Saint Louis Part 1

Over the memorial day weekend Steve and I took a road trip up to Saint Louis to see my best friend from college, her husband, and her two best friends from Chicago. The four of them drove down from Chicago Saturday morning, we drove up, and we met in the middle.

Rachel and Lauren, <3

Rachel is one of my dearest friend from college and has remained a strong presence in my life after.  We have traveled to visit each other in different cities, traveled to different countries together and I was even a bridesmaid in her wedding.  She is smart, witty, fashionable, sweet and all around one of the best people.  I'm so lucky to have a friend like her in my life. I highly recommend checking her out on the interwebs.

On the way up, Steve and I stopped in Metropolis, Illinois to take hokey tourist photos with the giant Superman statue and all the accompanying crap. It was also the perfect half-way point to switch drivers!

Superman tells you how to wipe properly

There was a lot of time in the car. About 5 hours. I don't do great on long car trips but we survived and got to Saint Louis in the mid afternoon.

We had arranged our stay through Airbnb. This was the first time for me, and for anyone in our group, using this service.  Basically, Airbnb is a website that connect you to people in different cities around the world that let you rent a room, or even in our case, their whole house.  We found an awesome loft on the site that could accommodate six people at a very reasonable cost.  I think each person only paid about $50 for lodging the whole trip.

Super impressive PEZ collection

Clearly this space was very open and awesome.  Dealing with Airbnb was easy and our host was great! He even left us some breakfast goodies and beer in the fridge.  All in all, I would use Airbnb again and I would even consider using it to rent out my house during big events in Nashville (CMA fan fest) that I don't go to.

We inspect our digs

They even had a mini-Big Boy

Long time no see, love

That nigh we went to the Schlafly Tap Room for dinner and beer. Our loft was only three blocks from the tap room which was perfect for me.  Steve and I got samplers of their beer (love the stout) and I had schnitzel for dinner. Crispy perfection!

We finished up the evening with a trip to the City Museum.  Its more like a giant magical playground then a museum. You just have to see it to believe it, and honestly, a trip to Saint Louis is worth it just for this amazing unique place.  Since you can't really crawl around on your hands and knees with a fancy camera, pictures inside the museum are limited. But here is what we got!

Rachel gives the sexy in the sparkly whale lobby 

Steve comes out the of the whale's behind

Modern Art undies!

Steve gets in on the Big Boy action

So do I

Sumo!

There is a majorly romantic Ferris wheel on the roof and I highly recommend paying the extra $5 and getting roof access.  There is a giant praying mantis up there, a school bus, the Ferris wheel and a giant 10-story slide.  

We had a great first day in Saint Louis.... more to follow!