• 35 miles of walking
• 7 breweries
• 4 museums
• 2 cemeteries
• 1 distillery
• Countless restaurants

The highlights for me were the Art Institute of Chicago, and seeing the U-505 at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.

I think we’ll start with our hotel, which was on the corner of Wabash and Harrison. You can clearly see the L-train and Roosevelt University, as well as some street murals.

And then we’ll move on to some architecture and street art, as well as a little Picasso (which is actually huge).

Art Institute of Chicago

We spent right around 5 hours at the AIC. I could have spent another 5 hours, but our brains were pretty full and we were hungry. There was a special display of the work of Henri Matisse, and we made sure to get the extra tickets.

It was cool to see so many well known works of art as well as others I’d never even imagined. My absolute favorite, and the one that stopped me in my tracks, was Norman Lewis’ 1942 painting “Multitudes.” The photograph doesn’t do justice to the depth in the colors. The more I stared at it, the more I saw: people, tables, buildings, doors…

Field Museum of Natural History

I didn’t take many pictures at the Field Museum — the exhibits were all so dark. But I did get a couple of good shots.

Griffin Museum of Science & Industry

Our time at the Griffin was limited, but the only thing I really wanted to see was the U-505, a Nazi uboat captured by the American Navy in 1944. It was the only intact uboat captured by the US during WWII. I was a little underwhelmed by the tour, which didn’t go into enough depth (pun intended) for me. Still it was a dream come true to be onboard, and to see how the sailors lived in such a small and cramped war machine.

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison was great. I actually liked it better than Chicago. It’s clean, friendly, not oversaturated with humans, completely walkable, and I didn’t see any rats (saw one in Chicago). I would go back to Mad anytime.

We started at Resurrection Cemetery and Forest Hill Cemetery, which are across the street from each other. Forest Hill is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I’ve ever been to.

In our walks we saw a lot of fun stuff, and visited the Contemporary Art Museum of Madison, which was probably the oddest museum I’ve ever been to, and not because of the art. One gallery had pieces enclosed in stained glass boxes, and we both thought the stained glass was more interesting than the art they contained. Another gallery on the lower floor had only two paintings by two different artists. The second floor was in the midst of having a new exhibit installed and was closed to the public. And the top floor open air “sculpture garden” had only one sculpture. All-in-all, Kate said she counted only 21 pieces. It was free admission, but we donated some money anyway in hopes that they will get some more art.

And I’ll end with a few random shots from our long hikes.

We had a lot of fun, despite a few traffic jams on the way, and we both look forward to our next adventure together.

Naturally, a trip to such a major city as Kansas City would involve a cemetery stop or two. The first was an early morning trip to Elmwood Cemetery, which was established in 1872. Among the 34,000+ people buried there are your typical assortment of members of Congress, officers who served during the Civil War (because enlisted dudes rarely attain notoriety), sports heroes, and business magnates, the most nationally famous of which would probably be the Armour family who made “the dogs kids love to bite.” And speaking of dogs, when we first got out of the car we saw a coyote walking by about 25 yards (23 meters) away from us!

To be honest I was a little underwhelmed by this cemetery. By its size and location, the number of people buried there, and the list of “famous memorials” it boasts, I assumed that it would be more impressive. I pictured someplace more on par with Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, with large, impressive columns and statuary. But Elmwood is very much like so many other Midwestern burial places. Not that it wasn’t interesting in its way, or that it didn’t offer a surprise or two.

Union Cemetery, Kansas City, MO

Founded in 1857, Union Cemetery is Kansas City’s oldest. There are over 24,000 people buried there, and the place just oozes history. Three memorials stuck out most to me: George Caleb Bingham, an artist famous for his paintings of working people, and common events. (I’m reasonably sure that we saw some of his work at the Nelson-Adkins Museum.). Alexander Majors was one of the founders of the Pony Express. The last belonging to not just one person, but to a group of Confederate soldiers who were buried there during the Civil War, and who were later memorialized with a historical marker.

The Folgers Coffee Collection

Presented in 2000 by the Procter & Gamble Company in honor of the 150th anniversary of Folgers Coffee, the Folgers Coffee Silver Collection at The Nelson-Adkins Museum of Art comprises more than 100 pieces of 18th- and 19th-century English, Irish and Scottish silver primarily related to coffee.

I do not condone the brewing or drinking of Folgers Coffee, as it is a very poor product that is mass produced. But these pieces were too cool, and hit pretty close to home.

The Sonata

• 1893
• Artist: Childe Hassam, 1859-1935
• Oil on canvas, mounted on board

Combining luminous color, staccato brushwork, and academic drawing, Childe Hassam’s The Sonata exalts sensory and aesthetic experiences. The painting features a pianist having just performed Beethoven’s famously difficult Sonata Appassionata, a score for which she holds in her lap. Her slouched posture, suggesting that the performance has exhausted her, is echoed by the similarly beautiful but fragile-looking yellow rose atop the piano.

The Green Domino

• 1913
• Artist: Albert Bloch, 1882-1961
• Oil on canvas

Albert Bloch is an artist of international and local importance. Associated with the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) while living in Munich, he later served as the head of the Department of Painting and Drawing at the University of Kansas.

The Green Domino, painted in Munich, reveals Bloch’s passion for the expressive power of simplified forms and intense color. The curious figures who occupy this brightly colored, prismatically fractured space are based on character from the 17th- and 17th-century Italian improvisational comedic Theatre del Arte.

I liked it not only for the form and colors, but because it looks like my friend, Jeffrey.

Hollywood

• 1937-38
• Artist: Thomas Hart Benton, 1889-1975
• Tempera with oil on canvas, mounted on panel

Hollywood resulted from Benton’s Life magazine-sponsored excursion to Tinseltown in the summer of 1937. The composition unites various aspects of movie-making, revealing Benton’s fascination with what he called, “the machinery of the industry” responsible for cinematic efforts. A centrally positioned and scantily clad female figure presides over this chaotic universe, symbolizing the quintessential blonde starlet of the period. The background references the musical In old Chicago about the Great Fire of 1841.

Life rejected the painting as being too risqué for publication in a family magazine.

Goodnight Irene

• 1952
• Artist: Charles Wilbert White, 1918-1979
• Oil on canvas

Performing for an intimate audience of one, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter plays Goodnight Irene, his signature ballad.

White created this portrait three years after the legendary musician’s death.

Water Lilies

List Item List Item

• 1915-1926
• Artist: Claude Monet, 1840-1926
• Oil on canvas

Monet’s garden at Giverny, France, became both a sanctuary and a central motif in his art from 1890 until his death in 1926. Amid the tubulence of World War I, Monet’s Water Lilies served as a form of resistance, a way to transcend the chaos of the world around him.

This thing is HUGE. So much bigger than you’d expect.

Coffee Grinder and Glass

• 1915
• Artist: Juan Gris, 1887-1927
• Oil on paperboard

In this jewel-like still life, the letters “Le J” refer to Le Journal–the Paris newspaper that Juan Gris depicted in lavendar on the blue top of a black table.

Rose with Gray

• 1924
• Artist: Vasily Kandinsky, 1866-1944
• Oil on pulpboard

Kandinsky wrote, “Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.”

I dig Kandinsky.

Tea Service

• about 1930
• Designer: Margarete Haymann-Löbenstein, 1899-1990
• Manufacturer: Haël-Werkstätten für künstlerische Keramik, Germany (Marwitz), 1923-1934
• Alpacca (silvered metal alloy) with synthetic resin

Beautiful and functional, yet mass-produced, this tea service’s simple geometric forms embody Bauhaus design and philosophy. Designer Margarete Haymann-Löbenstein was one of the first female students at the Bauhaus art and design school. Her art was considered “degenerate” by Nazi Germany.

Guitar Player

• 1928
• Artist: André Derain, 1880-1954
• Oil on canvas

Painted in rich, warm tones of cream and brown, André Derain’s painting evokes the resonanat sound of the guitar. The carefully balanced composition and harmonious flow of the line, together with the musician’s casual open collar, rolled shirtsleeves, and crossed leg, further enhance this mood of lyrical peacefulness.

From a guitar player’s perspective, his left hand technique is lacking and if he keeps playing that way he will do damage to his wrist.

Saint Barbara

• ca. 1580-1585
• Attributed to Germain Pilon, 1537-1590
• White marble

Saint Barbara was a virgin martyr whose father sequestered her in a tower to discourage suitors. Here she is shown next to the tower, holding the hild of a sword, the instrument of her martyrdom. The missing blade was probably made of silver.

The back of this sculpture is flat, indicating she was meant to be seen only from the front and placed against a wall, pillar, or niche.

And finally, here is a collection of random pieces I photographed with no descriptions…

Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.

Our first stop was the Harry S. Truman museum and library in Independence, MO. I was born during LBJ and started school under Nixon, but Harry was spoken of with respect in our house. My dad would have served under him as CIC during the Korean War.

There was so much more to Harry than I realized or remembered. Yes, he assumed the Office of President of the United States upon the death of FDR. Yes, he was the man who made the decision to drop the A-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But I had sort of forgotten that he was in office during the Korean War (duh. Shame on me, a M*A*S*H fan!), and during the recognition of Israel as a nation. I had also completely glossed over his Fair Deal and the fact he would have been the guy in office during the Cold War, McCarthyism, and the beginning of nuclear proliferation. Suffice to say, the guy really influenced and shaped the 20th Century as I know it.

It’s a shame the Fair Deal never made it very far. I think a lot of the problems the US has now could have been avoided if it had passed.

There are some incredible things at the museum, including a full-sized reproduction of the Oval Office, as well as Truman’s working office at the library, which is fully intact and just how he left it when he died. There’s also the safety plug from the first atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. In the same room are 1000 origami cranes folded by a Japanese girl who was suffering from leukemia caused by the bomb years later. That was very sobering.

The museum is located in the middle of an area I would not want to live. Very run down, with lots of boarded up houses and businesses. And then suddenly there’s this magnificent building and museum. Harry and Bess’ graves are there, as well as Margaret and her husband, Clifton Daniel. We were there for a couple of hours, and they were hours well spent.

A brief stop at a dispensary, and we were off to the hotel and our first night in KC.

Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.

Our first night was spent walking around the area where our hotel was located, which was in the downtown arts district. To be honest it was a bit of a drinking tour with stops at the International Tap House (loud. It was so loud), Brewery Emperial (great outdoor seating area), the City Barrel Brewery+Kitchen (kinda meh, but good), Lifted Spirits Distillery (where we had some excellent cocktails), and Grinder Pizza (a punk rock attitude with B+ pizza). I may have missed a stop or two here; blame it on the alcohol.

One of the very cool things about that area is the number of murals and other street art you find. Dubuque, Iowa has that, too. I wish more places did. St. Cloud has some great walls that could be painted.

KC Street Art

Of course, that’s not the only art we saw in KC. The next day, a rainy Sunday, we went to the Nelson-Adkins Museum of Art. That trip is worth its own post.

We drove to Dubuque, Iowa and spent the night, then drove to St. Louis, Missouri. From there we drove to a cemetery just outside of Carbondale, Illinois and set up to watch our second total eclipse (we drove to the middle of nowhere Missouri in 2017 to see that one).

In between we visited the grave of one the greatest cornet players in the history of jazz, Bix Beiderbeck. It was chilly and rainy, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the very historic Oakdale Memorial Gardens in Davenport, Iowa. This is another place I would love to see in the summertime.

Our next stop on our way to St. Louis was Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield,, Illinois, where President Abraham Lincoln is buried. History fairly drips from the branch of every tree there. I remember that it was raining when we arrived, but it quickly cleared up, giving us the opportunity to explore the grounds. Seeing Lincoln’s Tomb is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.

We spent the night in St. Louis, and then on April 8th — Kate’s birthday — we drove to the North County Line Cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, a very small plot with only ~160 graves, and waited for the Main Event.

I didn’t take any pictures during the eclipse because I wanted to be totally in the moment. It was as amazing as the first one. In fact, it was even better. We got 4 minutes and 8 seconds of totality on April 8th — a great birthday present for my lovely wife!

We drove back to St. Louis, had a great birthday dinner, and then headed back home, staying one more night in Iowa City, Iowa, which was just lovely and, again, is a place I’d love to visit again sometime.