Leonardo the New Pet

Yesterday, I returned home from work to find that Tony had adopted a turtle. He found him under our car after he pulled out to go run errands. Luckily, he hadn't harmed poor little Leonardo! Leonardo is currently lounging in our spare bathtub. He will be relocated to a new home in either Forest Park or Lafayette Square Park in the near future. Tony is considering painting his shell purple and gold so that we'll know it's him when we visit.

Sugar's Play Dates

Sugar and Tucker have been enjoying each other's company as of late! We took them to the dog park that is across the street from College Church for about an hour. It's a huge dog park and they had a great time running around and chasing a tennis ball! It was so cute! Tony also took the two of them to the park that is two blocks away from our house one day last week. He said that the two of them just kept following each other around to re-mark their territory!

If we can ever figure out how to post video here, we'll put up some video of the dog park fun.

Ted Drewes

I know that I've been a little remiss in my posting lately, but I did want to tell you about our trip to Ted Drewes a week ago! After dining at a new restaurant called The Good Pie (very yummy!), the 3 of us decided to get some Ted Drewes. Ted Drewes is an institution here in St. Louis. It's housed in basically a shack and they sell frozen custard with mixings in it. They even have one called "The Christy!" Tony was going to get it, but decided on banana split instead.

So let me paint the picture for you. It's 10 p.m. on a Saturday night. We drive up and there is armed police there for crowd control and to keep people out of the streets because the lines are so long! Seriously! It's ice cream people! There were several people that had brought their folding chairs and were just sitting in groups in the parking lot eating it. Well, of course we had to find out what all the fuss was about! The first picture is the side of the building. The second is the crowd waiting and it's not even the entire crowd. There were about three lines behind us when Tony took that picture. The last is Tony's banana split.

So, how was it? Not too bad! It's smoother than regular ice cream.

Sweetie Pie's

So, Tony has been trying to get me to eat at a soul food restaurant called Sweetie Pie's since we moved to St. Louis and I've been resisting. Finally, I ran out of excuses and we ate there on last night. Before going, I did research the restaurant a little. I learned that it's been featured on the Food Network's show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (or whatever that show is called) and I also read a few reviews including:

"If your goal is to gain a couple hundred pounds, clog your arteries and have a good time doing it, this is the place for you!"

"It's as if Jesus came down and laid his hands on that mac n' cheese, y'all."

You can see why I was little nervous about what I was getting into!

Well, Tony, Jean, and I dined there Friday night and I have to say that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought that it would be. The restaurant is really cute with lots of large windows and a huge St. Louis themed mural. It's cafeteria style, but there are plenty of friendly waiters and waitresses that grab your tray and carry it to your table for you. And the food? It's excellent! Tony and I both had the fried catfish and it was extra crispy just like I like! The mac n cheese was a favorite of all of ours. My only complaint was the cornbread which was a little dry. Tony also loved the sweet potato pie.

After I only ate half of what's on my plate, Tony threatened to break my hand if I didn't get a to go box for him. He's so mean at times, but I definitely got the point that he enjoyed it and we'll be returning again.

Cafe Ventana

Yesterday, Tony and I lunched at Cafe Ventana which is a "Louisiana style cafe" right off of SLU's campus. In reality, the only thing Louisiana about the cafe is that it's logo is a fleur de lis and it serves a muffaletto and beignets. But the food is good and it's a really cute place. Anyway, I ran into the restroom before we left and I have to say, I have never seen a restroom quite like this one! The top half of the four walls was covered in a chalkboard. They also provided chalk and erasers for you to add your message to the board! The ceiling was covered in fashion photos, etc that were cut out from magazines and the large chandelier finished off the effect. I have to say that I loved it!

Visiting Union Station

The old Union Station in downtown St. Louis has been converted to a hotel, restaurants, and little shops inside. It's really beautiful to see all of the old architecture inside the building and it's a great use of the space. There's even a grand ballroom in it. Tony and I ventured down there last Monday looking for postcards since it has a couple of souvenir shops inside. We had a great time just walking around and wandering in and out of the little shops. There's even a Landry's Seafood at the back of the train station with an adorable patio area overlooking the little pond. It was way too cold and rainy to eat outside, so we decided to postpone Landry's for another day. We also discovered that black light miniature golf is an option inside Union Station. Tony is dying to try it while I could pass! I'm sure we'll end up going...

After an hour or so of walking around, we left only to discover that we had forgotten to pick up the one thing that we had gone for - postcards!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

And buy me some hand warmers!

Tony and I were graciously given tickets to the Astros - Cards game last night. We've driven around Busch Stadium a few times, but this was our first time to see the inside of the stadium. It really is a beautiful stadium, but I do prefer Minute Maid. Especially since Minute Maid has a retractable roof and it dipped into the 30's last night. I can honestly say that it's the first time that I've ever been cold at a baseball game! Tony did go buy us some hand warmers at the beginning of the game. It's the first time that I've ever used them, but I loved them!

Of course, we were surrounded by Cards fans so we did stick out in our Astros gear. Tony even bought the only Astros thing that we saw in any of the stadium shops - an Astros pennant on a stick. We did have a great time conversing with those around us and it was a good game even though the Astros were behind the entire time. They at least kept it close enough to still be interesting!