National Shrine of Our Lady of Snows…a great place to replenish our spirit!

 

National Shrine of Our Lady of Snows

Yesterday I visited The National Shrine of Our Lady of Snows. While I was raised Catholic and have been to the Shrine many times throughout the years, it has become more meaningful to me in recent years.

The Shrine is a great place to just be. With over 200 acres that have been beautifully landscaped in a tranquil and peaceful setting, it is a great place to be in nature and be spiritually replenished.

The Grotto is my very favorite place to visit and I always light a candle and set an intention while I am there. Setting an intention for what we want in our lives is so important. It is a prayer in the highest form.

While any one can visit the Shrine and just be, they have many activities as well. There are a wide variety of services and things to do including a church with masses at regular times, gardens, an amphitheatre, gift shop with lots of great items and a restaurant  with delicious food.  There is also a conference center for wedding receptions and business meetings, a hotel, and a retirement living area. The Shrine is run by the Missionary Oblates and is a great place for anyone wanting to get away from the hussle and bussle of life for a few hours.  

For more information on The National Shrine of Our Lady of Snows, visit their website at http://www.snows.org/

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If you feel I can assist you on your journey and would like to contact me, please feel free to email me at Rhonda@ModernDaySpiritualJourney.com.

I have been a real estate professional in the St Louis area for the past nine years and have been chosen by St Louis Magazine as a “5 Star Best in Client Satisfaction” agent for the past three years and am licensed with Keller Williams Southwest in St Louis, MO. I provide a high level of service and my clients become my friends. Should you wish to use my services or need a referral for the area you live in, please feel free to email me Rhonda@RhondaBrackett.com.

 

 

Missouri Botanical Garden’s outdoor music!

 

The Missouri Botanical Garden is a favorite landmark in St Louis and a great getaway place for millions in St Louis. Founded in 1859, it is the nation’s oldest botanical garden in continuous operation and is also a National Historic Landmark.

The Garden is an as well as an oasis in the city of St. Louis and  offers 79 acres of beautiful horticultural display, including a Japanese strolling garden, Henry Shaw’s original 1850 estate home is on the property. There is a restaurant and gift shop as well as events available to the public.

Music at Missouri Botanical Garden

The Whitaker Music Festival, which runs a few weeks during the summer and features different style bands.A free event, it attracts many local visitors.  Recently when I visited, featured was a FolknBluesGrass, band, a unique style of American roots music with a modern feel. Visitors bring lawn chairs, blankets and  picnic baskets to enjoy the evening while they listen to music.

Music at Missouri Botanical Garden

You can purchase items  Amazon link and up to 800 brand items on the Endless Link at great prices.  

Rhonda loves to travel and has been a real estate professional in the St Louis area for the past nine years and have been chosen by St Louis Magazine as a “5 Star Best in Client Satisfaction” agent for the past three years and am licensed with Keller Williams Southwest in St Louis, MO. I provide a high level of service and my clients become my friends. Should you wish to use my services or need a referral for the area you live in, please feel free to email me Rhonda@RhondaBrackett.com.

 

Big Brutus in West Mineral, Kansas

 My friend Rich and I decided to do a day tripper on the 4^th and drive a few hours from the St Louis area to West Mineral Kansas to see  “Big Brutus”, the second largest electrical shovel in the world.

Big Brutus

New technology in the early 1960’s made surface mining economical. The Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Company purchased Big Brutus from the Bucyrus Erie Company in 1962 for $6.5 million.

Big Brutus' scoop

Big Brutus did not dig coal. The huge bucket removed the dirt and rocks covering the coal seams. In 1974, it was silenced, It was not longer cost effective to operate “Big Brutus”. The electric bill for the last month of operation was $27,000. Now he is retired like an old ship resting in it’s harbor. P & M donated 10,000 acres and “Big Brutus” to the Kansas City Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Inside Big Brutus

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated “Big Brutus” a Regional Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark.

He was used in the West Mineral area until the mines were shut down because it was determined that the coal had too much sulphur in it.  “Big Brutus” is 16 stories high and weights 11 million pounds. For more information on Big Brutus, you can go to http://www.bigbrutus.org/.

While Big Brutus was our destination, we also stopped in Picher Kansas, which was a lead mining community. Due to concerns with lead contamination,  the town is now a ghost town.

Billboard in Picher

Water tower at Picher Kansas

We also stopped to see a large rocking chair, which was located 5 miles west of Cuba off Highway ZZ. The shop next door is a small Mom and Pop shop that also has an archery range and taxidermy. An interesting combination to be sure.

Large rocking chair off highway ZZ

Mom and Pop shop off highway ZZ

There were many other interesting places to visit along Highway 44 between St Louis and Kansas City, most of which we will need to save for another day.

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 Feel free to check out  Amazon and Endless  for 1000’s of items including 800 brand items of everything you can imagine at great prices. 

If you are a spirit seeker like me, please visit my website, ModernDaySpiritualJourney.com.  If you feel I can assist you on your journey or you would like to contact me, please feel free to email me at Rhonda@ModernDaySpiritualJourney.com.

I have been a real estate professional in the St Louis area for the past nine years and have been chosen by St Louis Magazine as a “5 Star Best in Client Satisfaction” agent for the past three years and am licensed with Keller Williams Southwest in St Louis, MO. I provide a high level of service and my clients become my friends. Should you wish to use my services or need a referral for the area you live in, please feel free to email me Rhonda@RhondaBrackett.com.

 

The History Museum in Forest Park

The History Museum

Sometimes you have some time and a friend to join you and you just “Seize The Moment”.

It was a pleasant summer day in St Louis. Rich, who is a good friend, and I took Metro Link to Forest Park where the Museum of History is. Forest Park is a wonderful park with trees, walking trails, St Louis Art Museum, The St Louis Zoo, the Boat House Restaurant, and is home of the Muny Opera.

The building which houses the Museum of History was built in 1904 for the World’s Fair. There were several exhibitions on display, the 1904 World’s Fair, about flying, and about Charles Lindbergh being a couple of them. We only made it through two exhibits and plan to return another day.

What a great afternoon, close to home, and at little cost. The only cost was to ride Metro Link, which was cheaper than driving. With gas prices rising, it was a great fun thing to do close to home. We also did not need to concern ourselves with finding a place to park.

Metro Link platform

Rich in front of the History Museum at Forest Park

For great traveling fairs, visit SeizeTheMomentTravel.com

 

Truck stop, here we come!

When I drive, I love to stop at truck stops. They always have interesting things, the map books I need, and good old fashioned food.  I have noticed that some of them are changing over to fast food, as that is the norm in our culture.  I feel sorry for those truck drivers out there who need a decent meal and am disappointed that some of them are doing so.  For me, I only stop for food if it is good food.

 

Seizing a Moment in Florida

Rich and I are Dings (single people who never had children) who love to travel. We both love Florida and while we visit Rich’s family while there, we always enjoy visiting Tarpon Springs and the beaches in the Clearwater area. There are many great shops and excursions. While in Tarpon Springs getting cigars for Rich’s co-workers, we took a trolley for only $1.00 each. I never realized Tarpon Springs has a historical district and huge mansions. It also has an antique district.

Shops in Tarpon Springs

Trolley in Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs is known as the sponge capital of the world. It is the largest Greek Orthodox community in the United States. Always fascinated about other cultures, I find the Madi (I hope I spelled that correctly-I do not think it would be in spell-check) Eye fascinating. The Madi Eye is their healing charm. It would be similar to a cross for those of us who were raised Christian. I have an hour glass shape and find that Greek made clothing fits me perfectly. Maybe if there is such a thing as past lives, I was Greek in a past life. We saw many interesting things on the trolley. It was the best $1.00 one could spend. Each January 6^th, there is an annual Epiphany Celebration, where people dive after a cross.

Another great place is Mama’s Restaurant. Mama’s, as the locals call it, has fine dining and belly dancing some evenings. The locals say it is one of the best restaurants in Tarpon Springs.

Mama

We also visited Sand Key Park and spent an hour on the beach. Sand Key Beach is on the Gulf side and is great, a little farther than Clearwater, but well worth it because it is not as crowded and the time it talks to drive there would be spent looking for a parking spot. Rich and I are beachcombers. We love to walk the beach and pick up shells and different varieties of seaweed. Who would know seaweed was actually colorful and beautiful. The shells are also sparkly and beautiful. Something is special and spiritual about walking on the beach with sand oozing through your toes and the smell of the sea. Actually, it is not the sea that smells, but the seaweed. We never stay more than an hour or two, as that is long enough to give one a little color without burning excessively. The water was warm, the breeze nice. It is interesting to note that there were Ospreys (birds) on top of the light fixtures on the Causeway. Ospreys are predators and sit high atop light fixtures and look for food. It is totally amazing that they could spot something to eat from such a high vantage.

Sand Key Beach

We left around 3 pm. Going down Highway 589 was great. Highway 589 is a toll road. They have something called a Sun Pass, which I suspect is cheaper than paying each individual toll, even for a visitor. However, coming back on highway 589, we ran into rush hour traffic and it took us longer than we planned to get back to Port Richey, which is where Rich’s family lives. I suspect we will not travel highway 589 during rush hour anymore. We then dined at the Inn on the Gulf in Hudson. They are well known for their fish and chips.

Did I mention we were able to get great airfares at Seize The Moment Travel, a Travelocity partner? Travelocity has discount fares. It is nice to know we can travel at reasonable rates.