Jefferson City, MO – 9/8/2016 – http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

September 8, 2016 (Thursday)

Left after breakfast to Jefferson City, Missouri to see the State Capitol. (The drive was around 200 miles.) The weather was raining but not too hard so we thought it would be fine. There were bursts of rain throughout the trip but the roads stayed clear. The drive was through back roads and was nice and leisurely. We stopped once to get some water.

We got into Jefferson City right around 1:15 PM. There was a lot of construction going on and we had a hard time figuring out where to go inside but once we did, the people near the door were very helpful and told us where to go.

Two bears and the motto, "United we stand, Divided we fall" — Two bears and the motto, “United we stand, Divided we fall”

We got to the first floor (we were in the basement) and looked over the Museum for awhile before a 2:00 PM tour started. The Museum was pretty nice. We didn’t realize that Missouri was a slave state or that there was fighting in Missouri during the Civil War.

The Museum occupied both side wings of the entire first floor.

A detailed museum that starts in prehistoric times and comes forward.

Lots of portraits, this of William Clark.

And of course, one of Merriweather Lewis. — And of course, one of Meriwether Lewis.

The tour guide (didn’t get his name – Michael thinks it was Don) was great) took us all over and did an excellent job of explaining everything in detail. He took us to see the busts, the murals that move with you as you walk (they have a special name but I forgot; hey, I’m old and I forget a lot).

not sure — Thomas Benton, artist that did many of the art work at the Capitol, especially the murals.

Betty Grable, apparently a small person. — Betty Grable, apparently a small and thin person.

Emitt Kelly, whose makeup shows up under flash. — Emmett Kelly, whose makeup shows up under flash.

There are so many busts of famous Missourians, Harry Truman, Bob Barker, and so many more.

They had money left over after construction and spent it on art in the building.

Standing on the left side facing the mural, notice the crop rows and the direction they point.

From the right side and the crop rows seem to face in a different direction. — Same mural from the right side and the crop rows seem to face in a different direction.

Fossils in the floor, polished limestone.

We went into a special ventilated room to see a mural by Thomas Hart Benton. It’s on all the walls and represents all things Missouri. Quite interesting, made more interesting by the detailed explanation by our tour guide.