Sunday, July 25 - Missouri Botanical Gardens

After only four hours of sleep, I got up to walk with Pam and Clarabel. The temperature and humidity readings were much lower due to the coldfront and storms that pushed through last night. In our two and half mile trek around the neighborhood, we saw many tree limbs down and portable basketball hoops blown over from the 60 mph winds that pounded the area. We are thankful the destruction wasn't any worse.

On our way to today's destination, we made our necessary caffeine stop at one of the many Starbucks locations. The Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis is 79 acres of both indoor and outdoor horticultural displays including a 14-acre Japanese Garden. The whole experience is a photographer's paradise. Obviously May and June would be the optimum time to visit here with many more flowering plants in bloom; however, there were plenty of other opportunities for not only still photography shots but video with commentary as well. With Pam as our tour guide, bathroom humor was inevitable when we came across the Diarrhena plant. (I just hope no one witnessed the video that we produced for this one). Other low-budget comedies that will probably only make it to the youtube scene included various skits involving the genus and species of the following varieties: interrupting fern, sneezeweed, hydrant faucetis, and snakebark maple. Additional unrated footage not meant for anyone elses' eyes included the Maze-witch Project and a very B-B-B-B-Bad to the Bone rendition by Mary I'm too sheepish to talk about.

Even though we had only seen a fraction of the attractions, we were feeling parched and peckish and searched out a source for sustenance. The sassafras dining area in the Ridgway Visitor Center totally fit the bill. We ordered turkey paninis, the Quiche of the day, and Nathan's World Famous Hot Dog, chips and drinks. A trip to the Garden Gate Shop for postcards and souvenirs concluded our visit, and we were on to the next stop of the day--known as "A St. Louis Tradition."

Ted Drewes has been selling frozen custard for decades and the throngs of people that can always be found surrounding the establishment are proof positive that the custard is the finest in St. Louis. The draw for Mary was more about the fact that the Jonas Brothers had eaten custard there rather than the custard itself. Mary immediately spotted the ball caps lining the upper inside window like a curtain. Each bill of each ball cap was autographed by various visiting celebrities. Mary wanted to know how much it would cost to buy the ball cap sporting the Jonas Brothers' signatures. We didn't inquire, but we did purchase and enjoy the creamiest, most refreshing custard I've ever tasted.

Back at Pam and Matt's, I decided a nap was in order. Pam concurred, and we each got some much needed zzzzzzzz's while Matt and Mary lounged in front of the television. Waking refreshed and hungry, Pam and I made a run to Qdoba for supper. While dining, we watched the DVD we had brought of Mary's Aladdin performance from the Donna Reed Festival. Then Pam took us on a trip down memory lane finding an episode of the Hardy Boys on the dish. A regular Sunday occurrence in our house was to get Uncle Jack's Tacos and set up trays in front of the TV to watch the Hardy Boys. Mary did not share our infatuation with Joe and Frank and wanted to know why they were called Hardy. She thought Parker Stevenson's character looked like Chevy Chase from the movie Fletch and she kept trying to think which actress Shaun Cassiday reminded her of.

Picture swapping and more Wii games and silliness finished up the evening. Another great day in O'Fallon!!