Kris and I (and Aron) just got back from St. Louis. We left after lunch on Sunday so it wasn’t a long trip, but with a nursing infant in tow, a long trip isn’t necessarily desirable. Kris’ parents arrived from Florida on Saturday afternoon and stayed at the house with Owen and Ivan while we were gone. It was really nice to get away for a little while and St. Louis was a great location. The weather was perfect for walking around outside and we enjoyed the zoo and a little shopping as well as the Arch and the restaurants in the area. This picture of the arch was taken from our hotel room. We had a great view of it and from the 22nd floor it was an awesome feature of the room. Our hotel was a little on the older side and though it probably was once a really nice hotel it has lost some of it’s gleam over the years. The rooms themselves have been updated and look nice, though quite small. The service was very nice. The staff was very friendly and incredibly helpful in everything we needed. The top of the hotel is a rotating restaurant and we ate there on Sunday night soon after checking in. It was good food and nice to get a view of the city from up above. This picture: is a view of our hotel from the arch.

We visited the arch on Monday afternoon. I cannot express what an impressive structure this is. I’ve seen it before, been up in it before and yet when I see it again it is somewhat awe inspiring. I could just stand at the foot of it and marvel at it for hours. I think if there were no other factors I would probably have taken dozens and dozens of pictures. As it was, the wind and the baby and the fact that nightfall approaches quickly in November kept us from spending too much time out there. It was beautiful and Kris did get some great shots but I don’t have time to resize all the pictures we took, so I’m only posting three.

This picture, in case you can’t tell, is a hippo under water getting his teeth cleaned. The St. Louis zoo is always a fun destination and we got there soon after it opened on Monday morning. The hippo exhibit was new since we had been there last and we enjoyed watching them eat their breakfast and then plunge into the water. From one side of the exhibit you can see under the water and watch them swim/run around below the surface. There are multitudes of fish in their little pond and I wondered why, until we saw one of the hippos open his/her mouth very wide and the fish rushed in to eat their own breakfast from off his teeth and gums. The rest of the zoo was equally fun to look at but again…I’m not going to post all the pictures. What I enjoyed most was the incredible weather with the fall leaves falling from the huge trees and being able to reminisce a bit with my husband of ten years as we walked along the same paths we walked 10 years previous while we were dating.

St. Louis itself has so much history and beautiful monuments and sites to enjoy but we were lacking in time so we will have to return another time, but it was a great location, near enough to drive without wasting an entire day and far enough to feel like we were truly getting away.