I’m on a plane again. This time I am flying home from our little kid-free adventure in the St. Louis area for my husband’s cousin’s wedding.
We had a wonderful time. My refrain for the weekend seemed to be “I don’t have any responsibilities at all this weekend!” And that was a beautiful thing.
I already shared my giddy story about the flight to St. Louis. And it just kept on like that all weekend.
We stayed at a Drury Inn and I don’t think I could have been more impressed.
Every single employee was cheerful and friendly and the hotel includes a lot of ‘extras’ like sodas and popcorn, a massive DVD borrowing library, hot food and evening drinks or cocktails, a complete hot breakfast, free Internet and free long distance in the room price. Plus, after check out, we wanted to explore downtown near a different Drury Inn location. The gentleman at the desk called that location and arranged for us to check our luggage there while we went exploring! How nice was that?!
As impressed as I was with the hotel, what really made our weekend was just relaxing, visiting and celebrating with family.
We just sat around and visited and caught up. At one point it occurred to me that not one person had a mobile device out to check texts, emails or the web about anything. I was even embarrassed to step away to make a check-in call to my kids. It was wonderful to really visit with everyone without the distraction of anyone answering a text or a business call or even any other kind of call. We were all completely there, listening to each other and enjoying each other’s company.
My husband’s aunt and uncle told us stories about their foreign exchange students from the past. (Since we are now hosting our second foreign exchange daughter, this was of particular interest to me.) We talked about what our kids have been up to and how everyone’s summer has been. We talked about everything and yet nothing… We just connected and enjoyed being together. The fact that the weather was unbelievably gorgeous didn’t hurt.
The wedding was, of course, wonderful. It was unassuming, meaningful, and a lot of fun. I love that the bride made all the invitations and programs herself and I loved how the wedding and reception held so many personal touches. Their glittery frosting-free wedding cake was delicious and beautiful. I don’t know that my phone camera did it justice, so you’ll just have to trust it looked even better than this:
The day after the wedding, my husband, his brother, sister and I did a bit of quick sightseeing around St. Louis.
I explored the famous St. Louis Arch up close, but decided against waiting in a long line to buy a ticket for the ride up to the top. It is a beautiful, shimmering structure and just admiring it from the outside (this time) was enough for me.
Plus, my brother-in-law mentioned that some day he would Ike to go to a baseball game in the new Busch Stadium and there happened to be a game on that day.
We walked over to the stadium and he bought us Standing Room Only tickets and we watched the St. Cardinals play the Cincinnati Reds while the wind blew our hair and the sun shined. Of course we indulged in hot dogs and pretzels and just enjoyed being outside. And he loved the baseball.
Pretty soon it was time to head for the airport, so we strolled back to the hotel and climbed into a taxi they had already arranged for us. (Have I told you how impressed I have become with the Drury Inns chain?)
A perfect day. A beautiful weekend. And I still have tomorrow to enjoy with my husband and children. Good stuff!
If you are planning a trip for the family to St. Louis, check out my the MomsTravelTales Destination Snapshot: St. Louis to learn about other great hotels and thing to do there with the kids.
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