IT WAS A SPRING DAY IN ST. LOUIS PART 2

This is another little photo journal of our trip to St. Louis Easter weekend.  With spring in full swing, I am finding it difficult to sit down at the computer long enough to sort through the photos!  But this trip was part of our spring fun, so I wanted to share a little more of that.

First of all, the AAA TripTik I printed out from Gateway Arch to our hotel out by Forest Park, was incorrect.  Need I say more?  By the time we found it we realized not only had we driven past it twenty-two times, but were even in the parking lot at one point and didn't know it.  We were very thirsty and hungry and on our way in the door to check in Don leaned down and whispered, "Don't tell them what a damned hell of a time we had finding this place, they'll think we're stupid."  You can always say, "The TripTik was incorrect," and of course they are going to say, "Oh, darn, that's too bad!"  The whole time wink-winking at one another behind the desk when we were not looking, you know what I mean?  But the directions were REALLY wrong.  Not just slightly off, but REALLY wrong.  


After checking in, I treated my boyfriend to a nice dinner at The Highlander.  After a couple of beers each, and one of the best-prepared meals I have had in ages, we were ready to snuggle in and prepare for the next day's adventure, the Easter car show.  


Forest Park sounds like such an intimate small place, doesn't it?  If you think that, you would be way wrong.  It's ginormous.  And beautiful.  And when that car show is there, very, very crowded.  The World's Fair was held there, and our hotel was decorated with old photos of that memory.  

There are no parking lots, but it only took about five minutes of driving around trying to find street parking to learn the Forest Park Parking Rule:  Even if someone is leaving a spot on the opposite side of the street than you are on, you do a quick u-turn and point your nose into it, beating out the person trying to zoom to it who is on the correct side.  Nobody gets angry, they just chalk it up as being another outing in Forest Park.  Everyone has to stop on both sides of the street and let you pull out and parallel park.  My car's name is Myrtle.  She is a green 2000 Ford Focus, and I can park her anywhere.  If you had seen some of the tiny places I wiggled her into in Forest Park, you would have been so proud of her!  Once I learned the rule, we had no more problems moving from place to place.  


There must have been 1500 cars at the show, and ten times that many people.  Here are a few car show photos:

I was wildly drawn to all the station wagons and I spent most of the day trying to decide if I should buy one, but there were so many, and I am not the most decisive person in the world, so I left on "empty."  I especially liked the cooler  that someone had put together, thought that was pretty nifty!  


At the end of the show, Don and I were both tired and hot, but I was not leaving Forest Park without getting at least a glimpse of The Jewel Box.  I had read all about it, but it was triple my expectations.  It was the most peaceful place I think I have ever been.  When you look at these photos, just hear how quiet it is:

And that is it for the car show and the Jewel Box, which, just by its very nature of being what I assume is an often-missed gem sitting out there in Forest Park, is very aptly named and turned out to be my favorite part of the trip.

Next time I will just post a few random photos, one you will not want to miss of Don thinking he might be able to climb a tree.