When Don & I planned a stop in St. Louis with a stay at the iconic Chase Park Plaza Hotel, I ordered this fine cap on Ebay. The dreamy & stretchy cap with chin strap, too me back to my childhood. 

Sadly, it did not arrive in time. I couldn't celebrate the fifties in the Chase pool, by doing some fine strokes in my pink cap. After all, the Chase's swimming pool was where they did the live broadcast of the 1956 Miss America Pageant! What a hoot it would have been to have taken a swim, in my cap... in the very pool where all those lovely babes strutted, years ago.

This photo with my cap, was taken at home later. I'm smiling, but it was freezing. I'm smiling, like I love swim caps. Actually, I hate them, after years of mandatory ones in the 1960's. This will be my last pose in the swim cap.

 In the fifties, teens came to share yummy treats like the "Lovers Delight". (See writing in mirror) But I am not a teen, so I went for something June Clever might have gone for if she and Ward had stopped in for a bite.  The best part of the whole outing, was thinking about my mom and knowing she used to come here in her youth.  Since there are only about 10 booths, there's a chance she once sat in my very spot!

That seemed like a perfect way to celebrate the simpler times of the 1950's!  By time we reached Springfield, the weather turned chilly and damp, but that didn't stop me.  I had a cup of pink lemonade and thought about that house.  We didn't realize it when initially researching B&Bs in Springfield, but found out that my Great Great Uncle Harry Jewell once lived in this house!

Now, I didn't actually know I would be getting to do that, but I packed my farm wife apron, as I call it...  just in case I happened to have use for it on the farm!   It was easy to feel like I was back in the fifties when chickens roamed freely and cows came back to the barn at night!  I wish I could have celebrated more than one night!
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Merrill Park in Grinnell, Iowa
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​It's hard to find the kind of playground equipment that filled parks in the 1950's.  Some of it is considered too dangerous now. But this mid-century-merry-go-round, is still open for play! Don and  I made a stop here, while on a road trip. I moved to Grinnell as a baby in 1957, I have fond memories of this park.

Below is a photo of me playing on a bigger merry-go-round in Grinnell, when I was 9. I was glad to have a few siblings, because a merry-go-round is not so fun, by yourself.

On the day that Don and I stopped at the Merrill Park, I must admit I felt a little sad. Some of my favorite pieces of playground equipment were long gone. No elephant slide. No horsey gliders. And no kids from my childhood. The park seemed oddly quiet and somewhat distorted, like a dream.

I didn't ride the merry-go-round, because a mom was watching her children play on it. It would have been hard to explain why I felt the urge to ride. 

​So I settled for celebrating the park and the merry-go-round, by snapping  a few photos and remembering!