OFF WE GO! HERE, THERE, & EVERYWHERE!

Exploring the Wider World Beyond Honey Hill Country with Felicity Grace Merriweather

“So Much To Do and See! At the St. Louis World’s Fair”

Felicity Grace Merriweather possesses an insatiable curiosity about the wider world.

From grand expositions and remarkable inventions to distant places and extraordinary people, she delights in bringing readers stories, discoveries, and adventures from beyond the familiar hills and hollers of Honey Hill Country.

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Some journeys begin with a train ticket . . . .

Others begin with curiosity . . . . 

Mine began with both.

I have seen many wonderful things in my travels.

But nothing quite prepared me for the World’s Fair.

I arrived at the World’s Fair gate with my ticket safely tucked inside my purse.

I checked to make certain it was still there at least six times before reaching the entrance.

Possibly more.

By the final inspection, I had become convinced the ticket might somehow escape if left unsupervised.

It did not.

Fortunately.

After waiting an entire month since the opening on April 30th, I was finally here.

At the gates.

At the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

At the World’s Fair!

And suddenly I discovered something surprising.

No matter how much one prepares, nothing quite prepares you for the first sight of it.

I had expected large buildings. These were not merely large. They were enormous. Some appeared large enough to contain entire sections of Butterfield. Others seemed determined to continue all the way to Illinois.

Everywhere I looked, towers rose into the sky, flags fluttered overhead, and crowds moved in every direction at once.

For several moments I simply stood still and stared.

Then I remembered I was supposed to be taking notes.

I promptly opened my notebook and wrote:

“Very large.”

It seemed an inadequate description.

The sounds alone were enough to overwhelm the senses. Music drifted through the air from somewhere ahead. A whistle sounded in the distance. Thousands of voices rose and fell around me. Languages I had never heard before mixed with laughter, conversations, and the steady movement of the crowd.

I recognized some words.

Not many.

At one point I became convinced I had identified French.

A few moments later I was no longer confident.

The smells were equally remarkable.

Fresh bread.

Roasted nuts.

Coffee.

Sausages.

Pastries.

Candy.

And at least three things I could not identify at all.

One of them smelled wonderful.

One smelled concerning.

I remain uncertain about the third.

I had intended to walk directly toward the Palace of Agriculture.

Instead, I became distracted by a building I had not noticed before.

While examining that building, I noticed an exhibit.

While examining the exhibit, I heard music.

While investigating the music, I encountered a crowd gathered around something fascinating.

Curious, I moved closer.

A gentleman was demonstrating a machine unlike anything I had ever seen before. Precisely what the machine accomplished remained somewhat unclear to me, but it whirred, clicked, spun, and attracted an impressive audience.

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I watched for several minutes.

Everyone around me seemed impressed.

I decided to be impressed as well.

I also filled nearly half a page of notes.

Most of them consisted of question marks.

At that point any resemblance to my original plan disappeared entirely.

To be perfectly honest, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. Every building seemed larger than the last, every crowd appeared to be heading toward something extraordinary, and every turn revealed another thing I had not expected to see.

The World’s Fair appears capable of distracting a person every twenty-seven steps or so.

Possibly fewer.

I had also expected many visitors.

I had not expected so many visitors from so many different places.

Everywhere I turned, people wore different styles of clothing, spoke different languages, and carried themselves in ways both familiar and unfamiliar.

More than once I found myself wondering how far someone had traveled to be here.

The world, I discovered, is considerably larger than Honey Hill Country.

And far more interesting than I had imagined.

Not long after this revelation, a gentleman approached and asked for directions.

This was unfortunate.

I myself had become lost approximately fifteen minutes earlier.

Not wishing to appear unhelpful, I smiled confidently and pointed toward a nearby information booth.

A few minutes later, I found myself visiting the same information booth for personal reasons. The young man there was kind enough not to laugh. At least not while I was standing there.

Everywhere I looked there seemed to be another wonder waiting just beyond the next building.

Electric lights.

Magnificent exhibits.

Strange machines.

Extraordinary architecture.

People from around the world.

I began making a list of things I wished to revisit, but the list quickly became longer than the page available to contain it.

Before I had crossed the first portion of the grounds, I had already filled several pages of notes, many of them unfinished.

I would begin writing about one thing only to discover another.

And then another.

And then another.

I suspect this may become a recurring problem.

As the afternoon passed, I found myself becoming increasingly aware of one simple fact. No one could possibly see everything here in a single day. Or a week. Or perhaps even a month.

The Fair is simply too large.

Too varied.

Too astonishing.

And I have only just begun.

I have already filled half a notebook.

I have seen only a fraction of the grounds.

I already have at least a dozen things I intend to revisit and am only just beginning.

I suspect I may need another notebook.

In the coming months, I hope to share many of my discoveries with you.

But for now, allow me to offer a single observation.

The World’s Fair is larger, louder, brighter, and more astonishing than I imagined.

And I have only just walked through the gate.

Pen-and-ink illustrations have been created for this piece with the assistance of AI . . .  lovingly prepared and styled for the world of Little Red Bear.

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