Vacation, Day One

So since the main purpose of this vacation was really to drive my brother’s car to North Carolina, we spent the majority of last Thursday doing exactly that. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I am obsessed with road trips. They’re on my list of most awesome things about being alive. But I’m one of those annoying people that wants to stop at every historical marker or oddball museum to take a picture. Call it a by-product of being homeschooled for 11 years. Everything is a field trip. Fortunately, I got this quality from my mom so she wasn’t too terribly annoyed that I wanted to field trip our way through a few states. Before we left Columbus, I’d visited my favorite travel website, Roadside America, aka: “Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions.”

Roadside is great because I can always count on them to recommend some sightseeing just a little (or a lot) on the side of weird. And that’s where Körner's Folly comes in. This is a destination I’d had my eye on since last March when we drove to North Carolina.

Sometimes billed as the “strangest house in the world,” Körner's Folly was built essentially as a model home by interior designer Jule Körner. As a result, none of the rooms or doors are the same size or style. Because Jule’s wife was so in love with the house, they eventually remodeled and extended the home. It’s now a walk-through museum. Some of the rooms are tiny and the doorways can be difficult to get through but it was well-worth getting side-tracked from the main highway.

Walking up the path to the house…

It felt like there were mirrors in every single room in the house. It got a little horror-movie creepy after awhile.

More mirrors and doors and stairways…the middle photo is of Körner's design and it’s called a “kissing corner.” It was for engaged and married couples who wanted to sneak away during a party or reception and spend some time alone. I thought this was especially sweet.



In the children’s nursery, the ceiling is only 5’ 6” high as Mom is demonstrating.



The other significant thing about the house is that it holds the first domestic theatre (stage in a private home) built in the United States. The little theatre was used for the Körner's children and other local kids to put on theatrical productions for the community.



Fortunately, no one else was in the museum so I could get away with stuff like this.




And they say a PhD in theatre is an impractical degree…

So there you have it. Körner's Folly. If you’re ever in Kernersville, North Carolina, be sure to stop and see it. This fulfills something on my bucket list for 2012.

What about you? What’s the weirdest museum you’ve ever visited?

love, elizabeth

Independently Yours, Columbus

Have discovered yet another reason to love Columbus, Ohio, the self-declared “indie art capital of the world.” It’s called Independents’ Day and celebrates the many local businesses, restaurants, and artists in the area with a little one day festival.

We got to see local indie band, Necropolis, play a set. Emily (pictured right) is a friend of mine from the PhD program. That’s right. I know rock stars. No big deal.

In front of the state capitol building. Obviously, this is just cause for levitation.

While I was downtown, I met a couple really awesome business owners and I’m super excited to spotlight some local Columbus artists. Tune in for that over the next few days…

What about you? How was your Saturday?

love, elizabeth

PS: Just a few more days until the giveaway. I think you’re gonna like it.

You Live in a Zoo

Kyle and I spent our Saturday at the Columbus Zoo. I left the fancy-pants camera at home so these aren’t quite the photographic quality they would be otherwise but the animals were super friendly all afternoon and we got some pretty amazing shots all the same.

Behind me is the highly endangered Okapi. It’s one of the rarest animals housed at the Cbus Zoo and also one of my favorites.

We visited the Bonobos’ habitat and I fell in love.

Bonobos are awesome, in case you didn’t know. They’re one of the few species that have a sense of identity (they even recognize themselves in the mirror). They live in female-dominated groups and hunt/gather together. If you’ve read Sara Gruen’s latest novel, The Ape House, these are the amazing apes her characters interact with (and if you loved Water for Elephants, you totally should be reading it!)

We were fortunate enough to visit the gorilla habitat when Mac, the silverback (or male leader), was trying to show off in front of the keeper and docent. They told us he’ll often wait for a crowd and then run up to the glass and pound on it to scare people. He loves the attention and he definitely had mine (I totally jumped a foot in the air).

The leopard was taking a nap right beside the visitor’s window when we stopped by…

 

Don’t tell Kyle, but this is my new boyfriend. He’s a Komodo dragon and he seriously was as close as this picture makes him appear. He came right up to the glass and stared deep into my eyes. What can I say, we had a moment…be still my warm-blooded heart.

Kyle looks upset. Either it’s the price of drinks at Flamingo Hideaway or he just found out about me and the Komodo dragon. Oops.

Loved this quote on the sign outside the manatee preserve. The Columbus Zoo is one of the only programs in the world that rescues manatees and rehabilitates them to be released back into the wild.

So what about YOU? What did you do today? Anyone see any animals lately (in the zoo or out in the wild)?

love, elizabeth