Goodnight St. Louis

My sister Karen sent us a copy of the book "Goodnight St. Louis," and Alexa was immediately captivated by the whimsical references and illustrations of key St. Louis landmarks.  She must have read the book 100 times before our trip to St. Louis, creating a bucket list of the must-do places in St. Louis.  The two of us, along with some help from friends and cousins, checked off quite a few boxes on her list today.

Alexa, Ani and I began the day at the St. Louis Zoo, meeting my friend Molly, her mother and three of her four kiddos...including her adorable daughter who is just two and a half weeks older than Ani (future BFF's?).  Although we didn't have the VIP tour of a previous visit - Alexa was really wishing we had the golf cart as we made our way up the hill to the giraffe exhibit - it was a fantastic day at the zoo.  The beautiful weather (in the seventies!) brought out the crowds, but we had a great time, especially in the Children's Zoo and on the zoo railroad.  Aside from the must-see giraffes, Alexa could not wait to see the naked mole rats.  Yep, my daughter couldn't get into the Children's Zoo to see these rather disgusting looking rodents.  Apparently she and NeNe were discussing rats, and NeNe mentioned these to her (thanks, Mom...lol).  Thankfully we did catch a few other animals too, even a baby elephant!

After a quick detour to check on Granty's giraffes, we enjoyed lunch at Alexa's beloved Steak-n-Shake (not a "Goodnight St. Louis" landmark).  It was torture for Alexa to bypass her customary M&M milkshake, but, with a little prodding, decided to save her sweet for tonight.  The day flew by, and before we knew it, Molly and her brood had to head out to be home when her first-grader came home from school.  Since Steak-n-Shake was close to downtown, I decided to take Alexa on a scenic tour of St. Louis so she could see some of the landmarks highlighted in the book.  Soon she was quickly checking items off her bucket list: the Science Center, Union Station, Busch Stadium, Old Cathedral and The Arch.  Although she's been to St. Louis many times, I had never taken Alexa downtown to see these sites, and she was most captivated by The Arch.  "It's pretty and glittery!"  It was an extra hour well-spent to add this driving tour to our afternoon - she's now a well-rounded St. Louis visitor.  

Tonight we headed out to Ted Drewes, a famous frozen custard place, to meet up with my cousin Emily, her husband Joe and their two kids.  It was a tough decision at the menu board, but Alexa finally settled upon a s'mores concrete with strawberries, an interesting combination, but she loved it.  She was even more impressed when she saw the bowl could be turned over without spilling any of the ice cream...a sign of a good concrete.  We tailgated in the parking lot as we ate our ice cream and watched the kids goof around with each other.  A quintessential St. Louis evening!

We called Damon on the drive home from Ted Drewes, and Alexa could not wait to tell him about the day.  She told him about the zoo, her s'mores concrete and all of the sites we had seen during our downtown tour.  She excitedly exclaimed, "I saw the Eiffel Tower today!"  Obviously, she meant The Arch but it looks like I may have to reiterate some of today's St. Louis immersion.  A visit to the top of The Arch is on the docket for Thursday morning :)

Granty's giraffes :)

A happy girl with a full stomach!