I flew to St Louis for a loonng weekend with Beth's and Chad's family, and we enjoyed a wonderful time at the zoo among several other sites as well, a great zoo where Marlin Perkins, host of "Zoo Parade" for many years, was once the director. They've done some fantastic additions and improvements and made it a world class place to visit. We spent an entire day at the zoo, and the kids, all of us actually, truly enjoyed it. At the end of the day the kids said that that was all the walking they wanted to do! It was quite hot that day, but we all grunted and explored the entire facility. Jonathon especially liked the elephants and we all enjoyed the Sea Lion show in the afternoon.

We explored the City Museum the next day from top to bottom especially the rooftop where there's a playground with slides, a humongous swing, planes to crawl around in, and a school bus hanging over the edge of the ten-story building! I didn't even think twice about getting in that bus! It's actually a collection of items from demolition sites in and around St Louis which no one wanted but were too historically significant to be totally demolished. It's been put together by an obviously very creative architect, and we probably didn't see all of it.

Also took a guided tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and was amazed at what they do there but didn't have time to go to Grant's Farm where most of the Clydesdale horses are stabled. There were a few of them at the brewery, an elaborate stable, along with some of the the wagons which were a treat to see, those gentle giants of the horse kingdom.

Evenings we went to Union Station and thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids on the bungee jumps and paddle boats. Union Station is where there've been many visits by celebrities including President Wilson showing the headline proclaiming that he'd been defeated by Dewey in the 1948 Presidential election. I've never seen a more complete shopping mall anywhere, and the ice cream was beyond description.

We stayed at what used to be the St Louis Railroad YMCA which was built in 1907 but has since been refurbished by Charles Drury in 1986 after sitting vacant from 1970 when the YMCA folded due to a decline in passenger train usage. At one time there were 114 single bedrooms to accomodate as many as 400,000 transient railroad workers annually! It's now a Drury Hotel with accommodating rates and complimentary breakfasts and suppers each day and complimentary soda and popcorn available all day long. The kids, except for Hannah, got up early with me each day for a hot breakfast of eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and waffles among other delicious items! They also enjoyed making cups of their own hot cocoa. A swimming pool and sauna in the lower level was a delightful respite at the end of the very hot days we've been experiencing this summer.