Tuesday, July 07, 2009
22: Giant Floats, Miniature Triathletes, and Tons of Photos
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| Stoker's Log Day Twenty Two |
| 7/7/09 |
| Rest Day in the St Louis, MO area |
With a borrowed car, a list of sites, and the energy that comes with sleeping late, we were more than ready to tour St Louis. We spent most of the day in Forest Park, which houses several museums and the zoo. We spent some time enjoying the park and pond, the water and the wildlife.
I've been trying to photograph egrets for the past few days, by the by, and this was the first one that remained still long enough for me to get my camera ready. It was a good start to the morning. What most caught our attention, however, were the fifty kids on bicycles circling the pond. They were part of a young triathlon camp, which is one of the coolest ideas I've ever heard. I really hope our future children want to attend because they may not be given much choice.
We made our way across the park to the St Louis Art Museum, heralded by a giant statue of King Louis himself.
The museum's collection was fantastic and wide-ranging.
January, December, November by Gerhard Richter. A reflection on communist East Germany.
And the space itself was equally impressive.
When Kyle started to go into culture overload we headed across the park to the zoo. I've always enjoyed zoos, especially with a camera in hand.
Penguins were clearly my favorite, especially the one playing with the guy cleaning his little house.
Unfortunately some of the zoo animals just made us sad, like the black bear whose dead eyes and listless, repetitive head movements made him look animatronic.
The grizzly bear was also unhappy with his small living space, but he reacted by pacing back and forth, whipping his head around at each turn. He was the epitome of pent up rage, and I've never felt so much simultaneous pity and terror.
We probably should have ended our visit with the frolicking penguins instead.
After the zoo, we headed to the university section of downtown. Thanks to Big Shark's Bike Shop we picked up a much needed wrench of some kind (I think it's clear that I'm not the mechanically inclined one) for a few dollars. Then it was off to Fitz's, a colorful restaurant and rootbeer brewery.
The rootbeer wasn't quite as delicious as I'd hoped, but the floats were amazing.
| posted at: 10:18 |
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