... Where Shall I Go, What Shall I Do? - Scarlett O'Hara

My aunt drives me crazy! She travels all over the world as a part of her job and feels free to email me pics of her travels when she daw-gone knows that I want to travel too. My current goal in life is to get a stamp in my new (but as of yet not used) passport!

The other day, she e-mailed me pictures from her current vacation on the beach in Florida. She tried to downplay how wonderful it was by saying it was cold and damp, but I could tell she was having a good time. And since it was 32 degrees here, I'm pretty sure I'd have swapped with her in a heartbeat despite how "cold" it was there.

Sometime this spring, she and mom are contemplating going out to San Diego to visit one of their sisters. I've been invited along, but I don't think I'll go because 1) Been there, done that (refer to my as of yet mental blog regarding the infamous train trip with Grandma Hollis out to San Diego); second, someone really ought to hang at home and take care of the livestock; and C) I have my own vacation plans in mind. (mwa-ah-ah-ah!)

I, Rosemary, am going to go somewhere this year. I have suggested to my fiend Jennifer who has not really had a vacation in several years, that she leave her hubby for a week or so and go on a Thelma and Louise-style trip with me (only without the driving off a cliff part - unless we get a rental... hmm.. mental note: investigate car rental rates) preferrably to the beach because we're both in need of some rest and relaxation. I don't know if she'll actually do it, but I've decided that since I'm now living rent-free and putting considerable bucks in my savings account, either way, Rose is going to take a vacation.

So where would I like to go? Well, the following list is my list of ideal vacations:

1) Egypt. Somewhere in the middle of reading Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series, I decided that if I had to do it all again, I'd become an archeologist. Now, I readily admit that I don't like bugs, dirt, sweat, heat, mud, snakes, spiders, or the idea of working in a country where there are those who might be ideologically opposed to me, but I'm pretty sure that I'd have been a great archeologist. Probably would have found a tomb that would put ol'King Tut's to shame by now. But I digress. Since I can't do it all over and since I don't like bugs, dirt, sweat, etc, I'll have to go as a tourist. I'd love to see the Pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx. Just think of the blogs about that trip! Holly has told me she'd go with me, as she enjoys those books, too. Ah, excuse me while I Google the price of pith helmets!

2) The Beach. I came to the epiphany a while ago that I was meant to be born to sea-faring folk, or at a minimum to folk who live by the sea. Not that I'm saying the good Lord messed up by giving me to my current fam, but I'm just saying that somewhere along the line my ancestors moved west when they should have stayed closer to the water. There is nothing more wonderful to me than slowly wandering up and down the beach, with the water coming in and wabbling over my footies. I can't swim and I don't like seafood, except for Captain D's or Long John Sliver's, but I just need to return to the beach every so often. After certain amount of time passes, something deep in my soul starts yearning to sit in the sand and listen to the waves as then crash in and then go back out. Sigh...

3) England. I want to go to Europe, but I only speak English. I took French my freshman year in high school, but then the teacher quit and they hired a Spanish teacher and I cheesed, so I was NOT going to take Spanish even if it killed me! Humpf! So then in college, I took two semesters of Italian with my roommate Janna. But I didn't take anymore because 1) that's all DePauw offered and B) I transferred to University of Evansville, which didn't offer it at all. Unfortunately now, 26 and 21 years later, respectively, I can't speak either French or Italian... although I can generally hold my own with a menu at the Olive Garden. So I guess my point is that for my first trek to Europe, I think I ought to go to a country where we speak the same language, relatively speaking. That and I do love history, so I would enjoy going to the Tower of London and go see where the Battle of Hastings was fought! If I went in August, I could go see the island where Princess Diana is buried! (Do they still open it up for tours in August?) Oh, and I could go to Mrs. Miggins' coffee shop! And of course, since I'd be that close, I'd have to run over to see Scotland (the birth place of my beloved Gerard Butler) and Ireland.

Now When He Was a Young Man, He Never Thought He’d See, People Stand in Line to See the Boy King!

I recently trekked to Indianapolis to see King Tut. (Cue Steve Martin..) Tut is currently on exhibit at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum until October (BTW, Haley, you’re welcome for the plug).

I had seen a Tut exhibit several years ago in Kansas City, but the items we saw there were replications, (or so I’ve been told – I don’t consciously recall that.) This exhibit, however, was the real stuff and it’s a real honor for Indy to have this exhibit, because normally it only goes to bigger cities/museums.

The exhibit opened with a short video narrated by Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford, explaining what we’d be seeing. Then the doors opened into several rooms with non-Tut-related artifacts. It was in one of these rooms that I found my favorite item: the sarcophagus for Crown Prince Thutmose’s pet cat. See, due to my father’s recent passing, I think of these things more often, so I had been discussing with Holly what would happen to my beloved cats, Sophie and Gizmo, if I were to go before them. But here the light bulb popped on in my head that if they go first, I could just have them mummified and put in a cute little sarcophagus just like Thutmose did! It was in this room, for this item, that I was sorely tempted to risk Security’s wrath and take a picture, but I chickened out. Fortunately, I was able to get a postcard of it. (See the picture)

After seeing several rooms of non-Tut stuff, you entered Tut’s tomb!! (mwahahaha) From here on, the exhibit was set out like the actual tomb was when Howard Carter found it in 1920-something. Of course, there was a lot more stuff packed into the actual tomb and it was rather haphazardly shoved in there, from what I’ve read about it. But the items that were on display were pretty interesting. We got to see Haley’s favorite item: a beautiful mini-sarcophagus, about 15 inches high and inlayed with gold and jewels, which held the body parts (brain, stomach, etc.) removed in mummification and went into canopic jars. We got to see toys for Tut to play with in the afterlife. There was a solid gold earring that must’ve weighed 30 pounds! And there were a bunch of shabti – little statuettes that were buried with the mummy and would do any hard labor that the deceased might be expected to do in the afterlife. (Even in death he got to have minions – why can’t I have just one?!)

Finally, as with all respectable exhibits, the tour ended in the gift shop. There was something for everyone, young and old, in the gift shop – from the usual cheap crap to incredibly expensive nice stuff. I purchased the aforementioned postcard of Prince Thutmose’s cat’s sarcophagus and the Egyptian addition to the United Nations. The United Nations being my growing collection of stuffed animals representing the countries I, or members of my family, have visited. (Yes, I think this counts!) (See the picture)



The night before we went to see the Tut exhibit, Haley’s boss was able to get Mom, Holly, and I tickets to attend a talk at Butler University by Dr. Zahi Hawass, the noted Egyptian archaeologist. He is the Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and he is a hoot! He spoke of the DNA studies that are being done on various mummies, including two infants buried with Tut, and anticipated discoveries of new tombs. Unfortunately, though, the man was maddening in his refusal to give details on the results; saying only that there will be news conferences in a month and later in the year.