A trip to KC

[Pitspitr]

I spent the last few days in Major Matt's neck of the woods (sorry I didn't get a chance to say "Hi!", Rich).
Spent most of our time at Worlds, and Oceans of Fun. (Wasn't overly impressed with Oceans) Cathy and the kids graciously allowed me to visit the Arabia Museum and Cabela's yesterday on the way home.

The Arabia was a Missouri Riverboat that sunk after hitting a snag in 1856 with over 200 tons of cargo aboard and was subsequently buried to a depth of 45 feet. She was excevated from the middle of a cornfield (the river changed course) in 1988. Most of her cargo was recovered and was in almost unbelieveable condition. The cargo contained felt hats, boots, buffalo overboots, bolts of cloth, finished clothing, china, firearms, pickles, (still edible after nearly 130 years) still sealed bottles of perfume, and on and on. While the museum was quite commercial and expensive to visit, it is one that anyone interested in the material culture of the mid 1850's will find fascinating.
I had the oppertunity to visit with Greg Hawley (one of the partners who did the excevation) and he said they are hoping to excevate the Mars a contract carrier for the US army that sank in 1865 and/or a keel boat carrying supplies for the American Fur Company that sank in 1822 sometime in the next 5 years.