Pilgrimmage Part Two.......

Now that the b-day drama is over - let me finish my pilgrimmage adventures!!

So on Saturday morning we wake up early with a full day planned. We shower, eat breakfast, and then head out to Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, MO. This was truly the most bizarre experience I have ever had in my life. Leila's museum is located in the back rooms of a cosmetology college. (Ed's. note: Leila is not pronounced lay-la, rather it's lay-i-la. I mean, you don't want to appear stupid when talking about the hair museum.)

We get there and pay $5 to go in. We walk into the first room. To the left are paintings of babies and children with real hair on the head. One of the baby pictures creeps me out - I swear the eyes are following me around the room. We see the "hair wreaths." They are housed in shadow boxes with gaudy gothic-like frames. They are made of hair. Human hair. Lots of it. You can wear them. It could take years to make it - it may have hair from many people too. Not many blondes back in the day, that was for sure. The tour guide is way too into this for me. We wander around and see the hair jewelry. Again, I'm not sure how I feel about it all. I feel like I have a hairball in my throat.

I shouldn't forget to mention the red hats. Do you know what the Red Hat Society is? A group of ladies who are deciding to greet middle age with verve, humor and elan (this is what the website says....). WTF is elan? According to merriamwebster.com, elan means with vigorous spirit or enthusiasm. So is this like a sorority for old girls? And what age is middle age? 38? 45? 62?

Forget the pilgrimmage, I'm on the Red Hat Society. There are 40,000 chapters with 1.5 million members in the US alone. You must be 50, but if you are younger, then you can wear pink and lavender until you turn 50. Is this for real? It is not a sorority, and they don't have rules. Woo hoo - nothing like middle aged ladies gone wild - anarchy!! They like to go on outings, but enjoy doing tea parties...... uh, this isn't gonna work for me. Not a huge tea party fan here. The Red Hatters have also created a musical entitled "Hats! The New Musical for the Rest of your Life!"

And it just gets better - their national convention in 2009 is in Dallas. March 25-29..... I may have to wear some pink and lavender and get to the bottom of this....

Sorry... the ADD...... so there is a group of red hatters at Leila's. But they were a much older group of gals. And they LOVED it! "It's a lost art!" "Does Leila teach classes on how to do this?" This was when I knew I had entered the twilight zone and we had to get out ASAP. I think Betty and I agree that we were glad we went here, but also agreed that we would never need to come back EVER again.

Crack ice from Sonic and some Hot Tamales helped ease the hairball-inducing trauma we had just endured!

We go onto KC and to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. It was amazing and beautiful - lots of art, particularly Asian art. I saw some Buddhas and some European paintings. They were setting up for a big social event that night, so we only stayed about an hour or so. They had a huge sculpture garden out front with very large shuttlecocks. Take that and run with it!!

We then went to Union Station and had lunch at this cute little diner place, The Harvey House. We then walked over to Crown Center to shop and look around. We hit the Crayola Store, the pet store, the Hallmark mother ship store, and a few other random spots.

We then drove over to Country Club Plaza and rode around. I was tired of shopping (and had no money to really shop), so we just window shopped from the comfort of the Sigh Sister Mobile. We went back to the hotel and rested and then went to the movies to see "What Happens in Vegas." Cute movie. (Ed.'s note: There was a scene when Cameron Diaz is alarmed by how gross Ashton Kutcher keeps his bathroom. She complains about all of this hair. He tells her, "I'm saving it to make you something." ::cue the Twilight Zone music::: Has Ashton been to Leila's?)

Afterwards, we were tired, so we went back to the Comfort Suites to sleep. We got up in the AM, hit Waffle House, and then Betty dropped me at the airport. Karma was high when I was asked if I wanted to upgrade to First Class for $45.... hell, yeah!!

In retrospect -

Two nights at the Comfort Suites - $100

Airfare, with the complimentary gum on my capris and the First Class Upgrade - $141

Admission to the Hair Museum - $5

Visiting the Land of My Birth - priceless

Next up for the Sigh Sisters - haunted hotels in Eureka Springs in October...... you know you want to come along!!