St Louis.

September 2, 2014. St Louis

Six adults, one bathroom.  You'd think that this would put friendships to the test.  Na.  We did fine, but this is only the first morning.  Up at six, out the door at 8:00.  We decided to take one car downtown, so four kids :) piled in the back set of Bultman's car thinking it was going to be a 15 minute trip.  HA. 

Just like the teens we once were

Construction closed all access to the Arch.  We finally had to park near Busch Stadium and walk across the construction to get there.  We were the first tour of the day to the top of it.  Five passengers are packed into each tram the size of a space capsule. So what to do - suck-up the claustrophobia and enjoy the experience.  What a view from 630 feet. Another item checked off from the bucket list.

The Arch

Inside the Top of the Arch

Busch Stadium

St Louis view from the Arch

So what else do you do in this town.  There was not any sports events going on, but someone suggested something about beer and horses.  Oh ya.  Budweiser is made here, so let's go and see if we can get a free sample.  Construction and GPS confusion made the trip comical but we finally made it.  The tour was fun.  The pampered Clydesdales were beautiful. We drank the free beer with our lunch. 

The most pampered animals on earth.

Each of the harness' weighs 130 lbs 

Next was the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  78 acres of every imaginable kind of flora.  Beautiful. 

The amazing Victoria Lilly Pad captured our attention and our appreciation of a detailed Creator.  The leaves of the pad measure up to 6 plus feet in diameter and are shaped like a fluted tart pan.  They are so fragile that a straw dropped from 6 inches will tear the leaf, but so strong that with weight evenly distributed, they can hold up to 70 pounds.  They have soccer sized flowers that last only 3 days.  The white  female bud opens at sunset the first day.  The Scarab beetle comes to pollinate, the flower closes and holds the pollinating beetles until the second sunset.  It opens up as a male now colored pink.  The male flower drops the seeds into the water where they germinate and grow.  So amazing!!  This garden was huge and beautiful, but did not have the sculptures of Meijer Gardens. 

                           

To find a grocery store in a strange town with a bulky GPS is another adventure.  Us guys had to admit defeat and ask for directions which we did and finally found one.  Barb, Jan and Sharon cooked another great meal.  In the evening all us kids sat around with our electronic toys. Who woulda thunk it.