Two weeks ago I posted a blog in which I chronicled the start of a great trip that we took in June. I will refresh your memory by reminding you that the first stop on our trek was the Missouri Star Quilting Company in Hamilton, Missouri - a bucket-list destination for every quilter. And that was just the start of a trip full of fun times.
Our next stop was St. Louis where we checked into the Missouri Athletic Club - an historic hotel in downtown St. Louis that reminded me of the Hotel Julien in Dubuque. I discovered this hotel on Hotels.com when I searched for the nicest/most inexpensive hotel close to Busch Stadium. It was a gem! Gorgeous interior, a parking garage next to the hotel, and a shuttle after the baseball game. We had attended a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game in the old stadium several years so were excited to check out the new digs. It was quite the place! We were able to purchase tickets through the team website from a season ticket holder at a reasonable price and ended up sitting in the Redbird Club. From there we had a great view of the game, the stadium, and the Gateway Arch.
On Friday morning, after a beautiful walk through the Gateway Arch National Park, we headed for Memphis and the Hotel Indigo. These accommodations were perfect for this trip as we were located downtown about five blocks from Beale Street and four blocks from the Mississippi River - another great find on Hotels.com. On a previous trip to Memphis we toured Graceland and the Civil Rights Museum as well as enjoying an evening on Beale Street. We were excited to explore some new attractions on this trip which included Mud Island and the Mississippi River Museum which includes a model of the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois to New Orleans. We also spent time at the Rock and Soul Museum, the Rendezvous, and the Blues City Cafe BBQ on Beale Street, as well as Shelby Farms Park, and the National Ornamental Metal Museum. We decided that Memphis is the place to go if you like museums!
Besides being tourists we enjoyed several great times with Tom’s family. He has three brothers and three sisters and there were 21 of us in all that made the trip to Memphis to celebrate the wedding. On Friday night we met at a dive bar called the Dirty Crow that had great food! The next night was the wedding which was held at the former Sears-Roebuck Catalog Distribution building. This gargantuan building sat empty for 30 years before someone had a vision to develop it into condos, restaurants, shops, offices, a high school, as well as an event area. The central atrium is amazing and the wedding/reception was held on the second floor surrounding this spectacular space. On Sunday evening the family gathered again to enjoy leftovers from the reception - BBQ ribs and chicken that were the highlight of the whole weekend. Yes - they were that good!
We haven’t done a lot of traveling since we both retired from teaching but the success of this trip put the “travel bug” in us. We are now looking forward to revisiting some favorite destinations as well as discovering some new ones. Stay tuned for our upcoming adventures which will hopefully include a few quilt shops along the way - my definition of a successful trip!