Missouri - September 7, 2011

Vacation Fall 2011 (8 of 12) :

We had a day to explore a little of Missouri and drive about 250 miles across the State from St Louis to Kansas City.

In the morning we visited the home of the musician Scott Joplin. He had no connection with Joplin, Missouri and was from Texas. He lived in St Louis for a couple of years and wrote some of him most famous tunes in this house.

Joplin subsequently moved to New York where he tried unsuccessfully to have his Ragtime Opera performed. He died in obscure poverty of STD about 50.

He was born just after the Civil War and died during World War I. America was ready for a National Afro-American Musician. He correctly believed that "50 years after my death, I'll be famous.".

We also visited "The Loop" in West St Louis. This is the location of the legendary BlueBerry Hill Theatre and home to Chuck Berry. The Loop is an entertainment place. The side-walk is a decorated "Walk of Fame" to honour Missouri's famous sons and daughters from all fields of life.

In the afternoon, we visited the Winston Churchill Natioanl Museum at Winchester College, Fulton. Beautiful. A fantastic museum for Britain's Leader during WWII. Churchill gave his "Iron Curtain" speech at the college. A bombed church from London brought and beautifully restored. The Museum is in the crypt.

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