We left St. Louis after breakfast and drove to Kansas City, stopping to charge a couple of times, once just outside of KC so that we would have electrons for sightseeing. Bruce's friend Shelly Foote (former director at the Smithsonian) recommended the Arabia Steamboat Museum. After spending some time there, we went to Union Station which now houses a theater, public meeting rooms, a wonderful Science Discovery Museum, and several cafes. We tried to go to the Hallmark visitor center but it was already closed for the day.
The Arabia Steamboat was one of many steamboats (over 200) that sunk in the Missouri river in the mid 19th century. The boat sank into the quicksand and literally disappeared in a matter of days. The river changed course and the wreck was forgotten, and ended up under a cornfield. In the late 20th century, a group of friends decided to try and find her and her cargo. In 1988, they had dug down deep enough (around 45 feet) to reach the boat. The original plan had been to sell the artifacts but upon seeing what they had, they decided instead to build a museum.
We went to Union Station. We forgot to take pictures of the building so here are a couple from the web plus an electric baggage cart from days of yore.
Inside Union Station is a science museum (mostly for children) that had a lot of interesting exhibits. Dick's ScienceWorks membership card got us in for free. Check out the pic of a slender Bruce as taken looking into a mirror at the museum. Dick was standing in front of a wall that showed the outline of what was in front of it.
While sitting and having a drink at one of the cafes in Union Station, we struck up a conversation with some obvious food professionals. One was the Michelin Star nominated chef of a Thai restaurant. We decided to try her place for dinner. We ordered an "experience" dinner. It was way too much food and though some of the dishes were tasty, it's not a place we would go back to.
Finally, at the end of the day, we had put in 283 miles.
