The first thing we made sure to do was take them to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game at Busch Stadium. With the Cards fighting for the top position in the NL Central and October's post season madness hurriedly heading our way, there hasn't been a better time to catch America's favorite game. We tried something new by travelling on the Metro to get to the game, and enjoyed some free soda while watching the Cards vs the Brewers. We may not have won, but it was still super fun to get out and be part of the spirit cheering on the Cardinals.
Our seats may have been high, but they gave us a great view of the entire field!
Carissa joined in the fun, despite being a Cubs fan
R&T at their first Cardinals game
On Friday after work I joined up with everyone to visit two of our favorite lesser-known attractions, Lone Elk Park and the World Bird Sanctuary. Both of these are free (donations accepted) and house some rather unusual animals. Lone Elk Park is a drive-through exhibit (with some hiking trails as well) that showcases elk (who would've guessed?), deer, and bison. Just down the road from that, the bird sanctuary has various species of rare birds as well as some reptiles. Tessa even found a parrot that would play peek-a-boo with her (and I caught it on video!).
We found this to be hilarious.
The elk were rather exciting to watch
I enjoy driving through this forest
One of the huge owls
Cool logo
After a delicious lunch at Favazza's on the Hill, Tessa and Robert asked to visit a site that Darren and I had never seen before- the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Even though I have toured my fair share of cathedrals in Europe, this one's majestic mosaics and colorful artwork really captured my attention. Since I am not of the Catholic faith, being in such an ornate building would prove to be rather distracting during worship because I am just fascinated by how intricately everything is decorated. From the expected stained glass windows to the smallest little cherub sculptures nestled under the pulpit stand, every single item in that church was made intentionally beautiful.
This was a really cool statue outside in a prayer garden
On Saturday we took them up to Eckert's in Grafton, IL to pick some apples. If you have never had the opportunity to go pick your own fruit from an orchard, whether apples or peaches or anything, I highly recommend it! It's usually very inexpensive and such a fun experience. Darren and I had been apple picking last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. We chose this particular farm in Grafton because we knew they had a petting zoo (with a camel!) and a cute little country store.
Tessa bravely fed the creepy goats
on our way to the apples!
I would call them expert apple pickers
Enjoying the beautiful weather
Finally, for our last adventure in the Lou for the weekend, we all explored the Crystal City Underground and played lasertag inside a cavern! The drive was rather creepy since we waited until dusk to locate the very-difficult-to-find attraction, but it was all worth it after we crossed the single-lane bridge over a steamy swamp and through the dusty tunnel to get to one of the best kept secrets in STL. We accidentally gave ourselves a full tour of the caverns before locating our lasertag spot, and enjoyed a friendly competitive game of couple versus couple (3 couples total) sport. When we finished playing, we sat near the live jazz band and played card games while still inside the cavern. It even looks like they host sand volleyball tournaments down there! Super cool.
R&T ready to rock and roll
The winning team!
Carissa and Brian by a random aztec-y wall?
We were extremely happy to host our friends and visit all sorts of places around town. Thanks to Robert and Tessa for braving yet another trip to stay with us in the Lou, we hope you had a fantastic time!
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