This post covers our second week in St. Joseph, Missouri.
But first, what we have learned so far staying in a really cold environment.
- Layering really does work.
- A wool or knit cap is a must, especially if you are folically challenged.
- When wearing multiple shirts (which is most of the time), tuck in the first shirt. This prevents any exposed skin.
- Wearing only blue jeans will not keep you warm. Blue jeans with thermals underneath is very comfortable.
- When not wearing your gloves and hat, store them in your jacket pocket. That way you always have them.
- A snow “flurry” is a small amount of snow that does not stick on the ground. A snow “shower” is measurable amounts of snow.
- Wearing a mask may or may not help prevent the spread of Covid, but it will definitely help keep your face warm.
- Even though each snow flake is unique, they all look the same when you watch them falling outside through a window.
Wednesday
This was scheduled to be the warmest day of the week (somehow 14 degrees has become our new warm) and possibly the clearest day of the week, so Cindy and I were hell bent on getting out and doing some sightseeing. When we woke up to a snow flurry, we were not too worried. Then the flurry turned into a snow shower. This was not a welcome sight. It was around this time I noticed icicles had formed all across the eaves. This was new.
Luckily for us, the snowing stopped at around noon. It warmed up to the promised 14 degrees, we bundled up and we were off.
Our first stop was for lunch at our favorite pizza place, Il Lazzarone. Located near the old downtown area. It is a must visit for any pizza lover.
Our next stop was at the library so Cindy could pick up the books she had ordered. Next, we headed over to the Culver house to visit. After our visit, we returned home to make dinner. As we were making dinner, I realized I left my cell phone at the Culver’s house. I asked Cindy to text Heather and let her know my phone was there and we would pick it up tomorrow. When Cindy could not find her phone, we realized it was also at the Culver house. I returned to Casa de Culver, gave them a good laugh, retrieved the phones, and returned to our place right as dinner came out of the oven.
As usual, I ended the day with a check of the weather.
So Thursday was the warmest day at 12 degrees with snow. Sounded like a local sightseeing day. Friday and Saturday were in the single digits without any snow, so possibly sightseeing days as well. Sunday and Monday were a pair of zeros. Those would be stay in days. And Tuesday looked like it was starting a warming trend going all the way up to 8 degrees. Time to break out the tank tops and shorts.
Thursday
We definitely wanted to get out and about, so I checked the weather forecast for the day.
I’ve already gotten to the point where seeing the 3 degree temperature with the -12 degree real feel was no longer terror inducing. It still scared me, but I could deal with it. That being said, the “Special Weather Statement” was concerning. From my experience, a “Special Weather Statement” was not going to be good news. I have yet to see one that said, “Beautiful sunny weather today, wear a hat.” I clicked on the link and this is what I saw.
The top part described some scary sounding weather, but the highlighted section really bothered me. It said, “If you have to make plans for, now is the time to make those plans.” So if I read that correctly, NOW is the time I need to plan for……….what?!? Zombie apocalypse? Freezing to death? Fleeing the country? You can’t have a scary weather statement urging you to plan now and not say what it is you are supposed to plan for!
All of this planning, or lack there of, made us hungry for lunch. Cindy coined the term, “Suit up,” meaning we had to put our several layers of clothes on, jackets, wool caps, gloves, and boots. We bundled up and headed off to eat at the Pronto Café. The Pronto Café is near the old downtown area and was a fancy kind of sandwich shop. Cindy really liked it and I was OK with it.
After lunch it was off to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things, including some peanuts in the shell. Cindy really enjoys watching all of the local squirrels and wanted to get some peanuts for them. As long as she doesn’t say, “I want a squirrel and I want one now,” we will be fine. Anyone in the mood for some chocolate?
We drove around to continue our familiarization of the area, and eventually ended up at the Culver house. I helped Scott with a few things, and when Heather came home, they generously took us to dinner at San Jose Steakhouse and Mexican Food. We ate here last time we were in town and really liked it. Last time, I had the steak and shrimp, and it was pretty darn good. This time, I had the Diablo Shrimp, a Mexican dish. It was really good. Everyone really enjoyed their meals and we even had complimentary chips and salsa. Take that Barbosa’s.
After dinner, it was getting cold (around 5 degrees), so we headed back to our respective abodes.
Friday
Even though today was supposed to be brutally cold, we were hoping the forecast was going to be off enough to allow us to “suit up” and get out. In the morning, it wasn’t looking too good. I checked our weather here in St. Joseph, the weather back home, and the weather at Aunt Barbara’s house. I checked Aunt Barbara’s house because I had been surprised that their weather had been warmer than our weather during most of this trip so far.
So at home it was a blistering 52 degrees that felt like 52 degrees. Our weather was -2 that felt like -25. Aunt Barbara was at -15 that felt like -35. That makes Aunt Barbara the winner. Actually, those temperatures made both of us the losers.
I have a pretty strict rule of not spending any significant time outdoors unless the temperature is at least 10 degrees or higher. So we were going to stay indoors until there was a “warming” trend.
Around 3 pm, it reached the high of 4 degrees, with a wind chill in the negative 20’s. I bundled up and spent 10 minutes outside shoveling the snow off of our back deck. Ten minutes was as long as I needed to finish the job and as long as I wanted to be outside.
This also allowed Cindy to run out on the deck, throw some peanuts for the squirrels and birds, and run back into the house.
We spent the rest of the day inside and warm.
Saturday
Even though the weather forecast was for bitter cold, we were bent on getting out and doing something with the Culvers. So first thing in the morning, I checked the weather.
Negative 3 with a light snow is not go out and spend the day with your friends weather. So we had to wait. Luckily, by noon it had stopped snowing and it warmed all the way up to 4 degrees. We met the Culvers at a local breakfast and lunch place named “Le Peep.” The food was pretty good. I had the Farmers Benedict, which was poached eggs on sausage, on a biscuit covered in white gravy. It was pretty darn good. Everyone else really seemed to enjoy their food as well. We all gave it a thumbs up.
After lunch, we headed off to the Glore Psychiatric Museum. The Glore Psychiatric Museum is part of a complex of museums that also include the Black Archives Museum, the St. Joseph Museum, and the American Indian and History Galleries. This is an absolute must visit when in St. Joseph. Here we all are standing in 4 degree weather in front of the museums. The masks are more for warmth than Covid protection.
They were doing repair work on the entrance floor, so we had to enter via the rear door. The first thing we saw was a creepy hallway where the wall art was done by some of the patients.
Next was more patient art. It seems like people with mental health issues can be very artistic. I really loved this mug. Notice the detail. I also like how the handle was an arm.
Here is a decent painting of “The Duke.”
This piece of art is made with crushed and dyed egg shells.
Here is a really creepy diorama of what the women’s section looked like using dolls.
This was interesting and a little twisted. Some patients were assigned to clean the floors with a super heavy broom type device. It kept the patient busy and cleaned the floors.
Interesting art piece? There was not explanation for this rather large empty pill bottle thing.
One patient ate everything she could get her hands on. After she died at the age of 31, they did an autopsy and found 1,446 non-food objects in her stomach. These are the actual items taken out of her stomach.
Over the years, there have been some odd and downright torturous ways for “treating” mental health issues. One idea was to “shock” the person normal by exposing them to ice cold water.
This is literally an enclosed hamsters wheel. The patient was locked inside and they could exercise out their demons. If they acted up, the wheel could be turned from the outside, tumbling the person inside.
Most people know how witches were burned at the stake. Some mental health patients were as well. It had a 100% cure rate.
Here is the morgue and autopsy table.
Next we headed over to the other museums. There was a small WWI exhibit.
A Missouri Music Hall of Fame exhibit.
The doll museum had moved to a different location, but there was one room with some doll displays.
And we can’t forget the creepy Talking Tina look a like doll.
And from the Indian Museum section, some baskets.
A really neat bear claw necklace.
And some really large stone “blades.” Each of these was at least six inches long.
After our tour, we headed back to our place then went out to dinner at El Maguey. Yes, we had to try another Mexican restaurant. Here is how it went.
Chips and salsa were complimentary. The chips were good and the salsa was really good. One for one. The margarita was very good. Two for two. I went away from my usual pork chili verde and tried the combo of beef and chicken taquitos. Both flavors were very good. There wasn’t enough homemade guacamole, but I’ve had the problem at other places as well. Two and a half for three. Cindy went back to the well and got cheese enchiladas with a red pork sauce. These arrived looking like enchiladas. Cindy liked the sauce. And the cheese in the enchiladas was…………….American cheese. Maybe this is just a Missouri thing. While these tasted a bit off to Cindy, they were better than the Mexican grilled cheese enchiladas at Barbosa’s. To rank the Mexican food to date, the winner hands down so far is San Jose Steakhouse and Mexican Food. I find this odd since Mexican food is not their only focus. Number two is clearly El Maguey, with Barbosa’s bringing up the rear.
Sunday
The weather was projected to be brutal and it was Valentine’s Day, so our plan was to stay in and have a relaxed day in our sweats. Here is a look at the morning weather.
And here is what my formally shoveled back porch looked like.
Yup, a stay home and stay inside day. We lounged around until the evening when it was time for me to cook our special Valentine’s Day dinner. Here are my ingredients.
Here is the appetizer.
And here is the finished product. I hate to brag, but it was pretty darn good.
Monday
This was supposed to be another brutally cold day, and it was. Here was our noon weather.
Cindy and Heather were texting and decided we should me at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. I’m not a fan of -3, and a real feel of -25 is just downright rude. Still, we “suited up” and drove to the Cracker Barrel. I have to say, I can’t believe how cold it was just walking the 50 yards to our car. Negative temperatures are no joke and need to be respected.
We had a great lunch with the Culvers, and returned to the warmth of our place. This is how I chose to spend the rest of the afternoon.
Now that is how you do negative temperatures.
Tuesday
Yesterday the forecast was for a high of 7 degrees. We were excited because that meant going out and possibly being able to do something more than just getting a meal. This was the first weather update of the day at 7 am.
Wow, -21!!! At least it only felt like -11. That was probably because it was so cold it damaged all of your nerve endings so you could not feel the cold anymore. Looking at the bright side, this had to be the low point of the day and it was only going to get better from there. Until……………This news alert.
This advisory said due to a power outage at a water processing plant, it was recommended all drinking and cooking water be vigorously boiled for at least 3 minutes prior to using. It did not specifically say why. That is never good. And an internet search showed we were in Buchanan County. Now we had officially hit rock bottom. Until 9:05 am.
The brown circle on the top left encompassing the hospital also encompassed where we were staying and that was where the power went out for an unknown reason with an expected return time of 10:45 am. So no lights or more importantly, no heater. Our thermostat read 68 degrees and the outside had warmed up to -14. How cold could it get indoors in just over an hour? The answer is 61 degrees, so we survived. The power, and more importantly the heater, came back on at 10:30 am. That being said, a temperature drop of 7 degrees an hour would have been tough if the power had been out for just one more hour.
After eating lunch in, we “suited up” and went to Country Cookie. Heather had given Cindy a gift card for there and Cindy loves cookies, so we were going to be there at some point during this trip. Probably multiple times. We ended up with a box of cookies and were off.
We needed a few things from Walmart, so that was our next stop. We returned to our place, unloaded our groceries, and went to have dinner at Sakura, Japanese Hibachi & Sushi. Before we get to the food, I must comment about the name.
The picture on the left is food prepared on a hibachi. The picture on the right is food prepared teppanyaki style. The food on the right is being prepared at Sakura. It should be called Japanese Teppan & Sushi because there were no hibachis in the restaurant. It’s not that big of a deal, but it was false advertising. On to the meal. We started with some miso soup and a salad. The soup was very good and the salad was a salad. Cindy had the teriyaki chicken with fried rice, and I had the Bento Box with a California roll, tempura, dumplings, white rice, and chicken katsu.
Cindy’s teriyaki chicken was under seasoned and light on the teriyaki sauce. The chicken was cooked well and tasted good, just not like teriyaki. The fried rice was also very bland and too mushy. That means no points for Cindy’s meal. On the other hand, my meal was very good. Everything in the “box” was either in the good category or very good. We may not have time to visit again on this trip, but we were not opposed to giving them another shot. Maybe on the next trip out.
The next post will cover our third week in St. Joseph, Missouri. Let’s hope for some temperatures above zero!