The Missouri Botanical Garden

Our first full day in the big city of St. Louis was spent sightseeing! We drove for hours, got a taste of several fascinating sites, ate our weight in the local fare and got a great first look at the Gateway to the West.

Since I took more than 200 pictures on this first day I think I'll divide the sights into separate posts rather than barraging you with everything at once ;)

THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN

Our amazing guide! Mindy
helped us navigate St. Louis all day
long. Thank you, Mindy <3

Stuffed to bursting with fascinating species that you certainly won't find anywhere near Northwest Arkansas, this beautiful garden is just acre after acre of perfectly trimmed shrubbery, exotic trees, flesh eating plants, and gorgeous flowers in nearly every color imaginable. The whole experience impressed me with how creative our God is! I could think for years and years and never invent some of those plants that we saw today. Here is a sampling of the amazing specimens:

First of all, here is a piece of art in the front atrium by the famous glass blower Dave Chihuly. His work was sprinkled here and there all around the garden.

Most of the following photos were taken in the "Climatron", a very large geodesic glass dome housing over half an acre of tropical plants and animals.

Another display of Chihuly art.

Isn't this cool? Looks a little like an elaborate lantern.

Water Lettuce

Aaaack! It's an Abby!

And an exotic Cameron flower from Costa Rica.They grow best in hollow trees.

Behold--the pineapple ginger plant.

This is the carnivorous pitcher plant. See the little insect who is as-yet-unaware of his doom?

Did I mention that we were taking a side-trip to the Mediterranean?

Cameron and I were really "feeling the zen"
 in the Chinese and Japanese gardens!

And, last but not least, some floating onion-things--Chihuly style.

There you have it! That was the first thing we did today, in the "cool" of the morning. Before we knew it the heat index was ratcheting skyward; the sun was baking the sidewalks, bringing out sweat from every pore and seriously damaging the attractiveness of another hour of un-air-conditioned walking. 

So we decided to go to lunch, which was an adventure all on its own....