My brother Greg is game for a road trip from Saint
Louis. Bentonville, Arkansas is reachable by car in about 5 hours. My
enthusiasm for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art seemed reason enough
to add to his bucket list. A trip to Kinmundy, Illinois is already on his list.
Kinmundy is consistent with his recent obsession with our family genealogy. On
top of that, a Lake of the Ozarks visit with Lakewood High School alumni
classmate Christopher Galloway seems a reasonable and drivable destination. Once
we shuffled calendars we end up with a window in the middle of February for a
road trip (or two, or three). Greg booked flights to/from his home of Tampa
Florida to Saint Louis.
Lake of the Ozarks
We last saw Chris and his wife Melissa at a LHS
reunion in Lakewood, Ohio in the Summer of 2019. Finally, with Greg on board a
visit to their turf is on the agenda. Timing is such that Chris invites us to
sit in on a recording session with his band, The Weekdays. The drummer is in
from Nashville and bandmate Dave is owner of a top-knotch recording studio he
built into his house at the Lake. The sound engineer is careful to keep the
best tracks of 12 songs on hard drives and a drop box where they can be
finished to perfection. Melissa is all smiles when I was able to present her
with a framed piece from my Covid-19 Mosaic Art Project. (Nothing makes me
happier than gifting artwork that is appreciated and destined to be on display
in the lovely Galloway home at the Lake.) After the musicians wrap, a
celebratory toast, at Dave’s big kitchen table, we disperse. Chris and Melissa
invite us to sample PAPPO’s pizza. Chris is CEO of this restaurant and
micro-brewery. His expertise has allowed him to develop and open a number
restaurants: Springfield, Missouri; Quincy, Illinois; Saint Louis and another
concept at the Lake and more. He is quite a talented fellow with music, food, drink,
real estate and family among the endeavors he juggles.
Bentonville, Arkansas
Sam Walton started his vast retail empire with a five
and dime in this northwest Arkansas town. Today, Bentonville is home office
that hosts buying and distribution decisions that fuel the Wal-Mart organization.
Sam’s daughter Alice Walton is a champion art collector. She led the effort to
open Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in a facility designed by world
renowned architect Moshe Safdie in 11-11-11.
It’s been too long since I first visited the museum in
2012. Visiting this showcase of five centuries of American artworks again, and
with the fresh eyes of my brother, is indeed a celebration of the American
spirit. Here you can see and study a range of works from George Washington (by Gilbert
Stuart), Kindred Spirits (by Hudson River School artist Asher B. Durand) to
works by George Segal, Keith Haring, Georgia O’Keefe, Jacob Lawrence, Jasper
Johns and on and on.
Kinmundy, Illinois
Greg and I recall a family trip by car with our
parents to this small town in Illinois. Our grandfather John Benjamin Morgan
was born here. It’s just a couple of hours from Saint Louis. Our family tree
branches out here. A visit to this quaint town is a treat. Remnants of middle
America can be found including a water tower that served steam engines in the 1850s
and the community. This tower was in operation for 100 years. The renovated structure
is in the national register of historic places. There is a Kinmundy Museum, a
public library, a post office and a non-profit Madison Street Historic
Preservation that aims to reclaim some of flavor of a by-gone era.
Greg is a road-warrior but he has lived in Florida for
decades. The winter weather delivers temperatures in the single digits. We
checked boxes at the lake, museum and family tree initiatives. I know he was
anxious to return to the glow of his hometown Super Bowl Championship Trophy
(not to mention the Stanley Cup).
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