Indianapolis Children's Museum

I can't believe it's been almost a month since we've been back from our visit to Indiana. This summer is really flying by! My sister, Officer, lives in Indianapolis and whenever possible I always let her do the driving around town. She never gets lost and I'm not a patient driver! While we were visiting we met my parents, sister in law, sister and her husband and we all visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum. When I was growing up we visited it often but I haven't been there in quite a while and BOY has it changed! 

This is what you walk by to get to the entrance. How cool is that! 

Then before you even enter the museum there are all sorts of famous "landmarks" outside for the kids to climb on...Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, the Pyramids...

The museum currently has an exhibit about brave children in history that includes, Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White. It was a great exhibit and dang, I was so in to the entire thing I didn't take a single pic of it!! But this chestnut tree was planted in honor of Anne Frank and the tree she saw out her window in the Secret Attic. 

My FAVORITE part of the museum?? The Chilhuly glass sculpture of course!! Never heard of Chihuly?? Do yourself a favor and Google him...awesome artist! 

There is just so much to do at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. We arrived before it opened and I honestly thought we'd be done by lunchtime and have the afternoon to go somewhere else. Nope, we were there for SEVEN HOURS and I don't think we saw everything. 

They have this awesome hands on exhibit about explorers and adventurers that included Egyptology, pirate treasure and the famous Chinese terracotta statues. 

They have an incredible dinosaur exhibit too! Fossils, dress up and (my favorite) a place where you can be a prehistoric artist that discusses how artists decide what a dinosaur probably looked like. They had a section with dinosaur skulls and play putty and the kids (me) could build the skin on the skull. SO COOL! 

I didn't get nearly enough photos of everything at the ICM. I was too busy having fun myself! They had an exhibit on modern Egypt, old toys, the Old Carousel, Transformers, Trains, oh what else? I know I'm forgetting something. The exhibits are constantly changing but one of the greatest things, I think, about the museum is they still have the "oldies but goodies". 

Of all the years my parents have visited the museum, my dad said nobody had sat for this long to watch a particular exhibit. 

What was it?

The Water Clock! We waited at the clock to watch it drain from 12:59-1:00. 

It was the first time I'd ever seen it change! 

AND they STILL have the Indy Car!! I think it's the same car I climbed in when I was a kid! 

My kids and I have been to a LOT of museums but the Indianapolis Children's Museum, no question about it, is the very best for kids! They may have been exhausted by the end of the day but they were never bored! If you are looking for a place to go with your kids this summer the IMC is it! 

(By the way Officer...thanks for driving! You sure made our visit a lot more pleasant! ) 

Foody Friday - Heritage Recipes and Zucchini Casserole

Earlier this week I came across a website called Heritage Recipes; sharing old fashioned recipes and traditions. Their website states; 

These are more than just recipes.  These heritage recipes - our links with our past and our connections to special people and special events are tied to those scraps of paper.  At Heritage Recipes we are dedicated to the preservation of memories and old recipes.

I don't know about you but I prefer old fashioned recipes to modern ones that call for a number of prepackaged items and I love the idea of a website that shares them. In fact the website is always looking for new recipes to share. I sent in my great grandmother's tomato soup recipe, along with a story about her, and a relish recipe from a family friend. 

Then I started cruising their site. I found a website for zucchini casserole. (Remember my intense hatred for zucchini?) I didn't plant any zucchini this summer but I do have yellow summer squash that I've been sauteing in butter all summer...and I'm getting a bit tired of it. I thought it would work in a zucchini casserole. 

Although, when I pulled it out of the oven I had my doubts. It sure didn't look that appetizing. My kids, of course, hated it. My husband thought it had an odd texture. I, however, ate half the pan. Granted it was only a 9x9 pan but still, I had a stomach ache from eating so much! 

Heritage Recipe Zucchini Casserole 

Slice thin zucchini (no quantity given, I used 2 yellow squash)

3 T. butter

3 T. flour

4 large tomatoes (homegrown if possible, I only had 2), sliced

1 green pepper

1 onion (didn't have one)

Salt (no amount given, I just sprinkled some in)

1 T. brown sugar

2 bay leaves 

1 tsp. oregano

2 c. sharp cheddar cheese (I used mozzarella and only about a cup)

Melt the butter, add flour.  Stir constantly until flour begins to brown. Add sugar, bay leaves, oregano and salt.  In a baking dish, put a layers of zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and cheese.  Pour flour/butter mixture over and bake at 350 degrees.  (No time is given. I judged mine to be done after 45 minutes.)

I've learned that old fashioned recipes are more flexible than more modern recipes. Most of the time substitutions or detracting from an old recipe doesn't guarantee failures. 

I was very surprised how good it was! The vegetables had a warm buttery flavor and the cheese was just right without being overwhelming. I ate half the pan and I'm ready to eat the other half all by myself! 

Do you have a favorite Heritage Recipe to share? Why not hop on over to Heritage Recipes and send them an email? And don't forget to send me a copy too!! 

Old Fort Hays

After we finished with the Sternberg Museum of Natural History we drove over to the Old Fort Hays. Fort Hays is located near Interstate 70 and is mostly associated with George Armstrong Custer and "Wild Bill" Hickok. Fort Hays was an important U.S. Army post that was active from 1865 until 1889. It was a much larger western fort than Fort Larned because it was near the railroad and served as a supply depot for the military in the West. 

We started off in the visitors center where we could touch many Native American artifacts. 

These gloves were made from buffalo. The inside of the thumbs were covered in buffalo hair as was the inside back of your hands. These were sooo warm! 

Yap enjoyed re enacting his Indian holler! 

Today four original buildings survive: the blockhouse , guardhouse (above), and two officers' quarters but in the late 1800's the fort covered over 170 acres with many more buildings. The reason most of Ft. Hays buildings are gone is because they were wooden and moved out of the area to be used as homes or the materials were used for other reasons. Ft. Larned's buildings are all stone which is why that fort has remained intact through the years. 

Throughout the Old Fort's location there were signs indicating where other buildings used to stand along with interesting facts about the fort. The fort is supposedly haunted by the "Blue Lady" Elizabeth Polly who was a cholera victim in 1867. We didn't see her, unfortunately...I always thought it would be interesting to see a ghost. 

Inside the guardhouse the boys got to try on the heavy wool uniforms of the Union soldiers. 

They refused to smile; they didn't think real soldiers would have smiled for a picture! 

The guardhouse was also the jail for soldiers arrested for all sorts of offences. Yahoo kept hollering, "Lock me in!" and insisting that we shut the door on her! 

We didn't spend too much time at the fort, not nearly as much time as I would have liked. I would have loved to spend a lot more time in the blockhouse, as it was I didn't even get any photos of it. The kids were tired from the long trip and were getting hungry but I'm glad that we were able to take them to Fort Hays regardless. My dad always says that it even though kids don't look at every single exhibit or read every single sign that they ARE LEARNING SOMETHING. It may take years for all those little memories, facts, and experiences to mesh together into understanding. 

Without me knowing it these little day trips make an impact on my kids and I truly believe they'll be better for it. 

The Dalton Gang Hideout

The Dalton Gang Hideout in Meade, KS isn't too far from us. DR and the boys had actually visited it a couple times but this week was the first time Yahoo and I were able to visit. The Dalton Gang were three brothers who were bank/train robbers during the 1890's. Their sister Eva lived in Meade with her husband in the little white house that you see above. Eva and her husband were not too popular in the community being they were related to the Daltons and quietly left the community and years later the 95 foot tunnel leading from the house to the barn down the hill was discovered. 

The tunnel was refurnished from the dirt and timber construction to its current stone walls by the WPA in the 1940's. 

The barn currently acts as the museum/tunnel entrance. You enter the tunnel in the barn and exit into the white house behind the barn. The house is two stories, partially built into a hill and rather small. 

This photo was all over the place at the museum, the most famous photo of the gang after the fatal Coffeyville Bank Robbery. 

On October 5, 1892, the Dalton gang attempted this feat when they set out to rob the C.M. Condon & Company's Bank and the First National Bank in Coffeyville, Kansas. Since the locals were aware of what they looked like, they wore fake beards. But they were still identified by one of the townspeople.

While the gang was busy trying to hold up the banks, the people armed themselves and prepared for a gun battle. When the gang exited the banks, a shootout began. There were three townspeople shot, and Town Marshal Charles Connelly^[3] was killed when he ran into the street after hearing gunfire, returning fire before he died killing one member of the gang. Grat Dalton, Bob Dalton, Dick Broadwell and Bill Power were killed. Emmett Daltonreceived 23 gunshot wounds and survived. He was given a life sentence in the Kansas penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas, of which he served 14 years before being pardoned. (Wikipedia)

The house is furnished the way it would have been in the 1890's with many of Eva Dalton's own possessions. 

Once we were done in the house (I could have stayed all day reading but the kids were quickly bored ) we headed back to the local history museum in the barn. 

The most interesting attraction was the two headed calf! Very cool! 

There were also stuffed rattlesnakes, golden eagle, beaver as well as an albino prairie dog and albino raccoon!

And of course the required barb wire collection. I've said before, practically every town of any size has some sort of local history museum and almost every one of them contains a barbed wire collection! 

Outside is an old time town...fronts only. Every summer there are Western reenactors who have gunfights and a living history competition down in the old town. Hopefully we'll get to check it out this July. 

Ha, I thought this was one of the funnier episodes of our day. Yip stood in the coffin, eyes closed for the full effect....

...and Yahoo had to do the same thing! Whatever brother does she'll do too...even if she doesn't understand it :) 

I love my history! 

Every Kansas town has a.....

...a museum.

Really, they all do. Practically every little town you go to in Kansas seems to have their own little museum.

We have the Stauth Museum in my little town which has artifacts from all over the world. Many Kansas museums' exhibits are focused more on Kansas history and over the weekend we visited Ulysses, Kansas and the Grant County Adobe Museum, a great little museum.

Not only do they have the museum building but they also have a 1800's era hotel and one room school house right next door.

The hotel on the left and school on the right.

In a living area for guests the boys played checkers and admired the popcorn popper on the old wooden stove.

Yahoo took time to lounge just like I imagine an elegant lady might. Would this be a daybed?

Yip and Yap enjoyed the idea of a classroom with all different ages of students. They liked those old desks too. What is so attractive about an old school desk? When I was a kid I remember seeing one and just wanting to do lots of homework at it.

Inside the museum there are exhibits presenting Kansas in different time periods.

There are the Plains Indians...

....and a sod house complete with cow skull.

Then we moved on to a more modern house complete with a modern oven/stove. I have a friend who has one of these and they cook on it at least one week every summer. There has been some amazing food come off of these.

These contraption was in the kitchen too. Anyone know what it is? I couldn't figure it out. The handle moved left and right and moved the left side of the cylinder back and forth.

There was also a wall with nothing but pictures of the dust bowl. This was a photo taken in Ulysses on April 14, 1935. The caption says, Daylight to Total Darkness in one minute. Wow.

There was also exhibits with artifacts from life in the 30's, 40's and 50's. My boys thought it was neat to see toys their grandparents might have played with.

So, if you are looking for a vacation spot with LOTS of museums then Kansas is the place to go! Ha, of course if you get tired of museums we have, uh, lots of....sky to look at!

Hoosiers! A book for you to read!

One of my Christmas gifts this year was the book So Cold The River which is set in French Lick and West Baden Springs, southern Indiana!

In case you aren't familiar with the history, West Baden and French Lick are full of natural mineral springs. In 1902, Lee Sinclair opened the West Baden Hotel, which until 1955 sported the largest free spanning dome in the country and offered baths in the "healing" springs. West Baden catered to the upper class and many hotel guests (like Al Capone, FDR, Bing Crosby) would come from Chicago on the Monon Train to bask in the mineral waters of the area. At the time the mineral waters were touted to cure just about any ailment.

Not only did West Baden sport a plush hotel complete with casinos, billiards, a pool but outside there were vast gardens, golf courses and hiking trails among other amenities. Although not as lavish, a mile down the road French Lick also had a hotel.

Interior 1993 (photo courtesy of this site)

West Baden hasn't always looked so nice though. During the depression the hotel was finally closed and sold to an order of Jesuit priests in 1934. And through the years the hotel deteriorated until the early 90's when interest in restoration of the building began to grow.

I was able to tour West Baden in December of 1998 in the midst of restoration. I know I took pics but for the life of me I don't know where they are. Even then however I remember being in awe of the size of the hotel's atrium.

The winter of 2006/07 DR and I spent the weekend at the French Lick Casino, only a mile from West Baden. West Baden is now a fully functioning hotel but high priced! It is fabulous! I don't even have the words to describe it!

But this is how it looks today! Gorgeous!!

Anyway, back to my book. So Cold the River is a mystery about a man from Chicago who has come to West Baden to film a documentary but in the process is "bewitched" by some of the mineral water. He begins to see visions of the past and ghosts and one particularly evil ghost returns to the present.

Not only do I love this book because it is a well told story full of suspense but it's full of Indiana history and geography too. Larry Bird, Upland Brewery, the love of Indiana basketball are all mentioned through the story.

If you have ever been in southern Indiana or heard of West Baden/French Lick or just like a good ghost story you would enjoy this book.