tourist for a weekend, St. Louis, MO

Being in St. Louis for Tizzy and HR on second's wedding confirmed a few things:
1. EVERYONE I know is getting married (this was wedding #6 of 8 in the past year).

2. Weddings make me lonely, and also make me marvel at the fact that people can spend the rest of their lives with one person. I'm not saying I can't (there are a couple people I could imagine spending the rest of my life with: James McAvoy or Gerard Butler, for example), I just can't think of anyone that could say the same for me. Life is a crap shoot that way, no? Two people having mutual feelings of spending the rest of their lives with that other person and it actually working. Don't you have better odds at card games...or horse racing...or guessing what rat with find the cheese first?!

3. Our community at the Farm is a very unique and beautiful place that I am always so glad AND thankful to come back to. I love going away to see little slices of the world, but I am still at the point that I love coming back home here.

4. Tizzy and HR on second looked absolutely, amazingly in LOVE and so happy, and I can't ask for much more than things like that for my friends!

Traveling out to St. Louis was fun, even though I did have to get up at 2am to leave for the airport with TSO and CJ at 3am. TSO and I flew together which was nice since I seldom travel with others and have never really flown anywhere with friends. While in St. Louis we made it to:
  • The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which is this absolutely gorgeous building full of so much amazing craftsmanship. The stain glass, the tile, the Pieta replica, the high altar, the organs; everything is so beautiful. It is definitely worth a look, Catholic or no. If I went to church there I think I would spend less time listening to the Mass and more time looking all around at the beauty that lies within.
  • St. Louis Gateway Arch commemorates Thomas Jefferson and the U.S's westward expansion. The Gateway is exactly what it's name suggests; an arch visible from the Mississippi looking into the city of St. Louis. I couldn't help but think of the doorway that Aslan opened for the Penvensie children at the end of Prince Caspian when I saw the Arch.
  • The Old Courthouse where the Dred Scott Case was decided.
  • The Central Branch of the St. Louis Library system. This beautiful building has been in use since it was opened in the nineteen teens. TSO and I recieved Stacks requests so that I could show him what the stacks look like in the innards of a library. It was reminicent of my tour of the Detroit Library's Main Branch (when I was in grad school). This library was absolutely perfect and I would love to work there; everything from the ceiling to the floors was beautiful!
  • The Jewel Box which is an old greenhouse in Forrest Park, built in the nineteen teens.
  • Anheuser-Busch Brewery for the tour, which was surprisingly more informative than I thought it would be. Learned that Anheuser used pasteurizing practices before pasteurization was being done to milk here in the U.S. Thought that was cool and made sure to mention it to some of my farmer friends! Also great at the end of the tour is the free beer! WOOT!

St. Louis was a lovely city and I hope I can go back someday and spend some more time wandering around. I would really like to spend an entire day in that library!

Comments

tizzy said…
Aww Monster, you do STL so much justice in this post. I'm so glad all of you were able to come, it was an absolute pleasure.
June 24, 2009 at 12:12 PM
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