BB Riverboats

A few months ago I bought a pass for the BB Riverboats. It was literally the day I decided to challenge myself to do new things. I know I went on a cruise for a field trip in grade school. The key things I remember are, I got to hold a tarantula and they had good burgers.

I scheduled a cruise for my mom, 2 sister and myself for Saturday May 4th, Derby day. That Friday it was decided that we were all going to dress up for the cruise like we were going to the Derby. AKA we were going to rock the biggest brimmed hats we could find. Which is a great idea, minus the fact I can never find a hat the fits my large head.

That's right, a long with my size 13 feet I have a head that is too big for most hats. I could joke about how it means my brain is just that much bigger, but it kind of bums me out. Seriously I would have such an extensive cute hat collection if they could fit on my noggin. Like shoes, it is normally impossible for me to find a cute hat the fits. Which might actually be a good thing. It isn't so much of a drain on my bank account.

My mom and sister Michelle took me to Target that night. They had me try on cute hat, after cute hat. There were royal blue hats with cute flowers. A hat that reminded my of Mary Poppins. All of which looked cute on the rack. Really they were darling. But after plopping them on my head and trying to force it on as hard as possible, the effect wasn't so cute. 

The normal look I manage to accomplish
while trying on hats.

I wanted to give up. Seriously, I was half tempted to just forgo the whole hat thing. But Michelle, Julie, and my mom weren't as ready to give up as I was. When I got to my parent's house that day my mom gave me another hat and told me to "Just try it." It was a wide brimmed beach hat I got for Christmas a few years ago that never fit. I donned the hat to prove my point. Low and behold it fit! My mom cut the band at the base and stretched it. That my have ruined the integrity of the hat, but it would at least hold up for the day. Which is all I needed.

 Derby Day Attire

The ride to the boat was a little nerve wracking. In my traditional fashion we some how ended up getting lost on the way there. I am the queen of getting lost. I have a Garmin in my car and Google maps on my phone and I still manage to lose my way. Honestly, I think that takes some kind of genius. We found ourselves at Big Daddy Liquor. From there Julie guided us to where we needed to be.

We managed to make it in time but at the back of the line for the boat. Which meant we got slim pickings for seating. All of the seats on the perimeter of the deck were taken. Leaving us with 4 seats in the middle. I was kind of bummed. I really wanted us to have fun. This was the first outing like this I ever planned for my sisters and mom. I didn't want it to be a let down.

Mom trying to get people
on the shore to wave

I should have known better. Honestly, I think I could have fun with those ladies simply sitting on a mound of dirt. We got some drinks from the bar after the boat got moving and listened a little to the tour guide. I didn't really pay much attention to the tour. The scenery was beautiful and it was nice being on a boat. I love boats. The stories coming out of the mouth's of the ladies I was with were more interesting.

Half way through we managed to get seats around the edge of the boat. It ended up being a really lovely day.

When the cruise ended we walked down to Claddagh Irish Pub and sat looking at the river some more. I had such a great day. Anytime we have girl time in the family is great. I love all the boys in my family. But girl time with all three of these crazy ladies is so rare, that when it happens it is bound to be special.

The History of Signs

Let it be known that I love history. You may have heard me argue before that without a healthy appreciation for reading you cannot understand any other subject to its full extent. I still maintain this argument. I love reading as well as history. If reading and history were people reading would be like my parents. History is more like my sexy husband.

I am extremely fascinated with every age in history. It is hard for me to choose a favorite era. I do hold a flame for Queen Elizabeth but WWII is pretty amazing. Not the battles really, but the people and the cultures, and even the art of that time.

One of my favorite things to look at are things that were not meant to last. Items that were truly made to serve a purpose and be disposed of quickly. I feel that these items tell you more about the culture at that time than any political document. I wrote one of my final papers in college on WWII propaganda. Primarily Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms posters. When the bulk of the WWII propaganda posters were made they were usually printed on extremely poor paper. They were meant to hang in public areas for a time and then be thrown away. Not kept, or really thought of as art. But they are art and invaluable historical documents. Likewise could be said for a Campbell's Soup can.

I could go on about these topics, but I will stop myself for now. The reason I wanted to share that with you is because I wanted to present you with the type of mind set I was in when I went to the American Sign Museum in Camp Washington. You may have heard of it before. You might have scratched your head and thought, "Well that is odd." Honestly, it is odd in the greatest sense of the word.

I traveled there with my father and very pregnant sister one rainy Sunday afternoon. They kept asking me how long it was going to take and what they should expect. The answer was simple and a little annoying to them, "I don't know." I had read about it in the newspaper months ago. All I knew was that it was a collection of signs throughout the years.

The building it is in is really in more of an industrial district. Unless you are looking to get something black oxided, heat treated, or welded the only reason you would be there is for the museum. As we pulled up my dad instantly recognized an old Holiday Inn sign. I honestly forget where he said it was from. Still, it was the first sign we saw.

When you enter the building, the main lobby is very stark and plain. We had just made it for the two o'clock tour of the museum with founder Tod Swormstedt. He is a pretty cool fella who knows his way around signs.  I highly recommend going on the tour for your first visit. There are a lot of plaques and so forth throughout the museum but Tod really knows his stuff.

The signs are set up to take you through the progression of technology and design through the ages. The materials and styles used are very indicative of the time. There is one room I walked into and instantly felt like I was on Madmen. The signs in the museum are local as well as national.

I could go on and on about the history and how cool it is. But honestly, I want you to discover it for yourself. On any given rainy day go up there and learn something new.

There are three neon lights around each wheel.
They alternate turning on to  imitate spinning. 

At the end of the tour we took some time to talk with Tod Swormstedt about all of his different projects. He talked about how they got the Mail Pouch Tobacco barn in the building. We heard a few stories about some signs he wants to acquire. The trickiest thing was keeping him on topic. He tended to go on tangents that didn't really answer our questions. Still he gave us interesting facts and stories.

The coolest thing was he took us to the back warehouse and showed us a "Fergi" sign that got a little banged up. Now I honestly don't remember the Ferguson Car Wash but I do recognize this sign. He is the car that is on top of the Trotta's Pizza sign. My family never frequented there or the business that was there before. It still is a sign that I remember looking out for when I was a kid. He sat on top of a sign a couple of stories up. I thought it was funny because he was in a car with no place to go. I also thought the shine spots were explosions, or balled up pieces of paper
. This "Fergi" is from a different location, and isn't the one I I giggled at as a child. Still, it is nice to know that someone is keeping him safe. Preserving him for another generation of young kids to giggle at and question.