Missouri Botanical Gardens, Winery, Leaving St. Louis

 On Saturday, we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
It was founded in 1859 and is the nations oldest botanical garden in continuous operation.
It is also a national historic landmark and is worth a visit if you are in the area.

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our walk through the gardens. It was a bit crowded with six weddings and a lot of other people who just wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

  

In addition to the the beautiful flowers, plants and trees, the botanical gardens has beautiful sculpture, old buildings and fountains. It also has an impressive collection of chihuly glass.

 We had a wonderful lunch on the outdoor patio.  It was a perfect early summer day.

  Sunday, we decided to take part in another one of our favorite Saint Louis activities-a trip to the winery.  We decided on Balducci's because they were not having a special Mother's day event. 

 Balducci's is known as much for their St. Louis style pizza as for their wine.
We got a bottle of wine and ordered a large veggie pizza.  St. Louis style is very thin crust with a generous topping of the St. Louis specialty "provel" cheese.  Provel cheese is sort of like mozzarella but stickier.
It is actually not our favorite but it was a day for enjoying all things St. Louis so we dove right in.

We have enjoyed our time here in St. Louis.  And having lived here twice and traveled here many, many, many, times in the past twenty two years, it will always have a special place in our hearts.  

We will be leaving here June 11, to begin our lives as "full-timers".  Yes--- we got a contract on our house!  It is almost overwhelming to think about but the dream is right around the corner :)
See you down the road  ....