Lighting the Christmas Spirit

We do very little exterior Christmas lighting ourselves, but we love to look at what other's have done. While we haven't had an opportunity to go see any large light installations yet, we did go to see a house that is in Mount Holly.

This guy does extreme Halloween decorations as well, apparently. We haven't seen those, but this is our second year of driving to his neighborhood to see the Christmas display. It is so large that you really need to park and get out of the car to truly appreciate the extent of the decorations. It really put me in the Christmas spirit for sure!

the Christmas house

My Christmas cards were put in the mail the beginning of the month. All of my shopping is done, and my last two gifts should arrive in the mail today. Once I get those wrapped, I will definitely be ready for Christmas! 

Carpe Diem

When you are given 70 degree, sunny days in December, you seize the moment. We went to a newish seltzer bar to sample their wares as they have outdoor seating, and then took a walk on a downtown greenway. It was great to see some semblance of normalcy with the Christmas decorations.

Little Sugar Creek Greenway

The next day we took our kayaks out on Mountain Island Lake. The water was calm, and the blue herons were extremely cooperative in having their pictures taken. As an added bonus, a large herd of deer ambled through the woods while we were watching the blue heron. 

Mountain Island Lake

That evening we went to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden to see their Christmas light display. It was an outdoor walking tour, and while it was a little more crowded than we would have liked, everyone wore their masks and it was easy to step off the path to let a group pass. I've said before that we are so blessed to have relocated to an area where we can enjoy the great outdoors, particularly in light of Covid.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

Missouri Botanical Garden Glow

in the snow globe

Last night we had the opportunity to attend a dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Deer Creek Watershed Alliance at the Missouri Botanical Garden. SWT Design has been an active partner in the project for quite a long while, so we were invited the celebration. It was an interesting mix of people, and the organization has a reason to be proud of all the accomplishments.

The evening was specifically designed to take advantage of the Garden Glow at the facility. Consisting of over one million lights, the Garden Glow gets bigger and better each year. Following the dinner and program, we were free to walk through the garden. Of particular fun this year was the addition of the Twelve Days of Christmas displays, of which some pieces were interactive. You could be one of the 12 drummers drumming, for example. I couldn't help but laugh as I passed by the various pieces, because my dad absolutely hated that song.

While it was a little chilly out, we had dressed accordingly and so it was a fairly pleasant night to walk through the garden. There were not many people out viewing the exhibit yet, so we could just take our time and enjoy the show. The Missouri Botanical Garden continues to amaze and amuse me year round.

Garden Glow 2018

Family Fun at Christmas

Crown Candy Kitchen

On Tuesday the 22nd I took Andy and Megan to Crown Candy Kitchen so they could experience for the first time the yummy goodness of St. Louis' oldest candy store. Normally I get the BLT sandwich, which is so huge that I never order any ice cream to go with it. Megan and I decided to split a sandwich so that we could each get a shake, too. For the second time in a row I actually received a BL sandwich - there was no tomato. I really didn't mind as the tomatoes this time of year are usually not that good, but I probably should have said something. Andy noticed that the people in the booth behind us had tomato on their sandwiches. Strange... Megan and Andy were both amazed at the size of the BL, and of the shakes as well. I ended up taking more than half of my chocolate shake home with me.

BLT sandwich

BLT side view

We had barely walked in the door when Jim and Katie arrived from their trip to Iowa. Perfect timing! After spending time catching up, we had dinner and then played some card games.

Wednesday night it was our intention to drive through Tilles Park to see the Winter Wonderland lights. Apparently everyone else in St. Louis had the same idea. The cars were lined up from the park all the way beyond I-64, and both exit ramps on the interstate were backed up as far as the eye could see. When we saw a man's car overheat while waiting in line, we decided we were not going to wait to see what kind of additional back log that created. Instead we hopped on I-64 and went to Candy Cane Lane in the city. Located near Ted Drewes, this neighborhood tries to outdo itself each year. Two other streets, Angel Avenue and Snow Flake Street, are in the competition as well. The area is well worth seeing, with the added bonus of being near our favorite frozen custard stand, Ted Drewes. We stopped there for dessert, which in this case happened to be before dinner.

Candy Cane Lane

Ted Drewes

Gardenland Express

Thursday we headed out early to the Missouri Botanical Garden for one of our annual family traditions of visiting Gardenland Express, the indoor train exhibit that is set up each year at the garden. We all agreed that this was one of their better years. It was not at all crowded, and you could actually spend time admiring each of the different exhibits without a bunch of people in your way.

We decided to see if our lack of crowds luck would hold, and traveled next to the St. Louis Zoo. With the mild weather, I expected it to be packed. But we scored a parking spot along the street right outside the zoo, which indicated that not too many people were visiting the zoo on Christmas Eve. Jim's firm had worked on the design of the new polar bear exhibit, and none of us had seen it yet. It was nice to be able to check it out with the kids along. There is only one polar bear in the pen, but I understand that the males are pretty territorial so he may not have to ever share his space. He seemed content enough, I suppose. At any rate, it was a nice day to stroll through the zoo.

polar bear exhibit

St. Louis Zoo

Saturday I invited my sister and her family over to see the kids in the afternoon. They hadn't seen Katie for several years, so it is nice that the timetable worked out for some of them at least. We took one last family photo in front of the fireplace before Megan and Andy left that night to drive the three hours to her mom & dad's house in Indiana. Then at 6:30 Sunday morning we drove Katie to the airport to catch her plane back to LA. Now the house is all quiet again, and I am catching up on cleaning and doing laundry after having company for over a week. But what a great time we had!

Bud Light Night

Anheuser-Busch Brewery

The Anheuser-Busch Brewery has put up Christmas lights at its St. Louis headquarters for the past 30 years. Visitors were allowed to drive their cars through the campus to admire the lights. Recently they added a walking tour feature. You can stand in line to get a wrist band, which entitles you to five free A-B products. If you aren't interested in the drinks, you can basically just walk right into the visitors center and then onto the grounds. Andy, Megan and I went on Sunday night as the walking tours are only available Thursday-Sunday. We arrived at 5:00 when it opens, and had a 20 minute wait to get our wrist bands. I have to say, it was well worth it. The evening was pretty mild, but they do have fire pits (you could purchase a s'mores kit if you so desired) as well as portable heaters set up so that you could warm up.

It was crowded, but not prohibitively so, and it was so much nicer to be able to view the lights at a walking pace instead of being in a line of cars. As the designated driver, I did not use all of my drink tickets, but I did enjoy trying the Bud Light Mang-O-Rita. We love the Lime-A-Rita flavor, and I have to say the mango is excellent as well. In fact, I bought a case the next day at the grocery store, so the A-B marketing plan is working well. Our original intention was to purchase some St. Louis cuisine at the visitors center for dinner, but the place was packed! We did not see any place to sit and eat, so we decided instead to go to a neighborhood restaurant by our house. While we didn't have a problem finding a place to park in the brewery lot when we arrived, by the time we left we could have sold our parking space. The line of cars waiting to get into and out of the lot was insane! So here is my bonus tip for visiting the brewery lights. Head towards the east end of the parking lot where the employee gates are located. As you approach the gate, it will automatically rise. No lines, no wait. You're welcome!

Brewery Lights

How Does Your Garden Glow?

For the first time ever the Missouri Botanical Garden is lighting up the night with hundreds of thousands of lights. I have had the opportunity to attend the Garden Glow twice so far, once on corporate sponsor night, and once for a photography class. Both nights were very cold, but that just adds to the ambiance of an outdoor light show. There is something so magical about walking through a large light display rather than just riding through it in your car. In keeping with their sustainable practices, the displays consist of energy-efficient LED lights. They are also using solar panels to recharge the AA batteries that power the lights. For the most part this seems to be working, although one path on my second night there was dark for a bit. I am sure that some tweaking will fix the issue. I highly recommend going to the Garden Glow, and pick a cold night if you can stand it. The crowds are much smaller, and there are warming fire pits throughout the displays. It is certain to get you in the Christmas spirit!