meet me in St. Louis

Last week Noah and I had an extra special treat: our first vacation just the two of us in almost three years! (Thank you shout out to my Mom & Dad who partially funded the trip as our birthday gifts!!)

First stop: St. Louis, Missouri

I had never been to St. Louis until last week, but now I hope get a chance to visit again soon. What first drew me to visiting St. Louis this summer was the Opera Theatre of St. Louis's production of the powerful John Adams opera The Death of Klinghoffer. This is an astounding work of the late 20th century that has rarely been fully staged but deserves attention and critical consideration. I heard about this production because a dear friend of mine from my beloved Wake Forest days sang one of the main roles - I had this gut feeling that this was a show I shouldn't let pass by without being there, and I was right. Wow! I have yet to find sufficient words describing the depth of this music or how significant this work seems in our post-9/11 society. Everyone should experience this astounding composition and contemplate the many issues it presents.

Check out this link for a review of the production in the New York Times!

After spending my birthday at the opera and catching up with Chris, while eating the most delicious chocolate mousse EVER, we spend our second full day in the city being all touristy. We went up the arch (which is an amazing feat of engineering!) explored the riverside, and spent the evening at Busch stadium watching the Cardinals take on the Phillies. Cliff Lee pitched a fantastic game! And it was fun watching Noah take in his first major league baseball game (I guess that's a good start to turning 30, huh?) :-)

Here are a few photos from fabulous STL!

After a few days in St. Louis, we headed further north to Long Prairie, Minnesota to visit some of Noah's family. It was my first trip to MN also! What a beautiful state - and all those lakes. We certainly saw our fair share of them! Noah played some golf, we learned a super fun new game, and enjoyed multiple boat rides. But most of all, it was great spending time with family who we don't see enough of and think of often. We love you!!

And now, we're back to the real world. Vacations never last long enough, do they? This one will be remembered for a long time!!

Next up: Summer Music Camp! *shudder* I'm not quite ready yet...