The Gateway City

St. Louis Arch

Following our Kentucky and Indiana stops, we drove the remaining three hours to St. Louis. Even after all these years, it remains a thrill to catch sight of the Arch as you cross the Mississippi River into Missouri.

The main purpose of our trip was to attend the 30th Anniversary celebration of SWT Design, the company Jim founded with Ted Spaid and Susan Trautman in 1995. What an accomplishment!

But the trip also gave us an opportunity to catch up with friends and family while we were in the area. We were able to see my sister's family, which was great, and Jim got in a bit of motorcycle riding with his friend.

While he was off the first day, I met a girlfriend at the Sophia Sach's Butterfly House. It was a pretty hot day so neither one of us wanted to go on a long walk outside. While the butterfly house is on the warm side, at least you are in the shade. It was great to sit and chat while the butterflies flitted around us. We grabbed lunch after that. 

Butterfly House

The next day while Jim rode, I picked up another friend and she and I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden. I have been to many gardens in my travels around the world, but I have yet to find one that is as wonderful as the one in St. Louis. It is easy to navigate while offering a different visual and sensory experience around every corner. As this particular friend is also a photographer, we were in perfect sync stopping to photograph the flowers and insects around us. When we were finished, we went to the Trainwreck Saloon for lunch. This restaurant is owned by a gal that I worked with at the American Cancer Society from 1980-1982. In all the times I have eaten there, she has never been around. But that Wednesday was my lucky day as Chris was in! We had the best time catching up, and since my lunch friend graduated from the same high school as Chris, they had things to talk about as well.

Missouri Botanical Garden

On Thursday Jim and I spent the day together since the party was later that afternoon. We first went to the St. Louis Zoo. Again, I've gone to a lot of zoos in my lifetime, and none of them compare to this zoo. And it is FREE to get in! SWT Design has done a bit of work in the zoo, so in addition to enjoying the animals it was fun to check up on the progress/maturation of some of their work. The nice, hot day necessitated a stop at Ted Drewes for some frozen custard - always a highlight of a visit to St. Louis.

St. Louis Zoo

That afternoon was the SWT celebration garden party. While it was hot, it was wonderful to catch up with staff members and clients. I don't think Jim and Ted ever anticipated what their dream would one day become. It's a huge milestone to make 30 years in the design field, and to know that their projects have made and are making a lasting impression not only in St. Louis but throughout the country.

Friday was our last day and we began it by playing pickleball in a nearby park with Jim's riding buddy, who has been playing even longer than me. Then the three of us had a late breakfast, and the guys dropped me off at the hotel so they could go pick up the motorcycle trailer. For a few months Jim's motorcycle has been garaged in St. Louis. But it is time for the annual inspection and licensing, so we needed to get it back to Charlotte. It seemed easiest to trailer it back so Jim wouldn't have to make that long bike trip on his own.

Saturday morning we left St. Louis as the sun was rising and made the thirteen hour drive back home. The trailer added time to the trip as we had to stop more often for gas, and be a little more cautious when driving through the mountains. So we saw the sun rise and the sun set, but made it safely back here.

sunrise, sunset

 

Fifteen Year Old Flashback

empty nest

We have been empty nesters for two years now, and I have to say we may have become a little set in our ways. Especially me, since the only thing I have to worry about besides myself all day is the dog. However, the past two weeks my fifteen year old niece from out of town came to stay with us. It took some adjustment on my part to adapt to having to think of someone else again. What does she like to eat? What would she like to do?

Fortunately she is not a picky eater at all, so she was happy with

Butterfly House

whatever I cooked or where ever we wanted to go to eat out. We had a good time shopping, visiting the science center, planetarium, art museum, the Arch, Forest Park, Butterfly House, the Loop and other St. Louis attractions. She even indulged me in my current obsession with photographing the Cakeway to the West displays. She made an interesting comment about the St. Louis Premium Outlets center, stating that it was geared towards children and older people and not so much for teenagers. Hmmmm...interesting observation. I hadn't given that too much thought, but considering that teenagers spend 40% of their money updating their wardrobes perhaps the outlet mall needs to think about opening some retailers appealing to teens.

She flew back home on Friday. While we very much enjoyed having her visit with us, it certainly made us appreciate the fact that our day to day parenting is over. It was wonderful to go through each of the stages with our two kids, but it is also fun to have come full circle to the family we became in 1978. The dog and I have settled back into our routine quite nicely.

Kirby & me

Morpho Mania

Even though I am a long time member of the Missouri Botanical Garden, I have never gone to the Butterfly House in March for Morpho Mania. The Butterfly House floods their conservatory with thousands of Blue Morpho butterflies for this event in an effort to educate visitors about the important role butterflies play in nature. Jim and I visited there today, and I have to say it was an amazing sight. This type of butterfly is brown when the wings are closed and you only see the blue when it is flying or has its wings open. It was very difficult to try and capture them with a still camera as they are mostly in flight. I was happy that I brought my pocket camcorder along as I was able to videotape them more successfully than photograph them.

Unlike the Orchid Show yesterday at the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Butterfly House was not overly crowded. We were able to take our time going through and photograph to our hearts content without being in the way of other people. (Or having them get in our way.) I always forget how hot and humid it gets inside the conservatory. It took quite a while before my camera lens would quit fogging up from the change in temperature.

 

I did not realize that the Butterfly House was the recipient of one of the butterfly sculptures from the Wings in the City fundraiser that was held a couple of years ago in St. Louis. This is probably one of the prettiest sculptures, and I love how the artist reproduced the Butterfly House on the sculpture.

I'll leave you with one of the Blue Morphos sounding the alarm at the Butterfly House.