The Talleys : The Talleys take St. Louie!

Hi Everyone! I am new at blogging so please be patient with me as I figure out this process! I thought I would start with posting about our wonderful trip to St. Louis this past weekend. It was wonderful. The weather was in the low 80s the entire weekend. Plus, it was just nice to simply get away and enjoy a different scenery.

On Thursday, we hit the road at 5 A.M. (too early for me)! The drive was actually nice because there was little to no traffic. Our first stop was Lambert's.

I had not been to a Lambert's in years and I had forgotten how big their portions are! Let's just say we left with VERY full tummies. After we left Lambert's, we drove to St. Louis. That night, we went to a Cardinals baseball game. The weather couldn't have been better. We also had great seats behind first base. We had heard that there was going to be fireworks after the game so we stayed until after the 11th inning. Yes, it was a long game. Well, to our surprise, there were no fireworks! So, we were disappointed but oh well! You only live once! Even without fireworks, it was a fun night.

On Friday, we hit the ground running and started with tour of Anheuser-Busch Brewery. The best part was the beautiful clydesdales! Next, we headed downtown to see the famous Gateway Arch. We had both seen it before but it is a tourist must when you are in St. Louis. Unfortunately, the entire area is under construction. You can simply walk to the Arch and that's about it. So with not much to see, we got in a few pictures and left.

After lunch, we headed to the zoo. Not only is their zoo huge but it is free (a big plus)! Being a holiday weekend, the zoo attracted big crowds but we enjoyed walking around and viewing all the different animals.

We ended our day with a local Fourth of July celebration: Fair St. Louis. Since the Arch is under construction, Fair St. Louis was set up in Forest Park in front of the art museum. The location was perfect with a large grassy area with a water display right behind the stage. The fair had big names perform all weekend such as Chris Young and Kool & the Gang. We aren't the biggest fans but we sat a listened to Blondie and Melissa Etheridge play. Afterwards, there was a huge fireworks display that made sitting in the grass for 3 hours worth it.

Saturday was just a relaxing day. We got up early to beat the crowds at Grant's Farm. Grant's Farm is an animals reserve. They have exotic deer and cattle from all around the world. They also have other animals such as goats, horses, and camels that you can feed and/or ride. It would be a great place to take little ones and again it is free! We enjoyed looking at all of the animals and they also had the clydesdales. We ended our mini-vacation with a date night. Dinner and a movie are nontraditional Fourth of July plans so there no crowds, which was great. We also went to our first dine-in theater, which I highly recommend. The movie theater had reclining seats and a wait staff instead of a concession stand. So, you simply order your refreshments and they bring it straight to your seat. How awesome is that! It was a great way to end our trip!!