Belton Day Trip

Scott, Julie, Jeff and I went to the Bell County Museum in Belton yesterday to see the Deadly Medicine exhibit, on loan from the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. It was really interesting, and also very disturbing.  It describes eugenics and the eventual killing of millions of Jews, along with the mentally or physically afflicted in the mid twentieth century in Germany.

Some cool things in the museum's regular local collections include Mean Joe Greene's NFL Hall of Fame certificate (he went to Dunbar High School in Temple) and a letter written on Hitler's personal stationery from a local soldier in WWII who was one of the first in, when US forces busted into Hitler's office. He says something like, "I never thought I would be sitting at Adolf Hitler's desk, writing you this letter on his stationery." Can you imagine? Chills.

Scott asked a museum employee about what the different colors of war ration tokens meant. She said she didn't know, but she would get the curator to come talk to us. The museum curator, Emily (SO great!), came out and gave us some more in-depth information about the tokens. 

She also told us the Temple newspaper didn't cover Joe Greene's high school career in the 60's, because the schools were segregated and they didn't cover the Black schools. So to this day, he doesn't do interviews with that paper. 

Then she took us back to their famous mustache cup collection (google it- I had never heard of them) to show us that there were left- and right-handed mustache cups. You would buy these teacups individually as they weren't part of a regular set. When I mentioned that they were all so feminine with flowers and girly colors, she explained that pink used to be a very masculine color back in the day, so these feminine-looking teacups were actually very manly.  Hmm!

We went to Schoepf's Barbecue afterwards. I had the brisket and venison sausage. The venison sausage was THE BEST.

Saturday 9: Little Red Corvette
In memory of Prince (1958-2016)

1) The subject of this song is frankly sexual. Do you blush easily?

No.

2) Prince was his real first name (Prince Rogers, to be exact). Growing up, his relatives called him "Skipper." Do you have any nicknames within your family?

Wait. I'm still giggling at "Skipper." Ahhhhh.... No one in our family really has a nickname. My mom frequently called me pet names like "pumpkin," but nothing cool like Skipper. 

3) Prince said he was "obsessed" with Mozart and read whatever he can find about the composer. What's the last book you read?

Every time Mozart is mentioned, I think of the Amadeus movie, when the Emperor tells Mozart his music has "too many notes." Ahaha! 

I keep telling y'all I don't read books anymore. My escapism vehicles of choice are film, television and theater. The last article I read was about the history of Paisley Park.

4) Between Prince and The Beach Boys, the Corvette is a much sung-about car. Tell us about your vehicle. 

I have a gorgeous deep blue Acura TLX with light grey interior. I love it. Sporty.

5) In the 1980s, when Prince was popular, MTV could turn a song into a hit. In 2016, where do you hear new music?

Radio, TV and social media.

6) In 1982, when "Little Red Corvette" ruled the airwaves, Braniff Airways shocked the travel industry and threw passengers into chaos by declaring bankruptcy. When did you last fly? Did your trip go smoothly? 

Last time I traveled by air was my Berlin trip. It was a rare occasion when travel did not go smoothly! I led Leslie out of the gate area when we arrived in Berlin, where we were told that baggage claim is AT the incoming gate, to which we could absolutely not return, due to security policy. So we waited an hour and a half for our bags, only to find that my bag wasn't on the plane. I had checked my work laptop, which was almost a disaster. They brought the bag to the hotel later that night. The trip back home went swimmingly though.

7) 1982 is also the year Disney opened Epcot. Have you ever been to a Disney park?

I've been to Disney World twice- once with Jeff before the kiddo, and once with Jeff & Lauren (age 4), the Angs and their son (age 2).

8) 1982 is the year Cheers premiered. The sitcom was set in a bar where "everybody knows your name." Tell us about your favorite local bar or restaurant. 

One of my favorites is The Grove Wine Bar and Kitchen. We order appetizers and wine, and always include their bruschetta with the fig/brie/green apple topping and the Grove Crispy Oysters. We go to the one on Bee Cave at 360, and sit outside in the supercool deck area, but there is also one in Lakeway I want to visit, to check out the view of the hills.

9) The 1980s were considered a highpoint in professional tennis, with Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe dominating the sport. Do you play tennis?

I played tennis for funzies with Frank and Bob in college, but I was also playing racquetball a lot at the time, which screws up your tennis swing. (Or vice versa, although I guess I was more suited to racquetball, because my racquetball swing didn't change.) Haven't played since.