It rained last night. Lightning, thunder, rain, and wind engulfed our bed and breakfast just before bedtime. I watched as the windows slowly covered with rain drops until I could see no more. Then I read from my new Truman book before finally surrendering to the eventful day. The morning started out dreary. Droplets still covered the window and the air was thicker with humidity. I'd ventured to shower first and discovered the storm did something goofy with the electricity. Surrounded by the early morning peace and quiet I decided to relish the simplicity of the task. I showered in the claw foot tub by early morning light and contemplated what the day would bring. I didn't have to wait long to find out.
Benny had a cantaloupe and watermelon fruit cocktail waiting for us in the dining room. I helped myself to coffee from the bar and sat down in front of the pink flowered fine china. I asked John how is day of research went and he asked us how are day in the museum went. He's a very congenial Brit and will be remembered by us for a while. He was always interested in what us Americans thought about something. At one point we even discussed what we eat for breakfast. He didn't know what biscuits and gravy were so Benny's going to hook him up later this week.
After our appetizer of fruit, Benny brought out his homemade Belgian waffles with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. We all anxiously dove into our breakfast and in no time at all bid John goodbye as he headed off for another walk to the Truman Library for a day of research. I wrote in the quest book and Brent paid our tab. Then we patted the Scottish Terrier on the head and said goodbye to our hosts in Independence.
We cruised out of town about 15 miles to the Harley Davidson factory. The factory produces Sportsters, VRods, and Dyna models for the company. We arrived just into time for the 10am tour. After a short introductory video, we were given a pin, safety glasses, and a portable headphone and its receiver. After we all dressed up like geeks, we headed into the manufacturing area. We got to "walk the line" (a two foot wide zone for pedestrians) single file like ducks and see different areas of the plant. First we saw the dicutter machines, frame benders, and welders. Then we got to see where the paint the tanks and fenders. And then saw the finished painted products, the assembly line, and the testing areas. It was really cool to see. Unfortunately they don't allow cameras on the tour so I only have pictures from inside of the visitor center and outside of the building. It was really cool to see how Bruiser was built. We got to keep our "I Walk the Line" pin.
After getting our motorcycle fix we traveled back towards the older downtown area and made it to the World War I Museum. We stopped into the Over the Top Cafe for lunch. I ate a Reuben von Streubon corned beef and sauerkraut sandwich with German potato salad. It was delicious. I can't really say that I'd ever had corned beef before. Another new experience that was a success. I may have to try that again someday. The first thing we did in the museum was check out the poppy field. There is a field of real silk poppies below a glass bridge. There are 9,000 silk poppies in the field. Each poppy symbolizes 1,000 deaths for a total of 9 million deaths in World War One.
The exhibits go in chronological order in a counter clockwise layout around a theater that shows a short introductory video explaining why the world was on a collision course for war in the early 1900s. The first set of exhibits dealt with the war from 1914-1917, before the Americans got involved. In addition to the usual artifacts and documents one would expect to see in a museum like this, the layout and replicas helped drive home certain points about the deplorable conditions under which the men on the front lines fought and the civilians back home lived. The exhibits zigged and zagged back forth, similar to the way the trenches were built. Along the outside wall of the museum was a replica trench. One section showed the British trenches, the other the French. You could stick your head through some square peep holes and get a peek into the trench as if you were there. It was great! Although the first time I stuck my head through one out of curiosity, the motion sensor kicked on and a soldier's voice began describing the conditions in the trench. It scared the crap out of me and I bonked my head on the top of the window!
The museum had canons, machine guns, and a tank on exhibit as well as hundreds of pictures showing the devastation done by the intense bombing campaigns. I really liked the air power and sea power exhibits. In addition to the artifacts on display in cases, there was a video of air and sea footage playing on the floor of the museum. Hard to explain but very cool to see!
With the end of the 1914-1917 part of the exhibit came a massive three story screen showing what America was up to during those years and why we got involved in the war. It was a real cool combination of an IMAX size screen and replica soldiers on battlefield at the bottom of the screen. The lighting and sound was really cool - kind of another thing that's hard to explain but very cool to see.
After seeing that video, we filed through the 1917-1919 exhibits which included information about America's participation. Exhibits included war propaganda, uniforms, and artillery. Call it exceptionalism but I was expecting more on America's contribution. After all, Germany would be lording over all over Europe had it not been for the American Expeditionary Forces arriving and opening up a big old can of American whoop ass.
Once we finished with the exhibits, we headed up to the ground level and caught I ride on the elevator to go to the top of the Liberty Memorial. It was worth the price of admission for the entire museum to see that view!! We could see Kansas City from all sides and it was a great time of day to do so! The little cars were zooming around the various highways and city streets like micro machines on a child's play mat.
We checked out the two smaller galleries near the memorial tower, hit the gift shop, and the hit the road. It was already 4 in the afternoon and we still had a long haul to St. Louis. We stopped somewhere for dinner. Another first for me - went to Bob Evans for dinner, I think it was in Columbia. Good stuff. I'm kind of surprised Bob Evans restaurants haven't made it further west.
We didn't make it to St. Louis. We took the advice of a lady at the WWI Museum and stayed in St. Charles just outside of St. Louis. The Holiday Inn Express didn't have the same flair as a bed and breakfast but the bed was comfy and served its purpose well.
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