Shari Stiver Archives

December 2, 2013December 2, 2013

Back (Florida) Home Again

I made it back to West Palm Beach Saturday night, November 30, after leaving town on October 12. In that time, as I wrote last night, I drove 6,393.8 miles through Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and several side trips through the State of Confusion. I had Friend Shari as a road companion from Florida to Missouri, celebrated Mother’s Birthday season with Wife Lila, and Brother Mark and his Fiance Robin.

After that, I headed out to Athens, Ohio, to do a presentation on the birth of the student rights movement with former OU Post colleague Carol Towarnicky. Athens Historical Society Curator Jessica, who just had to see with her own eyes if Missouri in any way came close to my stories, followed me back to Cape. After roaming around in SEMO for a couple of weeks, I made a pass back through Ohio, where I got snowed in.

I slept in Sunday, unpacked the van, had some belated (and very good) turkey leftovers, then headed out with Wife Lila to see the grandkids.

Grandson Elliot, loves hearing weird sounds, something that we Steinhoffs are very good at providing.

A flower for Gran

Grandson Graham picked up a flower off the ground in his backyard and insisted that Gran put it behind her ear. The kid is going to be a lady killer, I can tell.

When I told him that his grandmother had told me that he had grown a foot while I was gone, he held his legs out to prove that he still only had two.

It might be a caulking gun to YOU

Don’t let appearances deceive you. What looks like an ordinary caulking gun turns into a laser blaster in the hands of a 2-1/2-year-old. He also has a magic wand that turns his grandmother into a chicken. You will NOT see a video of that. I have no desire to be smothered in my sleep.

Malcolm concentrating

I bought these rainbow-hued twirly things in St. Louis on my last trip. I gave one to both West Palm Beach boys and one to Mother. A windstorm took Grandon Malcolm’s out, so I brought him a new one. Here he is assembling it. He’s a serious computer geek and reader. He can also feed you the last half of Groucho’s line: “A book is your best friend outside of a dog.” [Malcolm:] “because inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”

Your cute is leaking away

Here he is with the finished product. While I was shooting it, I warned him, “Sorry, kid, your cute is leaking away. You’re going to look like a teenager soon.”

October 31, 2013

Fort Defiance Fun

I always take visitors to see Fort Defiance, the southernmost tip of Illinois, where the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers meet. Wednesday was Curator Jessica’s turn. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

You have to wade

I should have known better than to say, “You have to wade in the water so you can say you straddled two great American rivers,” because I said something like that when we were looking at a spring in Princeton, Ky.

The next thing I knew, she was splashing and frolicking, much to the amusement of some pre-teens who were watching from a bridge.

Shuckin’ off the boots

After not more than a moment’s hesitation, she started shucking off her boots.

Is this REALLY a good idea?

This is her “Is this REALLY a good idea?” look. To be honest, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know how quickly the bottom fell off or what might be lurking under the muddy waters.

I don’t think you’re in both rivers

“You need to spread out,” I told her. “I don’t think you’re actually in both rivers.” About that time, a wave from a passing towboat started rolling ashore.

She kept her balance, but I guess a splash wouldn’t have been too bad. Jessica kept saying on the trip that she really likes New Orleans. If the 300-foot rope I carry in the car turned out to be short, I calculated she would be passing the Big Easy in a week or so.

Headed to St. Louis

I have to put her on a plane in St. Louis back to Ohio on November 4. We’ll go up a day early so she can meet Brother Mark, Robin and Friend Shari and do some sightseeing.

I promised I’d bring along some alcohol wipes to clean off an area of the stainless steel Gateway Arch so she could lick it, something that all first-time visitors are supposed to do.

Meet her at First Friday

She and I will be at Annie Laurie’s on Broadway on First Friday, November 1. I’ll have Snapshots of Cape Girardeau calendars and the Smelterville book with me. Laurie says she’ll have cookies and hot cider.

Maybe you can help me come up with other quaint Missouri customs like arch-licking that I can share with our Ohio visitor. I’ve found that she is willing to try just about anything once.

Other Fort Defiance photos

October 28, 2013

“There’s a Train!”

Curator Jessica and I decided to take the old two-lane U.S. 50 from Athens west so she could see what it was like to make the drive in the old days. We saw lots of great old buildings that had been lovingly restored in a lot of towns a shadow of the size of Cape.

I thought I had to do a lot of U-turns when Friend Shari spotted antique shops. I think Jessica and I averaged about 12 miles per hour during the first 75 miles because of stops, meanders and backtracks. Actually, I like that kind of traveling.

World’s greatest cheesecakes

I especially liked it when she made me turn around to visit the Cheesecakes at Mystical Retreat (“Possibly the world’s greatest cheesecake” said the sign). Co-owner and “Maker, Baker and Taker” Rod Thompson gave us a choice of flavors to sample. I had the Coconut Cream Cheesecake. I thought the $5 per slice price was a bit high until I felt the heft of it and found I could hardly eat half a piece when I got to the motel.

If you go by 107 West Main Street on U.S. 50 in Bainbridge, OH, do a U-turn. It’s worth it.

“There’s a train!”

Despite our slow start, we made pretty good time to LaGrange, KY, just east of Louisville. I stayed there on my trip to Ohio last week. We elected to get something to eat and stop early where the rooms are cheaper than going on to Louisville.

She thought she saw a listing for something on Main Street that sounded good. It had changed hands and was closed, so I pulled sort of close to the curb while we both pecked away at keyboards for alternate eating establishments.

Suddenly, Jessica exclaimed, “There’s a train right there.”

Indeed, she was right. A freight train was passing uncomfortably close to my side of the car. Neither one of us had heard it sound a warning. I guess the engineer saw he had plenty of room (by his standards) and didn’t bother. While we were waiting, we saw the flashing lights of some emergency vehicles delayed by the train. I hope somebody’s house didn’t burn down because of the wait.

It made me think of a recent Facebook thread about the Missouri Pacific (previously Houck) railroad tracks that ran down Independence in the old days. It was quite a shock to new drivers to look up and see a train coming at them.

Fred Lynch had a photo of that in his blog last year.

October 16, 2013April 23, 2024

Ave Maria Grotto

Traveling up I-65 in northern Alabama, I must have seen the signs for Ave Maria Grotto at least two dozen times over the years. I’ve even stayed in Cullman, where it is located, at least four times. Every once in awhile, I’d consider checking it out, but the impulse flickered out before I ever acted on it.

When we were checking out of the motel in Cullmen, Friend Shari saw a brochure advertising the place. “Want to give it a look?” she asked.

Furrowing my brow and trying to figure out if she was kidding, I said, “I’m game. Are you kidding me?” (She knows the only time I’m in a church is if I’m photographing it.)

We qualified for the $5 senior citizen admission (and they didn’t even ask for proof of age). I have to admit that the first few objects didn’t impress me much. They were an amateurish collection of concrete, tile, marbles and other building materials thrown together pretending to be art.

Brother Joseph Zoettl

When we got into areas where Brother Joseph Zoettl started doing miniature buildings, I was more impressed. What interested me more was the story of the artist described on the Ave Maria Grotto website.

Brother Joseph was born in 1878. In 1891, he almost died of the flu that swept Europe. In 1892, he left for America where he served as a housekeeper for mission priests. After that, he went on to work 17-hour days in the St. Bernard Abbey powerhouse, seven days a week.

Made 5,000 small grottoes

In 1918, he started working with concrete and constructing little grottoes that could be sold in a gift shop. In 1932, after making 5,000 small grottoes to sell to support missions, he started on the project that you can see today. In 1934, the Ave Maria Grotto was dedicated, and he continued his work for another 40 years, using materials sent from all over the world. He built his last model, the Basilica in Lourdes, at the age of 80, in 1958. He died in 1961.

Ave Maria Grotto photo gallery

Here is a small sampling of Brother Joseph’s work. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the side of the photo to move through the gallery.