What is any road trip without a pit stop? We indulged in America's tastiest heart stopper on our journey to the Arch. That's right, Taco Bell. The accoutrement of sauce selection topped off a meal that could only please the hungry belly. What's more romantic than sharing a Nachos Bell Grande with a view of the drive-thru lane? Gassed up and ready to go, pun intended, we were off for a weekend of wonder! 
The sun was setting as we crossed the bridge from Illinois to Missouri, a beautiful backdrop for this glowing city. Unlike Chicago with the heavy traffic and long driving distance from home, St. Louis is only a little more than an hour from home and boasts a city large enough to entertain without being so crowded that you can't get around easily. We stayed at a the St. Louis Marriott West halfway between St. Louis and Chesterfield. No matter where we went all weekend our driving time was no more than 15-20 minutes start to finish. A huge bonus in my book! Our hotel was pretty impressive for the price. There was some sort of an Asian convention that weekend. I actually felt like we were staying in another country. It was perfect! Every elevator ride was pleasant, filled with, "Prease and Sank You".
After resting up a bit, we headed out for a little drive checking out the surrounding area. I highly recommend Yelp if you have an iphone. It a great app that will help you locate any business in the area. It tracks your current location and is super easy to use. We stopped at Trader Joes for some essentials, coffee and mini stroopwaffles and hit up a Walgreens for toothbrushes. All our exploring worked up an appetite for Lettuce Wraps so off to P.F. Changs we went.
Friday night is never a good night to go out to eat at a chain restaurant in my experience.
It's date night, a night when awkward couples banter over food before determining if a) There is a connection. b) Is he the one? c)Does an expensive meal equate to sex? d)If there isn't sex, do we at least get to make out? and lastly e) I really hope she touches my junk. Next there are the groups of ladies who go out with each other, empowered by each other, overcoming whatever tragedy has recently become them, building up their self worth with wine and carbs, sharing a mini dessert with six spoons. Finally there is us, a married couple happy to not be helping a child eat, a little unsure what to talk about because we really don't want to talk about work or the kids now that we are away from them.
Instead of date night, I would much rather have lunch on a weekday and pay a little less while enjoying a little better service and food. It's just not feasible to service than many people at once and have all the food be spot on during the heaviest rush. Our dinner was okay at best. We should have stuck to appetizers and desserts as the main course was really disappointing. However, I don't blame the restaurant. I should know better. Having four kids, we have gotten really good at knowing what times to go out to eat and get the best service with the quickest turn around times. I think because we were actually alone we forgot our sense of reasoning when dinning out. We became much smarter after this point, choosing better times to dine the rest of the weekend.
Full of moderately average food, I used the Yelp app to determine the nearest movie theater. We saw I am number four. If you like cheesy love stories, action, and can empathize with a hero who has to overcome adversity to find his way in life then you will enjoy this movie. Bonus, It has the guy from Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker in it, another wonderfully cheesy action movie with costar Alicia Silverstone. Satisfied and on a moral high from no other than an awesome feel-good American movie, we headed back to the hotel to turn in for the night. I fell asleep watching The Cheetah Girls 2 movie, I still don't know if they won the Barcelona music festival, I'm a little upset.Saturday morning we were up bright and early, hungry for caffeine and grub. We went into the city for breakfast at Rooster. This alone could be the reason that I now want to move to St. Louis.
Rooster is located in a downtown building and still has what looks to be original tile and fixtures, there was minimal work done to change the structure aside from a little paint and a plain wooden bar. It has a comfortable relaxed atmosphere. The service was outstanding, attentive but not over barring. We sat at the bar for immediate service and ordered a couple of Lattes... Ah, caffeine! Josh had a Caramelized Onion, Bacon, and Spinach Crepe. I had the B.E.L.T. a Bacon, soft Egg, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich. The mayo on the sandwich was amazing, they must make it in house. It was served with a side of Guacamole(Avocados!)and Cumin breakfast potatoes. Our breakfast was divine! Josh ordered a double espresso topped of with cream and I warmed my latte with a splash of his drink, So Good! http://roosterstl.com/ image by Geoff Story
After Rooster we went to the Basilica Cathedral. Over 41.5 million pieces of glass in more than 7,000 colors cover the Basilica Cathedral, making it one of the largest mosaic collections in the world. Instillation of the mosaics covering the Cathedral began in 1912 and was completed in 1988. There are few words to describe the extent of beauty within the Cathedral. Pictures don't do it justice, it must be seen in person. Being inside the Basilica made me understand the motivation behind religion. Buildings such as this are so rare anymore. The effort behind its construction and the amount of funding needed to complete the process, over a million dollars at the time the construction began, is a testament to the strength of religion.
It was just a quick drive through Forest Park to the Art Museum where we encountered a maze of rooms on our way to the restrooms. Sometimes free art museums are... interesting. Meaning the people who choose to go to them may smell really bad or perhaps like us, they had just been walking around so long in the stagnant air searching for the restrooms that they had an unfortunate accident.
Either way, my love for art has its limits. It was the quickest trip through and Art museum I've ever encountered. I did find some really pretty pieces, things I'd like to steal and take home with me. Not that I am a criminal. That wasn't worded very well. I have a fondness for stained glass and iron. I find myself wishing I knew how to forge metal, build furniture, and create stain glass pieces. Maybe one day...
Escaping to fresh air, it was a beautiful day in the park. It had been hailing earlier in the day when we walked to the car, not a good sign. Now all traces of bad weather were gone. The Botanical Gardens was just a hop, skip, and a jump away. We first started going to the gardens many years and children ago. Josh has grown Orchids most of our almost ten married years, ranging from a couple small house plants in our apartment to an interesting hallway full or orchids upstairs at my mothers house and finally to completely overtaking our basement with a jungle of tropical splendor.
The children have caught up with us and the jungle in the basement has now shrank to a window sill in the kitchen. The Botanical Gardens has an Orchid Show every Spring. This years show was on Mayan culture. There were giant Moss made Mayan people with Orchids springing forth every which a way. If the Mayan prophecy of the world ending doesn't scare you enough, you should go stand next to an eight foot Moss Mayan. That should do it for you. Yikes! The Orchids were worth the Mayan torture. I'm always amazed by their brilliance. We opted out of walking around the gardens and drove off in search of killer BBQ. 
St. Louis is an interesting driving city. There are a lot of up and coming neighborhoods, which means there are a lot of very borderline neighborhoods as well. By borderline I mean you'll see a Million dollar renovated mansion, turn the corner and see a crack house. I'm sure this is true in many big cities. I'm just used to a more gradual transition in Springfield. Needless to say, the drive was an entertaining one.
Pappy's Smokehouse was our destination, BBQ was our mission. You walk up to Pappy's and go around the side of the building to wait in line. You get inside the building to wait in the hallway in line. You make it inside the restaurant to wait in line to order. You order, sit down, and they bring you food immediately! The whole process isn't that bad, but it will take you about an hour and a half to make it through the line and another half hour to enjoy your delicious meat-fest. We ordered the Big Ben- a full rack of ribs, a quarter smoked chicken, a pulled pork sandwich, and a brisket sandwich with 4 sides.
We opted for 2 coleslaw, potato salad, and sweet potato fries. I should have kept all the pulled pork for myself instead of splitting it with Josh. It was that good. As for ribs, they were good. They could have been a smidgen more tender. I'm biased because I'm all about the dry rub ribs at Smokey Bones. The quarter smoked chicken was the best chicken I've ever eaten. The brisket had a great flavor, I'd take it without the bun. The sides were good, the coleslaw had a vinegar base with lots of celery seed, no mayo, a refreshing change from what I'm used to. Overall, it was a success!
We waddled out to the car, not fat enough yet, and headed towards Jilly's cupcake bar which I found on Yelp. Here is a tip, make sure your phone is fully charged before you get in line at Pappy's, it makes the whole process more entertaining. Also just because a business has a nifty website that does not guarantee good tasting food. Jilly's cupcake bar has a fun atmosphere, the cupcakes look nice. They are really quite gigantic. We got a box of 6 for $36.00. The Bee Sting was very good. A vanilla cupcake filled with lemon curd, topped with cream cheesing icing and candied lemon with a few toasted almonds around the side. Everything else we got was crap. The chocolate cupcakes were dry. The buttercream icing had this funky taste about it like it was made with a combination of margarine and butter flavoring or perhaps it had been held at room temperature too long and gone rancid. Nothing was refrigerated, so this could have been the case. It's really too bad because it's a very fun idea. I just wish the experience had been better. Also there were no instructions on how to properly store the cupcakes after they had been purchased, which I think is important to know. There are a couple other cupcake places I'd like to try on our next trip back, or when we move there, whichever comes first!
Whole Foods is always a must when visiting St. Louis, another reason I want to move! I love everything there, from the funky people who work there, to the random assortment of mind blowing ready to eat deliciousness at your fingertips. We started with the important items, mini desserts, coffee, and booze. Josh got his fill of cheese and I found a really nifty scarf/hat combo made of some organic or hemp fiber I'm sure. The guy I bought the coffee from was hilarious. Actually, he wasn't funny at all. He was just really excited for me that I was buying the coffee that he had just roasted. It was still warm. He put my face in the bag and made me smell it. He was also a very close talker. If you could imagine Jack Hodgins selling coffee... It was just like that. On to the freshly prepared, ready to eat dynamos! I had this amazing veggie sushi with strawberries in it. I love it when you eat healthy food and feel a natural rush of vitamins and goodness. Yep, I'm wacko. We returned to the Marriott with our squanders and relaxed for a nap and a little T.V. time. After much digestion... we awoke late with a grumbling in our bellies and a need for entertainment. We headed down to Delmar to get a look at the famous Blueberry Hill. Apparently at Midnight on a Saturday night it's no longer a diner, it's a bar. Not wanting to get trashed and have to drive back to the hotel we opted for a small local eatery called the Courtesy Diner. Once again Yelp saves the day! Great music, awesome typical diner atmosphere, good quick food.
Sunday morning we hit a Starbucks for some overpriced horrible tasting burnt coffee before heading to The Butterfly House in Chesterfield. The last time we were there was with Eliot and Liam many years ago. A butterfly landed on Eliot's shoulder and I have a picture of him screaming, "Get it off me!!!!!" It's hilarious.
We enjoyed a leisurely, fearless walk through the butterfly house. Not having to worry about children accidentally killing gorgeous creatures really made the day fantastic. I took far too many photos. We saw two butterflies mating, they do it end to end. I know because we asked. I felt kind of dirty taking pictures of butterflies doing the nasty... But it was awesome.
The Cheesecake Factory was our next destination. I've heard a lot of hype about this place and was expecting it to be all fluff, but it wasn't. The food was probably the best I've had for a chain restaurant. Mini-crab cakes, gigantic salads, and Tiramisu. It's was just what we needed to fuel ourselves for the shopping ahead of us! Williams Sonoma for an avocado pitter, new cell phone cases, a helicopter, Sephora, and a couple mardi gras masks later we were ready to call it a day. We stopped at Whole Foods one last time before driving off into the sunset back to Illinois. Okay... the sun wasn't setting yet, it just sounded better. It really was a great weekend of fun. I can't wait to do it again, hopefully for Josh's birthday. Who knew such a great city was lurking practically right in our backyard? St. Louis, I'd take you any day over Chicago.
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