Thursday, September 27, 2007
Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | Photo Gallery
|
|
||
|
Thursday, September 27, 2007 |
||
|
Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | Photo Gallery |
| Close
to Nowhere Show-off state I know Missouri is the “Show Me” state — but after these past few days, I’m sure they could call it the “Show Off” state and get away with it. My sister Jackie lives in Aniston, Mo. — near Sikeston and Lambert’s Cafe, “Home of the Throwed Roll.” My daughter, my granddaughters and I left Thursday morning headed to Aniston and we did something a bit different. Instead of going straight up through Jackson, Tenn., we decided to head up I-55. That was a wise choice! We made it to her house in three and a half hours! You just can’t get lost going straight! We arrived at Jackie’s at 10:15 — near record time. She wasn’t even dressed yet, as she didn’t expect us for another hour or so. After unloading our car, we all piled in Jackie’s big ole Buick (truly, a “road trip” car!) and headed to Caledonia, Mo., and an antique shop. Not just any antique shop though! (The trip to Caledonia turned into an “epic lost journey!”) We were headed to Farmhouse 1807 — actually built in 1807 and an actual farmhouse. Along with antiques and incredible birdhouses, the wife of the husband/wife owners raises her own sheep. She doesn’t actually shear the sheep herself, but she does keep the wool, clean, etc. the wool and then dyes it. She sells roving, yarn and knitted stuff, all from her sheep. Dana not only bought wool, she bought a spinning wheel. She’s been using a drop spindle for a while to spin her own yarn (don’t ask me, I don’t know — I’m a quilter, not a knitter). But she’s wanted a spinning wheel for a long time and as soon as I saw that one sitting in the shop, I knew somehow, it was going home with us. We didn’t have a lot of trouble getting the spinning wheel in Jackie’s car — and we decided not to worry about getting it to Mississippi until we had to. (We managed it!) We also found something (I thought) that was better than the spinning wheel — Elephant Rocks State Park. Missouri is a very conservation-oriented state and is covered with state parks. Beautiful state parks! Elephant Rocks State Park is incredible. Huge, huge rocks, some shaped like elephants. The rocks were formed a couple million years ago from molten magma. And they still look like melted rocks. The three “young” ladies cavorted all over the rocks — Jackie and I, meanwhile, sat on the sidelines and pouted. Something about arthritic backs and hips not mixing with tumbling down giant rocks. Over the course of the next few days, we also visited a few other places close to “home.” The conservation museum and Trail of Tears Museum in Cape Girardeau are fantastic. It did seem odd though to find “our” Indian history somewhere else. One of the most incredible things about Missouri is the lack of litter! Why can’t we do that here? Mississippi is, or could be, just as beautiful and show-offy! |
        |
Report
News: (662) 252-4261 or south@dixie-net.com
Questions, comments, corrections: south@dixie-net.com
©2004,
The South Reporter, All Rights Reserved.
No part of this site may be reproduced in any way without permission.
The South Reporter is a member of the Mississippi Press Association.
Web
Site managed and maintained by
South Reporter webmasters Linda Jones, Kristian Jones
Web Site Design - The South Reporter