The day before we leave town for an actual vacation is a good time to finally post about our last (mini) trip. ๐ We took the dogs in for their grooming appointment in August. It takes a couple of hours, so we decided to head out to Shawnee to visit the mummies while we wait. We've been watching The Lost Treasures of Egypt docuseries on National Geographic (currently on the final season๐) and I've been really wanting to see some artifacts in real life. Lacey reminded me of the Mabee-Greer Museum of Art; we supposedly went in high school, but I do not remember anything about it. A quick google search confirmed that the mummies were still there and open to the public. Hooray!!
We stopped by the ๐ขKicks 66๐ขstatue on our way out of town. It's cool but probably looks better at night when it's lit up. Part of me wants to drive around to visit all the Route 66 statues they're putting up all over the state, but another part of me is okay with just seeing pictures of them on Instagram. LOL
When I was planning our day out, I picked two activities for us - the art museum and the Monks' Market at St. Gregory's Abbey. I didn't realize they're on the same campus! We started with the abbey. It was still pretty early, but with it being the hottest summer on record, it was already 100℉ by the time we got there.๐ฅ ๐I wanted to walk around and look at all the old architecture, but it got unbearably hot within the hour. ๐ซ We still managed to walk around a bit before heading inside. The Monks' Market was a lot smaller than the website made it out to be, but it still had some neat stuff. There was an arts & crafts section with crocheted items, the thought of a group of monks having a crochet night made me laugh a bit. I bought some lotion and k-cups. ☕The coffee selection was the largest part of the market, and I plan to return in the winter or spring to buy some more (it'll be nice to walk around campus when Oklahoma isn't under an Extreme Heat Warning).
There was one other visitor at the abbey with us. He suggested that we walk along the hallways to see the old photographs and history. We learned about Fr. Greer and his role at the abbey & museum. I also took the self-guided tour of the church. ⛪The church was small, but jam packed with art and relics. Each chapel was like a mini-museum dedicated to a saint or monk. One of the chapels had the ropes to ring the big church bells. The three white ropes were used to signal daily mass and other normal events. The red rope was reserved funerary purposes and for when a monk passed. ๐ญ The stained-glass windows were part of the self-guided tour but it was a little overcast the day we went, so it wasn't as bright or colorful as it normally would be. Still very beautiful though! ๐ One of the monks was playing the organ while I walked around the church, which was very neat to have live background music.
The last thing I did at the abbey was walk the labyrinth. (Wes gave up and headed to the museum lobby to wait for me... it was probably 105℉ by this point ๐ก) On the way into the center of the labyrinth, I was meant to meditate on things I need to let go of, then when I got to the center, I was supposed to reflect on how much more calm & peaceful I felt. I did both of those things, but I was completely drenched in sweat, so I cut through the path to walk out. I don't remember what I was supposed to meditate on as I exited to return to the hustle & bustle of real life. St. Gregory's Abbey is an interesting (and free!) way to spend an afternoon. I definitely recommend going, but not in the summertime because none of it is properly air conditioned.
Now onto the art museum! ๐จThe museum is small but has a ton of neat stuff... all types/genres of art from all over the world. I liked that it was condensed. I felt like I could spend more time with each piece and it was nice to not have to walk around so much after touring the monastery. Fr. Greer studied art in France and travelled a lot. ๐ He knew that his fellow monks and community in Oklahoma wouldn't get the same opportunities as he did, especially in the 1800s, so he collected artifacts from his travels and brought them back to start the museum. The best part was that the museum actually felt like a random grouping of souvenirs brought back from a lifetime of travels. I could imagine Fr. Greer being like, oh this painting has significance and would also look great next to this vase!
The first artifact he acquired was from Egypt. ๐ The museum has three sarcophagi with two intact mummies. They were the coolest things I've seen in a while. ๐ฎ I am obviously no archeologist or Egyptologist, but felt like I could be in the moment. I remembered all the random nuggets of information I learned from the National Geographic docuseries and related them back to the items in front of me. ๐ด I could feel how astonished the archeologists felt when they discovered the tombs and how careful they had to be to lift the mummies out, like I was part of the team in episode 5... maybe I let my imagination wander off too far. LOL We were the only ones at the museum, so I got to linger at the mummy exhibit for as long as I wanted. Super cool!
After I had my fill of wonder and awe at the museum, it was time for lunch. We went downtown and ate at The Owl Shoppe. ๐ฆ It had just opened for lunch and the restaurant was already packed! I thought this would be a sign we'd have a delicious meal, but it was just so so. ๐ I got the avocado steak tacos and Wes got the quesadilla. His came with a side of chips & salsa. The salsa used chili powder instead of actual peppers so it had a weird gritty texture (I tried a bite). Wes said he didn't mind that, but he didn't like how bland it was, and it could have benefited from some garlic and lime. My tacos were also really bland. Their redeeming qualities were the fresh made guac and street corn. We saw the chef cutting kernels off the cob to make the street corn as we walked in. That corn was the best part of the meal!
There were a couple of antique shops that I wanted to explore while we were downtown but camp called not long after lunch ended saying the dogs were cleaned and ready to go home. We managed to visit the Junk n' Treasure antique shop before we headed out of town (saw some interesting stuff but nothing worth buying). I also wanted to try the ice creamery but we were both too full for dessert. ๐ฆ All in all a successful day out. Next up, we're going to Grapevine, TX for their annual GrapeFest wine festival!!๐ท๐
No comments:
Post a Comment