Week 1 in St. Louis

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What a great first week in a new city! My airbnb is great- I'm right next to historic Lafayette square. I've rented a converted basement unit with it's own entrance. Essentially it's a basement rec room turned into a studio apartment- little kitchen which could be a wet bar and then big large open room with a desk area, bed area and living area. It's a little cold being a basement but otherwise really functional and nice.

Sunday: First thing in the morning Copper and I drove out to the outskirts of the city for a hike with a group called "tails on the trails" a dog hiking group. Copper was in heaven and the scenery was great. Nice group of friendly people and dogs. Nice views of the Meramec river and gorgeous fall foliage! In the evening I checked out "City Foudry" which is a brand new food hall. It's a converted warehouse or something that they've turned into a trendy place with about 15 little restaurants.

Monday: On my lunch break Copper and I went for the most gorgeous walk through Lafayette square which is just down the street from my airbnb. The weather was 70*, sunny and the trees were just gorgeous. I had to remind myself St. Louis is not usually this beautiful or great weather! After work I went to a little cafe to people watch a little and wandered around "the grove" which is a gayborhood.

Wednesday: Went to a local game meetup only about a mile away. It was at a really neat game cafe with a good food and drink menu. Also some sort of industrial building conversion to restaurant. The location was great but the group wasn't really my style of gamers- more the heavy strategy type who get bent out of shape if someone is competitive. Even worse if it's a girl and she ends up beating you *eye roll*.

Thursday: Veteran's day so no work! Woot! Went on another gorgeous dog hike with tails on the trails. Smaller group since it was a Thursday and not everyone gets veterans day off but still about 8 people and dogs. We hiked about 5.5 miles and this time the trail was just covered in leaves and every step was a loud crunch. So satisfying. In the afternoon I explored gateway arch. Which is actually one of the 63 national parks.

Friday: I found a fantastic group on meeting called "Saint Louis Child free Women" and we went to dinner and then to a mocktail open mic lounge. Fantastic group of women, great food and it was fun watching people perform at the open mic.

Saturday: In the morning Copper and I went to Forest park- one of the nation's largest urban parks (it's bigger than central park in NYC). It's so big they have maps all over the place and I still made a wrong turn and ended up doing a shorter loop than we set out for. It was just under 40* though so probably for the best. In the afternoon I checked out Soulard Farmers market and got some delicious kettle corn. It's the oldest farmer's market still operating- since 1779! They're officially open 8am-5pm but many stalls had already closed by 2pm I'm guessing since today was the first super cold day not many customers and the vendors were cold. In the evening I was able to snatch a last minute ticket to the St Louis Symphony Orchestra as they performed Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Personally what I missed most during covid lock down was listening to live music.

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