Vacation Report #17

On the Friday of Spring Break we awoke to a disturbing weather report. Nothing devastating, no tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis or giant, mutant bipedal dinosaur attacks. Just your average first-day-of-Spring snow storm, that's all.

We were faced with a choice: stick to the plan of leaving Saturday morning after breakfast and face chancy-at-best road conditions - or - skip our last set of vacation sites and leave early to try and beat Snow Miser to the punch. After weighing the two possibilities, debating the merits of each and flipping several coins we finally came to a decision.


We decided to compromise. We'd do some last minute sightseeing, eat out at Incredible Pizza for dinner and leave in the late afternoon/early evening on Friday. That would put us back in Norman excrutiatingly late (or the wee early hours of Saturday morning) but the only thing we'd really miss would be miscellaneous roadside photo opportunities.

After visiting Laclede's Landing Wax Museum it was time for our last St. Louis attraction. Our resident co-host Ralph suggested we visit the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis located in the heart of the Gateway City.

Construction of the monumental structure was begun in 1907 and it wasn't completed until 1988! And it's not like they were goldbricking the entire time - well, they sort of were... The building, if you can call it simply that, is a throwback to European cathedral's of the Middle Ages. It is huge. Whether you have a spiritual bone in your body, are christian, muslim or buddhist, believe in a greater power or not, it is a beautiful and inspirational place! It's complete with golden mosaics, giant rose windows, amazing marble sculptures... and a gift shop!

The first thing you see is the narthex decorated with a golden mosaic depicting the life of Louis IX of France (St. Louis). As we entered into the nave we were greeted by the angelic voices of a children's choir that really resonated in the huge space of the church. We pretty much just wandered around from there in awe of the structure and the amazing art that filled the place. The Cathedral Basilica was a great way to finish off our visit to St. Louis!

Next up: There's no place like home!