My Day in St. Louis

What a busy day!  But it was just lovely out - actually the whole weekend was; more on that later - and we made the best of it!

After an early trip out to the lake and a delicious bowl of cereal (Quaker Oatmeal Squares never tasted so good), T and I embarked on our usual Saturday excursion to the Tower Grove Farmers' Market.  But this time, I took my camera!

Seriously, look at that sky!

Lots of delicious varieties of tomatoes...

...other tasty veg...

...and seasonal produce!

Well, at least they're honest about it.

Every Saturday, we get a tasty grilled cheese!  This week, it was mixed greens, balsamic, and chevre.  Notice the kosher salt sprinkled on the bread as it's just off the griddle - lovely touch!

Nothing like a few flowers to perk up your day.

We packed all our cold goods into a cooler we brought along for the occasion (though little did we know, we'd also be taking home ice cream), and then headed down the street to Tower Grove Creamery for some dessert.  TG Creamery serves, for those who can appreciate the significance of this, Central Dairy Ice Cream!

I got a mix of Extreme Moose Tracks and Muddy River.  Holy chocolate overload, Batman!

It was so good that we also brought home a couple of pints: burgundy cherry and chocolate chip cookie dough are currently hiding out in my freezer.

Just a couple doors down from TG Creamery is Dunaway Books - which I had heard of but never been to - so we poked around for twenty minutes or so.  Bonus points to the folks at Dunaway for letting us browse with our ice cream!  I even managed to not spill it on any of the books, just on my own sleeve.  Go me!

At this point we had a choice.  Go see Moneyball, which we had bailed on the night before, or go see the Da Vinci Machines exhibit.  Moneyball lost again.

So, Leonardo, it turns out, was a pretty smart dude.  And he was a decent artist to boot.  Look at all the stuff he came up with!

An early catapault

Say goodbye to your sails when this bad boy shows up.

Sweet dreams and flying machines.

The power of pulleys to lighten a load.

The Air Screw, an unsuccessful flying machine ("in pieces on the ground").

Archimedes' Screw: a clever little contraption to move water uphill.

Probably almost as fast as a collegiate 8+.

Need to be able to tell time in the dark of night?  Just light this carefully measured and formed candle, and it'll count the hours from dusk until dawn.

Ball bearings!  Is there anything this man couldn't do?

Across the street from the building where Da Vinci's machines were on display is Citygarden, a fairly recent creation of two city blocks, turned into a sculpture garden with walking paths and even a little restaurant called the Terrace View (with delicious food).  Sadly, citing a lack of dinnertime traffic, Terrace View's owner Jim Fiala has decided to close the restaurant at the end of the year.

I was really there!

Due to the lovely day and our out-of-doors adventures, another thing that didn't happen (but was supposed to) was a trip to the grocery store to buy the staples for the week.  Oh well, maybe tonight.  Hard to force yourself inside sometimes!