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Finally the photos are all edited and I get to share with you my lovely trip to St.Louis, Missouri!

I like pictures, alot.

So bear with me here.

....

This was taken in The Butterfly House.

Literally, it is a green house filled to the brim with all kinds of butterflies. And this one here was kind enough to pose for me.

Real Toll House Cookies, made by yours truly.

"You got the ticket to those cookies, girl"-Uncle 

 

Missouri's National Cemetery and a Momma Deer and her sweet Bambies.

 

Lemp Family Brewery.

And may I say, I am in LOVE with old brick buildings.

 

Home Smoked Pastrami sammies with homemade potato salad.

One day, my uncle's little black book filled with his recipes will suddenly disappear long enough to copy and return.
You can count on it.

 

 My Uncle's place of business.

I got a tour. 

 

After my tour, I got frozen custard. Yum.

 

Meramac Caverns.

How can you tell if it is a stalactite or stalagmite?

Stalactites are "tight" to the ceiling.

and

Stalagmites may give you a case of the"might trip over 'em"

see what I did there?

By the way, these are stalactites. The water below is playing tricks on you.

Silly, water.

 

The sky above Missouri.

 

 Hey Boo Boo!

We found Yogi bear, at Jellystone Park.

Pretty snazzy huh?

Okay so, before I go on I must explain that this is the best BBQ joint ever.

And I really mean that.

I'm the type of person who likes BBQ.

But this place, makes me love BBQ.

Like, Ribs&SweetPotatoFries&BBQ

Sauce&Coleslaw.

In. That. Order. 

May I just point out that is a half a rack of ribs and two sides.

  Mission Accomplished.

 

Union Station.

A mix of history, a hotel, and a mall.

I know, I found it weird too.

This is where the trains would disembark once upon a time.

Now, it is a bright atrium.



 

 Oh these fish.

They were so trained for tourists to throw them food, hundreds hudled the edges of the board walk to wait for food.

It was disturbing how much fish can beg for food.

Mostly just weird.

 

Now this was my favorite part of Union Station.

This upper level was restored to the orginal state of the train station.

Upper class used to wait in this level for their trains to arrive.

It was awesome.

The coolest part of it all, My Aunt and Uncle never knew this part existed.

We all just happened upon it.

 

 Lovely, right?

 

 Well hey there, Archie!

 

This is Bud. He lives at U.S. Grant's Farm.

We made it a girls day.

My Aunt, my Aunt's Sweet friend, her two little ladies, and myself all piled in the car and visited General Grant's old home and farm.

It was so cool.

The farm houses all kinds of animals.

And on the property is the House where Grant met and lived with his wife.

Now this little romantic, just loves that fact.

But, back to Bud.

 

 Now, Bud is kind of a show off.

I say "kind of" very lightly.

He beat three kids from the audience in a blowing up balloons.

And my sweet friend was picked out and given Bud's Balloon.

Let me add here, that a giant balloon sounds really cool for the first 4 minutes of carting it around and then it whacks you and then whacks others and then whacks you again and then you have no where to put it and then others stare at you and then...should I go on?

No?

Good.

Bald Eagles that are grounded due to injuries.

They were rescued and taken to Grant's Farm.

It was really cool seeing them in person.

You don't realize how truly large these birds are until they are standing 5 feet away from you.

And their eyes are staring into your soul.



Ahh. St. Charles, Missouri.

Officially my favorite little town.

Cobblestone main street.

Rows of old brick buildings.

Missouri's first state capitol.

If you haven't noticed yet, I really really really like antique anything.

Just take a gander of these photos, you may just agree with me here.

 

 Beautiful.

 

Not only does St. Charles rock because of its history.

It also rocks for having the best St. Louis style pizza joint.

mmmmmmmmmmm.

Friends, really you need to try a St. Louis style pie at least once in your life.

They have a cheese that is magical.

But preferably at Mr. Frankie Tocco's.

Seriously.

 

And if you thought St.Charles couldn't get any better, think again.

Let me introduce you to Picasso's Coffee House.

Have I said "yum" enough in this blog post yet?

Alright, maybe just once more.

Yum.

By the way, any place who has burlap curtains is okay in my book!

 

My Aunt and Uncle aren't huge football fans, but they were kind enough to let me watch my NYG's play pre-season. 

They rock.

 

The big ole' Mississippi River. 

 

Killing two birds with one stone.

Crossed state lines into Illinois.

This is my "money shot"

I so lucked out on catching the sign in time for the shutter to snap.

yay!

 

 The sky above Illinois.

While we are on the subject, the English language bugs me.

Case in point: the spelling of Illinois.

Just saying.

 

I learned that on the road from Missouri to Illinois, there is nothing more than fields and fields and fields of corn.

 

While in the Land of Abe, we visited President Lincoln's Tomb.

Awe provoking, really.

If you ever are close enough to visit, I must say you have to go.

 

 Stained Glass Window that looks into where Abe rests.

 

Well ain't that a coincidence!

Hello Lincolns!

Stopped by the Presidential Library.

I can not say enough about the museum.

If you have respect for him now, go through the museum in his presidential library.

You will have even more respect then you could of ever expected to have.

 

If that isn't enough, you can see the house that Abe and his family had in Illinois before the moved into a much bigger one in Washington D.C.

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that they actually lived here.

Their sons ran up and down the streets.

Mrs. Lincoln hosted parties here.

President Lincoln waved to his neighbors as he took his walks. 

 

The Lincoln's street.

 

The night before I left to head back home, my Aunt and Uncle's church hosted a Meredith Andrews concert with a live feed from the Harvest Crusade.

Before I knew about the concert I had no idea who this woman was.

Although, She is well known in the Midwest apparently.

She has a wonderful voice and an even more wonderful heart for the Lord.

It blessed my heart.

How tiny she was though!

Meredith was wearing 6 inch heels and was still shorter than most women!

See?

 

And then it was time for me to get on a plane and head home.

Who knew two weeks could fly by so fast?

....

This trip was a sweet blessing. I will always be thankful for this special opportunity my Aunt and Uncle were able to provide for me.

For those of you who made it to the end, You are such troopers!

Thanks for reading!

One last thing, can some one please explain this fashion trend taking the Midwest by storm?

These are my pajamas.

But women in the Midwest find this attire perfect for anything from running at 6 in the morning (which is fine) to eating BBQ on date at one in the afternoon (which is not okay.)

Ladies, your hair is not meant to be pulled up in a messy ponytail continuously, you have plenty of nice clothing options, and a little time primping never hurt anyone.

Okay rant over.