A Tourist In Your Own Town
Long ago and so far away, when dad would take me and my sister out for the weekends, we would set out on excursions...adventures... mysterious travels. Two little wide eyed girls...(ok one wide eyed little girl...the other whiny and unruly) sorry sister! :( would get settled in the car and go for these long unknown trips to discover what dad so wanted to share with us.
I can not tell you how many times we heard stories about the water tunnels in Forest Park and how he and Uncle Ronnie lived up on the other side of the park and they would make their underground escape to surface right in the middle of what had been known as the Louisianna Purchase Exposition. Now mind you this wasn't 1904...more like 1940 something... but still the way dad made it sound, he was right there in the middle of making history. While we would visit the Muny, the Zoo, the Art Museum and all the other Fantabulous attractions in that park if felt like we were making our mark too on uncharted explorations.
To stand in front of the art museum and to look down on the Grand Basin, you could almost feel the transition of space, where the greats, and the foreign tradesman once walked and where the woman and the children stood gasping at the wonders of masterful creativity. The once glorious exposition centuries later burned, buried and put asunder, it is hard to forget its place and all what it had brought to this river city.
Dad preached always wanting to make sure we knew how lucky we were to live in St. Louis.
Throughout the years we traveled to Springfield, Il to visit Lincoln's home, Hannibal to visit Mark Twain's home, Branson to discover the arts and Table rock to discover the lake. Dad was all about the land and the roads that took us there... It was a remarkable discovery with each journey to listen to dad speak, I hung onto every word!
I can look back and I now understand how I have come to love my town. I have realized with each jaunt I make with my own camera, I look at things with wonder and awe. The landmarks I seek has each of us wrapped up in history and we should all be reminded of these treasures left from another time and from those that have gone before us.
I find it exciting to capture and to see the terrain with my now adult eye! It is a candy of another kind to my creative spirit...that I can not get enough of. I can not wait for my next escapade. There are still so many things in this town that I have yet to see and discover.With camera in hand, I am ready for that eye popping lesson in rich historical beauty.
So the next time you can't figure out what to do... pack up your kids, get out your maps...and discover what its like to be a tourist in your own town! Offer them that journey that they will never get from anyone else... Fester their imagination...give them a reason to search and research and view their own town from new perspective.
Until next time...
Meet Me In St. Louis,
Kitryn Marie
"The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then they stop"
Mark Twain
"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements"
Napoleon Hill
I can not tell you how many times we heard stories about the water tunnels in Forest Park and how he and Uncle Ronnie lived up on the other side of the park and they would make their underground escape to surface right in the middle of what had been known as the Louisianna Purchase Exposition. Now mind you this wasn't 1904...more like 1940 something... but still the way dad made it sound, he was right there in the middle of making history. While we would visit the Muny, the Zoo, the Art Museum and all the other Fantabulous attractions in that park if felt like we were making our mark too on uncharted explorations.
To stand in front of the art museum and to look down on the Grand Basin, you could almost feel the transition of space, where the greats, and the foreign tradesman once walked and where the woman and the children stood gasping at the wonders of masterful creativity. The once glorious exposition centuries later burned, buried and put asunder, it is hard to forget its place and all what it had brought to this river city.
Dad preached always wanting to make sure we knew how lucky we were to live in St. Louis.
Throughout the years we traveled to Springfield, Il to visit Lincoln's home, Hannibal to visit Mark Twain's home, Branson to discover the arts and Table rock to discover the lake. Dad was all about the land and the roads that took us there... It was a remarkable discovery with each journey to listen to dad speak, I hung onto every word!
I can look back and I now understand how I have come to love my town. I have realized with each jaunt I make with my own camera, I look at things with wonder and awe. The landmarks I seek has each of us wrapped up in history and we should all be reminded of these treasures left from another time and from those that have gone before us.
I find it exciting to capture and to see the terrain with my now adult eye! It is a candy of another kind to my creative spirit...that I can not get enough of. I can not wait for my next escapade. There are still so many things in this town that I have yet to see and discover.With camera in hand, I am ready for that eye popping lesson in rich historical beauty.
So the next time you can't figure out what to do... pack up your kids, get out your maps...and discover what its like to be a tourist in your own town! Offer them that journey that they will never get from anyone else... Fester their imagination...give them a reason to search and research and view their own town from new perspective.
Until next time...
Meet Me In St. Louis,
Kitryn Marie
"The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then they stop"
Mark Twain
"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements"
Napoleon Hill
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| Archives 1904 World's Fair |
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| Peabody Opera House |
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| Union Power and Steam |
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| Old Court House |
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| Busch Stadium |
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| Pond Walk Way Tower Grove Park |
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| Grand Pavillion Tower Grove Park |
