Wednesday, August 26, 2009

MARCELLINE, MISSOURI & ENROUTE

While in route from Kansas City to Marcelline Missouri I punched in NO interstates in the GPS sooooooooo we found ourselves on US 24. After a while we found that this route through Missouri follows the Lewis & Clark trail. We stopped at a little rest area for lunch and found the below stone marker and historical sign. Apparently a settlement Fort Orleans was established in 1723 by the French which was way before revolution or the Lewis & Clark expedition. It only survived a couple of years.


































The purpose of our visit to Marcelline was to visit Walt Disney's boyhood home and museum. Walt, Roy and their sister lived in the house below on the right. We were not able to stop and get a good picture due to traffic. The house has been drastically altered since they lived there in mid 1920's for about five years. Walt was five to ten years old during that time but these were formative years for him and he never forgot the town. Mainstreet, the picture below left, was eventually how he designed Mainstreet at Disneyland. In later years He and Roy stayed involved with the town. He built the municipal pool and subsequently the town named the recreation area for him. Later on he gave the original Auto ride from Disneyland called Autotopia to the town and it was rebuilt at the rec area and ran many years. It was finally disassembled and stored due to requiring a major overhaul. The reason it was removed from Disneyland was that the cars were too small for adults and his idea for Disneyland was to be a family park that all the family could participate together. The bottom right picture is part of the roadway and the left is one of the original cars. The town hopes to restore the ride and expand the displays in the museum. Unfortunately money is the problem and since Walt's death there has been little help from the Disney Corporation. It was a short but interesting stop for us because we are both Disney nuts. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the artifacts so you will have to visit to see them for youselves.

















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