Skip to main content

Weekend in St Louis - day one!

  I think I left you with me waiting in the hotel room for Pat to arrive...well she did and earlier than I expected and off we went to Forest Park.   We were able to get a shuttle right to the airport metro station which was great.  We got off at the Forest Park stop and past the History museum which sadly I never did get to see.  We walked over to the Grand Basin which was spectacular...




This is the art museum that overlooks the basin - we didn't darken it's doorstep.  Too nice a day to be inside!
This was all very impressive but next on the list was the zoo.  Finding the zoo was a bit of a pain - we kept getting different directions but we finally found it.  That park needs some signs - seriously..I have never been in a park with so few signs.

The St Louis Zoo was free and funded by donations.  It was a great zoo with a lot of different animals with huge enclosures as well as clean and well kept.  We won't talk about the cost of food there - we shared my energy bar and I drank out of the water fountain.  Three dollars for a bottle of water, I don't think so!!!

Here are some of the critters we saw.......

As we all know I adore meerkats - have loved them way before they were 'disneyfied".  Unfortunately I did not get many good shots this time around despite having a zoom lens....

The zoo had a wonderful penguin area.  This shot was taken at the outdoor pool whereas there was a colder area indoors.  This is where I saw my first display of penguin porn - shocking!!!

The closest I have ever been to a puffin - they are so darn cute. 

A red panda - I swear we turned into red panda stalkers. (and penguin and puffin stalkers too!)

They have a new area called Sea Lion Sound which was just built this year and it's awesome.  You walk under the tank so that seals and sea lions are swimming over you.  Really a cool experience and freaky at times as it looks like they are going to come flying through the glass at you!!!  Could have spent hours there!
Difficult to take photos though so there aren't any.  If you are in St Louis I would definitely recommend a trip to Forest Park and the zoo. 

After the zoo we finally found our way back to the metro station.  That is one huge park!!!!

By this time poor Pat was starving as she had been up since about 3:00 a.m.   I had wanted to do a Bath and Body Works run and knew it was at the Galleria Mall from my last trip to St Louis in 08.  So off we went and had supper at Five Guys burgers.  I had never been there before and we were both in ecstasy over their hamburgers.  Wow!!!  I think we were both so hungry they tasted twice as good as usual.   After I got a couple of bottles of what I wanted (I wanted more but my poor suitcase could only hold so much!) we were off back to the airport.   The metro is very slick and we used it a lot - got day passes for $7.50 which was good value as the trip to the airport was $4.00.  We had to go to the airport terminal to be picked up by the shuttle - they would not pick us up at the metro station but that was okay.   A very full first day in St Louis!!! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A walk along the coffin trail (and a couple of lakes) in the Lake District

While in the Lake District I wanted to do some light walking but not heavy duty hiking where I could easily get lost and my body not found for days partially eaten by hungry...sheep?  Anyway, you get the drift...not too grueling and safe for a solo walker.  I get a bit nervous when I am too far from civilization. There are lots of books about walking in the Lake District but they seem to be all about walking the fells in remote places...neither Thelma nor I fancied that.  While browsing in the post office/shop in Ambleside one day (if you are ever in Ambleside you must go there - a treasure!) I found a stand of walk descriptions on post cards.  And there I found my walk.  After all who could resist a stroll on the "coffin trail" in William Wordsworth country... I took a look and thought hmm...cafe along the route...that works for me. (with at least the security of knowing there was an available "loo" along the way.)  Okay, I may not have totally...
Post a Comment
Read more

Peeing on fish or a fish out of water

Well this morning we headed off by boat to Siem Reap.  Due to the low water on the Tonie Sap Lake (more like a river until near the end of the trip when it widened considerably) the trip would be an 8 hour one... It was supposed to be boring but ended up as anything but...in no certain order...let's see.... We had a rest stop (turned out to be the only one) along the way and the loo was just a hole over the lake and there were fish circling around underneath.  Yes it was just a hole in the floor...you definitely had someone watch your stuff while you went in or one false move and your camera/purse or whatever would be in the lake.  The fish either like the warm pee coming in or they are pervs and like to see ladies parts.  We were just a few minutes out when all of a sudden there was something flying over me and jumping all over the floor - a little fish!  Guess he wanted to join the tour.  Roger reached down and scooped him up while I hooted and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cowboys and Outlaws in the Big Muddy of Saskatchewan

One of the (very) few advantages of being stuck at home during this pandemic has been an opportunity to see more of my home province of Saskatchewan.  Last summer and fall not only did I do a couple of day trips with friends but I took four day tours with Engelheim transport, a local Regina company.   I have to admit my favourite day out was the "Big Muddy Valley and Outlaws" tour. While I had been to the Big Muddy previously many years back I was eager to revisit and learn more of its history.   So in early October, I hopped on board and off we went.  The bus is only booked to half capacity so it was easy to social distance, hand gel was a must each time we boarded the bus,  masks were required when you got on and off the bus and in any buildings we visited.  I felt totally safe and oh my, it was so good to have an adventure!!  Despite the name the Big Muddy isn't a big huge puddle of mud but a valley of badlands that were formed from a glac...
Post a Comment
Read more