Elliot (one of my friends) wanted to write a blog post. He’s getting a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing – who am I to say no to an almost-degreed writer? Here it is!
Almost 27 years ago, I was born in Missouri, and then I lived there for around 98% of that time before moving to Corvallis nearly two years ago. I visited back this past weekend to see family and I’m gonna tell you about it. It’s not the first time I’ve been there and I’ll be there again, and yet, I’m writing this and you’re reading this. So here we go.
The cheapest Southwest plane option from Eugene, Oregon to St. Louis, Missouri always lands at 11:30pm and nearly always has a layover in Las Vegas. I’ve been to Las Vegas before and it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. The idea of a money-eating city in the middle of an inhospitable desert has always given me Twilight Zone vibes. Also, the Vegas airport is chock full of slot machines, in case you need some layover entertainment.
My mom’s house is in St. Charles, Missouri, about 30 minutes away from the big city of STL itself. One thing I will always miss about this area is the historical buildings, built back when people cared to put love in the architecture. My mom lives only a few minutes from Main Street, St. Charles. It’s a lovely little street with local businesses, right next to the Missouri River. Main Street was a place we visited on school field trips because it’s also famously where Lewis and Clark took off on their expedition in 1804! There are a lot of buildings from that time, which the city does a great job of maintaining and restoring them.
Both St. Charles and St. Louis has very neat old houses, townhouses, and apartments. When they’re taken care of—they’re astounding! Unfortunately, they aren’t always owned by people who care about the building (or the tenants) but, on a happy note, here are some lovely homes I saw on walks.
I traveled further into the city to see my bestie, Charlie. As I am, Charlie is in his last term of graduate school. Unfortunately, Charlie’s final essay was due the NEXT DAY so we spent a lot the evening of Easter at his school. Charlie attends Washington University of St. Louis (the ‘of St. Louis’ is doing a lot of work) and will be getting his MFA in Illustration. (Jacob’s editor note: MFA is short for Masters of Fine Arts)
Charlie lives in Central West End, a part of St. Louis nearby Forest Park, a huge park with several parts, including the history and art museum, the zoo, and the science center. The best part of these is that they’re all free! Charlie has a groovy apartment that is constantly haunted by his insane cat, Agnes, who mewls like a whale and looks like a human man.
The morning gave way to a nice, Springtime day! I had a lot of work to do for school (My thesis for my own MFA is due in two weeks, the grind never stops) so I stopped by a coffee shop, passing by some pretty home and the Cathedral Basilica. I had myself a Lavender Matcha Lemonade—I typically don’t drink Matchas, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Anyway, then we flew back home on Tuesday at 6am. We were in St. Louis for less than 36 hours, and I’m glad to be back in the good ‘ol PNW.
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