We took two vacation days last week and spent the time being St. Louis “tourists”. We had spent a “tourist day” back in early November 2012 (click here to read the post) and it was a lot of fun. This time, it all started because we had tickets for the Phillip Phillips concert on 6/12 so we were going to take a vacation day the day after the concert and then I suggested we also take a vacation day the day of the concert. Great idea! So, here’s a glimpse into our activities:
Thursday – We started the day with a late breakfast at Sunny Street Café. It’s a restaurant within walking distance of our house (we drove, ha). It’s usually so crowded on the weekends so I figured that a Thursday morning would be less crowded and it was. The weather was nice so we were able to eat outside on their patio. I had the chorizo breakfast tacos (yum) and Bill had an omelet. We then stopped to get an estimate on my car (door dings, details to follow in another post) before heading to the St. Louis Science Center. We spent a few hours checking out all of the exhibits before seeing D-Day, Normandy 1944 in the Omnimax Theater in the Science Center. Wow, it was a very good movie. I had forgotten how large the Omnimax screen is and there were times it actually felt like I was flying. I had to close my eyes a few times as I didn’t want to get airsick. We then headed to Ballpark Village to eat an early dinner at Budweiser Brew House. We had eaten there once before right after it opened and it was packed but were able to sit at the bar. This time, since we arrived around 4:00, we were able to get a table. We started with the loaded baked potato fries and they were soooo good. It was enough for 4 people so, needless to say, we didn’t finish them. I then had the bacon and blue cheese burger (and it was huge) and Bill had the chicken bacon ranch sandwich. Since it was still early, we decided to stop by Urban Chestnut and sit in the biergarten before the concert to enjoy a brew. It’s right down the street from The Fox where Phillip Phillips was playing so it worked out perfectly. We had to move inside after a little while though because it started raining. We arrived at the Fox at about 7:40 and someone was already signing. I don’t know who it was and, from the little I heard, I wasn’t impressed. Phillip went on stage at about 8:10. Here’s the setlist:
- Man on the Moon
- Get up Get Down
- Lead On
- Gone
-
Trigger
- Where We Came From
- Raging Fire
- Thicket
- Digging in the Dirt
- Drive Me
- Let's Get it On
- Home
It was a great concert! He is one of my favorite singers. OAR went on after Phillip but we have no idea who they are and we really weren’t interested in seeing them so we left after Phillip finished and were home by 10:15pm.
Friday – We ate breakfast at The Original Pancake House in Chesterfield valley. We had eaten there once before, last time we were "tourists" in fact, and I had ordered the bacon pancakes with a side of bacon…hee hee hee, you can never have too much bacon! This time, I noticed that they have swedish pancakes with lingonberries! I love lingonberries. I eat swedish pancakes with lingonberries when we go to Ann Sather in Chicago. These are just as yummy and now I don't have to go all the way to Chicago for my lingonberry fix! Bill had the Georgia Pecan pancakes which is what he had last time so he must really like them. :) The next stop was the Missouri Botanical Garden where we spent over 3 hours looking at all of the beautiful flowers, plants and trees. Here are just a few of the pictures I took...
I took over 100 pictures with my camera and phone so obviously there are so many I didn't post but these were some of my favorites. Last time we were at the Botanical Garden, apparently we didn't walk far enough because look what I found...
Here's another view...
Oh my goodness, isn't it cute? It's the Cleveland Avenue Gatehouse. It was built in 1895 as the residence for the groundskeeper of the mausoleum grounds and surrounding gardens. I love it! I bet the inside is pretty too.
When we left the Botanical Garden, we went to the St. Louis Art Museum to see the Impressionist France exhibit. Photos weren't allowed so I have none to share from the exhibit but here is a Monet that is in the museum...
I found this at the museum gift shop and knew that it would look so cute in our yard..
After spending a few hours at the museum, we then headed to Riverbend Restaurant & Bar which is in South Souldard on Utah Street in the shadow of the Big Brewery (aka Anheuser Busch). Bill had seen it mentioned on Twitter (I still don't understand Twitter) and when I saw that they have crab claws on the menu, I knew we had to pay a visit. It's not big or fancy but oh my, it's eally good. We each ordered the crab claws and I had a salad while Bill had a cup of gumbo and the dirty rice. I ate every single bite of the crab claws and was so happy! It's not easy to find crab claws here in St. Louis. I first tried them back in 2010 when we were in Florida (click here to see the Florida post). I can now visit Riverbend when I need crab claws!
Because we hadn't already done enough (wink), we drove to Civil Life Brewing after dinner. They've been open for a few years but this was our first visit. We've tried a lot of their brews at various restaurants but it was nice to actually visit the brewery. We both had a glass of the hoppy wheat and we bought a growler of the Rye Pale Ale to bring home.
Saturday - Not a tourist day but I didn't want to skip from Friday to Sunday...hee hee hee. My mom and dad came over for dinner for Father's Day (see previous post). I made potstickers and stir fy and mom made berry crumble for dessert. We had a great time and Greta seemed to enjoy it too. :)
Sunday - We went to the Cardinals/Nationals game for our last day as tourists. Actually, we had tickets for the game before the vacation days were even planned. It was Jack Buck Bobblehead day so we each got a bobblehead and one will go live at my mom and dad's house in my mom's bobblehead collection...hee hee hee.
You can text your name and where you're from and the Cardinals may show it on the video board. We've done this several times and this is the second time they've posted it (click on the photo for a closer view)...
We were from Maui both times! I wish. Anyway, the Cards beat the Nationals 5 to 2, sweeping the series! It was a great end to fun long weekend.
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