johnandlynclarke's VirtualTourist Home Page

Most people come to St Louis for conventions or for sporting events, but there is so much more to do and see. Some of my favorite things are the Science Center, the St Louis Zoo (it is free), the metro, the shopping centers, the great ethnic areas and restaurants, the Fox theater (stage presentations), the Powell Symphony Hall, the City Museum (great for kids), the butterfly house, and Blueberry Hill (a tribute to rock and roll and Chuck Berry).
If a family accompanied Dad to a conference, then the family could easily get to many of the St Louis attractions on the metro. One could easily spend 3 or 4 days taking in all the available activities.

When I look back on my wanderlust, I guess I have to credit my parents for their willingness to travel on a moment's notice. My father was a "traveling salesman". (I have heard every traveling saleman joke every told) . He was on the road Monday to Friday most of my growing up years. So, in some places we lived, like Connecticut or Boston, my mother would take us out of school and go to New York City for the day to meet my father. I didn't think it was unusual at the time. My favorite place to eat, bar none, was Horne and Hardart in NYC. I could feel the coins jingling in my hand as we drove to NYC. I could hardly wait to go and chose whatever I wanted. I loved their boyenberry pie but I was mesmerized by the little golden doors. I lived far away from there when Horne and Hardart closed but I still felt a stab in my heart.

A typical trip for my life was crazy, unplanned, and penniless. One year my mother announced we were going to the Amish Fair in Intercourse, PA. I nearly fainted. I was probably ten and I had never heard that word mentioned in even a whisper! Mother threw my brother and me in the backseat and off we went. Along the way, she bought a bushel of tomatoes, several loaves of bread, and a shoofly pie. Every day we had choices. Did you want a tomato sandwich or tomato slices on bread? What did you want for dessert shoofly pie or shoofly pie? How we found a motel, I will never know. But, we did and we LOVED the fair. My brother met an Amish boy in the crowd and he joined us for a tomato sandwich or two. I loved the excitement of the fair.

At home, we lived outside of Boston. Every neighborhood had a different ethnic flare. I was an adult before I realized that "other Places" did not have a Jewish rag man who came to our New Years Day party every year so he could eat ham under special dispensation from the Pope, a Armenian "aunt" who supplied me with rice pilaf for my nursing school dorm, or an Italian next door grandma who yelled "Manga" as we passed by her door. There were Irish, italian, Armenian, Chinese, Hungarian, Afro-american, and a couple of Lithuanians scattered through out my childhood. My parents were each in the military during the war and they were active in a veterans group. I had dozens of "uncles" and "aunts"in all sizes, colors, and sexual orientation. I thought my childhood was a typical American neighborhood.

When I joined the military, I was immediately ready for travel. My first duty assignment was upstate New York! But, fortunately, the second duty assignment was Scott AFB for flight nursing. I was in a different place every day for two years. I never tired of the travel. But, I didn't have any money!

Since I have been adult, I have travelled internationally every two years. I save and plan one year and go the next! In between, we travel in the US. Seven years ago, I remarried, and my husband also likes to travel although he tends to be more conservative and more attached to creature comforts. Fortunately, we compromise fairly well by alternating who chooses the next trip. I brilliantly chose China in Sept 2008. We always meet wonderful people every where we go. Every trip just reinforces in our minds that people are the same the world over. We all love, laugh, and cry. We all have the same concerns about health, money, and our futures. Our last trip, China, was probably the friendliest trip we have ever had. My husband has announced that it was the best trip of his life. Not bad for a man who didn't want to go!!