Meet Me In St. Louis, Louis

St. Louis and I have always had a unique relationship. My feelings were generally resentful and angry, and St. Louis rewarded that with some interesting life drama and a side of very good friends.  When asked, my description of the "Gateway to the West" incorporated phrases like "small town feel," "good place to visit for a weekend," and "we did a lot of bowling."  After graduation, I vowed never to return without good cause. Today marked the third time in seven years I've been back.

On part one of my 66 trip, I revisited the parts of STL that I still had a grudge on, wandered the streets of my college campus, lingered on the top of the Edgar Rd. bridge, and retraced the haunting memories of train trips and film shoots. In other words, I made my peace and laid skeletons to rest. Because of that, it was only appropriate to use my trip back as an excuse to show my sister my most memorable and favorite St. Louis places in an effort to start fresh and move forward.  St. Louis was ready for us.

Our first stop was the City Museum.  If anyone asks me what my absolute favorite place in St. Louis is, without pause for debate, I say the City Museum.  Picture a place where your imagination explodes with an impact equivalent of two giant stars colliding with each other, and that's the City Museum.  For most of you, an eyeroll will occur after reading this.  Brianne endorsing yet another museum?  That's original.  I say to you, keep those eyes where they are.  This is not an ordinary museum with sleek displays of facts and dates and activity stations to teach you about how many tons of aluminum cans we throw into the ocean each year (a lot).  Nay, this is a museum jam packed with all the kinds of objects and activities which stimulate your mind in the same way a child's mind is stimulated''' with a sensory overload.  Grown up jungle gyms of junk welded together greet you at the door, while inside are massive caves, crazy theaters, a circus, a skate park, and a giant three story slide.  There is no way you can enter the doors of this place and not be swept up in the wonder of it all, which is why many a wedding is set here within it's colorful and texture filled walls. 

Samantha, as you read, had an absolute blast.  Her face lit up like a kid at Christmas.  And her curiosity ran away with her, just like it did with me the first time I came to visit, just like it does to us all who still have a little kid nestled in our hearts waiting with unusual patience to be let out.

Once we got our fill of museums, it was time to go to the Arch.  I surprise myself each time I go on my ability to find it without a lot of GPS assistance.  The Arch is cool, the tram ride is neat, and the park beautiful, but I've always had a soft spot for the Eads Bridge and the Metro station house inside part of it, which is probably why I always remember where to park for the Jefferson Memorial Park.  On the banks of the Mississippi, next to Laclede's Landing is the parking garage, welcoming you to St. Louis, and asking six bucks in return.   

We walked through the grounds and headed toward the giant silvery colossus.  Sam took a decided breath and said, "Wow, I forgot how tall it is."

The tram ride was just the same as all the tram rides, clunky and crowded, but Sam was excited, so I was happy.  The view from the top of the Arch is divided.  You can see an amazing cityscape on the west side, but on the east side, Illinois is mostly industrial and casino ridden.  If the river flowed city side, there would be no real reason to have windows facing east.  Luckily, for Illinois, this is not the case.

When we were done going up to the Arch, we drove through the Landing, bumping and rocking over the cobblestone until the GPS figured out where I was and directed us thusly to Ted Drewes, a St. Louis staple and Route 66 landmark.  The first time I had Ted Drewes frozen custard was freshman year of college.  Our RA decided to make it a floor trip and we piled into various car on a delicious adventure.  I'm going to be honest, to me frozen custard and ice cream? Tomato/Tomato.  I know there is a difference, and I do taste the difference, but I can easily substitute one for the other.

On our way back to homebase, I took her through Forest Park to see the view of the Art Museum and the fountains, then we snaked our way through University City, so I could show her a little bit of my history via the Loop (fun fact: the loop was named after the trolley route that took you on a loop through the neighborhood.) 

"There's the place where I had my 21st birthday, that's the movie theater we'd go to, there's Fitz's where you can get a pretty good root beer float... that Chipotle... is new." 

Oh, memories.

We topped the day off with dinner with friends, which is the best way to end a day, unless you've been working over 12 hours and just want to sleep. Sam got to geek out with a fellow artist/nerd, which was awesome and was icing on a pretty epic cake.  I was exhausted, something that is becoming more and more commonplace as I continue to get older and older. 

Well, signing off for now.  Had to finish this post in the morning, 'cause I passed out while typing it last night. 

Anyway, until next time,

-B-

Favorite Song of the Day: Lisztomania - Phoenix (Thanks Jeremy)