Trying new foods -- Dessert

If you're going to embark on trying new foods, you should start with dessert - that's my motto, and I'm sticking to it.  This trip was made all the sweeter when we found Andy's Frozen Custard, a shop that specializes in a terrific frozen concoction called "concrete".  I know -- that doesn't sound appetizing.  Concrete's claim to fame is its ability to stay in the cup when turned upside down... and yep, it's true, at least while the dessert is still fairly frozen.

I checked Andy's website and couldn't find the difference between ice cream, frozen custard and concrete -- so if you know, please comment and clue us all in!

Check out the peach concrete:

Take it from me, it was delicious.  Thanks, Andy's Frozen Custard, for introducing us to a new treat! Why don't you come to California soon?

Crazy tools... the kind we like!

Part of the fun of this trip has been seeing old farming implements, and kicking ourselves when we passed up buying them.

Here are two we couldn't have bought, but sure enough were cool enough to merit inclusion in this blog.

First -- the bicycle-driven push mower:

You can see it was cobbled together from a push mower and an old bike. What a spiffy way to reuse two old things to create a more useful one!

Next -- well, we love all things of old tractors.  Here's a very cool, PTO-driven (Power Take Off) saw for cutting logs into lumber:

We think most things you can attach to a tractor's PTO are pretty cool. We hadn't seen one like this beofre, and it was a real treat to see this fantastic old tool.

World's Largest Rocking Chair. Really.

Really -- it's huge. Made of metal poles, pretty crazy project for someone to undertake.  We didn't find out why someone built it (but we can guess!) but it was fun to see. Gotta love the "world's largest" theme on Route 66!

From Woodhenge to Stonehenge

We were pretty lucky to see two different types of astronomical calendars on our trip -- the Woodhenge calendar at Cahokia in IL and the half-scale, modified Stonehenge at University of Missouri in Rolla.  It was amazing to see these re-creations of sophisticated calendars, originally created across the ocean from one another, but with similar intent: to discern the society's place in time, and to track significant astronomical events.

The Woodhenge concept is best seen in the poster at the project -- from the ground, the current reconstruction simply looks like posts placed randomly -- but in looking at the poster you see how the posts, placed in a circular fashion, were used to track star events.

Interestingly, the Woodhenge posts were placed over three different time periods, according to research at the site.

In contrast, the half-scale Stonehenge in Rolla is a more solid representation of the famous stone landmark.  Visiting the half-scale Stonehenge provided us a whole new vocabulary and course of study. Thoughtfully, the designers posted plaques at each viewing point to explain what could be seen, and when.

As an example, the analemma, as described in the plaque shown below, enables the day and noon to be indicated.

The marks would be cast on the stones shown below, which have the months of the year marked for easy use.

 

 It may not be as large as the real Stonehenge, but visiting University of Missouri's replica was an excellent way to experience an intricate work of science.  Seeing a similar model at Cahokia makes us wonder about the similarity of cultures, across oceans, that evolve the same models for understanding sophisticated concepts.

Thanks, University of Missouri and the archaeologists at Cahokia!

World's Largest Catsup Bottle. Really.

Way to go, Brooks Catsup company, for turning the company water tower into the world's largest catsup bottle.  Gotta love Route 66. This iteration of "the world's largest" is in Collinsville, IL.

Wagon Wheel Motel - Cuba, MO

We are spending the night at the Wagon Wheel Motel, an historic hotel on Route 66 in Cuba, Missouri. What a treat! Recently remodeled and restored, the charming guest cabins are petite but nicely equipped with internet, flat screen tv, and comfortable pillows and bed. The grounds are large -- with plenty of lawn chairs to enjoy the evening.

The main building houses not only the motel office, but also a charming shop of Wagon Wheel themed clothing and Route 66 memorabilia. Fun, pretty, an easy place to find something cute to wear or a reminder of the trip.

The motel was originally a "Motor Court", and featured a service station as well as the motel rooms. Beautiful stonework on the exterior!

Mayans? In Illinois? No. But similar!

Okay -- we're all ignorant in our own ways, right?  But you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw the reconstruction of the Cahokia mounds outside of Collinsville, IL.  The mounds hid an Indian settlement, which looked astonishingly similar to the Mayan temples.  

This photo from art inside the interpretive center isn't great -- we barely made it to Cahokia with time to view the interpretive center. But you can see the images that look like the Mayan temples.  Cahokia was the largest city north off Mexico, at the time it was inhabited.

I'm sorry we didn't have more time to spend but wanted to share this phenomenal site and a link to more information:  http://www.cahokiamounds.org/.