A beautiful work in progress!
A sneak peek into the process
(Once furniture had been removed from the ceiling and the intervention was well underway)
and rest!
Showing posts with label St Louis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St Louis. Show all posts
Friday, August 16, 2013
A day in the life: Kirkwood, Missouri
I can confess that often when I think of St Louis, Missouri there is a picture that pops into my head. It isn't the green leafy suburbs or a lively night in Soulard or the Central West End. The overwhelming impression i've been left with is of broken down houses and shifty, half deserted neighbourhoods. (See here)
In such a state of extremes there are people living in two very different worlds. We spent some time in Kirkwood yesterday. It is probably one of the sweetest places you can find! There is a lovely little farmers market selling local produce (Peaches the size of footballs by Eckerts.) Everything seems taken care of, lush and green.
The restaurants and bars are bustling and full of a busy, working type of clientele. Others there seem to have the time to stop and enjoy the simple things. Whilst waiting (for happy hour) we found a bench to sit on. There aren't too many streets in St Louis that I would feel comfortable closing my eyes in never mind taking a nap but Kirkwood seems to be a happy, safe place to get some shut eye.
We woke and indulged in a spot of public people watching. A man had pulled up in front of us on a bike and was reading by the train tracks.
Another guy came along and was sat playing with a dog.
A hawk began to circle above us.
An elderly man walked off the path to check that the guy sat on the floor was okay.
The man and his wife stopped to watch a train come through.
They began to wave to the driver and watched the whole length of the cargo train pass.
All the while this guy was still sat causally reading.
Stalkerish tendencies aside, I thought this was all quite sweet and worth capturing.
Home with a box full of fresh fruit and vegetables. There is a butternut squash risotto on the cards.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Pretty Minnesota.
I haven't travelled too much around the fifty states yet, I've seen Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. I've gazed out of airport windows during flight connections in a fair few more cities but that can't be counted really can it! The coast along Georgia and the Carolinas is beautiful, I love the sea and the food. The architecture is gorgeous too and the spooky moss covered willow trees stick vividly in my mind.
I don't have too much to share on the other states in the list. Everything is very spaced out and there is not too much between cities on the new highways that have been built. We did make a trip along the Historic Route 66 from St Louis to Texas a few years ago and had a great time exploring old ghost towns, countless antique shops and cheesy tourist hotspots along the way! I would love to complete Route 66 some time to get the full experience.
It's been seven years since I began traveling here (Nick and I celebrated our seven year anniversary this past Saturday! :D ) but I think I was beginning to become a little fogged up in my impressions of the place. There is something about St Louis that makes me uncomfortable, I dislike the crime and high chance of bad weather. I love the space and warmth in the Summer and our little house too. Sometimes I feel like St Louis doesn't have too much of a city to offer, lots of streets have vacant office blocks and many businesses are located outside of the city. I often miss the hustle and bustle of London where people are everywhere and businesses appear to be thriving.
A couple of Summers ago we took a short trip to Chicago, at the time I was most excited about visiting a bigger city. Chicago was fun, the buildings were much bigger than in London, there were lots more places to visit, shop and eat than in St Louis. I did find myself a little disappointed in the city though, I always have high expectations of America because thats what America makes out it can live up to. I was expecting a swanky modern public transport system, and clean and updated streets. The subway entrances could be compared to particularly seedy public toilets back home. I shared this impression with Nick and he believed it was bad because everyone in America drives.... I'm not sure that is a valid excuse for a major city hoping to encourage tourism. We were also approached at times by intimidating sorts asking for money. You can't get me wrong, we have lots of people that through situation and unfortunate circumstance are forced to live on the streets back home and I will happily spare change but I can't remember a time I have ever been approached by someone. My overall impression of the place was that it was dirty and unmaintained and the people we came across seemed unfriendly.
Well after these experiences of Chicago and St Louis my mind must have narrowed. I imagined all places to be similar to these. Back to the the purpose of this blog post, my far off the mark generalisation was confronted on a business trip to Minnesota this weekend. People had said things about Minnesota before and about the crime in Minneapolis. Within the last two years the city had been rated 10th most dangerous city in America whilst St Louis was taking home the gold in that event. Was I in for a surprise! Minnesota was beautiful! Known as the "Land of 10,000 lakes." The states name comes from a Dakota word for "sky tinted water" I loved the ethnic diversity of the city, a large majority or its residents are Asian, African, Latin American, European and Native American. Everywhere was spotless! (including the thrift stores.) Almost OCD spotless. I loved that!
We didn't pass a single area that made you want to lock the car door. People were friendly and helpful and there was plenty to do between The Twin Cities of St Pauls and Minneapolis. A lovely place! The outcome of this trip! - I learnt a lot about the meat industry, and realised I need to see a lot more of America! More to come on our Minnesota thrift finds!
It's been seven years since I began traveling here (Nick and I celebrated our seven year anniversary this past Saturday! :D ) but I think I was beginning to become a little fogged up in my impressions of the place. There is something about St Louis that makes me uncomfortable, I dislike the crime and high chance of bad weather. I love the space and warmth in the Summer and our little house too. Sometimes I feel like St Louis doesn't have too much of a city to offer, lots of streets have vacant office blocks and many businesses are located outside of the city. I often miss the hustle and bustle of London where people are everywhere and businesses appear to be thriving.
A couple of Summers ago we took a short trip to Chicago, at the time I was most excited about visiting a bigger city. Chicago was fun, the buildings were much bigger than in London, there were lots more places to visit, shop and eat than in St Louis. I did find myself a little disappointed in the city though, I always have high expectations of America because thats what America makes out it can live up to. I was expecting a swanky modern public transport system, and clean and updated streets. The subway entrances could be compared to particularly seedy public toilets back home. I shared this impression with Nick and he believed it was bad because everyone in America drives.... I'm not sure that is a valid excuse for a major city hoping to encourage tourism. We were also approached at times by intimidating sorts asking for money. You can't get me wrong, we have lots of people that through situation and unfortunate circumstance are forced to live on the streets back home and I will happily spare change but I can't remember a time I have ever been approached by someone. My overall impression of the place was that it was dirty and unmaintained and the people we came across seemed unfriendly.
Well after these experiences of Chicago and St Louis my mind must have narrowed. I imagined all places to be similar to these. Back to the the purpose of this blog post, my far off the mark generalisation was confronted on a business trip to Minnesota this weekend. People had said things about Minnesota before and about the crime in Minneapolis. Within the last two years the city had been rated 10th most dangerous city in America whilst St Louis was taking home the gold in that event. Was I in for a surprise! Minnesota was beautiful! Known as the "Land of 10,000 lakes." The states name comes from a Dakota word for "sky tinted water" I loved the ethnic diversity of the city, a large majority or its residents are Asian, African, Latin American, European and Native American. Everywhere was spotless! (including the thrift stores.) Almost OCD spotless. I loved that!
We didn't pass a single area that made you want to lock the car door. People were friendly and helpful and there was plenty to do between The Twin Cities of St Pauls and Minneapolis. A lovely place! The outcome of this trip! - I learnt a lot about the meat industry, and realised I need to see a lot more of America! More to come on our Minnesota thrift finds!
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