Meet Me In St. Louis: Part One

Thanks to a college friend who gave his frequent flier miles to Brett, we were able to meet him in St. Louis over the four day MLKJ holiday! We packed our bags, dropped Sunday at the kennel, and took off for another adventure! We stayed on the Loop at the Moonrise hotel where we got mini Moon Pies instead of mints at turn down service and enjoyed some delicious meals from the Eclipse restaurant downstairs.

We happened to be there for the annual Ice Festival so we strolled the Loop and enjoyed the crowd. We called it an afternoon, however, after a close call at the ice slide. It was made of ice blocks and the kids were all sliding down on cardboard pallets so we thought Sebastian and Ruby would like to try it. I stood back to take photos of Sebastian who was going first and overheard some people joking about how unsafe it was with no railing and being so slippery.

As Sebastian reached the top he stepped onto the cardboard, held on to the side and slipped. I watched in slow motion through my lens as he tumbled head first over the side and caught my breath as he fell into the arms of an older gentleman who had just stepped closer to take a photo of the kid behind mine. He and Brett both barely caught a limb at the same time and he hung upside down for a bit as the whole crowd gasped. It was surreal. I felt sick to my stomach at what could've happened and hugged the older man for being so quick to react. Note to self: No more ice slides.

We skipped naps after realizing the small dog who had been left in the room next to us wasn't going to stop whining for his owners to come back and headed over to see our friends, the Reeves, who live in the most beautiful apartment above a store front. They were kind enough to watch our kids for a bit so that Brett and I could have a couple of hours to ourselves.
Our date started out with a trip to the Goodwill we passed on the way to their house followed by a trip to Vintage Vinyl on the Loop and then over to Blueberry Hill for coffee. Brett took me to Blueberry Hill almost nine years ago to see Over the Rhine play downstairs. It was one of my favorite nights from our first year of marriage! After a bit we drove back to eat at the Reeves' home and had one of those great evenings that makes us wish we could do it more often!

Part Two coming up soon.

xo,
Rachel

Comments

[Toni]

did you know that reading this on Bloglovin' the first word(s) get cut off every paragraph??? Not sure why, I'm not tech saavy gal, but I though you might want to know. I love your blog, so every word counts ;)

[Naomi Anselmo]

Love! We live in Springfield, and I've been bugging my husband to bring us on a weekend day trip to St. Louis to visit the aquarium and botanical gardens and Trader Joe's. Oh, how I miss my Trader Joe's.

[Jessica]

I LOVE St. Louis! It's my favorite town ever. Maybe because I view from the nostalgic lens of my college days :)

If you get back make sure you hit up Rooster for brunch!

[Mama Smith]

That breakfast looks too good! Sounds like a super fun weekend and your luggage is the best.

[lacey]

my hubby and i live about 45 minutes away from the loop and love visiting there whenever we can! blueberry hill is so yummy :)

xo lacey
placeswewillgoblog.blogspot.com

[partycraftsecrets]

Super cool - he he - love the ice mo! and thank goodness for super hero oldies!

[Stephanie Elizabeth {Fab You Bliss}]

The ice "thingy-incident" sounds scary! So glad the older gentleman was there to save the day. But the rest of your trip sounds fab! I'd LOVE to go visit that Goodwill :-)

[margot]

that hotel is so great! i stayed there for one of my visits and LOOOOVED it!
glad you had a nice trip and glad s is safe & sound!

[tourist in my town]

great photos. it seems like you had a wonderful family time.
so glad you could all spend some more time together.

[Clare Lanusse]

what a great weekend you all had. I am so glad it worked out!

[Monique Swagemakers]

Your weekend sounds really great! How lovely that you were able to spend your weekend with the ones you love!
Xx Monique from the Netherlands

[Vivianna]

Sounds like you had a great weekend.

[Betsy K]

Gosh, the ice slide sounds scary! Glad to hear that Sebastian is okay. Love the lettering on the Good will building. Is the inside just as cool?

[Beth]

So fun to see so many familiar places through the lens of a visitor! Did y'all get any of the desserts at Eclipse? The blondie sundae is ridiculous! Can't wait to see where else you all went...

[laura]

over the rhine. love them so.

[Trude]

Despite the scaryness, I'm so glad you guys were able to go and visit - and even get alone time! :)

[Angela]

Sounds like you guys had a great family weekend! :)

Enter my Giveaway!

[Danaosiowy]

Hi Rachel,

So sorry abt the crying dog! Call the front desk next time bc they'll come in and tend to the dog! I get panic-y when I hear stories like this bc I always travel with my pooch at pet-friendly hotels & they have staff who will come in and see the pup if he is upset or crying (or bugging any other guests!) I would be so upset if I knew that my darlin' had upset the nap schedule of my neighbours!

xoxox
Pet Owner

[Jamie of TigerLilyLeather]

That ice mustache is delux.

[Olivia B.]

I was at the ice Carnival too! DId you enjoy looking at all the sculptures? I LOVED the smoothie king one (picture at this link here http://adropintheocean-olivia.blogspot.com/2012/01/ice-carnival-adventures.html)

The Loop is my favorite place in St. Louis but I'm sorry to hear about Sebastian's scary ride down the slide!

[liz]

this sounds like a wonderful weekend! minus the almost ice accident of course!!

[allie o'bannon]

what an awesome trip!

& that goodwill looks massive! i'd love to go there.

[Kristin]

Sounds like a fun trip (well, aside from the ice slide part)! St. Louis is so much fun.

[Melissa @ Bubby and Bean]

I stayed at the Moonrise for a week at the end of December because my husband's band did a NYE run at the Pageant next door. I loved the hotel and the area! I live in Chicago and never realized how cool St Louis is. I'm so glad you got to be together over the long weekend!

[Emma]

Glad you had a fun few days together, and that Sebastian is ok!

[sara stoff]

i love the pic of him nuzzling your hair. so much love.

[diane reeves]

Your photos from the weekend have convinced me that our family needs to spend more time exploring The Loop! I'm so glad everything worked out for ya'll to reunite in St. Louis.

[ira lee]

close call with that slippery slide!!! we have had strangers catch our kids in similar situitations before, and weve caught a few children too!! takes a village, right!! im so glad that man was there!!!