St. Louis (part three)

Wednesday in St. Louis started in a very normal way.....

The girls got to practice with a local swim club.  The pool was AMAZING!  After practice, we went to St. Louis Bread Company for breakfast.  It was really good~ and outside of St. Louis, the rest of the world knows it at Panera Bread! 

We went to the transportation museum.  Lots of very cool "old" stuff!  Clay totally LOVED it!  There were some really cool stories but my favorite was about this motel on route 66!  

 Clay loves old trains!  I will have to say I do TOO!!

 ONE of the COOLEST!  This is a snow blower!

After a pretty warm morning of looking at different modes of transportation, everyone was very hungry and ready for something cool and fizzy!  So we headed to the FAMOUS Fitz's Restaurant!  Home of the Rootbeer!  YUMMO!!!!

Rootbeer started here in 1947! 

After a wonderfully filling lunch, we had plans to go to the zoo, but it was still so hot!  Clay said that he thought we would not see a lot of animals....so we decided to put that on the top of the NEXT TRIP to St. Louis List!  So we went to the Museum of Missouri History! It was very cool!  Going to the World's Fair in Knoxville when I was younger, I LOVED the history behind the 1904 World's Fair! 

Loved this artwork of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair!

Loved the Charles Lindbergh portion of the museum. 

For this to be a plan B, there were no complaints!

Girls posing for a picture in Forest Park!

After leaving Forest Park, we met the St. John family at their country club swim meet.  It was tons of fun watching them swim....until the bottom fell out!  This would be our last night in St Louis and with the St John family but not for long!!!!

St. Louis blog......to be continued....

St Louis (part two)

After getting home late from downtown, we decided to sleep till we got up.  We had breakfast and we were ready to start our day at the Arch.  So we headed downtown to get our timed tickets to go up.  We so grateful that we got there when we did.  Clay got our tickets and as we were heading to the movie about the arch being built~ the line for tickets was almost out the door.  Saw a great movie about the arch being built before getting in the pod to ride up to the top.  I was so excited to share this with the girls.  I had been up in the arch years ago and thought it was amazing but to see it with them was very cool! 

 This picture was taken on July 4th

as we were walking around downtown before the game!

 And here is the other side from atop the arch!

 Family shot from atop the arch~ 630 feet in the air!

 Mary Lane got a really cool shot of the

arch's shadow from the top of the arch! Can't imagine building this!

 These would be my pod people!

 Mary Lane and I in the pod!

Mary Lane stood behind me worried that I would far backwards trying to get this shot. 

After a little snack and another movie about Lewis and Clark, we headed towards the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour.  It was a very cool tour with some funny stories to be told! 

 Clay and Beth under the wing of the Eagle!

 

 Doc poised for the picture....so sweet!

 Second time seeing the beauties! Asking for a little off the top!

 Chandelier from the 1904 World's Fair (one of four)

Copper!

After the brewery tour, we headed over to Gus' pretzels for a taste....they were GOOD!  But we did not want to fill up cause we were on our way to dinner!

We finally made it to the historic Crown Candy Kitchen.  As we were pulling up our Florida friend that lives in St. Louis, Gary (Karen and I call him St. Louis) calls me to see how our trip is going.  I tell him where we are and all he says is BLT and Milkshake.......so guess what we had for dinner!

 Enjoying our family time!

 When they delivered this~ my reaction was THANK GOODNESS

WE HAVE BEEN WALKING ALOT!  Clay said that must

be at least a pound of bacon! 

Mary Lane thought she could eat a whole one....but she

split it with her sister!

Clay and Girls in front of the Crown Candy Kitchen.

After this we decided that since it would be a full & early day on Wednesday, we better head home.  So we got home in time to spend a little time with the St John's and talk about our day then it was BEDTIME! 

St Louis Blog.........to be continued!



St. Louis (part one)

We have been saying that as much as we love the beach, or should I say~ as much as the girls and I love the beach, we need to see other parts of the country.  This year St. Louis got the honor!  Our first neighbors, Brent and Casey, live right outside of St Louis in the historical town of Webster Grove.  So with some planning around their family activities and our family activities, we were able to spend the 4th of July in St. Louis.  And it was AMAZING!!!
We got to there house Sunday afternoon!

The St John's beautifully restored historic home! 

It is the second oldest (I think I am right) oldest home in Webster Grove!

After getting the car unpacked, the bottom fell out.  Our plans for the evening were washed out so we quickly shifted to plan b.  We went to a great little neighborhood place and fell in LOVE with toasted raviolis!  

We got up with a full plate for July 4th!  So we all were hoping the rain would go away.  And it did long enough for us to get down to the Webster Grove Parade.  Brent and Clay had gone over early to claim our spot and about 9:30 with the wagon loaded, we headed over.  Almost on cue, as the parade started, it began to rain....but only for about 10 minutes.  It did not stop the parade and the small town Americana feel that would only grow thru the day!

 This was the lead off of the Webster Grove Parade!!! This would be the first of three times we would get to see these majestic animals!  What a way to start a Parade! 

Andrew, Emma, and Katherine enjoying their view of the parade!

 

 Clay and Brent enjoying the parade!

 Casey and Christopher waving the flag and getting the bag filled with goodies!

Mary Lane enjoying the parade in MY SEAT!

After the parade, we went home to a lunch ribs and all the trimmings!  Then loaded up and headed downtown.  We walked down to the arch where there was a ton of things going on.  There was a really cool air show.  AND TONS of people watching before it was time to head to the stadium to watch the SL Cardinals play the Cincinnati Reds. 

Outside of the Stadium, we took a moment for a family shot! 

The first pitch of the game....I think we felt the breeze from that one!

View from my sit.....we were sitting in the first row at the dugout behind 1st base! 

David Freese~23~3rd Base coming off the field from batting.

Katherine took a shot of me with our view in the background~ SWEET!!!! 

And there he is~ TONY!!!! 

Thanks to Emma knowing how it works~ Mary Lane got a ball that

was used in the game!  Now we have to go back to another game so

that she can get it signed!  They sign before the game!

The Cardinals WON and went on to win the first two games of the three days series with Reds!!!  Now it was time to make our way to Arch for some more people watching and fireworks!  And did we see some interesting people.  It is funny when you are people watching with a like minded person....all Casey and I had to do was look at each other!  So we kept ourselves very entertained till it got dark enough for the fireworks~

We had a great view, but the pictures don't do it justice! 

Grand Finale with right over the Old Cathedral!

Like clockwork, we got up and walked really fast to the car....Brent had parked with easy access to get out!  Well, another plan B because traffic was bumper to bumper.  Thank goodness, Brent and Casey know St. Louis like the back of their hands and in a flash we were home and in bed!  July 5th would be a LONG full day for the Minatras with LOTS of adventures!  We had such a wonderful July 4th, with lots of great memories made with really great friends!!  We have had the opportunity over the years to see fireworks in some cool places....I think our 4th of July 2011 in St Louis is up there at the top! 

Our St Louis Trip Blog.........to be continued!