Ever since we moved to Saint Louis Simon has been wanting to check out Union Station. I did not share this desire at all but since Sunday marked the end (!!!!) of Simon's intern year and the beginning of his second year of residency I figured he deserved a little treat. So off we trode ...
(Simon wearing the shorts he insists are scandalously short)
It seemed (sorrrrrt of) promising at first ...
with postcards, placards, and cases of toy trains aplenty ...
but then it started to look suspiciously like ...
a mall. a very tired shopping mall
which was right up Julia's alley ...
(if anyone ever dares to tell her that these things have the capability to actually move/make noise -- you will be on my hate list forever)
Willow Smith goes blonde.
Sebastian loved it ...
obviously.
And I think we made up 1/3 of the hustle and bustle on the premises ...
so it's a good thing I was a stickler about holding Julia's hand with the throngs of strangers creeping about.
They do have larger-than-life photos of animals (this was an 'elephant' - obviously)
which spared us a zillion degree trip to the zoo and I did appreciate that.
*And I do have to say that the (very nice) attached Marriott is pouring lots of lettuce into a fancy renovation and I wouldn't mind spending a night or ten there in about 45 years when the kids can watch themselves and we can be little bit frivolous and a lot a bit fancy.
But in the mean time there are a few places I would visit before popping into the Station ...
like this street with a sub par view of the Gateway to the West.
or Super Target ... or maybe a clean gas station with nice restrooms and a wide variety of candy.
It seemed (sorrrrrt of) promising at first ...
with postcards, placards, and cases of toy trains aplenty ...
but then it started to look suspiciously like ...
which was right up Julia's alley ...
Sebastian loved it ...
And I think we made up 1/3 of the hustle and bustle on the premises ...
They do have larger-than-life photos of animals (this was an 'elephant' - obviously)
*And I do have to say that the (very nice) attached Marriott is pouring lots of lettuce into a fancy renovation and I wouldn't mind spending a night or ten there in about 45 years when the kids can watch themselves and we can be little bit frivolous and a lot a bit fancy.
But in the mean time there are a few places I would visit before popping into the Station ...
or Super Target ... or maybe a clean gas station with nice restrooms and a wide variety of candy.
That's kinda disappointing. Hopefully it wasn't a far trip (and maybe tired the kids out)?
ReplyDeleteyeah, sorry it was lame. but simon's shorts are awesome.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't finish the post. Doublemint's shorts were faaarrrrrr to scando for this chaste woman.
ReplyDeleteFor shame, Simon. For shame.
Wow, that is one busy mall! Not sure I could handle those crowds....
ReplyDeleteYou know, I remember being totally underwhelmed by it too. And my husband also prefers the longer "coulotte" type shorts, I prefer the "scandalous" length myself ;) It disrupts my sense of order when the knees are not visible.
ReplyDeleteYour sense of humor is soooooooo refreshing! I look forward to new posts in my Google Reader every day!
ReplyDelete1 year down!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, when you finally get to hanging pictures on that empty wall you posted on Instagram, I think that you should put placards underneath them. That would just make Simon's day!
Ha! This is all so amusing (and the comments are cracking me up too).
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ella has no idea those things move either. Let it stay that way forever.
I wont tell Julia about the rides if you don't tell Ellen that the toys she wants don't actually live at the store and will miss their mommies.
ReplyDeleteof COURSE there were placards!
ReplyDeleteUnion Station was once a very cool and happening mall... It has become very sad over the last 5 years or so. :(
ReplyDeleteHilariously true! Union Station is not quite as cool as we would all like it to be. The loud fudge demonstration was the sole highlight of my visits there as a kid.
ReplyDeleteKC's Union Station is even SADDER, unfortunately. It never even made it to the cool and happening part. However, my mother insists it is far less sad now than it was 20 years ago, when it was still decaying and falling down. Still, happening or not, there has got to be a better use for a gorgeous, important, historic building than turning it into a shopping mall, right???
ReplyDeleteA college friend of mine, recently returned from a trip to Paris, observed that many once-actually-important Parisian buildings suffer the same pathetic fate, but she felt like she was the only person who noticed the sadness of it. :-/