Weekend in Saint Louis II

As promised...more pics from our trip! Enjoy...

Unfortunately the Gateway Arch is only lit from the top, so it is hard to see in the background of this photo, but it is there if you look close. We ate A LOT at Max & Erma's. This is my favorite of all favorites (well except super taq, and culvers, and cafe rio, and brookside, and eric's and smokin' joes...) Ok it is definitely in my top 10...top 2 for the midwest. We discovered Max & Erma's by accident in Green Bay, and later it became my favorite place to eat with my best friend there.
Anyway, we haven't had Max & Erma's since we left Wisconsin and how we have missed it so! It brought back some really fun memories and we reminisced about how we spent over an hour bundling up our little 2 week old baby Reese and de-icing the car (it was -4 degrees outside) just to drive 3 blocks to get tortilla soup and soft pretzel sticks at Max & Erma's. Yum! Eating there also made me miss my friend Tammy Bevell...who is my favorite person in the whole wide world and the best friend I've ever had. Tammy, I miss you!

Another reason we chose Saint Louis for our getaway is the fact that there is an LDS temple there. It was really nice not to feel rushed like we usually do (with babysitters) and not exhausted (from a 3 hr 45 min drive to Oklahoma City with 2 kids) like we usually do. It was so peaceful. I love the way I feel when I go to the temple.

The Saint Louis Art Museum (also FREE!) has a really great collection of art, especially if you are like us...meaning you are the type that couldn't care less about the 400 year old silver collection on display and head straight for stuff you recognize. We spent half the time looking at the beautiful paintings, and the other half pretending to be students in an upper level art class that was touring the museum for the first time. Ironic, but people seem to say the STUPIDEST (is that even a word?) things when they are trying to sound smart. There was one particular (brown noser) student that kept making comments like, "I feel as though I've been swept back in time" and "well this just captivates me, although it seems a little, dare I say, unfinished?" and the one that pushed us over the edge was when he threw his hand to his chin and gasped, "well! I...I... am simply ...entranced!" Give me a break...entranced?! Who talks like that? We decided we'd better move on when we couldn't hold back our snickers any longer.

I tried explaining that (like most impressionist paintings) Monet is better appreciated

when looked at from across the room, or in Aaron's case...at least behind the 1 foot "spacer" provided by the museum to protect the artwork. He was asked by security twice to step back, and after he left this particular painting they brought out those little barrier ropes (you know, like they have at the movie theater, to keep people from cutting in the popcorn line?) and set them up around this painting, and 3 others.

"Keith" Chuck Close This painting was ENORMOUS...and probably the most amazing piece of art I've ever seen. The little girl standing next to me turned to her dad and said, "why did they paint such an ugly guy? They shoulda chose someone pretty...this guy kinda has a monster face"

Vincent Van Gogh

"Betty" Gerhard Richter...perhaps my personal favorite after seeing it in real life. INCREDIBLE.

Mark Rothco
I loved it.
Aaron: Geez, this guy is famous? I could paint this...REESE could paint this!

I'll just start out with an apology for the poor quality of the pictures. Also, what ever happened to "1-2-3 say cheese"? I thought most people followed this standard procedure when taking photos for others, but apparently not...and because of this I am NEVER looking in the right direction when the photo is being taken. This is the "Old Courthouse" where the historic Dred Scot slavery trial took place.




If you look closely, you can tell that we are in front of the arch here, but the arch is only lit from the top, so it didn't really show up in the picture. I have no idea what I was looking at, but a 1-2-3 say cheese from the photographer really would have been helpful.

More to come of the Arch, more museums, Historic Homes of route 66, and more good food...