putting the oui in St. Louis

Location: St. Louis (I don't think we ever want to leave!)

Mileage: 2000
Music: Lady Day

Well, St. Louis is much more than I, at least, could ever have dreamed of. We have had so much fun so far!! Tuesday morning we set out to explore Forest Park, a big park about two blocks from Denise and John’s house. Forest Park houses a zoo, 3 museums, and is the site of the 1904 World Fair. We wanted to check out all of the (free!) museums, but only got to the Art and Science Center on Tuesday. We started the Art museum by viewing the Pacific and African art, which was really impressive and very educational. Although, gosh, I’ll tell you – it gets hard to read so much and try to retain it all! We really liked the mummy rooms, though, and they even had the urns which contained the innards of one of the mummies (ew, yet cool) next to his coffin. The Impressionist exhibit was decent but after the Philly and Chicago art museums, we were pretty hard to impress. A break for some homemade sandwiches (and mmm, thank you Delaplane Farm Store, for selling that chipotle spread) before heading off to the Science Center which was sooo cool. If you have kids (or plan to have kids) take them there. It is very hands on and has lots of educational games. Paul and I played there, especially in the 5 senses section until the museum closed. They literally had to come over the loudspeaker three times before we got out. Oh, and downstairs they had a life-sized robotic T-rex who would look around the room and periodically let out a roar to, I guess, prevent anyone from going after his ‘dying’ triceratops prey. Very cool. I reverted back to age 10 and would squeal with delight every time he let out his roar when he was looking up to where Paul and I stood.

St. Louis Science Center -- more fun than Chucky Cheese's

We walked back to Denise and John’s, as they wanted to take us out for dinner. On the way there, Denise told John to detour over to a little wine bar that they’re very fond of that has the most interesting things on the menu (watermelon salad with feta?!) for a drink. They also ordered a salami and fig dish for appetizers. And oh my, those fresh figs were a delight. On to dinner at a restaurant which also served some interesting pairings; my beet salad had bittersweet chocolate shavings on it! Denise and John’s two sons and a friend of theirs live upstairs, so we viewed a bit of the apartment life in St. Louis and I’ll tell you: I am impressed. Paul and I both agree that this would be an enjoyable city to live in.

The next day took Paul and me to Eastern St. Louis where the famed arch is. It is striking. It is 630 feet tall (and 630 feet wide) and provided many great views from different parts of the city. We did a bit of touring around the area (note: the visitor center in St. Louis has the friendliest and most informed workers of any one we have visited yet) before catching dinner at Imo’s, home of St. Louis’ famous thin crust pizza (and apparently “receives shout-outs from rap superstar Nelly.”) While it was very good, Paul and I still have memories of that Chicago deep dish, which pretty much prohibits any pizza from being looked upon too favorably. Imo’s is also where we picked up a new friend, whom we like so much that we’ve invited him to travel the rest of the trip with us. He has graciously accepted and so we have gone from two to three!

The Mississippi River was not all that impressive, or so my facial expressions would indicate

We headed back towards the Arch and were accosted by people looking for change who either gave me a compliment or a really nasty insult, depending on how you look at it.

“Hey brother, can you spare some change?”
“Sorry.”

“Psh. I see the lady you’re walking next to. I know where you’re spending your money!”

So either they think I’m worthy of a man spending money on me or… they think I’m a prostitute? It gave us plenty to laugh about as we made our way to the “Westward Expansion” museum at the base (actually underground) the Arch. The museum was interesting, presenting opinions from explorers, politicians, Indians, farmers, and so on, but it was really nothing compared to the “Gateway to the West.” You have to cram into very small, futuristic-looking pods to get to the top, but it is so worth it. The windows are small, but provide extraordinary views. It was particularly beautiful when we went up, as we got up before it got too dark, so we were able to see the city as it is, yet the sun did disappear completely while we were up there and all the lights came on. It was like two views for the price of one!

Our new friend, Chubby Buddy, in front of the arch

Those pods were smallll

view from the top, in all its splendor

We had some fun playing around in front of the arch and taking lots and lots of picture (ohh, night shots…) before trudging on home.

Arch and arched

Night shots

Thursday morning was a lazy, laid back day. Originally we were going to head out to the Ozarks for canoeing and camping for a night, but, not finding what we were looking for, we decided to check out the third museum in Forest Park that we had missed the first day. The history museum was great; we really had no idea just how impressive and filled St. Louis’ past is. We spent our time in two exhibits; one on the 1904 World Fair that was held in our very own Forest Park (also the location of that year’s Olympics) and one on Charles Lindbergh. I think it might be time to check out a bio on Lindbergh; he is a fascinating human being, who accomplished so much (in such a variety of fields) and, before, all I really knew about him was that he was the first to fly across the Atlantic. Well, that and the isolationist viewpoints about the war, but – again – I learned more about that than I had previously known. It’s impossible to know the true sentiments behind his opinions about WWII, but it worth reading that there was at least some basis behind it (he had flown and viewed the German air force a few years before the war and believed, at that time, that there was no way that the US could beat Germany if ever in a war against them.)

After the museum, Paul and I found a little café that boasted its status as the place for “best mid-day drinks!!” At $2 per martini, we were pleased to enjoy (I think for both of us) our first lunch with a martini. We felt like we were in a different decade.

We took some time that afternoon to laze about a bit more before cooking a dinner for Denise and John to thank thank thank them for being such incredible hosts. After dinner, Paul and I headed into another new part of the city (University City) to try to find some good blues. Well, that ended up being a bust, but we got to check out the walk of fame strip – gold stars boasting the St. Louis famed (Scott Joplin, Maya Angelou, Tennessee Williams, Chuck Barry, Miles Davis, and Yogi Berra, among many others.) We weren’t too disappointed, either, as tomorrow starts the Muddy Blues festival, so I’m sure we’ll get our fill of good music. A nice walk home through Forest Park (we’re rebels – the park closes at dark!) put us back, happy and tired for bed. And so now I do believe that it is time for us to take our repose, so that upon the morrow we might have the inclination and cheered countenances that will provide for a most pleasant day. (We’re on Volume III of Jane Austen; it is great.)

Love,

Alina