Last summer Mister and I and several of our friends went to Kansas City (Mo) to the Steamboat Arabia museum. The Arabia hit a snag and went down in 1856, and remained buried until about 1989, when the Hawley family and their friends finally dug it up. By this time,150 years later, it was under a cornfield. See, the Arabia was full of merchant goods going to the settlers out West, and the Hawleys wanted to recover the artifacts and get rich by selling them off. But.... when they started really finding things, and holding them in their hands, they realized they couldn't break up this fantastic collection. The museum houses the single largest privately-owned collection of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world. So of course it is a Mecca for reenactors, because we can actually see what all this stuff really looked like.

And it's pretty surprising, really. Things you didn't think they had in 1856 --- well, they're on the Arabia. Dishes, tools, jewelry, clothing... it's all there. And it's not even all on display. They said they have about another 20+ years' worth of stuff in freezer storage waiting to be restored.

The boat's original capstan & anchor are on display. For some reason this really grabbed me, I don't know why. I am probably the only woman in the history of the world moved speechless and teary by the sight of a capstan and anchor.

The only other thing I can say is GO THERE and SEE IT.

------Kim