Too Hot for a Hot New Adventure?

Yes, of course that's me, Cutest. There's even a picture of Cute in this blog.

Why yes it is. Too too hot. Too hot for floating in the lake, with our legs stuck through the arm holes of oversized life vests. Too hot to sit in the big screened-in porch with a fan going overhead, trying to enjoy the placid beauty of the lake and trees and the occasional roar of a too-big boat. Too hot and too humid to breathe without feeling like the air is going to choke you.

But, we said cheerfully when we first awoke to the soup, it’s summertime. This is what we dreamed of last winter.

Normally, when we go to THE LAKE (of the Ozarks), we are remarkably lazy. We float, we boat, we go to a few restaurants, we barbecue, we read outside on the shady dock, we play games or play pool with our affable hosts.

But it was just too hot.

However, we did do the following. In all the years that we’ve been coming here, I can’t recall ever going to a museum. But yesterday, that’s what we did. It’s right off Bagnell Dam no less.

Willmore Lodge is pretty much an unknown, at least it certainly was to us. It was built in 1930 to serve as the home office of the Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation, which was also managing the Bagnell Dam project. It was constructed primarily from pine logs from the Pacific Northwest. What’s fascinating about all that is the fact that the lodge was preassembled in Oregon and then shipped to Missouri, with each piece numbered and then transported by train. They brag about it being built on site in just three months.

Union Electric originally owned the Lodge building. In 1945 it was bought by developer Cyrus Willmore who converted it into his private residence. But by 1996, the Lodge was to be condemned, so Ameren Electric acquired it and a foundation was established to oversee its preservation. Now it’s a museum, a cultural activity center, and the offices of the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.

The museum is all about the creation and construction of Bagnell Dam, the destruction of many little towns to create the lake, the Osage Indians who were here originally, and fish. The lodge itself is wonderful, built at a cost of $135,000 in 1930 which is more than $2.6 million today. The lodge, held together by wooden pegs, initially had 29 rooms with modern conveniences. Its chestnut floors are irreplaceable, for there are no longer enough chestnut trees left to replicate them.

Thankfully, today it’s also air-conditioned.

What we learned is that even if it’s damnably hot, getting into your steaming car and taking an hour to learn all about the creation of this entire area is well worth your time. And as long as you're out, for a real hoot, check out Richard's Relic Shack if you want to see a huge assortment of everything - and pawn your diamonds, too.

And more broadly, the day was a reminder to us to look for the curiosities, the little places, even when you travel to a place that you’ve been many times.

Even if it's too hot.