Cape Girardeau History and Photos

January 22, 2016

Whitehaven Welcome Center

I have three usual routes for going back and forth to Florida and Missouri. In those routes are sub routes. For example, if I’m going by way of I-24 and Nashville, I can either go through Paducah or through Wickliffe. In the old days, I’d usually take the Cairo – Wickliffe – Cadiz track so I could make a short jog over to check out our Kentucky Lake trailer near Benton, Ky.

When I got to Cadiz on my trip back north this time, I could tell that it was going to be too dark and cold to stop at the trailer, so I took the Paducah leg, which is faster.

I usually bypass the Whitehaven Welcome Center at I-24 and U.S. 45 on the west side of Paducah. It’s neat looking, but you have to deal with traffic to get there, and, to be honest, I’m usually looking for the rest area equivalent of a fast food joint, not a museum.

I’m glad it was restored

Having said that, I didn’t realize how close we were to losing the beautiful old building. It was built in 1860 and restored in 1983 to how it would have looked in 1903.

A story in the Paducah Sun reported “The dilapidated home had fallen prey to thieves and vandalism before the state received a $3 million grant to build a welcome center in 1980. Preservationists and government officials argued for the restoration of the Smith Mansion rather than building a new welcome center, according to Bill Black, preservationist. He said the restoration was $200,000 under budget because of many local donations of furniture, glass and other historic items.

Maybe I haven’t been fair to the rest stop. On the way out of Cape, I’m fresh and in a hurry to put miles behind me. On the way TO Cape, I’m tired and want nothing more than to stop seeing the white highway lines whiz by.

January 20, 2016January 21, 2016

FL Van Sees Snow; Surrenders

My Odyssey van took a dusting of snow on Tuesday afternoon in stride, even making me switch the heated seat setting from High to Low and turn down the heater.

Predictions had been all over the place for the days leading up to the “snow event,” as the TV folks like to dub it. At first, we were going to get a mix of sleet and freezing rain; then they thought snow would be 1-2 inches, then 2-4, then 4-6, and once it went all the way up to 10-12, before dialing back to 6-8 or thereabouts. In reality, I doubt if we got more than two inches.

“Asking for a friend”

Since I’d been gone a bit, the cupboards were mostly bare. (Question: if you’ve had milk in the fridge for, say, six or eight weeks, and it has lumpy stuff floating on the top of it, is it safe to call it cottage cheese and eat it if you pour on enough sugar? As Bill Hopkins would say, “Asking for a friend.”) Even I know that if something in a plastic zipper bag has something green growing in it like these plants at the old Plaza Galleria, it is best to carry it outside immediately.

I wasn’t looking forward to braving the lines in the stores to stock up, but it wasn’t too crazy. I DID note a lot of bread, milk, chips and toilet paper in the baskets fore and aft. I didn’t see much beer or booze, however. I guess Cape folks keep plenty of that on hand just in case someone slips Prohibition back into the lawbooks without anybody noticing.

“I give up! Take me home”

What did I see the next morning? My poor van was holding up its little arms like a dying cockroach and begging to leave the land of Wind Chill to go back to a place where they talk about the Heat Index in January.

Actually, the idea of lifting my wipers was something Kid Matt passed on: “The lifting the wipers thing seems a new trend based on this article from Cleveland. Everyone in Oregon and Washington seemed to be doing it…”

I’m not sure I’d do that in a parking lot where it might tempt vandals, but I was cool doing it in my driveway. I didn’t go anywhere today, so I didn’t test how well it worked. We’re supposed to get some indeterminate amount of snow Thursday and Friday, so I’ll get another shot at it.

It BETTER snow this winter. I bought 50 pounds of ice melt. The way the woodpile is going down, I may be trading it for firewood soon.

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016

Kim’s Christmas Present

The Steinhoff family was never big on jewelry. We’ve had our wedding rings, and I inherited my grandfather’s ring which had been passed onto Dad (and which will go to Son Matt), but Mother was still wearing clip-on earrings until well after Wife Lila and I got hitched. Not long after that, she had her ears pierced which brought her more options.

After Mother died, Sis-in-Law Robin bagged up all of her earrings, broaches, etc. Various family members took things that had special meaning, then the rest of it was sent to Niece Kim.

Christmas surprise

Kim turned the jewelry into neat displays that she sent to family members for Christmas.

Kim’s message

This note accompanied the display.

Thanks, Kim.

January 11, 2016

Gussie Phillips (Maybe)

I’ve never paid much attention to genealogy. Part of it was that we had such a small immediate family we weren’t hard to track. The other part was that I never could understand all that stuff about third cousins twice removed. It sounded too much like math, and I never cottoned much to math.

Anyway, I opened a file drawer looking for something else (sound familiar?) and found a packet of photos wrapped in yellowing paper. From notes scrawled on the back of some of the prints, I gather they must have been of the Adolph and Gussie Phillips branch of the family. I vaguely remember Mother talking about some relatives who lived out in California, but I let it go in one ear and out the other

I got the impression that they were relatively well off. Well enough off that they had a water tank big enough to serve as an impromptu swimming pool.

That must be Gussie

There was no info on the back of the water tank photo, but this couple was identified as “Shorty & Gussie taken at St. Pedro.” When I looked at it closely, the woman looks like the one on the right side of the swimming picture. (Click on it to make it larger.)

She’s quite striking looking in both pictures.

I’ll have to see what else I can dig up on that side of the family. There are plenty of fascinating photos in the collection.