Events of Saturday, August 21, 2010

          Fourteen years ago, we first visited St. Louis and Grant’s Farm, when Caitlin was one. Now, we can still see treats our parents remember from a long, long time ago in a state far, far away. Grant’s Farm is located near the site of Ulysses S. Grant’s home after the Civil War. Although we never went into his house, we did see it from a distance. It has something like 32 rooms, 6 full baths, and a full dance hall on the third floor. Then, we went on the tram ride through Deer Park, where they house animals form six of the world’s seven continents; only Antarctica was missing. We saw plenty of deer, elk, bison, yaks, longhorns, Scottish cows, wild horses, and other mammals. My favorite was the European Red Elk, which were a fantastic scarlet red. After warnings about staying safe distances from bison in all the Midwestern National Parks we visited, it was a little nerve-wracking seeing huge bison six inches from the tram. What would happen if…

          Once our safari tour ended, we got to explore the zoo-like areas featuring other animals. Before we got to do much exploring, we attended a show, humorously called “Animal’s Got Talent!” Some animals actually had talent—including a parrot that “drew”, a flight demonstration by a falcon, a macaw that posed like the eagle in the Anheuser-Busch insignia, and the rat race. However, just like the show America’s Got Talent, some acts did not have talent. The most hilarious were two macaws. The first, Max, was asked a series of questions (to which he should have replied). In response, he gave the host some questionable looks. The other not-so-talented act was Indigo, who climbed series of chains and ropes. Although it completed the first two systems, it would not climb the ladder, since it only wanted to check out who was watching.

          Next, we saw humongous tortoises, adorable baby goats and guinea pigs, and chickens with head feathers that looked like they had afros. But the most hilarious animals were the llamas, whose fur was groomed so, in our opinion, they looked like large poodles. We have had several humorous encounters with poodles and their hairdos on this trip, but this was by far the funniest. We went into the main plaza area and, while Daddy went to get his free beer sample, we met some lovely horses. Since we know that Grant’s Farm is home to the famous Budweiser Clydesdales, we went to see them after the tram ride to the parking lot. Although there were only three in the display stables, it was incredible to see these huge icons (they have to be over 6 feet tall in order to be on the team) two feet away from me. Even though I am now 5’ 11 ¾”, I felt tiny next to them.

          After lunch in the RV in the Grants Farm parking lot, we drove on to the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site. We got to hear a “Perfessor”, or ragtime player, demonstrate his skill before our tour of the home. He also showed Caitlin and Abby how to play a foot-operated player piano. The foot pedals on this piano need to be continuously pumped for the air pump to blow and power the piano. They did a marvelous job and didn’t miss a note. Next, we went on a very interesting tour of Scott Joplin’s house. Apparently, there were plans to tear the building down if it weren’t for a person who spray-painted “Scott Joplin lived here” on the side of the house. After research, historians found that it really was Joplin’s house between 1900 and 1903. Even though they have none of the original furnishings, all the furniture is from the time period. Upstairs there was a piano, located in the only place that was structurally sound enough to support it. This piano was from the time period that Scott Joplin lived in the home and although the tour guide said they could not prove that it was a piano he had played, our tour guide did say that Scott Joplin stipulated in each of his housing contracts that a piano was provided for him. And this piano was found in the home when it was declared a historical monument. The guide asked if anyone wanted to play on the same piano as Scott Joplin and I volunteered.  I tried to sight read his Stoptime Rag, but a combination of a badly-tuned piano and a tough piece made me stop. I tried, though! After this brief peek into the antique, unair-conditioned life of the King of Ragtime, we returned downstairs to the room with the pianos. After almost 2 months on the road, my piano skills are a little bit rusty, but I managed to eke out something that should have sounded like Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. We fooled around with different tunes until we met a docent that explained all about the ragtime style and Joplin’s contribution. Since it was time for the museum to close, we headed back to St. Louis RV Park for a nice refreshing swim. We have developed a great game of playing ‘Lifeguard’ with each other. Before this week, we would always just drag each other to the surface. But then Mom came around and started showing us the “proper way” to save a drowning person. Approximately half the time, our rescue attempts were unsuccessful. We ended up just “making sure they were dead”. It was still pretty fun!

          While Mom and Dad went out (in a taxi!) for a date, we stayed home for a nice meal of spaghetti and a movie. At the Schafly Tap Room, Mom and Dad enjoyed frog legs, a beet salad with goat cheese and pine nuts, deep-fried beer-battered bacon, watermelon sorbet, and cherry bread pudding. After an adventurous day, we settled down for an even more exciting day tomorrow – Caitlin is turning 16!