Tag: Vacation

Here we are, on the way to the site of the famous dugout.
(Note that the book pictured is the edition I grew up with.  My versions were yellow boardered, then came blue, then gingham.)

The Gordon family purchased this farm in 1947.  That year, Garth Williams, the illustrator of the series that most people are familiar with, informed the Gordon family that the weird depression by the creek was the former Ingalls Dugout.  The Gordon family still owns the farm and makes it easy for fans to visit the site.  This was a highlight of my trip.  Also, their printed warning above the pay box cracks me up.

Sara on the banks of Plum Creek, despairing because she dropped her museum leaflet into the creek. The sign you can see in the background marks the site of the dugout.

Shadows on the banks of Plum Creek.  We’re both taking pictures.

There had been a substantial amount of rain the night before, so the creek was running high.

 

 

Crossing a bridge, we climbed up to the dugout site.  Look how small it was.

Roped off outline of the dugout.

Plum trees.

 

Restored prairie.

Discussion about where the big rock was.  I noticed in the hand-drawn map from the previous post Laura had it on the other side of the creek.

The Little House books are fictionalized accounts of Laura’s childhood.  I recommend Pamela Smith Hill’s excellent book Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life which not only compares Wilder’s actual biography to the chronology of the books, but also examines the writing of the series.  The same author also annotated Wilder’s earlier autobiography Pioneer Girl which I haven’t yet read, but am looking forward to getting my hands on.

I know the books backwards and forwards, and I’ve read a lot of supplemental Laura Ingalls Wilder publishing.  Standing on the banks of Plum Creek was a good way to feel a connection to Laura the girl who would become a renowned author, just as visiting her house in Mansfield Missouri was a good way to connect to the author herself.

After the museum, we ate at Nellie’s Cafe, which a girl at the museum recommended because of their homemade pie which she said she enjoyed.

 

Service was good and Sara got egg salad and tots while I had a bowl of Au Gratin potato soup.  I also ordered pea salad, which I’d never had before.  I feel like pea salad is in my future in some form, the recipe just needs to be refined a little.

After our meal, Sara ordered cherry pie and we both agreed that we need to bring that poor girl at the museum some real homemade pie.

Water tower in town.  They know on which side their bread is buttered.

We arrived in Walnut Grove and followed the signs to the museum.

This sign advertised several Laura Ingalls Wilder museums.  Interestingly, the Mansfield Missouri one is not listed here.  Also, what’s Spring Valley?  It turns out to be where the Wilder family (Almazo’s parents) lived after they moved from New York State.  Laura and Almanzo lived there after De Smit but before living in Florida.

We visited the store to buy our tickets and I bought a pressed penny.  I went with Jack.

 

There are two parts to the Laura Ingalls Wilder part of this museum: books and tv series. The events depcited in the book On the Banks of Plum Creek happened outside of Walnut Grove and the tv series Little House on the Prairie was set in Walnut Grove.

Being a fan of the books and not the TV show, I was interested in the book part of the museum.

This was very cool. They had several piece of illustrator Garth Williams’s work.  At the top is the rough sketch, then both the black and white and the color version of the final drawing. Below that is the text from the book.  This picture will also come in handy for the next post, so take a good look.

 

Here is Nellie Oleson being mean.

 

Actual things Laura owned.  (The museum would phrase this as ACTUAL things Laura OWNED!!!!)

 

The museum’s system indicating items owned by Laura Ingalls Wilder were backed by the shiny green border.

I found this museum to be a little heavy on things that weren’t really museum-quality like this framed Scriptural GUIDE.  If you are curious as to what Psalm 51 is, it’s here.

 

However, some of the not-so-museum-quality items made me laugh. Like this one.

 

The museum also included pictures and stories of people in the Walnut Grove area that Laura adapted for characters.  And here’s a blow up of a map Laura drew of Plum Creek.

 

We then entered the “TV” section of the museum, which I was not at all enamored with.  Here are two pictures of the actor/actual people.  Note:  I’ve not seen this photo of Charles Ingalls before.  Why is he sticking his finger in his ear?

 

There was a Walnut Grove mural and photos from the television series, as well as episodes of the television series playing.  There was also memorabilia from cast reunions which took place in Walnut Grove (though the show was filmed in California).

After exiting the book/tv part of the museum, it was time to wind our way through the other exhibits.  These included a dugout.

This dugout (unlike the one we visited in the prior post) has whitewashed walls.

 

It is very small.

As Sara demonstrates.

There was also a schoolhouse.

And a fancy house that had exhibits of a variety of things.  In front of it, you can see the reconstructed prairie.

 

Sara inside the fancy house playing dress-up.

There was another building with a post-office where you could sort letters, a covered wagon and other such things.

This house was across the street from the museum.  But what’s relevant is the sign in the yard.

Master’s Hotel was once here.  The brochure says it’s where Laura once worked, but all googling leads to the Master’s Hotel in Iowa which Charles Ingalls managed.  I did find a link for this book, which spells the hotel this way:  Masters’ Hotel.

Happily, we availed ourselves of the head-in-the-hole opportunities, first as farmer and wife.

Then as children.

There was also a covered wagon.

Hey!  Speaking of Children’s Literature, let’s drive to southern Minnesota and see some Little House sights!

Our first stop is the Sod House on the Prairie.

Stan McCone built a sod house and a dugout on his farm near Sanborne, MN.  He cut the sod from a site several miles away and brought it to his farm.  He also restored five acres of prairie grasses and wildflowers.

Approaching the sod house.

Inside.  This is a very fancy example of a sod house.  It is very large with its whitewashed walls.  It served as a bed and breakfast for many years, though it does not anymore.

The thick window frames remind me of cobb houses.

Overall, it’s a pretty spacious and light-filled dwelling.

I loved the door detail.

On our way to the dugout we encountered a farm cat.

Prairie and flowers.

The dugout.   The back side is dug into a hill.

Front door and roof detail.

This is much smaller than the soddy.  It felt oppressive inside, even with two very big windows.

This was bigger than the dugout Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family occupied in On the Banks of Plum Creek.  And that dugout only had one window and it was grease paper.

Plow.

Tool needed to create sod house/dugout.

The ever important outhouse.

View of both the dugout and the soddy.

Pretty prairie flower. The internet tells me its Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) L.

True confessions.  I often put filler titles in when I’m setting up the posts, mostly because I can’t remember the official name of something and don’t have time to look it up. But these really are those famous falls.  Or were, once upon a time.

If you are around my mom and mention Hiawatha, she will immediately say, “On the shores of Gitchee Gumee/Of the Shining Big Sea Water”  And that’s because that’s the start of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem “The Song of Hiawatha“.  You know that poem, right?  I sure do.  I sure haven’t read it, though.  It’s really long.  I feel like maybe it needs a campfire and no devices to distract you to get all the way through it.

In re-reading all the Betsy-Tacy books, these same famous falls were a kind of calling card for Betsy in the book Betsy and the Great World.  No one in Europe in 1913 knew where Minneapolis was, but everyone had heard of Minnehaha Falls.

So that’s where we are!  Minnehaha Falls!

From the top.

 Statue by Jacob Fjelde of Hiawatha and Minnehaha.  There was controversy back in 1902.  You can read all about it.

 Here are the falls.

 And here is our self-portrait.

Not ones to pass up an ice cream opportunity, we stopped at Grand Ole Creamery.  The portions were generous, to say the least. 

 President Obama visited just over a year ago and there was this delightful poster commemorating the event.
(Notice that Waldo is hiding right there.  We found another Waldo without trying)

 We also wandered by the St. Paul Curling Club.  You know, curling?  The sport that media is amused by every four years during the winter Olympics?  Despite being amused by it four years prior?

Anyway, if you want to learn, this is your place.

Our wandering took us to the Cathedral of Saint Paul, which is a gorgeous building conveniently located by Summit Avenue, where all the rich people built houses.

 

 

I learned (from Shawn) that the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) all have animal symbols to go with them.  Thus, we know that this is Mark, because he’s got a lion with him. Okay wait.  Below you will find a picture with something that is clearly a lion.  So this must be Luke with the Ox?  Although that doesn’t look like an ox to me.

 Here is John with the eagle.

 This delighted me to no end, because I imagined people coming in with big gallon containers and filling them with holy water for home use.  But Sara told me that really I should be thinking of containers that would make it through security at an airport. Apparently a little holy water goes a long way in the home.

 Here’s Matthew with an angel.

 Really great goose lamp.

 Detail of the main light hanging from the dome.

 Great proportions, eh?

 Here is Mark with the lion.

 One of my first exposures to the candle lighting at Catholic churches was by reading a somewhat scary middle-reader novel.  The name escapes me at this juncture.  But something wasn’t going well in the main character’s life, and he went to church and lit a candle quite often.  I loved that idea, and thus always enjoy when I come across the candle section in the church.  I’m sure the candle section has an official name.  But I’m not looking it up.  Shawn?

 Sara and Shawn on the steps.  Sara was telling me to envision it to be winter and the entire steps and all the way across the street and down the hill are covered with ice.  Then to picture people skating down them.  Or you can watch this video.

 Here’s the capitol dome.  Though a tour of the capitol would have totally fit my theme of Houses & Homes (house of government) no tours are happening because of a big renovation. Phooey.  I love me a good capitol tour.

 Exterior.

 

We were somewhat fried after our afternoon in the sun, but we still managed to make it to the fireworks.  We picked this spot down the way from the Stone Arch Bridge.  It was nice to walk to the fireworks and to stand while waiting for them.  For future reference Sara and Shawn can try these various suggestions for fireworks viewing.

Two (very mediocre) shots.

 

Happy birthday America.