A Birthday and Some Cakeway to the West Cake

My sister had a big birthday yesterday and because I am a nice baby sister, I will not mention how big. I took her out for lunch on Monday because I had a class at the Missouri Botanical Garden yesterday, and she has breakfast with friends every Tuesday morning anyway. On the ay to pick her up in Union, I stopped at the Endangered Wolf Center to snap a few photos of their cake. The facility was closed, but the cake is located outside their gates so that wasn't a problem. This location is one of the fifty that was selected for a cake by public vote, and the artist is Maura Pusateri.

Endangered Wolf Center

The Endangered Wolf Center was established in 1971 by Marlin and Carol Perkins. The mission of the organization is to preserve and protect Mexican gray wolves, red wolves and other endangered canids. The 63 wooded acres just west of St. Louis, Missouri off Interstate 44 provides the wolves and other canids the opportunity to thrive and hopefully be reintroduced back into their native habitats.Tours and special events are offered at the center, as well as opportunities for scouts to work on their badges.

Shaw Nature Reserve

My second stop was at Shaw Nature Reserve, located in Gray Summit, Missouri.   The property was purchased by the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1925, and  currently consists of 2,400 acres of land. There are numerous hiking trails, and bicycles are allowed as well. With the ever changing landscape of native plants, the reserve is a photographer's dream and beautiful in every season. Artist for this cake is Elaine Taylor.

Purina Farms

Located near Shaw Nature Reserve is Purina Farms. I have to confess that I have never been to this destination, despite having raised two children who both went through the scouting programs. I am not even sure they ever went there on a field trip. And that is really too bad, as this free venue offers wagon rides, dog agility performances, cow-milking demonstrations, and a baby animal petting area. I can't wait to have visitors this summer so we can check it all out.

On this trip, however, I neglected to follow my own advice and I didn't look at their operating hours. I assumed (you know what happens!) that since it is June they would be open. Wrong! They are closed on Mondays. However, a very nice security guard let me enter after extracting a promise that I would grab a quick shot and leave. The website for stl250.org indicated that the cake is located in the arena by the Visitor's Center. I drove around a bit, and did not spy the cake. My hero showed up in a golf cart and offered to take me to the cake. Evidently it was not where it had originally been placed, as he didn't see it either. While walking around he said that no one told security they were getting a cake, and all of a sudden people were showing up at the gate saying they were there for the cake. "I was pissed off for two weeks because no one offered me any cake!" Ha, ha! We eventually saw the cake at the bottom of some stairs, and I took a couple quick pictures and then took off after thanking him for his assistance.There is no artist listed for this cake, so perhaps someone on the staff designed and painted it.

After I picked up my sister we stopped in downtown Union to capture the cake at the Franklin County Courthouse, designed by artist Paul LaFlam before driving to Washington for the Washington Historical Society's cake, by artist Gina Harmon.

Franklin county Courthouse

Washington Historical Society

Old Dutch Hotel & Tavern

We had lunch in Washington at the Old Dutch Hotel & Tavern. The original hotel opened 80 years ago, but this remodeled facility just re-opened a couple of years ago. Our waitress was great, though the food was slow coming out despite the fact that they were not crowded. It didn't matter to us as we were busy catching up, and both of us thought our meals were great.

So it was a good day, with five more cakes off my list (which brings me to 145 cakes) and fun times with my sister celebrating her birthday. And hey, I even got her a cake!