Shoal Creek Living Museum, thrift stores and Superbowl Sunday

We started the day with breakfast at Burger King with Em's family. Over burgers, yoghurt and muesli (Em and I took our own breakfast), we chatted about the weather, thrift stores, wildlife and whatever else took our fancy. It was a great way to start the day.

From there we drove straight to Hodge Park in search of the Shoal Creek Living Museum. After some geese sightings and a drive past a local drug buying parking spot which Em told me she had inadvertently found one day (*shudder*), we found the right place.

Aside from people walking their dogs, we had the park to ourselves which was lovely because it allowed us to get some great people-less shots. We think we might have even seen another bald eagle, one in full adult plumage, but it was so high up that we couldn't be sure and despite keeping our necks cranked to the heavens for the remainder of our stay, we didn't see it again.

The first thing we saw upon entering the museum (which is set up like a park, and costs nothing to visit. Australia, take note) were Buffalo (Bison). They kept all the way to the back of their field, but were good to see anyway. The photo below shows one of their feeding stations through the wire and mesh that enclose them.Near the old red barn were some farm machinery, which of course provided photographic opportunities.
This is the first house we came across. Despite the appearance of you being able to go inside, the doors are all securely padlocked. Maybe on festival days they allow people inside.
No tourist attraction would be complete without the American flag.As we walked deeper into the property we came across this house. Do you think it's the first design of a house with an attached carport -- as a covered through-way built into its centre? Em and I weren't too sure.
This next photo is of the city jail. Tiny, isn't it? I'm sure I could escape that.... ;-)
I loved that the Blacksmith's huge red barn sat right at the rear of the property. It had perfect placement to catch the eye from many viewpoints.
The church and fence enclosed graveyard at the back.
This one's self explanatory. :-)Inside the Blacksmith's shop. It wasn't possible to go inside. This photo was captured by poking the camera over the door, clicking and hoping for the best.
Fenced in vegetable garden. I imagine this must look spectacular in the warmer months, makes me long for my own vegetable garden....On the other side of this building was a motion sensor with an attached security camera and loudspeaker. Whenever anyone walked around that side of the building (or even when they didn't), a male voice would announce "Your photograph has been taken and downloaded for security purposes. Have a nice day." or something to that effect. I guess with no on-grounds staff they need some form of security measure, but when the stupid thing goes off when no-ones even around it reduces the impact somewhat. And this is the school house.
We returned home to have turkey burgers (home made) then waited for Em's mum to drop by so we could all go thrift shopping. After talking about thrift stores this morning over breakfast, the idea appealed to her so much that we decided to all go together.

We drove to North Oak and went to a large Good Will store where I bought (amongst other things) a real US flag for $2. It's still in its box and everything!! I have great decorating plans for that little baby! :-)

A couple of hours later we returned home where we found that all that running last night had worn holes in Crash's front paws. Poor baby. It's a good thing that we have a quiet couple of days planned for him so he can recover.

Because today is Superbowl Sunday, Em's family put on a Superbowl dinner. We didn't have to bring or do anything but show up. First, we stopped by Em's work then headed out to her mum's place. The sun was just setting and as we reached the fields with cows, we stopped to take in the amazing sunset!
I used the flash for the following photo. Don't the gleaming cows eyes add an eerie touch!? *lol*
Em's mum put on a great meal with a variety of 'traditional' superbowl foods including chilli which wasn't hot at all. I'm fast becoming a real chilli fan. She even had superbowl cake, a large cake in the shape of a football, and napkins and glasses with the superbowl theme. It was neat!

After dinner, Mike showed me his expansive stein (beer mug) collection. He has dozens in various sizes and decorations, all beautifully housed in glass doored cabinets. I've seen these before but never knew there were so many or that they were so impressive! I found a few favourites, one being an elaborate designed stein featuring a bald eagle, and he has mini steins as well. He told us about the antique/vintage/recycled warehouse that they go to where he finds many of the pieces for his collection. It's a place called the Brass Armadillo, and as soon as he told me about it, I knew we'd have to go there!

Myka is keeping the tradition of collecting going and she has an incredible collection of beanie babies. Of course, I had to see them and we girls, Em, Myka and I spent a joyous hour or two fossicking through what seemed like hundreds of beanie babies. I never knew so many types existed, or which ones are more collectable and rare than others. I promised her I would keep an eye out for any that I thought she didn't have, and I am now on the look out for a beanie baby bald eagle, the one with the stars and stripes on his wings. Apparently they are hard to find.

We returned upstairs to watch the end of the Superbowl, a three minute play that lasted thirty minutes. It seemed that one team would win, but in the final play the other advanced and won. I don't understand all the technicalities of the game, but it was fantastic to watch it on a big screen with people who understand and care about it. I couldn't have imagined a more American night than with my 'adopted' family. It's going to be pure torture to leave here... it really is.