The City Museum in St. Louis

If you get a chance to visit St. Louis for any reason take a couple hours out of your day and explore the City Museum.  I've never been to a place quite like it.  And it is practically impossible to describe but I will try my best.
After paying to get in, a steal at $12, I ventured off to the right.  It's like walking into an aquarium where you are the fish without the water.  The sculptures are amazing.  The scale of these figures are incredible.  And the mosaics are out of this world.  And they are everywhere.  It is an artists dream inside.

Once we finished wondering around for a while we found a pathway into another space.  It's really a giant playplace but without plastic everything.  Note to self, bring knee pads next time.  We climbed into the belly of the building itself.  The building was oringinally a shoe factory.  The creators kept the shoots that they moved the shoes from the top floor to the first.  And created a slide for the guests today!  But you have to climb all the way up.  It's a bit of a trek.

It is worth the climb!  Trust me!
Now to the actual museum part.  They feature remains of old buildings that existed in St Louis and all the architectural details, down to the glass doorknobs.  Another room housed bugs, lots of them.  Butterflies, moths, beetles, cicadas, wasps and more.  Another space had a multitdue of items that were found over the years in the riverbanks.  It's amazing to see bottles, placesettings, and more, intact, over 150-200 years old, and found in the muck.

The other big portion of the "museum" is outdoors.  Cleverly there are multiple entries in and out of the building to the outdoor playplace.  Climb around to your heart's content.  And they have a fire with marshmallows to boot.

I cannot recommend this place enough.  Everytime I go to St. Louis from here on, especially with people who have never been before, I will go to the City Museum.  I can only imagine what they will create next.
And next time I will bring kneepads and my good camera.

Other California Adventures

Ah California.  The weather is so nice and there is so much to do.  I never took enough advantage of that when I lived there.  But when I visit I always find something to do.

I went with my Disneyland friend Shawna to Huntington Beach.  I'd never been.  We talked at length about the goings on in each of our lives.  We enjoyed a lunch at the Ruby's at the end of the pier.  The day ended at Downtown Disney where I'm always happy to enjoy a drink a Trader Sam's.

 Going out on Lake Mission Viejo was another first time activity.  With my grandpa, mom, and others from my grandpa retirement community we booked 3 boats and scooted around the lake for about an hour.  The lake is beautiful and calm with the Saddleback mountains as a fantastic backdrop. 

 Another first for me was the Reagan Library in Simi Valley.  Overall it was a good Presidential library.  Not the best one that I've visited but it is up there.

One of the unique things inside is Air Force One.  Inside.  And propped up like it is ready to fly out the window at any moment.  And you can go inside.  It feels like you are stepping right back into history onboard.  Computer, phones and fax machines that could only be found in the 80s.  Very cool none the less.

 Jelly Beans.  What says President Reagan than his portrait made out of Jelly Beans?  I'm not sure there is anything really.

The museum sits on the top of a hillside.  On the top of the hillside is a piece of the Berlin Wall.  It is so short after seeing the Belfast wall.  But important none the less.
 It is a beautiful final resting place for the president and his museum.  

The new California Adventure

Now off to everything new.  Why did I leave working at Disneyland again.  I missed out on all the fun this past summer.  Carsland and Buena Vista Street were new since I'd left.  There was quite a bit to see in the few days that I was there.  As I entered the gates all the light posts in the esplanade were covered with new attraction posters for new and old attractions in California Adventure.

Once inside I watched a cute short show around the lagoon called Just Add Water.  Goofy conducts the water like Mickey did in the Sorcerer's Apprentice.  Another new thing for me was the Mad Tea Party.  I'd seen GlowFest and ElecTRONica so this was nothing new to me.  I love Alice in Wonderland but not the Tim Burton version, which is what the Mad Tea Party is based off of.  

And speaking of Tim Burton, there was a display of Frankenweenie in the Animation Building.  Fitting.  They had a couple figures from the film in scenes in cases.  It's always amazing to me to see how small the figures actually are.

Of course the big new thing is Cars Land.  It really does feel like walking into Radiator Springs from the movie.  I just wish that I loved the movie.  Only two weeks earlier I was in Hogsmeade which I love about a thousand times more.  It was hard not to compare.  But it was very cool and a fantastic addition to California Adventure that it desperately needed.

We at Flo's V-8 Cafe.  We had the the Pork Loin in Coca-Cola BBQ sauce.  Defiantly big enough for two people.  But don't order the corn as a side, yuck! 

Once inside Cars Land we hit the attractions inside.  Radiator Springs Racers is a great ride.  Will you win or lose?  Who knows.

I'll be back.  Soon!

Mickey's Halloween Party in Disneyland 2012

Yes. Disneyland at Halloween!  I love it.  It really never gets old to me.  It was my third Disneyland Halloween party.  The first I was a bit out of sorts with no costume.  Last year I was short hair Rapunzel.  This year I was Mary Poppins.  Nanny Style!

Once I was in of course I went straight to the characters.  I can't help myself.  But unfortunately I did not come prepared when it came to something for autographs.  Yes I am that person.

I found some of my friends in the park about half way through.  We went through many Trick-or-treat lines.  I got two bagfuls of candy, probably 4 pounds worth!  Amazing.
We headed up to my old home away from home, Main Street Station, to watch the fireworks.  For once I put down my camera to just watch the show.  Halloween Screams is probably my favorite fireworks that Disneyland has right now.

New this year were the Villians in Town Square next to Main Street Station.  They came out on a horse drawn carriage with the Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters trailing behind.  Kinda fun.  Also new this year were the Dapper Dans singing on the Rivers of America.  They added a lot while trick or treating or waiting for a character!
And I finally met Malificicent in Disneyland!  But no autograph.  Nooooo!!  Oh well it was worth the wait.  I got there about 5 minutes before she was scheduled to arrive and I was the first in line.  Score!

Another first for me was Prince Ali.  I had always missed him in the past.  There was only 2 groups in front of me when I got in line.  Gotta love a less than 5 minute line in Disneyland.
And the longest line of the of night was Jack and Sally.  I hadn't seen them during the day so I waited out the line to be the last on for that set to see both of them together..  Excellent!
As always I had a wonderful time.  I wish I wasn't so far away so I could be sure to visit every year!

Finally Back to Disneyland, in October 2012!

I left in March and I'm finally back in October.  Six months was far too long.  At least I visited during my favorite time of the year, Halloween!  One of the best things about Halloween are the pumpkin carvers in Disneyland.  As always they make the most amazing sculptures.

For 2012 Disneyland opened Festival Arena for the festivities.  They had the Fab 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto) along with Chip and Dale dressed in Halloween costumes.  If only Chip and Dale would be dressed as cop and robber like they used to be instead of cop and cop.  They also had Summon a Villain   A short show where you with the help of a cauldron summon a villain from the great beyond.  I loved the idea of it but both of the villains I saw were ones that are out every day.  I suppose I'd rather have less show and three rare villains like last year.

As always I had to see some characters.  Both of my friends know that I have a problem and indulged me.  They wanted to do the character meet and greets too.  Billy needed to see Tinkerbell.  I wanted to see Cinderella!

Billy Hill and the Hillbillies moved their show from the Golden Horseshoe into festival arena as well.  The show was great as usual.  I heard quite a few songs I'd never heard live

I had so much fun visiting my favorite place with my favorite people.  Who wouldn't love Disneyland at Halloweentime with friends?!

Halloween time in Walt Disney World!

It's been over six months since Halloween, so at this point we are half way to Halloween!  Better start thinking about costumes for this year.  Belle's Blue dress?  Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas?

I have a bit of time until October 31st.  For now it's time to recap the end of my Walt Disney World Adventures.

Rachel left work a bit early so that we could change back at her apartment.  She went as Cousin June from Katamari damacy.  It's a video game character.  She made her dress herself!  

I went as Mary Poppins.  I found everything at thrift stores.  I added flowers and berries to the hat, pin stripes to the jacket, and a bow to the shirt.

We came into the park before official party time and went to take a picture with the mouse himself.  Minnie was there too.  From there we joined the princess line.  For Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party the Princes hang out with the Princesses.  After waiting for an hour and half we met Snow White, Snow Prince, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Flynn Rider and Rapunzel.  Word to the wise, don't wait in that line.  Not worth it!

And to top off my Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom card set we got the limited edition Bag of Tricks card.  61 cards and counting!

From there we found characters that neither of us had taken photos with.  It had been since 2005 since I had seen Jane, not very long since seeing Terk and I've never seen Tarzan.  Rachel waiting in line as I met some other characters.  By the time we got to the front Tarzan had wondered off.  NOOOOO!  So after the fireworks we came back and found all three together.  They were the most entertaining gang of the night!

While Rachel was waiting in line for the Tarzan gang I went over to Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbelle.  She always has a friend with her.  With the new movie coming out soon after my visit her friend was her long lost sister Periwinkle.  Both were very cute and I make it back in time to meet Jane and Terk.

Right after meeting with the Tarzan gang we walked deeper into Adventureland to get photos with the Aladdin gang.  Another first was getting a photo with Abu!  Two new characters so far!

Fireworks, or as Disney cast members call it Pyro, was not as good as Disneyland.  The next time I visit for the party, which I'm sure I will, I will skip it!  And I love fireworks way more than parades but the Boo to You parade changed my mind, at least for the night.

Wow!  This is the best parade that I've ever seen.  There were tons of characters in the show that you never get to see in the parks, either in other parades or meet and greets.  All of the lost boys, lots of villains, the hitchhiking ghosts, Kanga and Roo, and more Haunted Mansion awesomeness.  What a parade.  Maybe next time, watch it twice, skip the pyro.

One more new character for me.  Maleficent.  After working in the parks to almost three years and more visiting I've never seen her!  Finally!  And we also saw her nemesis of Aurora and her Prince Phillip.

As the clock was coming closer to striking midnight we found two more characters.  Another first for me was Experiment 626.  Buzz was our final character of the night.

We missed out on so many characters!  No princess line for me next time.  There were Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Daisy in costume.  Gaston was around plus more villains.  Next time...

After collecting many character's autographs and photos we headed out.  Even with broken shoes, 100 percent humidity, and bruised toes we had a fantastic time.  But it was a bit light on the candy.  So I guess I will have to go to Disneyland's Halloween party to make up for it!

Epcot's 30's anniversary! On October 1, 2012!

Well, the anniversary was on October and it is April 30, but who's really counting.  So happy 30 1/2 year Epcot.  

I visited in June 2012 as well which I did not feature on my blog as I was taking time off from it. So here you go.
Brave came out in the summer time and before the film came out they had Highland Games at the entrance to the World showcase.  You could be separated into clans and earn badges (a button) once you completed the games.  The most impressive thing was a huge sand sculpture.  Merida is sand, with all that hair, very impressive!

Then onto characters.  Surprisingly Merida was not in Epcot, but the Magic Kingdom, but there were plenty of other characters to see.  We stumbled upon a character explosion next to the American Adventure and found Mr. Smee and Max!  If only we had made it there about 20 minutes early.  There were about 12 characters out all at the same time.  Why doesn't this happen every visit?

To close out one evening we ate at the Rose and Crown in the British Pavilion.  We enjoyed the dinner on the patio, the side unfortunately.  But I had read that they have a Illuminations viewing patio so we asked and we were let in.  I'll have to say that Illuminations is a not my favorite show.  I fell it's kinda boring, low fireworks, fire, low fireworks, turning globe, low fireworks, then everything together.  Meh.

Now I'm back to September 2012!  In April 2013!

But the real reason why I spent the most time in Epcot than I ever had before was the Food and Wine Festival.  I tried going in 2011 but it didn't work out so I was very happy to make it in 2012.  

All the food comes in tapas form.  Usually about $3-4 you can easily eat your way around the world.

I found Jiminy Cricket and Stitch!  Two unusual characters to me that I had to see.  I was the last one to see Jiminy for the day.  For the win!  Rachel finally found out what my love of characters was all about and had a hilarious game of charades with Chip and Dale.  One of my best memories of the trip for sure!

It was the last day of my trip to WDW that also happened to be the 30th Anniversary of Epcot.  They gave out cool maps that showed the changes over the years to Epcot and a button.  Rachel could not make it into the park because of work so I got her a set too!  I love free buttons!  I wasn't able to make it to any of the presentations because I was occupied by eating around the world and having to fly out at 6pm.

I would love to go back to Epcot during the food and wine festival.  The food, in the restaurants or pavilions  is the real reason to visit Epcot at any time of the year.  But there is nothing really like eating around the world with a friend during the food and wine festival.
Up next, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Roasterie Tour

It's time to be a tourist again.  But this time in my own city.  Kansas City has a lot to offer.  It's finally time to get out of the house and explore the city that I call home.

The first adventure was to Southwest Boulevard to The Roasterie.  The Roasterie is a coffee roaster here in KC.  Instead of the classic barrel roasters, think barrel driers, they use air and heat.  Kind of like an air popcorn popper.   They are one of the few Air Roasters from around the country and probably the only one in KC.  Kinda cool.

The tour started with a short video about the history of the Roasterie, where they get their beans from and how their process works.  From there it was into the cupping room.  This is where the tasters check out the sample beans from the growers to decide to buy and check the current day's batches.  Our tour guide showed us how the tasters slurp the drinks to hit as many taste buds on their tongue.  A little difficult with hot coffee.

 Our tour continued in the warehouse/roasting space.  The warehouse holds the beans that are ready to be roasted.  Most of their stock is not held on site but in a humidity controlled warehouse in California.  I love those coffee bags.  I have one from Hawaii from two years ago that I still need to make something out of. 

The next stop was at the roasters themselves.  You can't see to much outside of a couple beans popping towards the top.  They were only running one roaster but from what I can remember they have 4 different size roasters.  And I started on of them.  How exciting!

One more stop around the floor to the bagging area.  They vacuum pack each bag as to reduce the oxygen level to practically nothing.  And I learned something.  The vent on the coffee bags are to let the gasses that come off after the bagging to be released.  Good to know.  Finally they stamp their coffee as bagged/roasted on instead of a use by.  

 At the end of the tour you return to the Coffee Shop.  They should give you a sample like they do a Boulevard.  Maybe more people would come, only 5 people on my tour where Boulevard tours are often full.  Anyways when we were waiting for our drinks I checked in.   It prints out a little boarding pass.  A great continuance of the retro plane theme

I went back today to The Roasterie Cafe in Leawood.  The White Chocolate Macadamia Nut latte was so delicious.  Why go to Starbucks when you can go to a local company with much better coffee!