Road Trip! Flea Markets and Motorcycles…

                Last Saturday, a friend and I made the trip across the mighty Mississippi River to Grafton, Illinois to their monthly flea market.   While the flea market was fun, the road trip was worth the day.

                First, we got lost.  I love getting lost.  My friend was driving, and didn’t seem so excited about it, but I enjoyed the side trip.  We ended up driving through a working class area in northern St. Louis (I believe she referred to the area as North County).  As with so many neighborhoods around here, there were a number of abandoned houses, their charm marred by broken windows.

                We crossed the river at Alton and followed it up to Grafton.  Limestone bluffs towered above the road on our right while the river flowed south on our left.  While I don’t think that this fall is going to produce brilliant fall foliage, most years the trees lining the road must be spectacular. 

                Grafton’s flea market is in an old warehouse called the Loading Dock on the waterfront.  The warehouse was packed with vendors selling everything from old tools and glassware to yard art made from flatware.  I really wanted a butterfly made from spoons, but I talked myself out it.  If the artist is there next time I go, I am definitely getting myself a butterfly. 

                My favorite was a guy who was creating wire wrapped jewelry while you waited.  I picked out a beautiful stone bead of I don’t know what and watched while he created a pendant just for me.  It was so odd; he didn’t know I am a butterfly person, but by the time he had finished wrapping the bead, there was a butterfly twisted into the wire.

                After we were done at the flea market, we went wandering around town.  The streets were filled with motorcycles, all kinds of motorcycles.  Most of them were cruisers, but there were some sport bikes and dual sports.  While we were in Grafton’s Artisan Village, a shop that featured crafts by local artists, we learned that they were there for a charity ride sponsored by a local company.  The longer we walked around, the more motorcycles seemed to converge on town. 

                On the far end of Grafton from the flea market is Iron Decor N More, a metal work shop.  He may not make his yard art out of spoons, but his wind sculptures are fabulous.  And, after spending some time walking around town, it was apparent that they are also an integral part of local decor.  They can be found on restaurants, in front of shops, and adorning houses all around town. 

                Regular readers of this blog know of some of the things my mom and I have done or want to do together here in St. Louis, but Grafton is something I am looking forward to sharing with my dad.  I’m pretty sure Mom is going to have a good time too!

The Flea Market at the Loading Dock: http://www.graftonloadingdock.com/flea_market.html

Grafton's Artisan's Village: http://enjoygrafton.com/grafton/place.cfm?pid=1008&src=attractions

Iron Decor N More: http://www.irondecornmore.com/cart/?CFID=111164555&CFTOKEN=62715205

Soulard Market

The Saint Louis Arch is more properly called the Gateway Arch, as Saint Louis is the Gateway to the West.  Overshadowed by its more recent history, it is easy to forget that St. Louis was once a small town on the river’s bank, the last stop before heading into new frontier. 

Today, I explored one of Saint Louis’s original landmarks, the Soulard Market.  The market traces its history to an open air farmer’s market prior to the Louisiana Purchase.  The current building was built in 1929, and while smaller, feels a lot like Pike Market in Seattle.  In some places, it is semi-open air, in others, there are permanent storefronts.  The stalls were packed with goods- fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, cheese, brown eggs, and, of course, gooey butter cake. 

Gooey butter cake?  Apparently this is a Saint Louis thing.  A sinfully delicious, terribly addictive Saint Louis thing.  It is sort of like a yellow cake with a brownie texture, but that is akin to saying that a Mercedes is kind of like a Kia with leather seats. 

Having already reached my quota of gooey butter cake for the week, I instead picked up some local blueberries, an heirloom tomato that I am assured by a friend is the best available in Saint Louis, and a pound of Rainier Cherries which I plan to gorge myself on this evening.

In addition to the food vendors, there are dry goods merchants, an herb shop, and a pet store.  While I didn’t go into the pet store, I did a bit of window shopping, and admired the cute bunnies and svelte little birds.  However, the bunnies would eat the trim of my apartment, and the birds would die of stress from my cat constantly considering how to make a snack of them. 

This being my lucky day, an arts and crafts fair was set up was set up next door to the fair.  It was a nice little fair, with around 20 vendors selling hand made goods.  The selection varied from some lovely jewelry with vintage flair to tie dyed clothing to tea cups on a stick.  Yes, tea cups on a stick; they came complete with a little bag of bird seed.  Not having a yard to put one in, I passed these by. 

However, I did pick up two new pendants, one was a stone that has the colors and striations of tiger eye, but more opaque and with a glitter rather than a shine.  The other is a bronze circle stamped with “wander”; I thought it was cool to find an inspirational pendant that was so unique and in harmony with my life.

Outside the park where the fair was set up, there was a sign for a free concert series in the park.  With that finding, my trip was complete.  I’m off to add some more free entertainment to my calendar.




Soulard Market:  http://soulardmarketstl.com/

Where’s Bambi?

A bit later, we’ll play a rousing round of “Where’s Bambi”.  This is similar to “Where’s Waldo” except you don’t also have to find Bambi’s socks.

First though, I would like to invite you along with me on a hike through the Ozarks.  Well, perhaps not all of the Ozarks, just a short jaunt through a beautiful area that is ridiculously close to Six Flags.  With the break in the brutally hot weather we have had the last few weeks, I decided this morning to take advantage of the “cooler” weather and go for a hike.  I grabbed my camera and bottle of water, forgot my granola bar, and headed out on I-44 to the Rockwoods Reservation for a few hours of woodland retreat.

The trail that I hiked starts at an old kiln, from which it gets its name, the Lime Kiln Trail.  Apparently the area is popular with bicyclists; for the first fifteen minutes of my hike, I got to see some fabulous tush as the trail paralleled the road.  What started out as a relatively flat trail turned uphill away from the road; the woods here were reminiscent of the area around Hudson, and at any moment, I expected to see my younger self walking down the trail with a spinning rod in one hand and a soda can in the other.

Altogether, the trail looped through roughly three miles of woods, filled with squirrels, deer, and birds.  While hiking, I startled one poor fawn, got pelted with shells by a squirrel, and enjoyed the handful of wildflowers that are in bloom right now, including sheep sorrel and some sort of bellflower.  The high overcast kept the morning relatively cool (it was about 85F when I got off the trail), and while I was by no means sharing the trail with others, I met several other people out enjoying the trail.  It was a lovely place to spend the morning, and I look forward to exploring some of the other trails around St. Louis.

Now, for a round of “Where’s Bambi?”  Hint: She can be found somewhere in the one picture that I probably wouldn’t have posted otherwise. If you click on the pictures, it should bring up hi-res versions.

This is just the beginning of the adventure...

I believe that this little gem is a bellflower, but I couldn't find it in my book.

Feather found on the side of the trail.

This funny little stream ran parallel to the trail for a bit before inexplicably disappearing.  As porous as the limestone is, I'm guessing it all falls into bedrock and only runs when there is good rainfall.

The hillside was lovely.

Umm... Yes, I am on a hiking trail, thank you for pointing that out, a mile into it.

Actually, if you were hiking the loop in reverse, the other sign is pretty much necessary or you potentially end up following a game trail.

Where I was standing to take this picture was the meeting of three valleys. If the streams had been running I would have had the choice of getting my feet wet or walking across a log.

Cool tree roots.

I have no idea what this plant is, but it had marvelously furry leaves.

The kiln is located right at the trail head, so it is hard to miss.

Resource:  Best Hikes Near St. Louis by JD Tanner and Emily Ressler-Tanner

Road Trip! Chaumette Winery

                Road trips are best with friends- those people with whom it is easy to laugh, swap stories, and just have a good time.  Some friends are forever friends, other friends are new friends.  Being new to St. Louis, pretty much everyone I do something with is a new friend- and yesterday, I had a whole cadre of new friends to road trip with.  Altogether we had seven people headed out to explore some of the local wineries.  

                Michael, the organizer for the trip, had two wineries in St. Genevieve picked out to visit, but time only permitted us to go to the Chaumette Vineyards and Winery.  The roads to get there are very scenic, even with the drought conditions that Missouri is experiencing.  We enjoyed the rolling hills interspersed with cornfields and dotted with sunflowers.  We even saw two wild turkeys crossing the road at one point.

                Chaumette was tucked into the hills out of St. Louis, off of Route WW.  Their vineyards covered the hillside, and a small chapel peaked out of a stand of trees up the hill from the tasting room and restaurant.  Apparently, they do a brisk business in weddings, and have spa and villas on site in addition to the winery. 

                We started in the tasting room, where a jovial bar tender was more than happy to suggest wines to sample and the order in which to try them so as to get the most appreciation out of sampling.  I started with the 2009 Reserve Chardonel.  I should have stopped there, since none of the other wines were nearly as much to my taste.  It was a dry white wine, but it wasn’t too tart or acidic and the flavor was lovely. 

                A couple of the girls bought bottles of wine and we moved into the restaurant to enjoy the live entertainment and get some lunch.  I have to say that was probably one of the most leisurely lunches I have ever enjoyed.  We started off with an order of the Eggplant Fries served with horseradish cream for the table.  The fries were crispy and delicious; the sauce was very delicately done.  For lunch, I had the County Line Farm Tomato Tart.  The tart consisted of delicious red tomatoes and cheese served on a puffy pastry crust.  I could have eaten three of them, or maybe four, without a moment’s regret.  Michael bought a bottle of the Huguenot Red for everyone to share, and, while I generally prefer white wines, this was a very enjoyable red.

                After lunch, I went walking through the vineyard with one of the other ladies.  It was miserably hot, but with the sun out and the vineyards beckoning, I couldn’t stay inside another moment- and I think she felt the same way.  She grew up in rural Pennsylvania and apparently didn’t realize until she got out of the city how much she missed the timeless feel of the countryside.  We wandered up and down the rows of grapevines, heavy with fruit, and talked about some of the new adventures we have been having in St. Louis.

                Sadly, all things must come to an end; when we got back to the tasting room from our walk through the vineyards, it was time to head back to the city.  It was a delightful afternoon, and if I ever need to get away from it all for a day or two, I think I’ll check into one of their villas and spend my days roaming through the vineyards and people watching in the tasting room.

Chaumette Vineyards and Winery: http://www.chaumette.com/

Streamline (the awesome band): http://www.facebook.com/streamlinemusic?sk=wall

Special thanks to Michael and the St. Louis Transplants for organizing this road trip!

Dish Art and Daisies

Welcome to another installment of my adventures with my Mom.  Four nights of visit provided a month’s worth of blog topics, but none with as good of photos as these.  (I admit it- I have a weakness for flowers.)

Last Sunday, we went over to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to enjoy the flowers and check out the Chinese Lantern Festival.  Sadly we got there in the middle of the afternoon and only had about two hours to walk around; this was not nearly enough time. 

The gardens are sprawlingly beautiful, with a variety of different formats, several conservatories, and beautiful fountains and sculptures.  Much of our time was spent in the rainforest-like Climatron, one of the conservatories.  It was hard to walk more than a couple of feet without finding another beautiful flower or scenic spot.

The Lantern Festival, which is set-up for the summer, had a mixture of different displays throughout the garden.  Mom’s favorite, and the most intriguing, display was two giant dragons built entirely out of china- hundreds of plates, spoons, and cups. 

I can’t wait for my next trip to the gardens, and hopefully, I’ll have another friend to share it with (or the same one- Mom, you can visit anytime).

 

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/