Our first trip to Missouri is coming to an end. For the last week, we stayed with friends, Bob and Linda, who moved here a couple of years ago. (Avid readers of this blog may recall that Beth and I stayed with Bob and Linda twice on Cape Cod.)
I think it’s safe to say that we would not have spent time in St. Louis had we not been invited by our friends – proof positive that maintaining a valued friendship is one of the prime motivations to travel and explore new places.
St. Louis is a fine place to visit. Like a lot of medium-sized cities, it’s easy to get around, friendly and boasts its own attractions, events and cuisine worth sampling. Bob and Linda are superb hosts, so we got to see quite a bit of what makes this “gateway to the west” a worthwhile destination.
A must, of course, is the Arch.
The Arch is an engineering marvel and we enjoyed the short film about its design and construction. I like learning about how things were made and the way that the Arch came to be was fascinating. My belief is that we humans are quite clever and industrious when we set our minds on a task and collaborate with one another. It’s one of our best qualities.
My second favorite attraction was the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Although I have no talent as a gardener, I appreciate the splendor of color, textures and landscaping found in a great garden. As a college student, I loved Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, so this was another opportunity to sink into the many beautiful environments created by (I’ll say it again) clever, collaborative humans. Of particular interest to me was the moment we transitioned from a tropical area to an arid one. It reminded me that I feel more viscerally connected to desserts compared to tropical environments. I find dry heat and open, sunny environments to be more comfortable to the dark, humid understory of the rainforest. Southwest here we come!
I also liked the St. Louis Balloon Festival, the day we spent going to the wine country and the afternoons we spent lounging at the pool. Idle time is always a blessing.
My top meal, by far, was a multi course, prix fixe dinner at Robin, an eatery in Maplewood, Missouri. It’s one of Bob and Linda’s favorites and I soon found out why. This is one of those restaurants where the service is wonderful and the food is prepared so that every bite is an exquisite treat to the palate. I haven’t had a meal like this in many years and it was worth the wait. Yum.
St. Louis has its own confections, too. An example is a tasty, buttery cake which I’m sure has more calories per square inch than anything else I ate on this trip.
Also on the subject of food, our host, Linda, made a few superb meals all of which were delicious and (important to me) presented with panache!
I had one uncomfortable moment on this trip. On our second night in St. Louis, we attended a concert. It was well-executed by the performers (a group led by blues guitarist, Kingfish), but I was in a sour mood that evening. I just couldn’t find my groove. Kingfish certainly found his, though!
Like it or not, losing my mojo is something that happens to me every now and then. Fortunately, it passes, but unfortunately it can turn me into a grump and sometimes screwup an otherwise lovely evening. Oh, well. Such is the nature of even us wonderful humans. Most times, I can say to my good friends or Beth that I’m experiencing a downturn in my mood. That’s usually the moment I start feeling better.
Bob, like me, is a heart-centered, intelligent, goofball. Accordingly, we enjoy great conversations and periodically lapse into the silliness that attracted us to one another in our college years. Beth and Linda certainly participate in the deep conversations, but they probably roll their eyes when we start acting like 10 year olds. Oh, well. I guess we are all lucky when we have spouses (and friends) that can endure our differences, idiosyncrasies and, sometimes, our grumpiness.
