Summer Vacation (Day 9)

Well, it has arrived, our last full day of vacation.  An event we have been planning and saving for has come to an end and by Friday evening we will be back in Findlay with a “to-do list” a mile long.  Oh well, it has been a great time away.

Most of the morning was spent with final visits with family.  We had breakfast in Aurora with my mother and then we traveled on to Crane to spend a few hours with Anna’s dad. 

Late in the morning we set out for St. Louis where we are spending the evening before traveling on to Findlay on Friday. It is very hot in the city, but Anna and I took some time to walk around Busch Stadium.  It is amazing how different the atmosphere of the city is when the Cardinals are out of town.

That’s really about it as far as this day goes.  A little more tomorrow.

(A quick trip to Union Station in St. Louis)

(Union Station)

(A memorial to Jack Buck at Busch Stadium)

(Stan the Man)

Summer Vacation (Days 7 & 8)

I did not include a post yesterday and today’s post is rather brief because there really is not all that much to share.  The last few days have mostly been spent visiting family in Crane and Aurora.  It has always been important for Anna and I to get back to Missouri.  This has allowed our boys to visit their extended family (something that I really never had the chance to do) and it gives us the opportunity to reconnect with the people and the area that means so much to us.

Day 7 did include a short trip to Springfield, Missouri where we did some shopping and had lunch at the Hong Kong Inn.  I took Anna there for dinner when we were dating and it has the best crab rangoons  in the world. 

Day 8 included a quick trip down to Shell Knob, Missouri and a tour around the Table Rock Lake area.  This has always been a special place for me since my Dad planted a church in Viola, Missouri, which is right on the lake.  Anna and I also honeymooned there.  The lake is still very high from all the spring rains, but it was good to take inn the beautiful scenery.

(Table Rock Lake near Viola, Missouri)

(This building used to be the Viola First Church of God.  It is now a house since the church closed years ago.)

More tomorrow.

Summer Vacation (Day 6)

When I woke up this morning I had that feeling that I always have during our vacation times – that feeling that the vacation is quickly coming to an end.  That is certainly the case this year as we have just a few days left before we head back to Ohio.  When planning this trip we knew it was going to be one of our shorter treks back to the Ozarks, but it really hit home today. 

The day started with breakfast at my mother’s house.  She is always careful to have our favorite breakfast foods ready when we sit down at the ol’ family table.  Such was the case today.  We had a great time.

We then headed off to pick up Anna’s father, Junior Merritt, in Crane, Missouri and then went on to visit Silver Dollar City.  It has always been a very special place for Anna and I.  One of our first dates was there and Anna worked there while in college.  Even though have lived in Ohio for 22 years, we still get Season Passes.  So, I am always excited to be able to go.  Now, I should probably pause here and say that my son, Nick, does not share our love for the City.  He is more of a Cedar Point man. But we all went and still had a good time.

We spent much of the day in the City and then traveled back to drop of Junior in Crane.  The rest of the evening was spent visiting with family and relaxing.

More tomorrow!

Summer Vacation (Day 5)

Sunday brought another great day as the summer vacation rolled along.  Of course we missed not being in worship at College First this morning, but it was good to worship with most of the family at the Aurora United Methodist Church.  The church just finished a week of Vacation Bible School so the Sunday service was dedicated to celebrating what took place.  It was good to see the many children recite their Bible verses and sing their songs.  The Welker kids all did a great job.

After church the family all gathered at the Pizza Hut for Sunday dinner.  It was god to catch up with my nieces and nephew about how their summer is going and what their plans were for the rest of the summer.

(Jacob and Nick)

(My mother, Jackie Welker)

I(My sister, Kay, and Anna)

(My sister, Mary, and brothers-in law Paul and Steve)

(My nieces, Jenna and Madi, and my brother, Chuck)

After dinner, Anna went to the Turner Family Reunion (her paternal side of the family) and Nick and I went to see a movie in Springfield.  The rest of the evening was spent relaxing in Aurora. With that another Sunday in the Ozarks is in the books.  

More tomorrow!

Summer Vacation (Day 4)

This will be a very short post in that it was a very quiet day.  Much of the day was spent traveling from St. Louis and visiting with family.  We spent the afternoon with Anna’s father in Crane and then we spent much of the evening visiting with my family at my mother’s home.  It was good to catch up with up with the family.  More tomorrow.

Summer Vacation (Day 3)

Our last full day in St. Louis was another absolutely beautiful day just like the day before.  We really have been blessed with some great weather.  Of course the big highlight of the day was that June 22 bring Anna’s and mine twenty-second wedding anniversary.  I can’t believe that it has been that long already. 

The day began again with breakfast in the hotel.  The Drury Plaza has a great breakfast and the best part is that it is free.  Right after breakfast we traveled down Gravois Ave. to Grant’s Farm for several hours of fun there.  We have been there before, but Nick wanted to go again and I’m glad we did. 

We did not stay too long so we were back into the downtown for a late lunch at Mike Shannon’s Steak and Seafood restaurant. ( www.shannonsteak.com)

Nick, as usual, ordered a steak which he thought was the best he ever had.  Anna and I ordered sandwiches and all the food was really good.  It was fun to see all the St. Louis Cardinals and other baseball memorabilia.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing around the hotel in preparation for attending a Cardinal game with the Toronto Blue Jays.  Our tickets were high up, but we still had a good view and though the Cardinals lost 5-4 we still had a good time.  A highlight was the fireworks that were shot off after the game.

Well, it is very late.  More tomorrow from the Ozarks.

Summer Vacation (Day 2)

St. Louis can be very hot in the summertime, but our first full day in the city was a beautiful day.  I’m not sure what the high temperature was, but it couldn’t have been much warmer than the low 80’s.  Anna and I got up early and took a walk around the arch.  It was nice a cool and it was a great way to start the day.

It is Marine Week in St. Louis so there are displays all around the downtown to promote the Marines and what they do.  Several military vehicles are positioned around the area including several helicopters.

After our walk and a quick breakfast in the hotel we all went to the St. Louis Art Museum.  In all our trips to St. Louis we had never been there before so we planned to go there when we first started thinking about this trip.  (Though I have to say that Nick was not quite as thrilled as we were about the visit.) 

Of course the museum was just wonderful.  St. Louis is really blessed to have such a great place to go and still be free to the public.  I really enjoyed the portraiture pieces as well as European art.  Thomas Hart Benton has always been a favorite of mine and it was nice to see a few of his paintings.  Nick liked the historic pieces of armor as well as the old swords and fighting implements.

 

The real excitement of the day came as we were heading back to the hotel.  Another driver rear-ended us just a few blocks from the hotel.  Nobody was hurt, but a few scratches were left on my rear bumper.  The other driver took full responsibility for accident and the insurance is already in the works.

 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the hotel (including a little naptime) and dinner at Caleco’s Restaurant.  (Nick had the big steak!)

We did not have tickets for the game this evening so Anna and I walked around the city for quite awhile.  It was a beautiful evening.  More tomorrow.

Summer Vacation (Day 1)

Today we left from Findlay on our annual summer trip to Missouri to visit with family and have some time for some family fun.  We did not get to leave Findlay until 1:00 p.m. so we did not arrive in St. Louis until nearly 7:30 p.m. central time.  The trip went well though it seemed like it was going to take forever to get to St. Louis.  Really not much else to say.  More tomorrow.

(Anna strikes a pose.)