Saturday, August 30

RETURN OF NIECES A GO-GO

Greetings, dear reader!

As promised, I am back today with more pictures of my recent excursion to ST. Louis with "darling nieces" Emileigh and Aria. (Trivia tidbit: Emileigh's name was spelled after the famed actress "Vivian Leigh" of Gone With the Wind fame. My sister has always been a "rabid" fan. The name "Aria" means 'beautiful song' in Italian. Isn't that awesome? Since my brother in law is a music composer and songwriter, it seemed very appropriate!)

Back to the photos! Here is our Day 2 Itinerary:

Michael's Craft Store (although we took no pictures, we should have. It was unlike any Michael's I've ever been to)
The St. Louis Art Museum
The Riverfront
The Old Spaghetti Factory

(By the way, all photos are taken by my nieces...they are quite the aspiring photography buffs!)

Here are pictures taken while our navigator, "Tom Tom" was taking us on a wild goose chase. Apparently, when you take Highway 40 out of the possibilities for road travel, there are many places that you "can't get to from here." (EVEN with technological help!) We drove aimlessly for several miles, while Tom Tom navigated us in circles and ALWAYS back to a Highway 40 ramp (which is now non existent by the way due to construction). All was not lost, for shutterbug Aria manned the camera from the back seat and got these fabulous photos. The lamp post was taken in midtown, and the giant shoe made out of shoes was in front of the Brown Shoe Factory.





Approaching the St. Louis Art Museum



The foyer you walk into from the front entrance


A beautiful window in the museum


One thing great about going anywhere with nieces (teenagers) is that you get to experience things through their eyes. Even the most random things take on great importance. For example:

A photoshoot in a random wind tunnel in the hallway



Another photo shoot in the brass elevator



And (of all things) striking a warrior's pose in front of the medieval weaponry armor!





When I told Aria she couldn't pull off the "tough pose" very well, she said, "What can I say? I'm a lover not a fighter." LOL! Cracks me up!

And we HAD to go by Wolfgang Puck's restaurant so I could visit "my" Chihuly chandelier!



And then on to the riverfront to kill time while waiting for my sister and brother in law to get to the Spaghetti Factory:



Urban Grunge: Graffiti on a wall down by the river...



The cobblestone riverfront (remember it was flooded only a few weeks ago...thus all the debris I suppose)



A Lewis and Clark Statue I didn't know was there! (Isn't it a great shot with the riverboat behind it!? GO ARIA! WOOT!)

And of course the Arch (I just love posing in front of giant monuments...it always makes me look small in comparison. :-) )



I don't remember it being so dark that day...but I told the girls I attribute that to the fact that they were so dazzling all day long!



And a final shot on the riverfront...Emileigh looking oh so wonderfully vintage in the black and white version!



And then on to the Old Spaghetti Factory! You've seen this shot before:



But saw it with our posing Travel Companion when my sisters and I went to St. Louis a few months ago!



And the gorgeous window...


And bust of Shakespeare...


And the amazing antique furniture!


But the best part was being with my dear nieces. (Check out the giant aviators! SOooo random!) Nieces are SO MUCH FUN!



Next post I'll show you what I've been up to via craft madness...

More soon!



Paula Clare

6 comments:

heelers said...

Your photos bring out the personalities of your subjects.
It's the secret of good photography.
James

Paula Clare said...

Thanks James! I checked out your blog...I too am a fan of Yeats...go figure! Be sure and kiss the Blarney Stone for me next time you're in Cork!!As a poet yourself (and since I'm a wannabe writer) couldn't hurt!

Anonymous said...

YaY for fun times. Amazing pictures again. My fave is that can at the Riverfront.

Dusty

Bunny B said...

Looks like loads of fun! :)) So that's what that chandelier's called?! Can't wait to see what other fun stuff you guys did!

Paula Clare said...

Hi Bunny B! The chandelier is called a "Chihuly" (chi-hoo-lee) after its creator, Dale Chihuly. He is an amazing glass artisan...)(glass blower) my favorite video is the one of him and his team setting up glass chandeliers all over the world. He hung one over the canals in Venice, Italy! It looked SO beautiful with the light shining on it over the water! He also took some glass floats all over the world and tossed them in the water and then photographed them. He went as far as New Zealand (or was it Iceland?) Anyway, it was a really green, beautiful place.

Check him out at http://www.dalechihuly.com/. You will be blown away!

Andrea said...

looks like fun!!! :]