Day 8 - More KC Eating and Sights

We took it a little easy today. We had a bunch of kids in the room above us last night, and it sounded like they were doing gymnastics until about 3 AM. The front desk was more than accommodating and moved us to a room on the third floor. So far, it's been very quiet.

We started our day at the City Market. It is a year round open air farmers market and it also has restaurants and shops. City Market also housed one of the most interesting things in the city - The Steamboat Arabia Museum. This steam boat hit a snag and sunk in 1856, fully loaded with 200 tons of merchandise and personal belongings that were heading up the Missouri River. Two bothers, their dad and two of the family's friends decided to try to find it and dig for buried treasure. Their plan was to sell the goodies and finance more excavation. But once they started unearthing their finds, they knew that this was too important a piece of history to disperse and they created the museum. They still run the museum and are continuing to wash and restore the artifacts. We met one of the Hawley brothers and he said that they had been washing and restoring the artifacts for 20 years and had about 10 years to go before they will complete the task. He admitted that discovering it was a lot more exciting than the washing up.
200 tons is a lot of stuff! The museum displays all kinds of everyday things that we take for granted - dishes, hardware, boots, clothes, tools, medicines, food, liqueur, even bottled pickles and pie fruit. I couldn't get good pictures of the textiles and preserved foods because they are light sensitive and displayed very dimly and no flash is allowed. It was really interesting to see the kind of bottles and jars they used. The pie fruit bottles looked just like wine bottles. It's hard to imagine how they got them out. Also, they were just sealed with corks and wax, and according to the family, still good when they were recovered. It sure makes me wonder about all the strict science I've had to learn about canning.
Here is an example of the latest in modern food preservation in 1856 - reusable crocks with metal lids that would stack easily in the pantry.

There was a lot of beautiful glass, but this turned out to be the best picture because it was on a lighted stand. These are broken pieces. Most of the glass was very decorative or advertised its contents.
This photo shows where the boat was found in a corn field. The family had owned the land for so many generations that they knew it was out there somewhere, but they never really searched for it. When the boat sank, the river was much wider than it is today and it has changed course significantly. This farming family, and the state of Kansas, got a lot more land when the river's course was altered.
This picture shows the outline of the boat on the surface before they started to dig. They got it all out in one winter so the family could plant their crops in the spring. They promised the farmer 15% of the goods, but when they decided not to sell anything and make the museum, the farmer agreed to contribute his share. Both families are now a big part of KC history.
Here's a picture of one of the partners with a newly rinsed bottle of pickles. They look delicious, don't they? If you are ever in KC, do make an effort to see this fascinating museum. Many people walking past wondered if it was worth the $12.50 per person admission price. With the interesting guided tour, and the opportunity to meet one of the excavators, I think it was well worth it and I feel like our money has gone to help preserve an important historical find.
After the museum, we headed into the market to find some lunch. I saw this sign and couldn't resist. For those of you who don't know, SNAP is the new name for Food Stamps, and training Food Stamp case workers is what I do. I'm glad to see that this community has made it easy for people on aid to buy fresh fruits and veggies.
We had lunch at Winslow's BBQ. I had pulled pork, cheddar and coleslaw with a side of their corn casserole. I didn't like the corn casserole - it had a very strong mustardy sauce. The sandwich was just fine. I found out from our server that when you throw slaw on the sandwich, it's called a horseshoe.
Dwayne had pulled pork with sliced sausage and a side of potato salad. He liked it all. This meat was very different in style than the Oklahoma BBQ we had yesterday. Today the pork tasted more like a soft, smokey ham hock. I think KC BBQ must include a brine before the smoke.
Today we hit several comic book shops. One had this fabulous floor. It was mesmerizing! This store was in a part of town that looks like it was built in the 20's and many of the buildings are very ornate art deco, but they have fallen into disrepair. I saw some clippings on the comic shop walls that told about how the local merchants are trying to spruce up the area and improve business. This was on the outskirts of the historic Westport district.
Dwayne asked me to take a picture of this cool Sandman.
Mid-afternoon, we headed over to Pryde's. I had read about it on the Internet and it was all it was cracked up to be. So many cooking gadgets, so little time, so little room in the luggage. Sigh... I could do some serious damage in a store like this closer to home. It is built into an historic old ballet school building and has lots of nooks and crannies - all filled.
Now, I also knew about the pie. Hmmm....Pie.
Dwayne had blackberry cream...
And I had strawberry-rhubarb. I've been curious about rhubarb and now it's official - I like it!
Walking in the Westport District, Nature said hello to me, so I had to take some pictures. I love it when little wild creatures pose for me and run or flutter off as soon as I turn off the camera. That's just what happened here.
These fancy mushrooms were on a liquid ambar tree.

Our final meal of the day was at Grinders. Grinders was featured on Triple D and it is a really cool place. The owner is also a sculptor and there is a sculpture garden/event venue out back. I had their Bengal Tiger pizza - green sauce (a kind of pesto), tandoori chicken, crab, hearts of palm and cilantro. It was yummy!
Dwayne had their Italian sausage sandwich and tater tots. Those tots were ridiculously good, and he was good enough to share them with me.

Tomorrow, we're heading out to St. Louis. We've decided to deviate from our route a bit because if we take US 70 we can shave almost 2 hours off of our travel. I want to spend a little time there, and we're only staying one night. So wish us luck as we make our way to the Gateway Arch.