Chapter Ninety Seven
We are home from a fantastic week in Kentucky! I will try to tell you all about it before some of it slips from my memory. We made the trip to Maysville, KY for the grand opening of the new wing of the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center. The Robertson's son Bill was the designer for the new wing and Esther and Russell wanted to be there to see their son so honored. We, of course, love to travel and try never to miss an opportunity.
Since none of us had ever been to Maysville, all methods of directions were used. Hitty Carol was fascinated by the portable Garmin GPS unit that was being used along with an Atlas and computer road maps. We certainly were in no danger of losing our way! The drive took us seven hours.
Early the next morning we arrived at the museum for the first day of activities. The new wing is a gift to the town of Maysville from Louis & Kaye Browning and houses Kaye's collection. Bill came to escort his parents in for their first look!
Bill took us through the various rooms and then he told his parents he had a special treat for them! I think Esther and Russell were both about to burst their buttons! The rotunda had been named after him and his name was in 6" high letters! Big tears came to Esther's eyes and all she could do was hug her son. Bill has made his living making 1/12th scale miniatures for thirty years and designed several museum exhibits and this was a crowning moment. He has very proud parents!
We wandered around and wanted to take pictures but this was discouraged but as you will see, Esther sneaked a few anyway. Here we are looking at the center piece of the collection. It is the 1/12th scale of Spencer House, the English Manor house where Princess Diane was raised. It is magnificent! The artists, Kevin and Susan Rogers, that made it were in attendance and you could see the pride they had that their masterpiece had such a wonderful setting.
Next we moved on to see some of the exhibits containing dolls. They were of particular interest to us. One of our favorites was the section about nursery rhymes and storybook characters. We just couldn't believe the details on the faces of all the children in the exhibit of "Old Lady Who Lived In a Shoe." Hanna Kahl-Hyland was the artist of this exhibit. You might remember that she also carves Hittys.
One of the other exhibits to contain dolls was quite interesting. It depicted the Lewis & Clark expedition and was made by Shirley Whitworth Bertram. Shirley was sitting near by demonstrating how she made the dolls and the fine leather clothing.
After spending the greater part of two days at the museum a lot of us decided to visit a little town just minutes away. Some of those attending had heard of a tavern that was only open two days a week and served the best food imaginable! Esther thought it was the best quiche she had ever eaten! The highlight of this little side trip for the Hittys was a visit to an antique store. Here we found many things to look at but we weren't allowed to bring any of them home!
Upon entering the store, Hitty Ann spotted two sheep and was happy to pet them. Of course, they weren't really alive. They were wood with wonderful wool coats.
On the other side of the room Hitty Carol found a bench and sat down for a rest.
HittyBelle found a birdcage she wanted but we had to leave it behind.
The same was true for the toy goose that Hitty Lara found. I suspect now that we are home, Esther wishes she had bought all those things we picked out.
I have tried to tell about some of the highlights. Many artists that work in miniature were in attendance from far away places. They came from England, Germany, Denmark and Japan. One evening when everyone put on their best to attend that evening's festivities, two ladies staying at the same hotel as we, wore the clothing from their country. They received many, many compliments and Esther asked to take their picture for the Journal. Normally, we don't have real people's photos in this Journal but they said they would not mind at all. One other interesting fact was that both ladies had the same name, Kazuko!
Our wonderful week is over but it has left many memories. We hope that any of our readers that are traveling through Kentucky will stop and enjoy all the treasures at the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center and if you do, please tell us about it.
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