This post is actually more about our visit to Washington, Missouri, but I'll keep with the St. Louis theme in the title.
Washington, Missouri is about 45 minutes to an hour west of St. Louis and sits right on the Missouri River. Did you know the first Walmart Supercenter was built here back in 1988?
When I arrived at the hotel after my visit to the Gateway Arch, no one was there yet and I couldn't check in because the reservation was under my mom's name. So I went to Target to get snacks and waters. Meanwhile, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Annie arrived and set up the bar! Here, Uncle Kevin pretends to be a wine opener. We hadn't even opened the bottles yet and we were already acting this way!!!
Well, now the bottles might have been opened!?! My mom, Sara and Rhonda finally arrived, and my mother was walking around the room with this shawl on saying, "Alms for the poor!" And we were totally dying!!!
Family and laughter really IS the best medicine!
There was lots of storytelling ...
... and there was music, and singing of course.
And then we were hungry, so St. Anastasia (aka: my cousin Stasi) drove all seven of us in her mini van to Marquat's Landing for dinner. That definitely qualifies one for sainthood!
From the parking lot at Marquat's Landing, we could see St Francis Borgia Church at dusk. The original log church was built here in 1838 (although this church is much newer!)
So we go into Marquat's Landing for some dinner, and we asked if the wait was very long (it wasn't) and as we were walking back to our table, Uncle Kevin announced, "Well, these guys have been waiting a really long time!" SO FUNNY!
Four of Memo and Pepo's daughters, one son-in-law and two granddaughters.
I just love that Aunt Rhonda brought a koozie from one of our family reunions!
Uncle Kevin, you cannot commit a B&E here, ok???
After a good dinner, we made it back to the hotel and got a good night sleep. In the morning, Stasi and Kevin went out for some awesome donuts from the Donut Palace. Of course, then the three of us felt immediately like we needed to go "walk the donuts off" so we went down to the riverfront trail to get some steps in.
I never thought I'd be taller than Uncle Kevin! In the distance you can see the Washington Bridge which crosses the Missouri River here. This bridge is the new bridge which was built around 2016 - the old bridge (built in 1934) had some structural concerns, so they demolished that one in 2019.
This is the Missouri River! I don't know why I was geeking out so much over this. I mean... it IS the longest river in the United States of course, and you know how much I love a good superlative!
Our walk was all too brief, but we had to head back to the hotel to get ready for our visit with Aunt Barbara and Uncle Dan. Meanwhile, Nate and his bride to be Autumn left little gift bags at the hotel for those who traveled in from out of town! (No, I did not take one!)
Stasi drove us all out to Aunt Barbara and Uncle Dan's place in Clayton, which is literally minutes from my cousin Ann's house. This retirement home has it ALL, including great views of downtown St. Louis!
Uncle Dan's family joined us for a great lunch up in the lounge - my cousin Maggie's face here is priceless!
And of course, we had a bunch of the Ewbank family here too, including my mom and her sisters Barbara (and her husband Dan), Anita (and her husband Kevin), Rhonda and Sara, as well as my cousins Stasi, Ann (and her husband Mark), and Maggie (and her husband Bill!). The sad thing is, I don't even think this is even half of my mom's family!
We enjoyed some lunch and conversation with the aunties and uncles.
After lunch, we went outside on the beautiful terrace for some fresh air and great views of St. Louis (and Uncle Dan!)
It's happy hour with the Ewbanks and Rooneys!
There's always lots of story telling and laughter.
I can't tell if Aunt Annie is telling a story or praising Jesus!
Finally, we were all summoned to go visit Aunt Barbara and Uncle Dan's place downstairs.
And of course, Uncle Kevin, Stasi and I gravitated toward their push-pin map of the world! We said our goodbyes to Uncle Dan and Aunt Barbara since we had ONE more stop to make before we all went back to Washington.
And somehow, when we got back in Stasi's car, we wound up with a big cup of white wine, which Aunt Annie made us drink!
Next stop, Ann and Mark's house in Webster Groves!
We sat around outside and talked and laughed and snacked. My cousin Danny and his wife Denise also joined us!
Girl cousins! Ann, me, Maggie and Stasi is right behind us. We're missing Jann, Terri and Shannon!
Then we needed to send this cousin selfie of me, Danny and Maggie to my brother, who wasn't there.
The chaos continued on the ride back to Washington!
Funny story - we got back to the hotel and had the front desk call my cousin's kids' room because we heard they were in town. But we didn't get any answer. So all of the auntie's pretty much decided it was time for bed. But as I was dropping some snacks off in Aunt Rhonda's room, I heard the elevator go, "Ding!" So I decided to wait to see who it was - and it was them! My cousin Rosie and her fiancé Jeff are on the left, and her sister Grace and her boyfriend Erik are on the right.
Uncle Kevin is talking to Aunt Annie, my mom and our cousin Hank (who is Rosie and Grace's brother). I think we totally overwhelmed these poor kids. At one point, we were talking about something (I have no idea what) and my mom blurts out, "Well, it's whoever was most popular that weekend!" Stasi and I were laughing so hard, we were in tears!
The laughter continued the next morning when Aunt Annie and I were having breakfast and she looked over and deadpans, "Oh. There's a shoe." Well. There certainly is!
Good morning Aunt Rhonda and Stasi! I was pretty sad because I was preparing to leave for the airport, but it made me feel better when I realized I would see everyone again in less than a month for my Uncle John's funeral.
We couldn't let the family weekend slip away without a MONKEY FACE! Stasi used to make this face when she was little and we always thought it was so super funny. It still is!
I drove back to the airport to catch my flight back to Boston, and I spotted this... which looks weird and good... or perhaps weirdly good!?
Ok, I'm seriously gonna nerd out here... this is the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers! Look at that floodplain! How awesome is that??
Until next time, St. Louis!
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