Vacationing close to home

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Notes from STL. Spring has taken its sweet time getting here. I have been told this has been a very unusually spring for the STL area. We have had a lot of rain, and up and down temps (30’s one day, 70’s the next). My neighbor had a family member visiting from Seattle, after a week here he said he couldn’t wait to get home to see some sun and warmer weather, that says it all! I think spring will arrived just in time for summer, which isn’t suppose to the most pleasant season in Missouri (HOT and Humid). The upside of a wet, gray spring is that our grass looks beautiful, and the flowers and trees are pretty darn happy.

Spring just won’t be complete in STL without a day at the ballpark. Busch Field is where the STL Cardinals play (I’m sure you knew that). STL is Baseball City, so we wanted to experience the fun before the heat of summer engulfs the city. We got very lucky on April 30th, sunny 70-74 degrees, light breeze, it was perfect weather for a ball game. Frankly, I think that day was spring is year. The stadium is great and the food (and beer) are pretty good for ballpark fare.

I spent the morning before the game walking around Gateway National Park, this is where the famous STL Arch lives. You can see from the photos, it was a beautiful day.

Last week, Tim had some business in Kansas City, so I tagged along. I hadn’t been to K.C. but have heard many good things about the city. It was a great little getaway. The Plaza shopping “is an outdoor museum of romantic Spanish architecture and European art where people actually live and work every day amid its beauty. It was designed in 1922 as the nation's first suburban shopping district. Since then, its open-air public art gallery has continuously added to its collection, with fountains, sculptures and murals that bring to the heart of our city the very best of the Old World and the new”

http://www.countryclubplaza.com/plaza.aspx?pgID=893

The biggest treat for me, beside the BBQ (it really is the best), was a visit to the Nelson Atkins Art Museum. A fabulous collection and the new wing (huge modern space) is out of this world gorgeous. The sculpture park around the museum was a wonderful experience as well. The Nelson Atkins is the place for art, the Kemper Art Museum, around the corner, is the place for lunch. The food and art on the walls is fantastic. Two nights really isn’t enough time to see all that I wanted to see, but I saw enough where I would gladly go back.

Living in STL has a few advantages, one is the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I do my best to stop by once a month. There is always something in bloom. Currently, the exhibit Niki is on display “Niki is the first time the works of artist Niki de Saint Phalle have been seen in St. Louis in an exhibition of this magnitude. Forty monumental mosaic sculptures made in a rainbow of colors and materials from fiberglass, stones, glass, mirrors, and semi-precious materials will be placed throughout the Garden. The sculptures range up to 18 feet tall, and some weigh up to a ton or more, such as the amazing six-ton skull. Children are encouraged to touch, sit on, and even climb some of the works.” (taken from website www.mobot.org/events/NIKI/) See the photos, it really is worth a trip to STL.

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Photos

Rosey
I have succeeded in growing my first rose.

Comments

[CM]

Plaza
The plaza in KC is really nice. I used to stay near there on business trips and always enjoyed wandering the shops and having dinner. The Hallmark department store is pretty cool.