As I mentioned earlier Cliff and I took a quick weekend trip to St. Louis recently. Neither of us had ever been and it is only about 4 hours from our house so we decided to go for it. We were only there for 3 nights but we packed tons of fun into our trip!
One of the first things we did when we go there was borrow bikes from the hotel and ride to the zoo. That didn’t go very well for me. The bikes they had were cruisers and it was just wayyyy to big for me. I felt totally out of control and there were people walking all over so I walked the bike most of the way. I knew I should have asked for a kids bike!
Getting ready to head to the zoo
Pretending to snorkel because snorkeling is my life!
The elephants were so much fun. One walked into the water and did the back float.
There was a conservatory full of butterflies
We were really impressed with the St. Louis Zoo. First of all, its free. And the animals were so active and fun to watch. We only spent a few hours there and then it was back on the bikes and back to the hotel.
We went to lunch at a restaurant in “the loop.” Cliff had a sandwich and I had the spinach artichoke potato skins I mentioned last week. Excellent! Then we it the pool and relaxed for awhile before dinner.
For dinner we went to “The Hill,” which is an Italian neighborhood. It was really cool. There were restaurants and Italian grocery stores mixed in with the houses. And the fire hydrants were painted like the Italian flag. After dinner we went to a bar with a bocce garden. I grew up playing bocce so I am always ready for a bocce match. And just so you all know, I won the game. Thank you very much. I have some serious bocce skills.
On the bocce court, just before I went in for the kill.
Milo’s bocce garden
The next day we went to visit the famous Arch. It was kind of disappointing. We spent about 10 minutes there and were ready to move on. I guess I was just expecting the area to have more attractions. Like gardens or sculptures. But it was just the Arch! We headed back to “The Hill” for a sandwich. And for the record, Cliff said mine are better. Ha! Then we went back to the hotel to rest up for the main reason we came to St. Louis.
One of the restaurants on The Hill
The cute courtyard where we had lunch. Do you see me? Don’t I look thrilled…
I had heard that the Missouri Botanical Gardens was having a Chinese Lantern Festival, which was the main reason we went on the trip. We got to the gardens around 5:45 and it was sold out. Luckily, I had pre-ordered tickets. The doors opened at 6pm and we spent about 2 hours exploring the gardens and seeing the lanterns in the daylight. Once it got dark we checked out almost all of the lanterns all lit up. I have to say, the festival was even better than I expected. The lanterns were really beautiful. I hope they do the same thing at the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
When we first got there. Isn’t my husband so cute? Don’t get any ideas, he is taken!
Look at those watermelons! I want to plant some next year.
So pretty!
This is at the Japanese garden
This was one of my favorite areas. I love all the bright colors.
All lit up. This was one of my favorites.
See that dragon? It was entirely made of porcelin plates, teacups, and saucers.
Aren’t these panda so cute?
You can see the dragon in the background in this one
There were 26 displays and we didn’t even get to see them all!
Saturday was our last full day and we decided to hit up the zoo one more time. This time though, we walked! Again, the animals were really active and we had a great time.
See that lion? He climbed up in the tree and took a little rest.
And the zebras, my favorite!
After the zoo we headed to a barbeque place for lunch. I had read about this place called Pappy’s on tripadvisor and we decided to give it a try. We waited in line for about 1 hour, but it was worth it. They hand out menus while you wait in line so that you are prepared to order when it is your turn. I was originally going to get the ribs, cause I LOVE ribs. Once we actually got in the restaurant I was checking out everyone’s food to see what looked good. The ribs didn’t really look “fall off the bone,” so I went with the pulled pork sandwich. Each entree comes with 2 sides so I got fried corn on the cob and sweet potato fries. Cliff ordered the ribs. Which was pretty ironic since, he never orders ribs! Well my pulled pork sandwich was excellent but Cliff’s ribs were the star of the meal. I guess I will just have to go back and get the ribs next time.
If you made it this far you are almost there
Cliff for ribs, beans, and sweet potato fries
I got a pulled pork sandwich, fried corn on the cob, and sweet potato fries
After lunch we went on a brewery tour at Schlafly. Usually on vacation I make Cliff stop at all kinds of bakeries and cupcakeries. So this time, we did a brewery tour for him. I admit though, that I did not listen to one word that the guide said. I don’t drink beer so I just kind of day dreamed for an hour while we were on the tour. Not really my thing but that’s ok!
We had a drink before the tour
I have no idea what he was saying, but I’m sure it was very interesting!
All the different varieties
We got up bright and early the next morning and headed home. Short but sweet! It was a great trip!
