A Visit to the Past

If you know me very well, then you know I'm a planner. There's not a day that goes by that I don't get up in the morning with the entire day planned out. I think that was the nicest thing about this weekend get-away. Kelly and I made sure that we didn't plan out every detail. In fact, when we got up this morning, we only had one thing on the agenda. We had decided to take the short drive over to Independence, MO to check out the Frontier Museum. We just got done teaching a unit on Westward Expansion. We love teaching about it, so we thought we'd go and gather a little more information.

We made great time getting over there, so we had a 30 minute wait for the museum to open. We saw several signs about the historical downtown, so we headed over there to check things out. Our first stop was of one the area's first courthouses built in the 1840's. It wasn't open, but we were able to peak inside.

After that, we headed over to the visitor's information center. There, we found lots of information on Harry S. Truman, of course. The man working there asked us if we were going to tour the house. We looked at each other and thought, "Why not? We have no time schedule and we're already here." The tour didn't start until 3:00, so we headed back over the Frontier Museum while we waited.

I love learning about the history of our country. I had read a little about how difficult the journey was for those pioneers heading west the 2,000 miles to Oregon, but I really had no idea how hard until I read about in their own words. I don't know if I would have had to courage to take on this seemingly insurmountable task.

Across the street from the museum was the home of George Caleb Bingham, a famous Missouri painter. (Each year we have our students write a report on famous Missourians, so we're so excited to visit and take pictures of these places to show our students.) Unfortunately, this one wasn't open either.

After grabbing a quick bite of lunch, it was time for our tour of President Truman's home. We really enjoyed this! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and was interesting to listen to. I had no idea Truman was such a family man with such an amazing work ethic. (His home is in the top five best of American Presidents. If you're ever in Independence, you should go!)

Upon leaving the home, we just had to see the Truman Library and Museum. I had no idea all that Truman faced during his years in office. He may now be one of my favorite Presidents. The museum was full of interactive displays, authentic artifacts, and memorabilia. We were there over an hour and still didn't get to the bottom floor because the museum closed at 5:00. We needed at least another hour to take it all in.

On our way out, we drove by the Valle (sp?) mansion. Talk about a mansion! This place was huge! It wasn't open either, but we want to go back and check it out when it is. (We both thought it looked a little haunted.)

That was our last stop. We were headed home! I dropped Kelly off at her home around 8:00. We can definitely say that we took advantage of every minute of the weekend.

Kelly, thanks for going with me! I had a great time! I hope we can do it again soon!!