Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Apple Time!

This weekend was another fun filled two days. I decided to hit the mall Saturday morning to start my search for winter clothes. I was able to find a couple shirts and still need a winter coat. I met up with Ben & Ellen for Elizabeth's soccer game at Tilles Park. Reily joined and had a fun time going for a walk around the park. I was able to catch up with a new people from St. Gabe's.

After the game Reily and I headed over to Ben & Ellen's to let Lily and Reily play. The dogs got along well, thankfully. We then headed over to Hampshire Vetta for Benton's basketball game. On the way I decided it would be ok to join Ellen and the girls to see High School Musical 3. I walked away with such a headache, I was informed that the first one was the best.

On Sunday I went apple picking at Eckert's in Millstadt, Illinois. I didn't remember there being more to do than just picking apples. I was pleasantly surprised to see the pumpkin launcher, shot pumpkins over 100 yards. There was an animal feeding area, spinning apple rides, pig races, and cloggers. The apple pickings were slim by the time we made it to the trees. I managed to take an apple to the nose, thankfully no bruising the next day. We even hit the pumpkin patch on the way back. There was a pretty good selection of 15lb pumpkins. If you look hard through the pumpkin patch you can see the St. Louis Skyline.



After the day at the farm we stopped at Otto's in Millstadt for an early dinner. I'm pretty sure the bar was built in 1900s. I was told they have amazing fish sandwiches, I had an amazing hot dog.



Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Fall In St. Louis

This past weekend was my first full weekend back in St. Louis. I took full advantage of having different things to do. I now know there are way too many bars in South City. Many more than that few I've driven past or heard other talking about. But every time I visited I never really went out drinking and now knowing where to go out is foreign to me. Thanks to Tom, I now can check off Blackthorn's off Wynoming, for pizza, and can Felix's and Seamus McDaniel's in Dogtown.

I had decided earlier in the week that I was going to take Reily to a dogpark that I found. It was located in Wilmore Park and thought she would love it. I might have been right had I read the signs that it was a member only dog park. I found that I would of had to pay yearly fees of $80 since I'm a non-city resident. We decided to pass on that dog park and just walk Wilmore. Reily didn't seem to mind one bit, even tried to jump in one of two lakes.

I made my first trip to the Missouri wineries. We ventured up to Agusta and went to the Sugar Creek and Montelle wineries. I was surprised to see everyone bringing their own food to Sugar Creek. It was a great day to roll out the blanket, eat and drink to the live music. The only down side was the wine most of us liked was very expensive. I actually ran into the Zenner's from Bentonville, AR at Sugar Creek.

After Sugar Creek we drove down the road to Montelle. What a view from the top! It made the horrible walk to the top well worth it. After an afternoon at the wineries we drove all the way to Soulard, to Big Daddy's, for the Mizzou/UT game. I think most of the bar stopped watching after the first half and I concetrated on the Boston/Tampa baseball game. (Go Rays!)

On Sunday, I went on a Kron family outting to Grant's Farm. I believe the last time I visited I was 12 or even younger. I don't think too many things have actually changed there. The thing that still scared me was the tram ride through the park with live animals. The wild buffalo just inches away from the doorless tram. The thing I enjoyed the most, the free 2 or more cups of any AB product I wanted to try. Those smart AB retirees started to recognize you after your 3 glass. I still think feeding the goats or just letting them eat your clothes is my favorite part.