Columbus OH zoo

Komodo Dragon

There is an Ohio State Game today, so we avoided the game traffic by heading to the Columbus Zoo. This is a large zoo, we spent over 4 hours here and only saw half of the Zoo (missing most of the African Savannah, Asia, and North American sections. We started at the Australia and South Sea Island section, which had a good selection of animals including a nocturnal section with kiwi, and wombats. We enjoyed the lorikeets, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos. From the Indonesian islands, we saw Komodo dragons, Asian otters, Gibbons, and orangutans.

Blue-bellied Roller

Then onto the Congo section (versus African Savannah) with gorillas, bonobos and a few unique antelopes that we hadn’t seen before: Okapi’s and a duiker (a tiny one). We enjoyed the bird exhibit finding some new species of ibis and a blue roller.

Duiker

We ended up in the seashore and ocean section which featured manatees and Humboldt penguins. I went on to the reptile/amphibian house, one of the largest I’ve seen. (Mary stays away from snakes.) They had quite a few different lizards and then another section with amphibians, especially frogs and turtles. Some of the snake-necked turtles were my favorite. Plan a whole day if you come here. They do have some rides for the kids as well as some great playgrounds.

Humboldt Penguins

COSI, Columbus OH

We’re staying at the Alton RV Park, it’s a tiny park with no shade, but it is within a mile of the Columbus City Limits. Today, we went to COSI and we were surprised when our membership to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science gave us free admission here. We spent most of our time in the two special exhibits. The first was on mythical creatures, their legends and some theories on why people believed in these creatures. The Kraken which in legend was bigger than a ship, probably came from the Giant Squid. Sea dragons may have come seeing pods of whales or dolphins sighted in the distance, where there jumping between the waves may have looked like a long dragon body emerging from the waves. When large dinosaur bones were found, the heads were turned into dragons and the big thigh bones led to the belief in giants. Could the Cylops be from a baby elephant skull?

Baby elephant skull

The second special exhibit was on Jim Henson and the creation of the Muppets. He got his TV start with two puppets doing a 5-minute local show every day. He also created quite a few short commercials using cartoon Muppet-like characters. The story continues through the creation of Sesame street and the Muppet show. It was quite entertaining because of the many short videos of many of the characters we are all familiar with Kermit, Grover, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie and Miss Piggy.

Jim Henson's first TV show

We only saw one of the main exhibits, the section on dinosaurs. The exhibit had a lot more than just the skeletons of these creatures. They also explained the modeling to determine how fast a Tyrannosaurus could run (10-25 mph) and how the big plant eaters moved their necks (the long neck we saw was designed to munch plants in the water below the animal, not leaves above. Another section explained what they learned from dinosaur tracks on how the feet of these dinosaurs worked. The most fascinating section though explained the development of feathers on dinosaurs. 

Therizinosaur lived 70 Million years ago

Feathers were designed for protection from the weather and for coloring. (The eyes of dinosaurs and birds are more fully developed than the other senses). Then how wings may have been used first for gliding and hopping up obstacles. Then finally how the shoulder muscles changed to allow for true flight. There were many fossils where you could see that these dinosaurs did have feathers. Videos provided great explanations for the theories. There were lots of regular exhibits we didn’t have the energy to see on Life, Oceans, Progress over time, and gadgets. We had already spent three hours here.  

Aepyornis bird extinct in 1500 AD 

Then we headed off for a late lunch at Schmidt’s German Restaurant for some schnitzel.

Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, OH

Our primary stop of the day is Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio. This really tells the story of Dayton’s industrial sector. The story starts with John Patterson and his founding of National Cash Register Company. There is a huge collection of cash registers, most of them quite ornate and filled with lots of small mechanical parts. They also have a very simple one, intended to be so inexpensive, it would kill the competition. Their advertising pitch was addressed to customers: “get a receipt”, which their cash registers would produce. 

National Cash Register Machines

Engineers from this firm founded their own firms: DELCO which invented the first practical car batteries and electric starters (to replace the hand crank), and Dayton Bicycles (later Huffy) among others. There is a good animatronic presentation of the founding of these industries. Of course, this is also where the Wright brothers, working in the back of their bicycle shop, designed the first heavier than air, flying machine. The National Wright Brothers Museum is within the park, telling their story. It culminates in the actual 1905 version of their plane – the first plane that could turn, make multiple landings, and could fly for up to 40 minutes.

1905 Wright Brother Model III

On the grounds are several historical buildings: a schoolhouse, print house, and tavern. We had a great discussion with the folks in the 1935 Print Shop, showing off early offset-presses and linotypes. There is also a building devoted to telling the story of Dayton’s 1913 flood and another on transportation which has an 1835 locomotive engine used on the B&O railroad as well as a classic parlor car. On a previous visit we went to the Air Force Museum which I also highly recommend.

B&O Engine #1

Conner Prairie Interactive Historical Part

Conner Family Tree

We continued toward Indianapolis to visit Conner PrairieInteractive Historic Park. This has an interesting mix of historic areas. William Conner was one of the first 15 settlers in this area of Indiana. He was first married to a Lenape Indian woman and over 19 years had 6 kids by her. She moved with her tribe when the Indians were moved further west. Within 3 months, he married a white woman and had 10 kids by her (all of whom made it to adulthood). His brick home build in the early 1800’s still stands here. Other areas in the park include a fur trader’s camp with the Lenape Indians, an 1836 village, an 1859 balloon ride, and a civil war camp. Unfortunately, it was too windy for the balloon.  

John Morgan's Invasion North

The highlight was the civil war camp. They told the story with a mix of real people and video images and sound effects. The town of Dupont being invaded and burnt by the confederates under the leadership of General John Morgan in July 1863. He came up from Kentucky and raided several towns in Indiana and Ohio. This exhibit was well done and made the whole Park worthwhile. The other parts of the park are typical of historic parks: a schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, general store, etc. We stayed that night at the Indianapolis KOA, a nice tree-filled campground, but right on the interstate.  

Interrogating a prisoner

Lincoln's Home, Springfield, IL

Lincoln's Home in Springfield

We made about 300 miles through Missouri and Illinois, passing another fascinating museum that we’ve done previously, the WinstonChurchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri. Our goal this time was to visit Lincoln’s home in downtown Springfield. He bought a 3-room house soon after he was married and over time expanded the house, building a second story on top with 5 bedrooms. This is the one and only home he owned and for the time, it was impressive with a huge parlor and sitting room. Because he left from this home to become president, most of the furnishings were stored for him to come back to, which of course never happened. His son Edward donated the house and the belongings to the State of Illinois, so many of the original furnishings are in the home. Currently run by the NPS, the street in front of the house has been restored to what it would have looked like in 1860 and the exterior of the house matches the photos of the time. The guides do a great job of telling you the story of Lincoln’s rise in Springfield as an impressive lawyer and then as a strong proponent of emancipation for the slaves. On our previous visit to Springfield, we went to the Lincoln Library and Museum which is quite modern and is entertaining even for children.  We’re staying at the Springfield KOA, which is deep in the woods outside Springfield, our most quiet campground of the trip.

Lincoln Parlor with original furnishings

Kansas City

Minature Harpsicord that can play

We visited the Toy and Miniatures Museum today. We weren’t sure what to expect but this was an excellent museum. We spent most of our time looking at the Miniatures, fascinated by some of the intricate wood working, knitting, embroidery, and painting in such tiny dimensions. There were several video exhibits showing how this work is done. Many of the minatures were done for doll houses, which there are several on display, but others are just to recreate rooms from earlier times. 

Beacon Hill House 

Upstairs is the Toy Museum, which starts with a large section on dolls and doll houses, but also goes through the history of toy making. The story of German toy making from hand wood-working through the industrialization of toy making was interesting. A video showed how they started mass producing wooden horses, starting on a lathe to create a round cylinder with the basic shape. They hand-carved the rest. 

We had lunch at Gates on Main Street, famous for Kansas City Barbeque. The beef ribs and ham were really good, but we didn’t care for the brisket and the platter was more than either of us could eat. We should have split one. 

Excavating the wreckage

Then on to the Steamboat Arabia museum. A family and friends spent a million dollars finding and raising this wreck in the middle of a corn field. It was a Missouri River Boat which hit a tree snag and quickly sank in 1856. The boat was primarily bringing goods into Kansas and Nebraska to stock over 56 small general stores. So it was filled with the common goods of the day and it provides a picture of the pre-civil-war era. It gives a very different picture of Kansas, then what we get from our history books and movies. For example, lots of fine china were found, most goods were manufactured, not hand crafted, and all the women’s earrings were for pierced ears. What wasn’t found were the barrels of Kentucky bourbon that were supposed to have been on board. The iron steam engine and the paddle wheels were also intact, but most of the wood of the boat (except for the white oak used for stern, rudder and paddle wheels) had disintegrated. We even met a member of the family who raised the river boat.

Homegoods found 

On a previous trip, we did the World War I museum in KansasCity which I highly recommend.

Kansas History Museum, Topeka

Tall Grass Prarie

If you prefer to see a narrated video of this trip, it is available on youtube.

We traveled out to Russel, Kansas yesterday. Last night we had lightning and thunder from about midnight to 4 AM, but the rain stopped by morning. We headed off to the Kansas History Museum in Topeka, Kansas. We arrived before their 1 PM Sunday opening so I took a few short nature trails around the place. The most interesting was a small section of tall grass prairie, the stuff Kansas was covered with in the 1800s. In order to maintain this patch, they have to do a controlled burn every three years to keep out the invading species. 

Witchita Grass Lodge

The museum told the story of Kansas and from it we came out with a few interesting new insights. First, of all, we learned the Sante Fe Trail was primarily a trading route between the U.S. and what was then Sante Fe in Mexico. The Conestoga wagons weren’t fill with people’s possessions, but with goods destined for Mexico. From Sante Fe, another trail led south all the way to Mexico City. Among the artifacts was a wagon jack, with crank and gears to lift the wagons, and a wagon wheel mechanism to slow the wagon when it was going down-hill. We all remember the Missouri Compromise that preserved the power of the slave states in the senate. States created south of Missouri would be slave, those north would be free. But that ended with Kansas and Nebraska were preparing to join the union, they could choose either to be slave or free. Well, it took 4 state constitutional conventions before there was a Kansas constitution that was agree to both by the citizens of the state and congress (after many violent incidents). And that only happened after several southern states had seceded from the Union.

Comparison of Four Constitutions