front desk and always kept a dish of candy on her desk for visitors. All of us regularly contributed candy to the dish (it’s not a budget item), and Sonja once told us that: (1) the more candy there is in the dish, the more pieces individual people take; (2) chocolate disappears very quickly; and (3) nobody likes Dum Dums.
I was still doing PT at Athletico at the time of Sonja’s party, and I couldn’t help noticing that the candy dish on the Athletico counter was filled with Dum Dums. There was very little difference in the Dum Dum level over my next few visits, so maybe the Athletico staff will learn the same thing I learned from Sonja.
I hope Sonja’s retirement is filled with as much happiness and as many blessings as mine has been.
Due to a variety of reasons, Ted and I, Kathy and Annette, and Kari’s family were unable to get together for our “birthday season” celebration until June 24. Part of the delay was due to my TKR. Although my physical progress was rapid, I didn’t have enough energy to tolerate a seven-hour excursion—three hours of driving, plus party time—until then.
Our family celebrates six birthdays in only a few short weeks, so we usually make it a group event. Mother’s Day falls in that time frame too and, because we celebrated so late this year, we added Father’s Day to the party. We chose Columbia, MO as our party place. Annette’s son lives in Columbia and his birthday fell two days after the party, so we celebrated his birthday too. There were a lot of gifts to be opened!
Because the weather was very hot (heat index of 105 degrees), we scratched the plan for a picnic in a park like we did for the solar eclipse and met indoors at Shakespeare’s Pizza. Shakespeare’s has a quirky attitude. For example, here’s Shakespeare.
This Shakespeare’s location is across the street from the Mizzou campus and has a sign telling patrons “This isn’t the dorm. You don’t have to bus your own table.” It’s a very large restaurant with several dining rooms. Rather than repeatedly giving directions to the rest rooms, the floor literally has an inlaid yellow brick path that will take you from any dining room to the rest rooms—just “follow the yellow brick road.”
Signage is fun to read. Here’s the parking lot sign.
This is the back of a Shakespeare’s gift card holder.
And here’s a beverage cup. Notice how the location of Shakespeare’s is described. On the other side of the cup, one of the restaurant’s other locations is described in terms of latitude and longitude.
There used to be a red light and a bell above the rest room doors with a sign that said, “Did not wash hands.” I don’t know if it was in working order, but who would want to take that chance?
Back to our party. . . . June 24 was a Monday, and we met for lunch, so the restaurant was deserted. We picked a dining room that was vacant and had a long table that would seat all nine of us. When we finished eating, we stacked all of our dishes on a vacant table (that doesn’t really count as bussing our table, does it?) and got down to the business of opening gifts and catching up with each other.
Soon (four hours after we arrived, but the time flew by) it was time for all of us to think about heading for home, but first, . . . Blue Stem and the Candy Factory were only a few blocks away. Blue Stem, our first stop, has a constantly changing display of work by Missouri artists, and Ted and I are looking for wall hangings. We didn’t find anything we wanted, so we all headed for the Candy Factory, which makes its own chocolate. After checking all the displays and making our selections we left with fresh chocolate candies in bags. Then Ted and I headed for our car, but some of the others went a few more blocks to the Peace Nook, another favorite family stop in Columbia. The air-conditioned, nearly-empty restaurant and the large table were a good lunch choice; the company, conversation, and gifts were all delightful; and we all went home happy. It’s so good to celebrate things as a family. ❤
