St. Louis Weekend Trip

The first weekend trip of 2017 was a small road trip up to St. Louis! I always love going up there because my best friend (and frequent-face on the blog) Stacey lives up there! She had to work most of this weekend, but luckily, Matt had made sure that there was another reason to visit STL – he got me tickets to see Andrew Bird + The Lumineers for Christmas! 

Stacey was working her travel agency’s cruise show, so unfortunately we didn’t get to see as much of her as we would’ve liked. We made sure to make a stop by the cruise show, though, to see her in Travel Agent Action! Isn’t she the cutest travel agent ever?!

Laumeier Sculpture Park

Our friend Abby recommended stopping by this sculpture park. We’re so glad she recommended it because it was incredible! We were so lucky to have gorgeous weather which made for a really gorgeous stroll through some interesting works of art. They also offer art classes and even have a nature trail that you can take through the woods around the park.

 

Left: Matt Staring Up at ‘Woodhenge’ by Gigi Scaria // Right: One of the Buildings in the Park

  

Left: Matt + Me in front of ‘Eye’ by Tony Tasset // Right: ‘La Libellule’ by Arman

Left: Trailhead // Right:  Close-Up of ‘Sugabus’ by Robert Chambers

‘Sugabus’ by Robert Chambers

Left: ‘Heritage Schooner for Debra Lakin’ by George Greenamyer // Right: Matt with ‘Man with Briefcase at 2968443’ by Jonathan Borofsky

Small Scale Version of ‘The Way’ by Alexander Liberman with the original in the background

Crown Candy Kitchen

Crown Candy Kitchen has been around for 104 years! They sell candy, delicious sandwiches, and since I didn’t do any research beforehand I didn’t realize that they’re well known for their malts and sundaes! Not knowing this, we didn’t even order one to split. Ugh. But they apparently have a five-malt-challenge that even Adam Richman from Man vs. Food couldn’t tackle. Even though we missed out on the malts, we greatly enjoyed our turkey melt! Their sandwiches are huge, so we were able to split them!

Just a few of the candy options. I was expecting more, because of the name, but they seemed popular regardless! 

Inside the diner. I love the feel of old diners! 

St. Louis Zoo

It was so nice outside that we couldn’t pass up the chance to visit the free zoo in Forest Park! It was great to be outside again. I felt like a zoo-nerd because I was totally scoping out the enclosures almost as much as the animals.

         

Kirkwood Station Brewing Co.

We couldn’t go to St. Louis without scoping out at least one brewery! Abby and her boyfriend met us at Kirkwood Station Brewing Co. for a beer and appetizers before Matt and I went to our show! My favorite was Ale Fleur One – it’s a single malt, single hop pale ale. It was very tasty! Matt loved their Sugar Creek Lager.

Andrew Bird + The Lumineers in Concert

Andrew Bird has been a favorite of mine for years now, and The Lumineers quickly made their way into my list of top bands with two totally solid albums back to back. I was floored when Matt got me Lumineers tickets for Christmas and then when I noticed that Andrew Bird was opening I was elated! I had super high expectations for this show and they totally surpassed them! Chaifetz Arena, even though it was large, had amazing sound and didn’t have a bad view in the house. (At least, not that we saw.) If you love either of these musicians / bands DO NOT miss an opportunity to see them!

Andrew Bird performing on the main stage. The Lumineers did most of their set here, but then they also crammed on this tiny stage in the middle that raised up to “try to make the arena feel smaller”.

Solid performances from beginning to end. 

We truly had a super successful weekend trip to St. Louis packed with friends, good food, art, a zoo, beer and an incredible concert!  It was absolutely amazing!