June 1, 2009

George Washington Carver, Precious Moments, Fort Scott

We left Branson taking back roads.  Actually pretty fun.  Have to stay alert in a carbus but the roads are neat.  Narrow roads that follow the ridges and once in a while go down into a holler and up to another ridge.  Lots of little farms and tiny towns.  Real Ozark feel instead of speeding along on a four lane highway.

First stop, George Washington Carver National Monument.  Picture a little tiny town on a narrow little road in the middle of nowhere.  Now go two miles outside that town on an even more narrow road and turn onto basically a paved wide path.  Another mile and you reach the entrance.  Suddenly things open up.  A manicured park in the middle of a forest.  Lots of parking for even the largest of rigs as well as cars.  The visitors center is outstanding. 

Many displays and much information on George Washington Carver from birth to early adulthood.  There is a lot on his adult life also.  A recent addition to the center added a number of rooms with many hands on exhibits. 

There is even a full sized college science lab from his time.  There is a trail that goes by the cabin where he was born and winds through the woods.  Very peaceful.  Would be a great place for a young boy to grow.  We were glad we made the effort to find this place.

Local inhabitant.

 

Trail and bridge across small stream

Pond

 

George Washington Carver’s owner lived here.

A few miles (literally) up the road and down another little road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, is the Precious Moments Chapel complex. 

Another park in the middle of the woods with an even larger parking lot.  Gift shop, restaurant, museum, vast grounds, and of course the chapel all dedicated to and themed by Precious Moments images and figures.  The whole site is the culmination of a dream by the creator of the Precious Moments artwork.  The chapel tour alone took nearly forty minutes of description of the stories behind the artwork that covers the inside of the chapel.  I can’t describe all we saw.  A web search might help to explain some of it.

 

These last two are for Hank, Dan, and Liz.  We think of you.

 

Last stop was Fort Scott NHS.  The fort which had many uses over more than a century has been restored and almost all of it is open to give visitors a glimpse of life of the military men and their families who lived here.

Note the flag.  Does something look different?