The Lindenbergs

Nora and I took Friday off and piled the family in the car for a long weekend in St. Louis.


A cousin of Nora's was getting married Friday night. The wedding and reception were fairly small and low key. This was the first wedding that Pierce and Anna have been to that they'll actually remember. Both were very excited, mostly at the prospect of getting wedding cake.


The drive from Kansas City is about 4 hours. We used my new Garmin GPS (the kids call it Lola) and it made the drive a snap. Nora, not needing to act as navigator, snoozed and read a book. Pierce and Anna periodically checked our onscreen location to make sure we hadn't gone awry. We arrived at the hotel early enough that we were able to spend about an hour in the pool before getting ready for the wedding.

The wedding was held at a small church and probably set the record for fastest ceremony. I think once it started the entire thing lasted about 10 minutes. The bride's father acted as the videographer and it was fascinating to watch someone else do the type of job Nora and I do. I'm sure they'll enjoy the video he shot for many years to come.

The reception was Pierce and Anna's shining moment; they came to dance. After a reasonably tasty (and late) buffet dinner, the two of them danced with each other and Nora and me. Anna even showed Pierce how to do a slow dance.

Saturday, we headed in to St. Louis proper to see the Arch. Despite the number of times Nora and I have been to St. Louis to see her extended family, we've never made it to the Arch (despite a great deal of begging on my part). I'd have to say the experience surpassed expectations.

The Arch is absolutely beautiful. Its size, graceful curve, mirror-like surface, and twisting, ribbon-like angles are breath-taking. The Arch sits in a park-like setting surrounded by trees and lush grass. To enter the Arch you go underground; which is when you realize that under the park is an entire complex complete with museum, gift shop, movie theater and more. When you buy tickets to go to the top of the Arch, they're time-stamped so you don't have to stand in line. You just show up at your designated time and up you go. Our time was about 45 minutes after our ticket purchase, so we perused the museum. The animatronic characters that recited the history of the 'opening of the west' were the biggest hit with Pierce and Anna.

You get to the top of the Arch by climbing into a small 'pod" that can accommodate up to 5 people -its shaped like a marble and sounds like a roller coaster as you start up the Arch. The pod's elevator-like doors have windows so you can see the inner architecture of the Arch (cool!). The top of the Arch would be almost roomy if it weren't completely crowded with visitors. Its about 8 feet wide with viewing windows on both sides. The Arch is so high the view is reminiscent of that from an airplane. I'm told that you can usually feel the Arch swaying from the winds, but it was completely still while we were up there.

Saturday night we had dinner with Nora's cousins. Grilled burgers, dogs and sausages. They have older boys who generously spent time with Pierce and Anna. We don't see them often and we were all sorry that the evening came to a close so quickly.

Sunday was scheduled for a visit to Grant's Farm (established by the family that founded Bud/Bush beer) and a visit to a classic car museum. Unfortunately, the car museum did not have Sunday hours (oops), but Pierce took the situation with good grace. Grant's Farm is like a petting zoo on steroids and Anna loved every minute of it. The Farm has live elephants with regular shows. There was also a Tram ride with an accompanying history of the farm that took you to the Farm's interior.

Sunday was also Nora's birthday. We celebrated by going to the downtown Hard Rock Cafe for lunch (Nora collects Hard Rock pins). The Cafe is in the St. Louis Union (train) Station. The lunch was pretty good and, at my prompting, the waiter brought Nora an ice cream Sunday. He also had the entire restaurant sing 'I'm a little teapot' to her while she stood on a pedestal and danced (badly) the appropriate moves to the song. I think I almost pooped myself it was so funny.

As an olive branch to Pierce, we went into the Union Station proper and walked through their train exhibit. Honestly, the display was pretty un-impressive. But Pierce enjoyed it.

-Eric (Dad)