Lions and Tigers and Bears…OH My!

First the disclaimer…I am not a zoo person.  Wandering around a zoo, looking at caged animals, or not looking at caged animals, depending on how hot or cold or the feeding schedule or myriads of other reasons the animals hide from the huddled masses, is not as high on my list of “how I spent my summer vacation”.  That being said…the St. Louis Zoo is FREE…and you never turn down free.  So off we go to the zoo.  We had just a little trouble, Maggie (our wonderful GPS) took us on a side trip, she could not find the Zoo.  She found a lovely park, a cemetery, and lots of side streets but no zoo,(I’m sure it was not user error), but when an alternative site was typed in she led us there with no problemo.  Bernerd was REALLY excited…Jessica on the other hand was just humoring us at this point! Luckily Arlon consented to posing for me.  This is his “I am so fascinated by all this” pose

Jessica…still humoring me, and not to convincingly.  Even the shark wanted to bite her head off.

Hmmmm so these are Elephants…interesting. Keep in mind…its free!

Hmmm… so this is a monkey, nope its an orangutan…got ya!

Great minds think alike!

Yep their in there!!!

This is the one that Jessica actually enjoyed…I just think she liked saying it!The hippo exhibit was the only one that really made me a little sad… they had two (hippos not exhibits)and they were HUGE… They swam in a tight circle (because that's all the room they had) the entire time we watched them.  They just seemed really caged to me. Bernerd was glad he was on the outside looking in though…they were really big!

She's got the whole Zebra in her hand…come on sing along!

Jessica practicing her kissing skills! 

It is a nice zoo though.  I bet its beautiful in the summer, lots of trees and grass and the bulbs were starting to come up all over, I would probably visit again, did I mention…its FREE!

Arch, Arch and away…

Today we ride up the arch… but first we go down into the belly of the beast!  I think it could have been a bomb shelter…narrow cement walls and steep stairs…I thought we were going UP (way too much thinking)!  They put us in front of #6, a skinny door, to wait until the “hatch” opens.  behind the door…its a egg shaped pod.  Visions of Mork and Mindy, and alien planets come to mind.  Jessica cried just a little…

But, who could resist the fun Arlon was having, seeing a metal wonder, a mechanical marvel, a slow moving vehicle of death, a tribute to other “Tall, Powerful Men!” So we got in the egg and moved up the Arch, listening to the ratcheting of the gears, as it constantly re-aligned itself to traverse the really, really high structure.  Once at the top we got out to look out narrow windows, and get a true birds eye view of St. Louis.  I really worried about this part, heights and I don’t always get along.  But the windows were small, and the walls were really thick, and we were not hanging over empty space but just looking out, so it was “kinda fun”. 

even if we were 630 feet in the air…auggggggh!

After descending back to the bottom, Arlon now need to see how they made it.  They show a 20 min film, on the building of the arch.  The film actually gave me more anxiety than the ride.  Watching all those men walking the beams (this was before the invention of safety harnesses)  and hearing how they had actually factored in the loss of around 13 men (they had no deaths building it) really made you marvel at “WHO THINKS UP THESE THINGS”!  Must be a man thing.

Funny side note…While we were waiting for the film to start, Jessica attracted the attention of a local boy scout troop…one of which stared at her the entire time we sat and waited…awkward!  She did a few poses hopping to embarrass him into looking away, no such luck .  I think he probably still dreams of her today.

Going back outside, I had to cross the street on the other side of the park to even attempt to get Arlon, Jessica and the arch in the frame…This is one Amazing structure!
Leaving the Arch it was time for sustenance (food) again (you will find eating a familiar theme through out this entire trip.)  Even though we has agreed no chain restaurants… it was Jessica’s turn to pick the watering hole.  Since we had ventured down to Union Station, and it happened to have a food court, and one of Jess’s favorite places to eat was there, and since she was…pretty good…(if you call sleeping being good) while we watched the “Making of the Arch film,  We ate at Panda, (I just happen to love it to so we let her think it was her idea)  Yum! 

While wandering through the station shops, we stopped in a gift shop.  There was the cutest display of sock monkeys, all colors and sizes (and not all monkeys).  Now by this time Jessica was a little tired of smiling for all the pictures, I think the only pictures that should be taken, should have someone you know in them…otherwise just buy a postcard, the pictures are professional then.  So following in the footsteps of Mike and Lindsey’s trip where they let their Nutcracker man be their traveling companion (this was before they had children to take hundreds of pictures of)…Jessica talked me into a getting a sock monkey to replace her in the pictures…Meet Bernerd!  Not BernArd, but BernErd…why…only Jessica knows but it was her monkey. So for awhile he got to pose for the many pictures yet to come.

Such a happy camper too!

Vacations…defined

It began like any other day…not!  We left early (according to Jessica) at 6:00 a.m. Grandpa Knight drove us to the Airport, then we flew into St. Louis, rented a car (Jessica wanted the red PT cruiser… Arlon wanted more leg room, dad paid the bill so Black Ford Fusion it was!

With a little help from “Maggie” our trusty GPS…we arrived downtown St. Louis just in time for the St. Patty's day parade.  As we walked down the slightly drizzly, breezy, sidewalk…I had just a small thought of the beautiful 78 degree weather we had left at home.  But the hot dog w/sauerkraut, and the view of the Arch, gave me the shot of adrenaline I needed to begin our adventure!  (all the naked statues didn’t hurt the mood either :)

Jessica posed for pictures pretty well…at least for the first 20 or so,

after that we got a little…

Attitude!

We headed across the street to see the St. Louis Arch, The tram was filled for the day so we bought tickets for the next day then perused the Museum.  Jessica got to meet up with her old friend from a student essay, Grover Cleveland.  She wouldn’t bust out the Grover Cleveland song from “The All American Genuine Family Band” though…missed Summer just a little bit, she wouldn’t have hesitated!

Arlon was totally into the structure of the Arch…

being a welder and all, it was a great tribute to his profession!

Jessica, very impressive…

a buffalo picture for Ron! Dad just keeps getting happier…Jessica lovin it…sorta.

Checking out the baseballs at the “ All American Legion” display…do you think Jessica will look back at this trip someday and think…boy that was fun!

We piled back into the car and went to check into the hotel.  Jessica was down for the count,

until I suggested checking out a local mall then eating dinner.

The mall was pretty much deserted and creepy! Alot of empty stores… and the ones that were open…scary, but it was a mall and Jessica got to ride the magic school bus and a pink motorcycle…what more could a girl want….lol! But dinner made up for the mall.  We had decided no chain restaurants, only local eateries…so we went to…

Mainly because Jessica like the small sign underneath…we made laughed about it enough, the food would have had to be really bad to ruin dinner…but fortunately, it was very good!

YUM! So far so good…and day one ends!

How cool would this be!

Okay we all know that the only one that could possible win this is Lindsey…that being said, it never hurt to try!  These two (well actually the Janome company) is giving away a sewing machine and embroidery machine.  Since the machine I use is still my high school graduation present, and I have had my 30th reunion, who better to win one. So cross your fingers girls, because if I win one you’ll hear the screams from here!