Stopped in Marceline, MO for lunch at Ma Vic's where I was thrilled to have roast beef, mashed potatoes and corn - Coconut Creme Pie and a "Dusty Miller" for dessert---ice cream, marshmellow cream,chocolate, topped by malt "dust' and a cherry. Then over to the Walt Disney Hometown Museum.
Walt lived here for about five years as a child. We had just watched the documentary about Walt on PBS. Our tour guide, Inez, said that the town decided to dedicate the new park and pool to Walt in 1956, a year after he had opened Disneyland. The town invited him to come and he accepted. However, the town had no good accomodations. She and her husband had just built a new home and it was the only one with air conditioning. But because they spent money on airconditioning, they had no money for good furniture. So, neighbors helped by loaning their good furniture so they could be hosts.
She said he told the story of how he felt so welcomed by the town when they arrived. Everyone waved at their family when they were riding through town with their uncle in the wagon to their farm. A circus came to town which they went to and he thought he could train some of the farm animals to do a show. So, he trained his dogs to jump through hoops, the horse to put his hoof up on a box, and couldn't get the cats to do anything but if he put them in a bag and opened it they all jumped out like they were flying - so he did that. He invited the kids to come to his show and charged them 10 cents. The kids thought the flying cats were really cool. But not all the dogs jumped through the hoop, and the horse knocked over the box. The kids wanted their money back. He said he thought that money felt really good in his pocket and didn't want to give it back but his mother told him he needed to so he did. He said his mother taught him a good lesson, that if you do a good job and put on a good show, people will pay to come back, but if you don't, you'll never see them again.
He had a tree on the farm he called his ImaginationTree and built a replica at Disneyland. He would lay under it and draw his pictures of the animals he would see. And if he was patient, he would even see Bambi walk through. He and his brother Roy are here in the picture at their old farm when they visited.
Upstairs was a big layout by one of the artistic people at Disney. In the back is an early map of Disneyland.
We finally made it to Saint Louis. We went to the Venice Cafe at Lemp and Pestilozie. I have been to this place every time I have been to St. Louis - 1996 for my birthday, 2004 with Larry, and this time. Funky mosiac art work made out of all kinds of found materials on every surface in the place. We ate supper and listened to an anorexic folk songstress for a bit.
More amazin walls:
Looking in at the outside garden through the fence. Long live Venice Cafe!
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