Roadtrip: St. Louis

The doctor overseeing my research this summer forced me to take time off.  "Kim," he said, "you really don't understand the concept that this is the last summer of your life.  Go have fun."  What he doesn't know is that last year was the last summer of my life; I had it in the back of my mind all along that I will do research this year.

I drove down to St. Louis this weekend and was surprised by how much I missed the city.  While driving across the Mississippi and into downtown, I almost wept with happiness at seeing the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium.  

I stopped by the CHOICE Project to surprise my old coworkers.  True to form with research projects, the staff is winding down as the participants graduate out of the study.  Few familiar faces remain but I was very glad to see those who were there.  Hilary organized a small happy hour for me and we spent a few hours gossiping at Atomic Cowboy.  I missed the talk of other coworkers and of funny research stories.

Britt hosted me for the weekend.  We had a late dessert from Ted Drewes (yum!) and sat on a bench watching at least a hundred people order ice cream after us.

On Saturday we had brunch at Rooster, my favorite brunch spot ever (no pictures again, sorry), with Trina.  The three of us stopped at the Contemporary Art Museum to pick up a map of the annual Open Studios tour.  The idea is that nearly 200 artists open their spaces for the weekend and people like us drive between locations to check out the art.  We started at a really awful co-op, then stumbled upon an amazing collective of young artists in an old brewery:

They just moved into the space last week so there was no air conditioning installed.  It was so hot in the warehouse that we watched longingly as they filled a pool with ice.

A few more studios (including a converted bank run by a WashU MFA student) later and too hot to continue, we stopped at The Mud House for smoothies.  Too nostalgic over St. Louis, I also ordered a gooey butter cake:

Britt and I ended the day watching Spamalot at The Muny in Forest Park, America's largest outdoor musical theater.  The show was as funny as I remember it!

Saturday pooped me out.  On Sunday Britt and I ate at another one of David Bailey's restaurants, Range.  This is hands down my favorite restaurant in the world.  I ate and drank so much that I didn't eat anything else that day.

I was reminded of how accessible big-city amenities are in St. Louis' small-city setting.  Though I doubt I'll ever live there again because life seems to drift me from city to city, St. Louis holds a very special place in my heart.