In downtown Columbia, Missouri, a gust of wind catches a rainbow-striped flag, sending it into a swirling dance with a peace flag hanging a few feet away. A shopper looks up to watch the flags, then down to notice the small doorway below them, nearly hidden among the busy shops and trendy restaurants lining Broadway. Curious, she peers inside, then descends a set of creaky stairs, like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, to the Peace Nook.

The Peace Nook is a non-profit store and community resource center operated by Mid-Missouri Peaceworks. Peaceworks, which formed in 1982 to oppose nuclear weapons, works to promote public awareness about peace, diversity, energy and sustainability issues. The Peace Nook carries products that support the organization’s goals, such as fair trade imports and books, T-shirts and bumper stickers promoting Peaceworks’ ideology.

Mark Haim, Director of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, has been with the organization since shortly after it was founded, when he started as a volunteer. Haim, who studied social science as an undergraduate and did graduate work in economics, said he has spent most of his adult life working on the problems Peaceworks tries to solve.

“People often think of us as the store, but the store is an outgrowth of the organization and basically serves to support the organization’s work,” Haim said.

Most of the work Peaceworks does involves public education about social and ecological issues. The organization raises public awareness by showing films, hosting speakers, organizing weekly peace demonstrations and coordinating events, such as their annual sustainable living fair.

One of Peaceworks’ larger annual projects is helping to coordinate Columbia’s Earth Day festival, which Haim said Peaceworks has been involved with for the past 20 years.

Haim said the Earth Day festival is a big event in Columbia, complete with a street fair, booths, live entertainment and children’s activities. He said Columbia’s Earth Day differs from festivals held in larger cities because it is put together as a grassroots effort.

“Not to dis St. Louis Earth Day, but it just seems a little bit of an oxymoron when you have an Earth Day and it’s sponsored by Monsanto and Ameren UE,” Haim said. “We don’t take money from polluters. We put it on with a coalition of grassroots groups, environmental folks and city agencies and university programs.”

Peaceworks members also engage in advocacy to influence public policies relating to energy issues, often participating as legal parties before regulatory commissions. Haim said Peaceworks members recently helped prevent the construction of a large and costly nuclear reactor in Callaway County.

“This year we were part of a coalition that was successful in convincing our state legislature not to repeal a very important consumer protection law that Ameren UE was pushing that, had [it been repealed], would have facilitated them charging rate payers in advance for building a very large, very, very expensive nuclear plant,” Haim said.

Peaceworks uses the Peace Nook to reach the community and foster change through education.

“Much of what’s [in the store] directly or indirectly promotes people essentially developing greater understandings of peace, nonviolence, sustainable lifestyle choices, helping people cultivate an attitude of embracing diversity,” Haim said.

The Peace Nook is housed in a small, crowded basement. The aisles are narrow, and the shelves are cluttered almost to the point of overflowing. Colorful handmade signs label merchandise and provide fun facts, such as how many trees could be saved if every U.S. household used recycled toilet paper.

One corner of the store holds an extensive book selection, with titles including “Canning and Preserving Your Own Harvest,” “Soulfully Gay,” “Animal Spirit Guides” and “The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews.”

Farther down the wall, a rack of children’s books stands behind a short bench painted with the words “Future Activists’ Seating.”

Another section is devoted to food items, most of which are nonperishable and organic. The selection is not extensive, but there are a number of hard-to-find specialty items, such as gluten-free pasta.

The rest of the store is a hodgepodge of T-shirts and bumper stickers with messages such as “Renewable energy is American security,” candles, CDs, gay pride items and fair trade clothing and purses.

“Fair trade imports are ones that are produced by workers’ cooperatives in developing countries where the workers actually own the companies cooperatively,” Haim said. “They’re not working in sweatshops to be exploited, and they’re getting a living income — an income they can live on — out of their labor.”

Haim said it is important for stores like the Peace Nook to set an example by selling fair trade imports.

“There’s too many stores in this country that will buy cheap, sell relatively expensive, make a big profit, and the people who are producing goods are really living in the margins,” Haim said. “People working in factories in Southeast Asia and China make 25 cents an hour and work 70 hours a week, and it’s just pretty outrageous.”

Haim said he feels the Peace Nook not only treats producers with more respect, but it treats customers more fairly as well by not marking up its prices.

“Most of the import items folks just tend to at least double the price from wholesale to retail, and we just don’t do that,” Haim said.

He said the Peace Nook’s prices also are lower because the shop has a lower cost of operation than most stores.

“Everybody questions why we haven’t moved up to street level,” Haim said. “It costs three times as much per square foot on street level as it does in a basement. By keeping our overhead low, we’re able to keep our prices low, and that means that we’re a real resource for people who have limited means and want to get things at an affordable price.”

Haim said another way the Peace Nook manages to keep its prices low is by having more volunteers than paid employees. He said the store typically has 25 to 30 regular volunteers.

“What’s always been the lifeblood of the Peace Nook is the community support,” Haim said. “We have people who value what we’re doing here and are willing to commit their time and energy to this and the fact that people in the community appreciate what we’re doing and want to support it.”

Meghan Keeler worked at the Peace Nook and for Peaceworks as a volunteer for about three months before she was hired to work at the store as an employee. Keeler said she had recently moved to Columbia when she began volunteering for the organization.

“I’ve done a lot of advocacy work, traveling around a bit, like in the last few years I spent time down at the Black Mesa reservation supporting Navajos who were facing forced relocation from their land and herding sheep, things like that,” Keeler said.

Keeler said she was looking for a place in Columbia where she could continue her activism, and she chose Peaceworks because she agreed with the organization’s goals of encouraging peace, promoting sustainability and respecting diversity.

Council Bluffs, Iowa

From the outside, the museum looks like an average brick building. There is only one peculiarity — bars over the windows.

Built during the 19th century in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the Squirrel Cage Jail housed local criminals in addition to the jailer’s family. Today, the jail is preserved as a museum.

HISTORY AND EXPLANATION OF THE JAIL

In 1884, Cottonwood Jail burned down and the county was forced to house prisoners in a single room in the courthouse basement. The “Squirrel Cage,” as locals know it, is a rotary or “lazy-Susan” style jailhouse, built in 1885.

The rotary design of the jail was chosen for the Pottawattamie County Jail because the facility was designed to hold about 60 prisoners with only one jailer. However, there are accounts of as many as five men being put in each two-man cell. Each cell consisted of two bunks and a small privy, or primitive toilet system, in the inner part of the cell.

The Squirrel Cage structure is in the shape of a cylinder with each level divided up like a pie. The severity of the crime committed would dictate the level on which an inmate would be housed. The first floor housed petty crime criminals, while murderers were held on the third floor.

A giant crank installed on the second floor of the jail rotated the cells and opened up to three cells at one time. On each level, a small door opened to allow the prisoners to exit their cells, one cell at a time. Because the jail only rotated in one direction, if a prisoner on the backside of the facility needed to be let out, every cell in the facility turned until the prisoner needing to be let out had arrived at the small door.

Council Bluffs resident Donna Perdue visited the Squirrel Cage Jail for the first time this summer after having lived in the area her whole life.

“It is the meaning of the word punishment versus what we have today, which just seems like you are going to camp,” Perdue said. “This is punishment. You wouldn’t want to come back.”

When the jail was first built, it operated on a water motor — an innovative idea that failed within three years of the construction of the building. The crank and gears were then installed to turn the jail. As the years wore on, turning the crank became harder and harder.

Museum staffer Ed Ritchie is part of the Pottawattamie County Historical Society, which runs the jail and has worked there for three years.

“I was in marketing all my life, and I kind of relate to the architects who came up with this design,” Ritchie said. “They could have spent a fourth of the money when they built the jail, and these architects came up with ideas and almost gimmicks and talked the town into putting this jail up.”

In addition to the rotating jailhouse structure, the building also contained the jailer’s office and the kitchen used to make every meal. The stove also served as the only source of heat during the jail’s first winter in operation. A small recreation area with a few picnic tables encircled the cells. The area only would have been comfortable for a few inmates at one time.

Additionally, the main floor housed the solitary confinement cell, which is smaller than a full-size refrigerator. Prisoners were only supposed to be kept in this diminutive space for one day, but there are reports of inmates being kept inside for up to three days. They received the standard three meals per day and were given a coffee can for bathroom purposes. The space is so small that prisoners had to stand, and some of the taller prisoners may not have been able to stand tall without hitting their heads.

The second floor was home to female prisoners, as well as the juvenile detention center. Children ages 7 to 17 who had committed petty crimes such as stealing a candy bar were kept there, as well as children left with no place to go while their parents were incarcerated.

Because there are no elevators in the museum, guests cannot venture beyond the second floor. The third floor of the building housed an infirmary. In hopes of receiving better care, prisoners often tried to break their arms and legs by sticking them through the bars while the jailer turned the crank. The room opposite the physician’s on the third floor was that of the trustees. Two trusted inmates with additional responsibilities and added freedom would share a bedroom, rather than a cell, on this floor.

The jailer’s family lived on the fourth floor, which also housed the unit from which the Squirrel Cage structure itself was suspended. Odors from cell toilets traveled upward and gave the fourth floor an especially foul odor.

Angie Couchman and her family visited the Squirrel Cage Jail on a weekend getaway.

“When we were up on the second floor, I thought, ‘Man I’m sweating now — I can’t imagine being up on the third floor, especially when it’s over 100 degrees plus humidity,’” Couchman said. “And to be there all day, stuck in a little pie piece.”

CHANGES TO THE FACILITY

In 1960 the Squirrel Cage Jail underwent renovations ordered by the State Fire Marshall. The primary concern was for a quick and timely exit from the cells. With the cells the way they were, it could take days to get all the prisoners out of their cells in an emergency.

The Fire Marshall insisted that the cells be cut open and the gears cemented in place. This reduced the number of cells in use from 30 to 18. Each of the ten cells on the main level was opened, in addition to five cells on the second level and three on third level.

Electricity was added in 1960. Until this point, prisoners relied on the minimal light provided by the building’s few windows.

In 1969 the building was condemned and prisoners were moved to a facility in Clarinda, Iowa.

JAIL PERSONNEL

The position of jailer was an honor, and the pay was fair. The jailer and his family lived and worked in the jail. One jailer worked day-in and day-out for nine years without a single day off.

The family kept modest quarters on the fourth floor of the building until the 1920s. At this time, the jailer and his family moved their living space to the second floor. When the jailer’s family took over the quarters of the female prisoners, the females moved into the juvenile detention center with the children.

The jailer’s wife was expected to cook each meal for the prisoners. Common meals included beans and pasta because they were inexpensive and easy to prepare in large quantities. The jailer’s wife was given a food allowance and was allowed to keep any unused food money for the family.

One jailer could not carry out every task necessitated by the building and inmates, so he would need to seek out a few trustees. These were trusted prisoners who maintained order on the jail floor, assisted in food preparation and serving, mowed the jailhouse lawn and shopped for groceries for the jailer’s wife.

THE SQUIRREL CAGE TODAY

Inmates were cleared out of the building in 1969. Three years later the jail was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Its rich history was part of what saved it a few years later when the construction for the new courthouse began and some wanted the Squirrel Cage demolished and used for additional parking space. The Pottawattamie County Historical Society owns and operates the museum today.

In Whittington, Illinois, the Southern Illinois Art & Artisan Center holds a vast array of treasures from pottery, crystal and wood furniture to fiber arts and photography. Every inch of wall is adorned with artwork that catches the eye of visitors, whether they are looking for decorative items or something more functional.

The idea for the center originated with former Illinois governor James R. Thompson’s dream to provide Illinois residents with a rich appreciation for the arts. Thompson viewed artists as small businesses and wanted to develop a way for them to expand and gain more publicity and notoriety. He wanted an art gallery that showcased artwork from Illinois residents to make their work more available to the public.

The Illinois Artisans Program was created with the help of members from the Illinois State Museum. The first artisan center was established in 1985 in Chicago, where Ellen Gantmer, art supporter and Chicago native, took the role as the first manager. The artisan center in Whittington was built in 1990. Today, there are four locations, including Springfield and Dickson Mounds. The program will celebrate its 25th year in 2010.

Seasoned shopper Carmelita Brubaker grew up in Benton, Illinois, about fifteen minutes south of Whittington. Now living in the St. Louis area, Brubaker makes it a point to come to the art center at least a couple times a year. Brubaker said she will always come back to the art center and would recommend it to anybody.

“If they had a prize for No. 1 customer, I’d be it,” Brubaker said.

Brubaker said her frequent trips provide her the opportunity to see a multitude of different art pieces because the displays are always changing.

“I was just here two months ago, and the displays are already different,” Brubaker said.

Brubaker always had a fascination with art, primarily studying sketching, and her late husband specialized in oil paintings. Her husband created many pieces of artwork, but a piece that got a lot of attention was titled “Scout’s Out.” Before the painting was designed, Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed that he wanted some kind of monument in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Brubaker’s husband’s painting was so well liked by the government they asked if it could be used as a design for a national monument at Fort Leavenworth.

“Scouts Out” is a painting of a buffalo soldier riding on a horse with the calvary off in the distance. Below the horse is a Native American tracking the beats of the hooves of the coming horses. A sculptor constructed the actual 14 1/2 foot-tall bronze design of the painting that stands at Fort Leavenworth today.

“I’ve had so many people wanting to buy that painting, but I’m going to keep it for my children, so it can be a legacy from their father,” Brubaker said. “I think this is why I’m drawn to all of this. I was just around it all the time.”

Employee Carilyn Spencer spends most of her time setting up the artwork in the showcase rooms. Spencer’s enthusiasm for art started at a young age, focusing on wood carving in college. After having several pieces of her artwork were showcased at the Southern Illinois Art & Artisan Center in Whittington, she began to work there. Spencer said as the talent continues to grow, the competition has increasingly gotten more difficult.

The art center represents 750 artists, ranging in age from 11 to 92. Artists get to choose the price for their pieces displayed in the galleries. Spencer said prices range from $5 to $20,000 depending on the type of piece. Joseph Valadez from Cicero, Illinois, has been an Illinois Artisan member since 2008 and specializes in handmade wood carvings. Most of his artwork takes him only three weeks to make and costs about $40, whereas internationally known artist Annaliese Heijnen’s pieces cost significantly more. A member of the Illinois Artisan Center since 1995, Heijnen is famous for her ceramic artwork. Her most widely known pieces of art are ceramic roosters, which cost about $800.

Spencer said sometimes customers come in with a specific piece they are looking to buy. Every April when Paducah, Illinois, holds its national Quilt Festival, visitors pass through the Southern Illinois Art & Artisan Center to see or buy the quilts that are on display. Quilts at the art center may cost as much as $1,800.

Romaula Coleman, manager of the Southern Illinois Art & Artisan Center, said she went to the art center 17 years ago to find out how artists were juried in and left that day with a part-time job.

“I have always leaned to fiber arts because that’s what I do, but I’ve learned to broaden my vision of what I like in art after working here a number of years,” Coleman said. “The artists never cease to amaze me.”

Coleman said that throughout the year, the art center offers art demonstrations, workshops, book signings and classes for visitors. Individuals have the opportunity to try their hand at an assortment of different art mediums, including china painting, dye painting, rug hooking, knitting and silk fusion.

The art center also hosts workshops for children. Every Wednesday children’s workshops are dedicated to using only recyclable materials. Children can participate in hands-on projects, such as colored pencil drawing, pottery, print making and basic sewing.

Special events are not just dedicated toward hands-on activities. The artisan shop captivates all five senses every year at their annual wine festival held in September. The wine festival is a favorite, bringing in 3,000 to 5,000 visitors every year. During the festival, Illinois artisans demonstrate their craft and their work is available for purchase. Visitors have the opportunity to sample wine, enjoy delicious foods from various restaurants and listen to several different bands.

Coleman said the art center’s Southern hospitality and wonderful staff is what keeps visitors coming back time after time.

In December of 1803, Meriwether Lewis set up camp on the River Dubois in Illinois with many of the men who would later make up the Corps of Discovery.

During their stay at Camp River Dubois, the Corps trained to survive the conditions of the wilderness, hired more men for the journey and gathered supplies. Without the months of preparation at the camp, their campaign would not have been a success. The men’s stories during their time at River Dubois are preserved through the care of the volunteers and manager at Camp River Dubois Lewis and Clark Museum.

Museum Manager Brad Winn works to preserve the stories of the Corps. Winn said his goal is to educate people about what really happened at Camp River Dubois and to rebuke the idea that Lewis and the Corps of Discovery left from St. Louis to begin the campaign.

In one of the museum’s rooms, visitors will find a log cabin, barrels of fake food, beads and cloth. Large audio-visual exhibits talk about the history of the camp as well as display letters that the men wrote in their diaries. Winn said this exhibit provides information about the methods Lewis and Clark used to pick the men they wanted on the journey with them.

“If you had to be, in this case, William Clark, what kind of person would you bring with you on the trip?” Winn said. “They were learning to work together, building a team. They lived in log cabins while they were here. They built a fort.”

A darkly lit room across the hall displays an array of maps on the walls. The first shows what was known about the landscape of America before the men took their journey. A large chunk of the country is missing in the map, which shows the men’s limited knowledge about the land they were about to explore.

“They tried to figure out what to expect,” Winn said. “How do you prepare for a trip where you have no idea where you are going, you have no idea how long it is going to take you and when you get there you are not even sure what to expect?”

Winn said that despite their preparation, the men did not know what to expect from the land they were preparing to cross. During the exploration, Lewis and Clark were able to produce maps that accurately described the areas they explored.

More than 100,000 visitors come to the museum each year to interact with the exhibits and to gain another perspective of the pilgrimage.

“This center was our destination,” Trisha William said. “Because of our jobs, we couldn’t take a real vacation, but this visitor’s center is perfect because it’s pretty close to us and we are big history buffs.”

Visitors walk around the life-size keel boat and enter the interactive movie theater. Just outside the theater sits volunteer and avid Lewis and Clark historian Weever Glenn. He spends his Saturday afternoons sitting in his chair volunteering at the center and making sure children do not climb on the exhibits. He said he has traveled the trail of Lewis and Clark with his family and even visited the same spot near the Pacific Ocean where the Corps of Discovery ended their exploration.

“I grew up in this area, and I would just like to be associated with the center,” Glenn said. “I just like the history of all of it.”

Outside the museum is a replica of the fort in which the Corps lived during their five-month stay. Throughout the day, visitors can walk the short distance to the fort and receive a history lesson from the Lewis and Clark actors. This ‘hands-on’ experience is exactly the setting that manager Brad Winn wants to create for the museum’s visitors.

“We have exhibits here but not a lot of computerized stuff,” Winn said. “What we try to appeal to is the casual visitor either following the trail or school groups or just [people] interested in Lewis and Clark, and then the ‘Clarkies,’ which are the real interested, the really into the Lewis and Clark history.”

Winn said he has made it his passion to carry on the experience of the men at Camp River Dubois. The final exhibit of the museum is a wall covered in letters the men sent to their loved ones at home or taken from the pages of a diary from their trek across America. Pictures of animals and plants surround the letters, reminding visitors of the things the men saw and discovered on the exploration.

“What we did here is try to use the words of the members of the expedition to tell the story,” Winn said. “In other words, we are not going to interpret it, we are going to let them tell us what they saw.”

Downtown St. Louis is monotonous. Grids of office buildings circle other office buildings. A handful of stadiums and high-class hotels inhabit the blocks unoccupied by businesses. The city is gray, except for two green blocks, appropriately named Citygarden.

The garden sits on what used to be two lots of vacant land between Eighth and Tenth and Market and Chestnut Streets. Twenty-four sculptures from world-renowned artists, including Donald Baechler, Niki de Saint Phalle and George Rickey, are scattered throughout the park and surrounded by plants native to Missouri.

The northeast corner of the park features the Terrace View, an indoor and outdoor restaurant that serves Mediterranean, Italian and French cuisine for lunch and dinner to park visitors.

The sculptures and three water installments — a 180-by-20-foot wading pool, a spray plaza and a sheet of water flowing over a tilted granite disk — invite children to splash, run and climb.

Paul Wagman, Citygarden representative, said the goal of the garden is to create a public space that beautifies the local area.

“Part of the magic of this garden is that it leads to many different kinds of experiences,” Wagman said. “In general, this is a space that is lovely, is meant to make a person feel joyful, calm, excited and pleased. There are spaces that are kind of romantic — they’re sophisticated and urbane.”

Wagman said the Gateway Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1985, is dedicated to improving the cultural landscape of St. Louis. The Foundation provided $25 million to create the park.

Perhaps those most excited about the park are the children, who especially love playing in the spray plaza, located in the middle of the garden. The spray plaza has 102 jets that sporadically spray water up to eight feet high in a variety of patterns. The jets surround a small pool of water that holds the basin-shaped sculpture “Voyage,” by Jean-Michel Folon.

The park prides itself on its interactivity. Not one sign bans visitors from jumping in the fountain, climbing the granite wall or touching the statues. The pathways leading from statue to statue through green gardens promote movement and play.

Kay Ahaus brought her 4-year-old granddaughter Megan to the park. Megan played in the fountain as her grandmother watched, smiling.

“I wanted to see the park,” Ahaus said. “I really like it. It’s great for real young kids, but it’s also great for older kids, too.”

Ahaus said the fountains were unusual in the downtown setting, and the large size made them more fun for kids to play in than public pools.

While the children splash in the water, adults can sit on the benches nearby or enjoy the sculptures. A tall bronze statue of Pinnochio leans back and raises his hands toward the skies in thanksgiving, while smooth oversized white rabbits lay peacefully in the shade. A digital sculpture depicts figures walking in place, and a bird with human legs stares straight ahead at visitors as they pass.

This outdoor art museum is filled with sculptures from world-class artists. Sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle, creator of the “Adam and Eve” statue in the Citygarden restaurant, has  pieces on display in countries around the world, including Germany, Israel and France. Paintings by Ferdinand Léger, a French painter and sculptor who created “Femmes Au Perroquet” in the northeast corner of the park, have sold for more than $8 million.

Visitors can download an audio tour for free as an MP3 from the Citygarden Web site or dial a number to listen to the tour on their phones. The audio tour features narrations by famous St. Louisans, including Mayor Francis Slay, sportscaster Joe Buck, actress Jenna Fischer and three-time Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Park supervisor William Merchant said he began working at the park just after it opened.

“Visitors love it, especially the kids,” Merchant said. “We see mostly families and kids during the day. Around lunch, employees from around here come to eat lunch — it’s a nice place to take a break.”

Merchant said he likes being able to work outside and especially enjoys the art.

“Everyone can interact with the art — it’s not a museum setting,” he said. “You can go up, see how it’s made, touch it, climb it if you please. It’s a different context to art.”

Beijing, China

I was tired as hell. Spending 14 hours in a suffocating aircraft, choking down slimy eggplant will do that.

The hotel bed urged me to sink into its clean white sheets, so I gladly did after a moment’s triumph. “I’ve finally arrived,” I thought, and remarkably so after that verbal struggle with the taxi driver, who didn’t seem to know his way around the city. Head on the pillow, nodding off with the Chinese news screaming H1N1 in the background, I glanced to my left and saw it.

The entire shower was clearly visible through the glass pane next to my bed. My first thought was that I would have to lather up in full view of my roommate, someone whom I met only hours before. But on the outside of the glass, not far out of reach from my position on the bed, was a thick privacy curtain.

Amused and slightly disturbed, I fell into a deep sleep.

I spent three months teaching English in Beijing, where I had experiences even stranger than what my classmates invariably called the “Sexy Shower.” But these snags in what Midwesterners deem “normal life” were small details — the daily rituals implanted in my subconscious were hardly disturbed. I ate three meals a day. I had a job, used the Internet, made my bed, bought soda and cookies at the grocery store and took unlimited naps in an air conditioned apartment with a large, flat screen television.

Two blocks away, people slept in the 100-degree heat. They used an outhouse, consistently breathing in dust from the bricklayers working to remodel their deteriorating courtyard homes. Their skin was leathered and tan from sitting on their shop stoops all day, waiting for customers to give them a few kuai for an expired bottle of orange Fanta.

I meandered daily through these Hutongs, shanty neighborhoods overshadowed by my nine-story apartment building. I often wondered if the U.S. table tennis players felt the same bewilderment I did when they penetrated China for the first time in 1971, after the trade embargo between the two countries was lifted.

But the China they experienced in 1971 wasn’t facing the same rapid development the country is now, the kind that causes traffic jams on narrow streets, where shiny foreign cars block the rusty rickshaws. Those team members probably didn’t have to cover their noses with sweaty palms to keep from tasting the soot or shield their eyes from skyscrapers reflecting the eastern sunlight.

Whether China’s economic growth will eventually smother its more than 2000 years of tradition is a question with an obvious answer: No. Chinese people, both poor and successful, are as stubborn and set as the fortresses that surround their temples, and Western influence won’t easily change that.

The reason is a complicated mixture of religion, political power and the global market. The younger generation — with better access to and understanding of technology — is catching on quickly, but they’re still shielded by a Communist regime and surroundings that don’t quite match up to a modern Western style.

People walk backward on the streets for daily doses of exercise. They buy corn on the cob from the snack stand. They slurp their noodles and spit on the sidewalks. Babies poop where they please. Umbrellas paint the landscape in both rain and shine. Workers dance outside their shops in the mornings, lucky jade Buddhas dangling from their necks and wrists. Tiny leashless dogs cross the streets while their owners follow lazily behind them. Men loiter outside on hot days, flashing their sweaty, swollen bellies, their T-shirts rolled up to their armpits.

When I brought souvenirs and tastes of the strange Chinese palette home, my family took only a short break from sipping cold drinks and eating barbecued pork steak on the back porch to admire them. I missed this lifestyle, but I didn’t envy them. They would never understand what it was like to hang underwear in front of the living room Buddha with the smell of incense still lingering in the air, or to eat chicken hearts with the housekeeper while she loudly practiced mustering one-syllable English words.

People say coming to China is about conquering the Great Wall. But no number of breathless treks up the steep, crumbling slope overlooking miles of treetops and ancient handiwork could compare to what my eyes captured through the viewfinder that was my everyday perspective.

And that was a damn good view.

The art of storytelling might be dead. Still, in the city of Chicago, the art of telling stories about the dead seems to be quite alive.

In the basement of a nightclub called Excalibur, spooky tales are the substance of the show titled Supernatural Chicago. The show began on Friday the 13th, 2003. Since then, it has run each Friday evening, year-round, with additional shows leading up to Halloween.

On one typical night, the audience gathered in the uncertainty of a candlelit basement and took their seats as an unsure, unacquainted group. Silently, a man descended the winding stairs, his face solemn. The room grew still and eyes strained to catch the first glimpse of the storyteller. There in the center of the room, he held his audience’s attention.

Supernatural Chicago is a one-man demonstration, led by necromancer Neil Tobin. Tobin called the title of necromancer the perfect word to describe what he does. Necromancy is the forecasting of the future by alleged contact with the dead, specifically through sorcery, divination and enchantment. Tobin said he always has been fascinated with the strange and unusual and has studied countless books on psychics, hauntings and magic.

As the night progressed, the spectators began to feel at ease, laughing and joining in with some of the acts. They soon realized they were seated for a show, not a séance.

As the first show of its variety in the city of Chicago, many who attend enter with skepticism or apprehension. Tobin addressed this at the start of his performance, humorously saying, “I’m not here to convert you.”

Many of the tales told by Tobin were customary to Chicago, from the cursing of the Cubs to the frightening fable of the devil baby of Hull House. Other stories — like the one about Resurrection Mary — a disappearing date at Willowbrook Ballroom, may not be told any place else.

Some still struggle with the concept of Supernatural Chicago. Tobin attributes this to the common attitudes about magic in American society.

“There’s a tremendous amount of societal pressure, especially in the United States, to ignore our psychic abilities and intuition,” Tobin said. “We are largely educated not to pay attention to these kinds of things.”

After much experimentation, Tobin said he has selected the stories that reoccur each week, but each show is unlike the next. It is the audience that brings variation.

“I never know what kind of show I’m going to get in that regard, and that’s what keeps the show fresh and that’s why I’m still good at it,” Tobin said.

Tobin focuses on old Chicago and embracing its history, which is convenient for a building that used to be grounds for the Chicago historic society.

“There’s something timeless about a good ghost story,” he said.

The necromancer is not only knowledgeable in the history of Chicago’s haunted past, as represented during his show, but is familiar with the history of the magic community as well. As President for both the Chicago Assembly and the Society of American Magicians, Tobin said he seeks to promote the magic community.

“Chicago has an entire subculture comprised of magicians, with a handful of magic clubs scattered throughout the city,” he said.

Tom Palmer, who worked with Tobin in 1993, said that the necromancer, with his quirky and eclectic showman type personality, is really a lot of fun.

“Magic is his hobby,” he said. “Basically, he treats it as a performance, and you can treat him the same way as every other performing magician.”

Now a resident of Tampa, Florida, Palmer said he attends Supernatural Chicago every time he is in the area.

Renate Olive, who was critical of the supernatural aspects of the show, respected its presentation. She called a couple of his skits phenomenal and said that his doldrums tone really enhanced the theme of the performance.

“I’m inclined to believe he has a really incredible sleight of hand, that he’s creating it,” she said, expressing that the show was not as coherent as she felt it could have been.

Tobin said he sees the show as more than just one evening. What people experience on Friday night is only the first part.

“The second part of the show happens the next day, when you wake up… and what you’re left with are questions,” Tobin said. “That, I think, is the greatest gift I can give an audience.”

In his final skit of the night, Tobin chose Margaret Zuleger from the audience. Zuleger said she could not comprehend how Tobin was able to repeat the name she was thinking of in her head. She was undecided as to where the tap between her shoulder blades came from, when nobody and nothing was behind her.

Now, with the lights turned back on, Margaret Zuleger is still speculating. “It makes me wonder if it was a trick,” she said. “He could have a psychic ability, who knows?”

Urbandale, Iowa

The smells of sweet homemade apple pie, harsh print shop ink and woodsy, smoky campfires greet guests as they take a walking tour through Iowa’s history.

Living History Farms is a 500-acre outdoor museum in Urbandale, Iowa. Visitors progress through four time periods in Iowa’s history, including a 1700 Ioway Indian tribe site, an 1850 pioneer farm, a 1900 farm and an 1875 town.

Former Iowa State University professor William Murray created the living museum in 1970 after two unsuccessful runs for Iowa governor. Jennie Derr, marketing and public relations director, said Murray decided to give back to Iowa in a different way.

“He didn’t want another museum where everything is made out of glass,” Derr said. “He wanted a working museum where people could actually visit and see how people lived in the respective time periods while also participating in hands-on activities.”

Visitors walk the self-guided tour and interact with workers at each site. The interpreters, volunteers and interns dress in period clothing, cook, work and live like they are from a different time. Every site has an “interpreter,” a worker who is an expert in the history of that site’s time period.

“Most of the interpreters have a degree in history or an advanced degree in history, so a misconception is they’re actors, and they’re not at all,” Derr said. “They are very passionate about history.”

At Living History Farms the workers don’t pretend to actually live in their time period. They reference contemporary objects and compare their actions with modern practices. Derr said they decided to do this because it makes the workers more approachable.

“[It’s] so they can also relate to things of today,” Derr said. “So for the print shop, they can relate to computers or texting. We find that interpretation works best here.”

IOWAY INDIAN SITE

From the Visitors Center, guests are transported by tractor-pulled wagon to the beginning of a wooded trail that leads to the Ioway Indian site.

The smell of burning wood greets guests as they enter the small clearing. A thatch hut, a partially completed teepee and a buffalo hide stretched across a wooden frame set the scene. Interpreter Melinda Carriker sat stitching a beaded shoe as she showed a small child handmade dolls. Carriker began working at Living History Farms 13 years ago as an intern with the program. Carriker said she is constantly learning because the tribes didn’t have much written about them.

“A lot of the tribe – once they were moved to a reservation – weren’t allowed to do the things they had done in the past, and the knowledge was lost within the tribes,” Carriker said.

Living History Farms began their research by looking through diaries and visiting modern Ioway tribes. Carriker said the best way to learn how to make things is by trial and error. Everything at the site is handmade by the staff.

“We are constantly changing things and evolving things here as we find a bit more information [and] learn a little more from different books and other sources,” Carriker said.

1850s FARM SITE

The smell of pigs and oxen greets visitors at the beginning of the 1850s farm site, but the aroma of dinner soon wafts through the stench. A tiny log cabin sits behind the livestock with doors and windows propped open to let in the cool air.

Each day the workers at the different sites cook meals for themselves and guests. At the 1850s farm, venison pie and stewed tomatoes sat on the table as guests milled around the cozy cabin. One of the women went back to the garden, disappeared in the crops and came out with ears of corn for dinner. These women explain what they are cooking, but other questions and explanations are contingent on the visitors’ interest.

Arlene Hoodjer of Des Moines, Iowa, took her three grandsons to visit Living History Farms. She said some of her grandsons had been there before but wanted to come back for a visit.

“I think they enjoyed the pioneer farm,” Hoodjer said. “It’s unique here to have the helpers tell the story of how they did it and what they did — very unique — and they are dressed according to their time, so it’s very educational.”

Hoodjer said she wanted to show her grandsons how children grew up during different time periods.

“I was raised on a farm in the 1900s, so this will bring things back,” Hoodjer said.

1900s FARM SITE

The 1900s farm has several barns, a house, a garden and crop fields. The front yard of the house, surrounded by a white picket fence, shows the progression of technology, including a water pump and a bicycle. One of the women cooking meatballs and squash answered questions about wearing period clothing. She said the clothing is vital for cooking near a hot stove because the many layers it act as a giant hot pad.

In the other kitchen area, volunteer Jodi Fisher said that the clothing not only protects skin but also cools the body.

“It’s not as bad as people think,” Fisher said. “It’s 100 percent cotton, so when the wind blows through, it actually cools your arms.”

Fisher said she came to Living History Farms when she was a intern in college and now volunteers with her 12-year-old daughter.

“I’ve always meant to come back and volunteer here because I loved it so much, and I wanted my daughter to be a part of it,” Fisher said. “I worked in the 1900s farm, when I was an intern, [and] I worked at several other places, but this was my favorite.”

She said her duties involve cooking during the day for their noon meal, and then they spend the rest of the day embroidering, knitting or tending to the garden. The family does everything from picking apples for a pie to killing chickens for dinner.

WALNUT HILL TOWN

Jennie Derr, marketing and public relations director, said when the land for the town was purchased, it included a historic home from the 1870s called the Flynn mansion.

“It was a very upper-class home for the time period, but the town around it would have been similar to what you would have found in central Iowa or anywhere in Iowa during the time period,” Derr said.

The Tangen house is the middle-class home in the town of Walnut Hill. During a visit to the house, guests can taste a meal of pork, potato salad and brownie cake.

There are several interactive shops in town, including the print shop, where guests can help set type and print. Derr said they tell children that the shop is “texting” in 1875.

“It’s very visual and very fascinating, especially to children who have grown up with computers their whole life,” Derr said. “They can see the origins of text, even fonts that are used back then are used today in our computers.”

She said the general store is a children’s favorite because it sells 25-cent candy, such as gumdrops and lemon drops. The blacksmith shop also provides interactive activities, allowing visitors to help hammer metal from the forge.

Derr said it’s the interactive qualities that make each of the Living History Farm’s sites fun for all ages and the interactions with workers that personalize the visit.

“We try to do things that interest the public,” Derr said. “[We’re] always trying to keep the public educated and offer interactive events.”

The summer after my sophomore year of high school, I took a job at a local ice cream shop that also features a line of coffee drinks. Before working at Poppy’s, my only experience with coffee drinks was going to Starbucks, having the worker press some buttons, steam some milk and throw it in a cup. The first day I worked, I learned about tamping, grinding and the parts of an expertly pulled espresso shot: crema, body and heart. Since I enhanced my knowledge and love of coffee, my friends and I have spent a great deal of our free time cruising local coffee shops in the Kansas City area. We have our favorite spots, but we always venture out of our coffee comfort zone when we catch word of a new shop. The key criteria that makes a coffee establishment meet our of expectations are: a quality product, a good staff and an enjoyable atmosphere.

The Roasterie Hanging out at The Roasterie Café offers a comfortable, relaxed, hip atmosphere. My favorite drink from the Roasterie is the mocha because they use chocolate Shatto milk —  giving it a richer taste as well as supporting local milk vendors. The baristas are more professional at the Roasterie, but not at all intimidating.  The Roasterie roasts their own beans and chalks the quality of their coffee up to their air roasting technique. The Roasterie has a gray, green and brown interior with artwork lining the walls. Their coffee is my favorite to purchase online and have shipped to school. It always arrives fresh and is just as delicious as if I had purchased it in the shop. Their best blend is organic Blue Tawar. 6223 Brookside Boulevard (816)333-9700 www.theroasterie.com Hours: Monday - Thursday 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. Friday 6 a.m. - 11 p.m. Saturday 7 a.m. - 11 p.m. Sunday 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Broadway Cafe Broadway Café has a magnificently bohemian atmosphere. I always get a latté here because my favorite latté art tops the foam-filled mugs. These etched designs in the foamed milk on top of the coffee make for hard-to-resist drinks. In 1998, owners Sara and Jon decided to start roasting their own coffee, which we coincidentally serve at Poppy’s. They roast more than 20 different coffees daily. In the late ’90s, a Starbucks opened down the block from Broadway. This sparked a pretty heated corporate versus local coffee war in Westport. In January 2008, the New York Times reported that the Starbucks was going to shut down. This was quite the feat for Kansas City local coffee fanatics. 4106 Broadway Street (816)531-2432 www.broadwaycafeandroastery.com Hours: 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily Hi Hat To get to The Hi Hat coffee shop, jumping the state line is mandatory. It is advertised as the “biggest little coffee shop in the country.” Hi Hat is located in a small brick A-frame house. It offers an intimate atmosphere to enjoy warm drinks inside or an outdoor patio area to enjoy iced drinks during the summer. Hi Hat has received the Golden Cup Certification for their house blend seven years in a row from the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Even though the house blend is great, my favorite drink to order at Hi Hat is the iced chai tea latté. 5012 State Line Road (913)722-5000 www.hihatcoffee.com Hours: Monday-Saturday 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Coffee Girls Coffee Girls has a far more modern vibe than the other shops. Along with any of their awesome coffee drinks —  made with Broadway Roasting Company beans — you can buy specialty juices and smoothies. My favorite juice is the Clean Green — spinach, ginger, apple and orange juices mixed. All of the smoothies are delicious, plus you can add protein powder, bee pollen, wheat germ or ginseng to any of them. It offers a modern, professional atmosphere with its metallically themed layout  — making it a great spot for business meetings or to grab an ultra-hip drink and hang out with some friends. Coffee Girls also offers a variety of food and desserts to choose from. 7440 Washington Street (816)221-2326 www.kccoffeegirls.com Hours: Monday - Friday 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday 7:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Muddy's Muddy’s is located blocks from University of Missouri - Kansas City. The proximity to campus creates an academic atmospheric vibe that makes for a great place to do some homework, read or have pseudo-philosophical conversations. A small bookcase inside is filled with books to purchase, adding to the academic feel. Artwork by local artists hangs on the wall and is switched out on a regular basis. Next to the door, hanging by the Golden Cup Award from 2005, is a chalkboard that has a poem scribbled on it. The poem changes from week to week. When ordering here, I stick to my favorite — the mocha — because none of their specialty drinks appeal to me. 318 E. 51st Street (816)756-3121 www.muddyskc.com Hours: Monday - Friday 6:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. Saturday - Sunday 7:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. http://www.detoursmagazine.com/components/com_gk2_photoslide/images/thumbm/116872Andrea_2009_006.jpg http://www.detoursmagazine.com/components/com_gk2_photoslide/images/thumbm/726023ksc_broadway.jpg http://www.detoursmagazine.com/components/com_gk2_photoslide/images/thumbm/513805ksc_hihat.jpg http://www.detoursmagazine.com/components/com_gk2_photoslide/images/thumbm/785356ksc_girls.jpg http://www.detoursmagazine.com/components/com_gk2_photoslide/images/thumbm/981998coffee.jpg

Grinnell, Iowa

At the Carriage House Bed and Breakfast, a relaxing stay in the dollhouse-like home is served with a warm cup of Irish hospitality.

Victorian architecture epitomized by a sweeping veranda conjures images of the 1890s upper-crust of Grinnell, Iowa — mingling, waltzing house-guests in prim dresses and suits. Almost unnoticed on the side of the house, a small covered entryway evokes images of gussied-up Victorian women stepping out of their carriages and onto the shielded area so as not to muddy their fine footwear.

Dorothy Spriggs, manager and co-owner of the Carriage House with her husband Ray, said running a bed and breakfast was always in the back of her mind while growing up.

“I’m originally from the north of Ireland, and bed and breakfasts are very popular there,” she said.

Her subtle Irish accent was discernable as she compared the bed and breakfasts in Northern Ireland to those in America.

“In Northern Ireland, bed and breakfasts are typically a cheaper way to go, cheaper than staying in a hotel, whereas over here, bed and breakfasts are the fancy place in town,” Spriggs said. “Ours is sort of an in-between place. We have a very nice house and everything, but we try to encourage college parents to stay here, so our prices are medium.”

The Spriggs filled the house with some of their own furnishings and went antiquing to find more.

“I always feel like my house is typical of an Irish estate home … where the house has been in the family for generations and each generation might add a piece to the house,” Spriggs said.

She said the Carriage House feels so welcoming because it is both the bed and breakfast and her personal home, giving it a lived-in feel.

The entryway opens to a central parlor and two side parlors. Each side parlor has original stained glass windows looking out onto the veranda and front yard. The rooms are filled with antiques: porcelain and tea pot collections, ornate rugs and lavish furniture.

Spriggs said a wealthy lumberyard owner built the house in the 1890s for his family, who used the house for entertaining.

“Our house is unusual in that our stairway was built as an entertainment stage, to have like a string quartet perform or someone perform a vignette, which they liked to do in the Victorian times,” she said.

The stairway to the upstairs consists of two parts. Several broad steps lead to an open stage area, large enough to hold an old-time carriage. A door on stage right opens to the rest of the stairs.

The upstairs has six rooms, all with private baths. Each room is themed around a British Isle and is decorated according to theme.

The Cotswold room evokes an English garden in decoration, with flowered wall paper and a picket fence border.

Spriggs said the Irish room is called Innisfree and its theme is the color green.

“The Innisfree room is based on a poem by William Butler Yeats: ‘I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,’” she said. “It’s all in shades of green. If you go to Ireland, it’s all green, and it’s not just one green, it’s hundreds of shades of green.”

Spriggs said most guests are parents or students visiting Grinnell College. The bed and breakfast provides a nice place for visitors to stay, a nourishing breakfast and proximity to both downtown and campus. Spriggs said other guests stay as an escape from the mundane.

“We have a number of couples that come twice or three times a year just to get away,” Spriggs said.

Every morning, Spriggs cooks homemade breakfasts with many varieties of Irish recipes. The dining room table is filled with hearty dishes and a place setting for each guest.

“The bed and breakfasts in Northern Ireland, everybody serves the same breakfast,” she said. “No matter where you go, you get fried eggs, bacon and mushrooms.”

Spriggs said she cooks gourmet breakfasts because that is what is expected from bed and breakfasts in America.

Like the food served at the Carriage House, Spriggs said her personal hospitality has roots in her Irish background.

“The Irish are known for their hospitality, and I feel like that’s just kind of something that comes natural to me, to be warm and friendly to people,” she said. “A lot of guests have made the comment to me that they feel like they are coming home or that this is a little bit of Ireland.”

Maia Rodriguez was a first-time guest at the Carriage House, enjoying Spriggs’ warm welcome. Rodriguez said she and her mom came to Grinnell to visit her younger sister, a freshman at Grinnell College, and stayed at the bed and breakfast as a nice alternative to the local hotel.

“Grinnell is a pretty small town, and my mom had been here one other time and she had stayed in one of the bigger places,” Rodriguez said. “We wanted to stay in something a little homier and close to campus. … The building is very exceptional — all the woodwork is beautiful.”

Spriggs said the woodwork in the house contains many diverse woods because in the 1890s, it was popular to incorporate a variety into the home design as a status symbol.

“In the time period when it was built, it was typical to use lots of different types to show that you had access to all of them,” Spriggs said.

Spriggs said guests often make a three-block trek from the Carriage House to the downtown area and are met with more Victorian architecture. Every building around the square is on the National Historic Register, which preserves the historical architecture of the town.

On the northwest corner of the square, turn-of-the-century architect Louis Sullivan designed a square bank building with a doorway like a keyhole, embodying his theme of jewel box buildings. Designed with obvious hints of Gothic-style architecture, the bank entrance adds an ostentatious but eye-pleasing impression of downtown Grinnell.

Restaurants, coffee shops and art galleries pepper the downtown with points of interest for guests of the Carriage House. After exploring the town, guests can return with ease to the warmth of a little taste of Ireland.