A Light Road Trip: Day 3

I was up early again, and did the same thing: grabbed a coffee in the restaurant at 7:00 AM and coded for a while.

On leaving, I realized that behind me were a whole host of sketches on napkins. Each one in its own frame.

Pretty cool stuff.

Realist.

We didn’t end up making it to Bailey’s Range, but we did get to try out Rooster for breakfast.

Despite some heavy rains and us showing up later in the morning, our timing was pretty sweet. We didn’t have a wait at all, and the place really started to fill up after we were seated. Really great timing!

A place we wanted to visit before leaving was Jon Paul Designs & Collectibles. Lots of amazing chandeliers and lights.

I moved very, very slowly around this place.

Seeing this oddly shaped mirror reminded me of the character Martyn, from The Books of Magic.

More things to explore downstairs.

View from the stairs.

I always liked the notion of a study that would house a globe like this. But maybe I was more interested in opening it up to reveal a liquor stash.

To get to/from the parking lot for Jon Paul, we had to pass by Hank’s Cheesecakes. And on the way out, I made an executive decision to stop and get a little something.

Sadly, I couldn’t get a whole cheesecake for the drive. So I got a few small mini bites instead. I felt bad about not ordering more, but these things were deliciosu.

Our last stop before departing St. Louis: Warson Woods Antique Gallery.

Along the perimeter, there were tons of glass cases. I’m never a fan of those, as it always seems difficult to really look at the items. But Liz and I went through and were methodically walking down each aisle.

Pretty much guaranteed that these things come alive at midnight, and will murder you in your sleep with their ceramic instruments.

A terrifying row of bunnies.

$10 each!

For $10, I was really tempted by this.

And you know what, I feel like I’ve got a decent grasp on the whole Star Trek universe and all. But have no idea who the guy in the eye patch is.

Milton Bradley’s Civil War.

Antiques.

The cup in front has the inscription: “Tambien de dolor se chupa.”

I’m not clear on the translation. “Pain can also be consumed?”

Saw this and was totally reminded that I had something like this from Boy Scouts. I think?

Skill awards? Can’t tell if I’m mis-remembering this, and it’s a Cub Scouts thing. Or if I actually had some of these guys. Huge wave of nostalgia hit me on seeing this.

This right here stopped me in my tracks.

IT’S A PUZZLE JUG! WHICH I’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN THE WILD!

In case you haven’t heard about puzzle jugs, check out how awesome they are:

I was super excited to see this, and showed Liz. And we eventually got a worker to open up the case.

I got to explain to her what this was, and why we were all freaking out about seeing it. And the woman was pretty interested in hearing about the history of the jug, and what it actually was.

A few minutes later, when Liz and I were walking down a nearby aisle… we heard the woman who helped us telling the story to another coworker, with the same excitement in her voice.

Both the discovery, and the sharing of the story, made for an awesome experience. It’s not like I’m some antiques expert, but I felt really cool being able to relay this info to someone else.

And super lucky to have stumbled and spotted this thing, sittin on a shelf.

Also impressive in its own, special way… this corn set.

Who knew there was a Faust coffee? Feels like one should be able to bargain with the seller on the price of this thing.

Spotted this really immense wheel, and began wondering what the heck it was.

On closer inspection, the inside had a ton of mechanical stuff. With days of the week listed.

And a huge roll of paper.

The device itself was absolutely enormous. With all these individual numbers on the wheel. Also implying that there might be similar machines out there, with numbers at least leading up to 3000.

More complex mechanisms on the inside, next to the roll.

A few details on the patents involved. IBM.

Found info on the tag: it’s a Time Recorder, from the Anheuser-Busch factory. The exploration and slow discovery of what this thing was, was delightful for me.

Can you imagine several of these things, lined up in a row at a factory? And the throngs of workers that would use them? Insane.

Digging more, I found this description from the Smithsonian:

In the 1890s, timekeepers — clerks who kept track of employees’ hours in handwritten logs — found that machines were beginning to replace them, especially in workplaces with large numbers of employees. Thanks to the influence of the advocates of scientific management, nearly every industrial workplace had a time clock, after about 1910. So did many offices.

I like how, even 129 years ago, machine automation was causing problems.

Came across this cabinet, with a ton of drawers.

Got closer, and decided to open one up randomly.

Spotted this inside.

This thing was heavy.

I began to wonder if this was left by the owner, or by some random person.

Toby?

No idea what’s going on here.

Wondering if this was just some test block for some metalsmithing stamps?

I was tickled by this one.

Of course, I ended up putting this guy right back where I found him. For the next person to discover.

Yet more surprises: Liz lets me know this was a dentist cabinet. And had all manner of side drawers and things. And opened up a few other places I didn’t know existed.

Spotted this small red box, high up on a shelf.

Pocket Chess.

I remember having a small set of pocket games that used magnets, when I was a kid. Had those for a lot of car rides. Reminded me of that.

Saw these bits of jewelry on the left, and wondered if they belonged to a super hero. And then I spotted it on the right.

The Infinity Bracelet.

On our way to Kansas City, we realized we were pretty close to Augusta. And decided we wanted to try to stop by to get some wine from Holy Grail Winery – one place that Liz and I both really liked from our trip in 2016.

As we were following the Google Maps link, we realized that the route we were on didn’t look familiar at all. And that we didn’t really seem to be headed to Augusta.

We called ahead, and were assured they were open. So continued on and arrived at a new building.

We were in the right spot!

Looking back onto the main building.

Looking in back.

We learned that they had moved some time ago, and set up here. And were working on getting the place in order (and did a massive amount of work in 6 weeks to get things up and running).

Remembering these lovely decanters from the last time we visited.

An old absinthe fountain.

A side room for tastings.

A still for distillation.

L to R it’s Sharon and Lonnie. We got several bottles to take with us, and were happy to have found them again. We liked their wine enough to seek them out, given how close we were… and look forward to coming back, the next time we’re nearby.

We arrived in downtown Kansas City, and got checked in at Hotel Indigo.

We were both pretty tired, and barely unpacked (since we were heading out the next morning).

We walked down the street to a nearby Italian place, and got a late dinner. And rested up afterwards, preparing for a big day of driving.

Related:
A Light Road Trip: Day 1
A Light Road Trip: Day 2

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