Meet me in St. Louis

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Argh, my belly is full of Oreos and I am quite immobile right now so I will update you all on one of our favourite cities so far as we ride along the highway and my mind rethinks the last few rockin days.
Driving around St. Louis you begin to grasp the whole idea of what this city is all about- The people, parks, food, Art and culture, and we were lucky enough to be staying with a person who is quite possible one of the most interesting people we’ve ever met before, Mauricio, whom was born in Columbus and travelled around the world among other things. Just before arriving into the city we went through a HUGE thunderstorm and I secretly hoped for a Tornado to come our way but unfortunately the Tornado season is well and truly over and you’re lucky to spot one these days, on the bucket list it remains.
I feel it wouldn’t be fair not to let you in on a few things about this remarkable person who helped our way around the city and gave great recommendations on things to do and where to go- I’ll let you know about our outings before I finish my useless verbal ranting. (They are becoming more frequent than not).
He has been shot three times and then lived to go on to climb the tallest mountain in Columbia, stalked by a Jaguar, Lived with ancient tribes and lived on $700 us in Europe for three months, Stood in front of an F5 Tornado and is a Botanist.
So this gives you a rough mental picture of our three terrific days in St. Louis. First up we went off to see the free St. Louis zoo- you betcha, not a cent to get in and probably worth a good $10 each, one of the best zoos we both have visited. It had all the kinds of animals you could imagine, birds, fish, reptiles, mammals etc. and all in great enclosures, we didn’t allow the time for how good it really was and only had time for the Zoo that day which pushed the schedule backwards a bit. Coming back to the house after the Zoo we just had the whole siesta thing and went to sleep for a few hours which is heaven to be able to do, I worry about going back to work because my body is used to having sleep whenever and wherever it wants.
When we finally woke up it was around dinner time so we decided to go out to an Indian restaurant which was a grand 20km away but had great Vegan reviews so we trekked off for what probably was going to be the worst dining experience in the U.S and A.
It was obvious that an Indian dance/Bollywood party was occurring in the shut off room that was linked to the restaurant, and we were sat in an empty room with not a soul in sight. Wonderfully awkward moment that was, and oh the waiter- what a dickhead…I can’t put it any other way.
He didn’t want to serve anybody and I think hated life in general, and threw down the forks and knives on the table and had a look of DILIGAF whilst in the process. We were so hungry. So we ordered…
Ok seriously- 45minutes for two samosas and a further 15 minutes for the mains?? Ok I’m glad I got that one off my chest, we ate faster than that guy who won at eating the most hotdogs in a minute and we fled after not tipping. Whoa Wilks.
Going home we whacked on NetFliks which had an overwhelming selection and decided to watch a documentary of conjoined twins at the head. Looking back over that day seems kind of messed up.
Brand new day, Sunday the 19th at 8.30 precisely we wake up to a bit more sunshine after thunderstorms in the night, everything all green and fresh, another perfect opportunity for a run and Bryce a chance to get back to sleep in Dora. I went for a run the previous day, the parks are too good to resist a brisk jog through them, oh and the mansions around the park! Biggest houses I have ever seen with perfectly mowed lawns it looks like a patchwork quilt. The parks are one of the most occupied places in the city, with squirrels and chipmunks scurrying around everywhere, Birds, and people running, walking, biking and skating on the flat pathways that zigzag amongst the large oak trees and bushes.
Getting up and exercising first thing makes the whole day perfect, I’m definitely going to continue this long after those green parks have gone and been traded for the concrete jungle of Chicago.
Our first stop today was the Botanic gardens which were really close to Mauricio’s, and lucky for us he lent us his pass so we could get in for free. The gardens are spread out over a vast amount of land and there are the most amazing plants sprawled across the land from all different climates and countries (Including some good ol Aussie and Canadian favourites). We even got access to Mr. Shaw’s house, the original owner and founder of the gardens. Well he seemed a bit mean owning 11 humans as slaves and all, but good job on plotting out the gardens anyway. The house was more of a mansion than not, with gigantic windows that reached the ceiling and fancy tea ware and furniture and there was lots of information on how he transported many overseas species without them dying and journals he kept of ideas about expansion in the grounds. His tomb is outside the house and they didn’t make it a small one either, his marble grave sits in one of those large glass houses with stained glass etc. In other words, he was probably quite a rich and prominent figure back in those days.
After visiting there we made the decision to visit the nearby six flags, which had pretty much the same rides as the previous parks, but it’s always lots of fun to visit each one. The look on Bryce’s face on the large drop ones are priceless, especially this one as it takes you up slowly and then drops each carriage around the pole separately- we were the last. I grabbed him and I could feel his whole body stiffen, hilarious. He later got me back on the whirly swing screamer, the only ride that made me uncomfortable. I’m sorry, but dangling from a skinny piece of change 250ft up in the air kind of gets me nervous unlike the other rides, because it seems like one day it may just break away, then I really will scream. The lady behind us was hilarious on that ride though, screaming “Oh my Jesus, Jesus SAAAVE me, this was a baaad idea!” I yelled back “Word.” Meanwhile Bryce had all limbs flailing in the breeze.
We stayed until the park closed at 9pm and made our way for a night in the Walmart parking lot- and boy was it hot in Dora. Waay too hot, Bryce was practically dying from heat exhaustion and I was feeling delirious from the heat as well, so needless to say what little amount of sleep we got that night.
It’s always embarrassing staying at a Walmart in the van, I mean, going to the bathroom the looks you get from brushing your teeth and washing your face kind of make you feel like you are homeless for that brief second of stares you get. Then we think to ourselves- we are actually homeless, that is unless you disregard Dora. Walmart is great though, Bryce even got a haircut there from the “Hairdresser”, and there are bathrooms 24/7 and plentiful food.
So the next day was to be the greatest as we finally got to go to the City Museum. It looks kind of derelict on the outside but this is a Must do for anybody going to St. Louis, and almost an excuse to go there in the first place.
I’m not sure what you can really call it exactly, but basically it is a huge warehouse filled with recycled material, and definitely not like any other museum either of us have visited, it was marvellous.
Upon entering you are confronted with an array of things welded together, stuck, weaved everything you can imagine. Poles made of machinery, shell door handles, rocks and cement. There are literally thousands of holes you can crawl through everywhere, and this is pretty much the best adult playground you will ever come across. The first section was like a real cave, it had holes through the ground, near the roof etc and they weren’t large lit up holes either, I mean we were crawling around in pure darkness in a space not much bigger than your body and we wiggled through like worms (While getting grazed knees, of course.) Every room was different, there were 20m slides made of recycled stainless steel, metal bracing walkways, it’s really hard to describe and put in words. There was a room made of a large pencil about 15m long that was inside a skate park with swinging ropes and old pianos, another room made of wood entirely and netting above that you could crawl along – it was quite a sight to see, people wiggling above you in nets, it was like fish out of water. More caves and tunnels too, old steel piping to run through. We felt like we were kids again. Outside just got better as there was a large ball pit, old planes cranked up to the sky, more tunnels, slides and metal sculptures, old buildings that resembles the Notre Dame. Oh and can’t forget the coolest vintage clothes shop we have ever been to, so cheap it should’ve almost been free- $1 jackets, tops, shorts and ties, it is always the best feeling in the world getting things either cheap or free.
Vegan restaurant up next...and its 2.03 and they shut at drum roll please, 2pm sharp. Two for one banana bread shut us up and off we went to Chicago.

Cheers and Beers,

Tarryn and Bryce

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Humorous blog
Glad you are enjoying the freedom.