Touring the College of the Ozarks: Hard Work U

The College of the Ozarks doesn’t charge tuition. Instead, students at this southwest Missouri school are required to work fifteen hours per week. Student workers in many of those jobs create goods or hospitality experiences available for sale to the general public. We visited the College of the Ozarks, located about four miles from Branson, expecting to spend a couple of hours in the Ralph Foster Museum and to grab a bite to eat in the Dobyns Dining Room. We ended up spending a full five hours on campus, discovering there is much more to explore at the College of the Ozarks besides the museum.

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Keeter Center
Start at the Keeter Center, the rustic lodge recreated from Dobyns Hall, a lodge that was displayed at the 1904 World’s Fair. The original lodge was moved to the College of the Ozarks where it stood until 1930.

The Keeter Center houses fifteen luxury suites, the Dobyns Dining Room, an ice cream parlor, a gift shop and a small armed services memorial. The Keeter Center is also where you can pick up a map to take a self-guided campus tour.

Plan to eat lunch or dinner in the Dobyns Dining Room (reservations recommended). Many of the ingredients used in the dishes are campus-to-table and some of the other ingredients are sourced locally. All of the vegetables and fruits in my Spinach with Smoked Chicken Salad were raised by the students on campus, and so was my husband’s pork fritter. Yep, they raise pork on campus.

Hard Work U, as the college has been dubbed, also has a dairy, from which all of the restaurant’s dairy products are made, including the rich, creamy ice cream sold at the College Creamery.

The Maybee Lodge in the Keeter Center offers fifteen suites that accommodate up to six people each. We didn’t stay at the lodge and didn’t see the rooms, but judging from the descriptions and photos on their web site, the suites truly are luxurious. Every room has a fireplace, private balcony and other upscale amenities.

Edwards Mill
A 12-foot water wheel powers the mill where student workers grind whole-grain meal and flour.

You can purchase the meal and flour in the mill, as well as jellies and apple butter made on campus in the Fruitcake and Jelly Kitchen. Students also bake about 30,000 fruit cakes each year.

Upstairs in the mill we watched basket weaving and rug weaving demonstrations. Baskets, placemats, rugs and tablecloths that the students make are available for sale.

Greenhouses
Over 7,000 plants fill greenhouses, where we spent quite a bit of time photographing the beautiful orchids and other flowers.

I think this one looks like a rubber duck.

The greens for my salad were most likely grown in this hydroponic greenhouse.

Williams Memorial Chapel
The campus chapel used to be a Presbyterian church. It’s now non-denominational and the public is invited to attend Sunday morning services.

Ralph Foster Museum
The Ralph Foster Museum is named for an Ozark region radio pioneer instrumental in bringing country music to a national level. Besides broadcasting, the museum includes antique and archaeology exhibits.

One of the more fun exhibits is the car used in the pilot of The Beverly Hillbillies sitcom.

A huge collection of firearms takes up most of the museum’s upper level. I stopped counting after a hundred. I’d guess there is three times that number of firearms in the museum.

The upper level also includes natural history exhibits with taxidermied big cats, bears and other animals.

Be careful though. You never know what may sneak up behind you.

The College of the Ozarks, located southwest Missouri’s Point Lookout is an ideal side trip when visiting Branson. Check the web site for hours of the various campus sights or to make reservations for the Dobyns Dining Room or Mabee Lodge.

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Fashion Outlets Chicago, Rosemont: Outlet Mall Experience Taken to a New Level

Connie Attractions & Events, Illinois, Shopping January 26, 2015February 5, 2015chicago fashion outlet, Fashion Outlets Chicago, fashion outlets rosemont, outlet chicago, outlets in Chicago, premium outlets chicago, rosemont outlets 0 Comment

Last week I was introduced to the Fashion Outlets Chicago in Rosemont, Illinois. It’s surprising I hadn’t been there before because I am drawn to outlet malls, and this one is less than 90 minutes from home. There is something about an outlet mall that lures me in. Could be signs like this:

Fashion Outlets Chicago has taken the outlet mall experience to a new level with both shops and service. With over 130 stores from Gucci to Gap, Coach to Claire’s and dining options from Villagio to Sbarro, Fashion Outlets Chicago has something for everyone. Whether you’re on an extended layover at O’Hare, just a few minutes away; attending a convention across the street at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center; or driving in specifically to shop, the indoor mall is easy to access.

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My trip to Fashion Outlets Chicago was part of a Rosemont tour prior to attending the Chicago Travel & Adventure Show. The visit started with what was described as “light bites” at Villagio, one of two full service restaurants in the mall. The food was plenty to fill up on: meatballs, breaded calamari and zucchini, and several specialty pizzas, including one with prosciutto.

During an orientation to the mall we learned the shops are strategically located, so that similar stores are close together, with convenient entrances to each area. Upscale shops are clustered at one end of the upper level, fragrance shops at another end, and children’s shops near each other on the lower level.

We also learned about the convenient guest services that the mall offers, including shuttles from nearby O’Hare Airport terminals and the Chicago CTA blue line Rosemont station. Travel concierge service, operated by BAGS Inc. at the guest services counter includes airport baggage check-in and boarding pass printing. They also offer packaging and shipping, as well as delivery service within a specified a zip code range.

After the orientation we had about 45 minutes to shop. My husband and I browsed a couple of the shoe stores (38 stores sell shoes) and then found the chocolate. We spent the rest of our shopping time in the Lindt and Godiva Chocolatier shops.

Dark chocolate bars, buy four get one free. How could I resist?

In the Godiva Chocolatier shop I noticed an entire box of only dark chocolates.

I was tempted, but I resisted. Instead, we watched as macaroons were dipped into white chocolate. The shop offers chocolate-dipped strawberries, Oreos® and other delectable treats daily.Wandering back to our meeting place, we noticed large colorful art pieces throughout the mall. Fashion Outlets of Chicago partnered with The Arts Initiative, a newly formed organization dedicated to placing visual art in public spaces.

Forty-five minutes isn’t nearly enough time to even browse a mall as large as Fashion Outlets Chicago. I vowed to go back that weekend but couldn’t squeeze it into the schedule. That means I’ll have to make a return trip, specifically to do nothing but shop.

Fashion Outlets Chicago, located at 5220 Fashion Outlets Way with convenient access off of I-294, is open seven days a week and offers free covered parking. Check the web site for directions, transportation options and hours.

Disclosure: My visit to the Fashion Outlets Chicago was hosted by the Village of Rosemont, Villagio and Fashion Outlets Chicago. However, all opinions are my own. Photos taken by Skip Reed and Connie Reed.

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Oliver Mansion, South Bend Indiana: Glimpse a Family’s Lavish 1930s Lifestyle

Connie Attractions & Events, Indiana January 20, 2015February 17, 2015History Museum South Bend, Oliver Mansion, Oliver Mansion South Bend, South Bend, South Bend attractions, South Bend History Museum, South Bend IN, South Bend Indiana 0 Comment

It isn’t often that all of the furnishings in a historic home are original to the house, especially a 38-room, 12,000 square foot mansion. That’s what you’ll see when you tour the Oliver Mansion in South Bend, Indiana, immersing you in the lavish lifestyle of its owners, the J.D. and Anna Oliver family, as it was in the 1930s.

J.D. Oliver’s father James immigrated to the United States with his family from Scotland when he was 12 years old. He took a job working on a farm where he became familiar with plows. As an adult James was a partner in the South Bend Iron Company and experimented with improving the field plow. He registered 45 patents on improved plow design during his lifetime. The company flourished, and James Oliver became wealthy. J.D. eventually took over as President of the company. By that time the company name had been changed to Oliver Chilled Plow Works.

J.D. married Anna in 1885, and in 1886 they moved into their new Indiana fieldstone Romanesque Queen Anne home. The Olivers had four children, and as the family grew, so did the Oliver Chilled Plow Works, becoming the largest plow factory in the world at the turn of the century. The family lived lavishly, were socially active and also deeply involved in community service. The family’s community service continued through the generations, as J.D. and Anna’s grandchildren donated the mansion and its furnishings to South Bend’s Center for History.

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The home is set up as a working house in the 1930s. Though daughter Catherine, who never married and lived out her life in the mansion, sold or gave away furnishings, recipients of those items have returned many of them.

Each of the 14 fireplaces is different, some more ornate than others.

Carved woodwork on fireplace hearths, railings, even on the ceilings exude richness.

The office and the game room have especially masculine features.

Leaded glass windows in several rooms soften the harshness of the dark wood, and fabrics soften the decor in the dining room and music room.

The kitchen isn’t as fancy, but it’s spacious, with multiple stoves and plenty of icebox and storage space needed to prepare for large parties.

Catherine lived her adult life mostly on the second floor, which she had redone in green art deco.

After J.D. and Anna’s son Joseph’s wife was thrown from a horse and killed, Joseph came back to live in the family home. He stayed mainly on the third floor. His seven shaving brushes, one for each day of the week, are on display in the bathroom.

Beautifully manicured gardens surround the mansion.

Besides the mansion, the tour also includes a look at the Polish workers’ house, less than a five minute walk from the main house. The house, comfortable quarters for the Olivers’ domestic staff, was built in 1851. The Olivers added a bathroom and other conveniences. Like the mansion, the workers’ house is decorated as it would have been in the 1930s.

The History Museum provides tours of the Oliver Mansion seven days a week. The main entrance is shared with the Studebaker National Museum at 897 Thomas Street, South Bend, Indiana. Check the web site for tour times and admission rates.

Disclosure: My visit to the Oliver Mansion was hosted by Visit South Bend Mishawaka and the History Museum, but any opinions expressed in this article are my own. Some of the pbotos were taken by Skip Reed and some by Connie Reed.

Other posts you may enjoy:

Studebaker Museum, South Bend: From Carriages to Automobiles

Touring the University of Notre Dame Campus, South Bend, Indiana

Tour the South Bend Chocolate Company Factory

Shop the South Bend Farmers Market Year Round

Cable Natural History Museum: Be a Superhero

Connie Attractions & Events, Wisconsin January 12, 2015January 12, 2015Cable, Cable Natural History Museum, Cable WI, Wisconsin attractions, Wisconsin Northwoods 0 Comment

Imagine being so strong you could pull a dinosaur. When I stepped on a scale at the Cable Natural History Museum in Cable, Wisconsin, I found out that if I was a dung beetle, I’d be strong enough to do just that, as dung beetles can pull up to 1,411 time their body weight. I’m glad I’m not a dung beetle, though. What a poopy life that would be! The dung beetle is one of several insects and flowers highlighted in the museum’s Nature’s Superheroes exhibit.

Everyone who visits the museum gets a chance to be a superhero, too. As you enter the museum you are asked to don a superhero cape. This goes for adults as well as children. If you’d like, you can enter the phone booth an ordinary person and emerge as a superhero.

Skip and I chose to evolve into our superhero personae in the wide open museum lobby. I was a tree frog and skip was a dragonfly.

What superpowers do a tree frog and a dragonfly have? Superpowers in nature are actually adaptations given to the species for survival. The tree frog can become nearly invisible, or at least blend in with the tree so well that predators don’t see it. The dragonfly flies fast, really fast, at speeds up to 30 miles per hour. Its four wings, which can each flap separately, allow them to fly in all directions. They can even do aerial stunts.

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Among plant life, the bunchberry’s superpower is also speed, whose pollination mechanism takes less than half a millisecond, making it the fastest flower on earth.

The force behind the Nature’s Superheroes exhibit was conservation sidekick Naturalist Educator, Emily Stone. She put the exhibit together with help from staff and volunteers, creating hands-on and interactive activities that make learning fun, like the opportunity to appear on screen flying along a nature path in your superhero cape.

Elsewhere in the museum are exhibits of species native to the area, as well as a large room used for education purposes. On the day we visited, children were making owl puppets from paper bags.

The museum offers over a hundred public programs throughout the year. The night before our museum visit, Skip and I participated in the museum-sponsored Owl Prowl with host naturalist Susan Thurn, where we learned to call barred owls.

The Cable Natural History Museum will celebrate its 50^th anniversary in 2017. However, its building is only five years old and very impressive. If you’re in the area, it’s a fun small museum to visit, especially if you have children.

Afterwards, visit the museum’s property down the street, the home site of the museum’s first naturalist. The big attraction there for kids is the huge fallen limb from the oldest and largest tree on the property. Kids have enjoyed climbing on the limb for some time, so steps are now being built into the limb, and a small “fort” is being added at the base of the tree. What a fun way to adapt to nature’s occurrences.

The Cable Natural History Museum, located at 13470 County Highway M in Cable, Wisconsin, is open year round. Check the web site for exact hours and admission rates.

Disclosure: Our trip to northern Wisconsin was hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Mammoth Site of Hot Springs: Prehistoric History Uncovered

Connie Attractions & Events, South Dakota January 5, 2015April 3, 20181800 mammoth, are mammoths real, dakota site, dakota travel, hot springs dakota, hot springs mammoth, hot springs mammoth site, hot springs sd, hot springs sd mammoth, hot springs sd tourism, ice age mammoths, information about mammoths, mammoth bones, mammoth dig, mammoth dig site, mammoth fossil, mammoth hot springs, mammoth information, mammoth museum, mammoth sd, Mammoth Site, mammoth site hot springs, mammoth site in hot springs, mammoth site of hot springs, mammoth site sd, site dakota, site sd, so dakota, the mammoth site, the mammoths, travel sd, woolly mammoth bones, woolly mammoth fossils 0 Comment

Here is the story of how the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs came to be. Once upon a time, in a prehistoric land not so far away, giant creatures roamed the earth. One day, over sixty male Columbian and wooly mammoths left home never to be seen again. Stories about the disappearance were passed down through generations of mammoths until the stories became legend. Males claimed females drove them away, to a mass suicide. Females claimed the males went on a hunting trip, got lost, and refused to ask for directions. The species eventually became extinct, and of course, the legend became extinct along with the mammoths. Read more

Travel and Adventure Show Coming to Chicago January 17-18, 2015

Connie Attractions & Events, Illinois January 3, 2015November 22, 2015Chicago Travel and Adventure Show, Chicago Travel Show 0 Comment

With the holidays now behind us, it’s time to plan the new year, including vacations. If you’re looking for ideas on where to go this year, the Chicago Travel & Adventure Show in Rosemont, Illinois, coming up January 17-18, is a great place to do research. Get inspiration as you browse the exhibit floor, attend seminars and workshops featuring celebrity speakers, see demonstrations and taste samples of international cuisine cooking, and watch entertainers perform dances from distant lands.

The Exhibits
Whether you’re looking for a quick getaway to a Midwest destination or an adventure like an African safari or a trek in Nepal, you’ll find plenty of information among the show’s 300+ exhibitors. Gather brochures and chat with destination tourism bureaus, tour operators and resort representatives. Meet Alaskan sled dogs, ride a camel or try out deep-sea diving in the Dive Industry Association’s not-so-deep dive pool.

Discover new travel gadgets like Pick-Pocket Proof Pants^TM and the NapAnywhere, which allows you to sleep sitting up. I’m anxious to see the Pocket Poppet Cardigan, a women’s sweater that stows in a small pouch when not in use.

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Seminars and Workshops Featuring Celebrities
In the Travel Channel Theater hear inspiring travel stories, learn invaluable tips, and have your picture taken with travel celebrities, including the Travel Channel’s Samantha Brown; “Travel Detective” Peter Greenberg; Pauline Frommer, Editorial Director of the Frommer’s Guides; and Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Cheryl Strayed, New York Times best-selling author of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail will discuss her 1,100-mile hike along the Pacific Coast Trail, a story recently adapted into a movie.

More Entertainment and Information
Grab a front-row seat at the Taste of Travel Stage where top chefs will hold live cooking demonstrations. You may even get to sample the dishes. Over 20 exotic cultural performances will take place on the Global Beats Stage throughout the weekend. At the Destination Theater get in-depth information on specific popular travel destinations, and at the Savvy Traveler Stage learn how-to tips on smart travel using the latest products and technology.

If you attend:

Do some research beforehand. Check the keynote speakers schedule to determine which you want to see and set an alarm on your cell phone as a reminder. Browse the list of exhibitors to be sure you don’t miss booths you may be interested in.
Seats for seminars featuring celebrities fill up quickly. If you want to sit up front, get there early.
Wear comfortable shoes. You’ll be walking a lot.
Dress in layers, as it can get rather warm in the convention center. Take advantage of the coat check.
Don’t carry a lot with you, as you’ll be picking up lots of brochures, which can get heavy.

The Chicago Travel & Adventure Show is held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, located at 5555 N River Road in Rosemont, Illinois, January 17-18, 2015. The show opens to the public on Saturday at 10 a.m. and runs to 5 p.m. Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit the web site to purchase tickets at a discounted rate of $11 for a single day or $17 for two days (use promo code CHPR). On-site the tickets are $16 (single day) $25 (two days). Children 16 and under enter free.

Other Posts that May Interest You:

Here ‘n There in the Midwest: A Look Ahead to 2015

Top 2014 Midwest Wanderer Travel Experiences