Since I live in St. Louis, Missouri, I thought I would make a page with a few things that I love to do here in my own city. This page will be set up slightly different than the other pages since I won’t be doing a day by day account of home base, but I just want to highlight some of the fun and different things that I do while I’m not travelling.
Keep on reading for updates on our life in the Midwest!
January 11, 2025: Indianapolis
We left for Indianapolis to see Norm Lewis perform with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. On the way there, we stopped at Kurly Q in Paris, IL and decided to try one of their signature shakes (cookies and cream).
February 2, 2025: Disney on Ice
Bryce and I took our cousin to see Disney on Ice. She even got a snow cone and a bubble blower. There were some impressive ice skating moves including a scene where Rapunzel and Flynn were flying by her hair.
February 15, 2025: Harry Potter at Neon Gardens
We were in Chicago for a show and decided to check out Neon Gardens. They decorated the entire place with Harry Potter stuff and even had a themed menu.
March 1, 2025: Castlewood State Park
My French group decided to take a hike at Castlewood State Park. I’m happy to report we did use some French.
March 27, 2025: Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival at the Zoo was a fun way to spend the evening with some out of town friends.
March 28, 2025: Tour of St. Louis
We took our friends out for some St. Louis landmarks including the botanical gardens, the World Chess Museum, and the St. Louis Cathedral. The next day we took them to the art museum and the history museum located in Forest Park.
April 12, 2025: Jasper, Indiana
We went to Jasper for the weekend for a performance and stopped at a State Park so that Nico could have a walk before we left for the evening.
May 2, 2025: Art Museum for Roaring Exhibit
The art museum had a special exhibit called Roaring: Art, Fashion, and the Automobile in France, 1918-1939. Bryce liked the cars. I discovered that my favorite dress in the exhibit was a Chanel.
May 9, 2025: Disney Princess Concert
Bryce and I went to see the Disney Princess Concert. It was my second time seeing the show but I was happy to see some Broadway starts I had not seen yet.
May 13, 2025: Korean BBQ
I bought Bryce an indoor grill for Christmas and we were able to use it to grill our own Korean BBQ.
May 17, 2025: Botanical Gardens
Bryce was away at Geekway over the weekend so I took a trip to the Botanical Gardens to see what was in bloom. There were so many pretty flowers this weekend.
May 18, 2025: Kayaking in Springfield
I went to visit a friend in Springfield and spent a few hours kayaking at Sangchris lake.
May 23, 2025: MET Museum
While we were in NYC for some Broadway musicals, we stopped in at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Friday afternoon. They had a special Paris exhibit around the painter John Singer Sargent but I still enjoyed the French impressionism the most. (above image is Boats on the Beach at L’Estaque by George Braque).
May 24, 2025: Harry Potter Store
Harry Potter has its own store in NYC. It was fun to walk around, see all the decor, and see all of the fun things to buy. I even surprised myself by not buying everything in the store.
May 30, 2025: Baby Elephant Jet
We went to the zoo to see the new baby Elephant Jet. He was born November 23, 2024 and just making his debut out in the public.
May 31, 2025: Botanical Gardens
We love walking the Botanical Gardens whenever we can. It’s always so pretty any time of the year.
June 16, 2025: Fort Wayne, Indiana
We went to visit my cousin who lives near Fort Wayne. Friday we met for Thai and played a board game, Saturday we went to Parlor Donuts, DeBrand Chocolate, and the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Gardens before a family graduation party. On Sunday, after a walk at Lakeside Park, we met at Cosmos for brunch.
June 20, 2025: KAAN Conference in Atlanta
I met up with my cousin to attend our first KAAN Conference in Atlanta this year.
May 12, 2025: Swim Party
My friend invited me to spend the day with her and her family to celebrate her birthday. We went out for pizza and then swam in the pool. Afterwards, we had homemade ice cream made by her mom.
July 4, 2025: Fourth of July
Our friends invited us on their new boat for the Holidays. Nico loved the water. He found out he could just sleep in the inflatable (with netting under him) and at one point, Bryce and Nico were asleep on the boat.
July 16, 2025: Romeo and Zooliet by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
Bryce and I braved the heat and saw Romeo and Zooliet at the Zoo and put on by the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival Company. The puppets were by Michael Curry Design who also created the puppets for the Lion King on Broadway. It was a fun play, with the tragic story between grizzly bear Juliet and a prairie dog Romeo who become best friends forever.
July 18, 2025: Movie Date
We went on a movie date this afternoon to see the new Superman. Afterwards, we tried a new Korean fried chicken restaurant.
August 9, 2025: KATCH Picnic in Chicago
Bryce and I met my cousin Amanda and Joel in Chicago for the KATCH Picnic. After the picnic we played some games at a board game cafe and then we went and then at Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza.
August 10, 2025: Architecture Tour
To end the weekend with Amanda and Joel, we checked out the Architecture boating tour. It was the first time I had ever done this!
August 22, 2025: Superman in Metroplis
On our way to Nashville, we stopped in Metropolis to see Superman.
August 22, 2025: Dolly: The Dolly Parton Musical
We took a one day trip to Nashville to see the World Premiere of the Dolly Parton Musical.
August 30, 2025: MoBot Japanese Festival
We went to the Japanese festival at the Botanical Gardens and watched a Wagashi demonstration. We then took a walk around the gardens and got to see the Great Blue Heron.
September 12, 2025: Jeremy Jordan
Jeremy Jordan performed with his Age of Madness Band. I went to see him perform in Milwaukee and got to meet him afterwards with a VIP meet and greet post-show! He’s my favorite Broadway actor, and I think this was one of the best days ever.
September 20, 2025: Polo Pony
For our friend’s birthday, she wanted to go to a Polo Pony match. We ended up tailgating before the match. Since I didn’t know the rules, it was a little confusing when they kept switching goal posts.
September 27, 2025: Ryan Cassata
Ryan Cassata was performing at the Treehouse in Urbana, Illinois, so Bryce and I picked dad up in Springfield and we all drove together to see the band perform (see the drummer, Kyle!). It was a DIY establishment and was quite an interesting venue, but it was fun to see Kyle perform.