5 St. Louis Weekend Happenings - Labor Day 2019

Labor Day Weekend 2019 is almost here, and what's not to love? It's a chance to slow down and appreciate our "laborers". The kids are off of school, most adults have the long weekend to play, and it is the last "hurrah" before we charge into the cooler weather and slower pace of Fall.

Labor Day Weekend, particularly in St Louis, is always full of amazing family-friendly activities. If you want to get out, hit the city, and do something other than enjoy the last weekend of pool season... the possibilities are endless.

Need help planning your long holiday weekend? Besides a busy game weekend for the Cardinals versus the Reds and Giants, the Great Godfrey Corn Maze, and extended hours at the St. Louis Zoo, below are 5 of my favorite St. Louis Labor Day 2019 activities...

Labor Day Parade
September 2nd at 9AM

Thousands of local union members will march through downtown St. Louis for the annual Labor Day Parade. An awesome way to kick off the weekend and show your pride /support our local workers.  There will be local bands, drill teams, and a ton of action!

The parade begins at 15th and Olive. It then makes its way down Tucker Street, past St. Louis City Hall and west on Market Street to 15th Street.  Food and celebration follows at Chestnut and Market!

More info: http://www.stlclc.org/2019-labor-day-parade-information/


The Japanese Festival at the Botanical Garden
August 31- September 2

Each Labor Day weekend, the Missouri Botanical Garden hosts one of the largest and oldest Japanese Festivals in North America. In addition to taking in the beauty of the Botanical Gardens, visitors can enjoy Japanese music, art, dance, food, and entertainment including Origami demonstrations, a traditional tea ceremony, and live Sumo wrestling.

Tickets to the festival are $16 for adults, $8 for members,  and $5 for non- member children and and free for children Garden members.

More info: http://events.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Japanese_Festival

St. Louis Greek Festival in the Central West End

August 30-September 2 
Corner of Forest Park and Kingshighway

If you love authentic Greek food, and who doesn't, than a visit to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is in order for you this weekend for their 102nd Annual festival. Enjoy music, dancing and some of the best Greek food you'll find anywhere. Be sure to utilize the free parking in the BJC Parking Garage.

More Info: http://www.opastl.com/

Big Muddy Blues Festival on Laclede's Landing
August 31, 2pm-11pm

The 24th Annual Big Muddy Blues Festival is a free, outdoor music festival featuring local and nationally known Blues artists that hosts over 30,000 people annually. 50+ musicians perform on three outdoor stages set up throughout the cobble stoned streets of the Landing, 3 indoor stages, and two events at the National Blues Museum featuring tributes to Albert King and Tommy Bankhead. Dozens of local restaurants provide food and drink, and the music is the best around! Amazing way to support our local talent.

More info: http://bigmuddybluesfestival.com

Fall Art Fair at Queeny Park
August 30-September 1

$5.00 admission

Friday:  5pm - 9pm
Saturday: 10am - 6pm.
Sunday: 11am - 4pm.

All within the climate-controlled comfort of the Greensfelder Recreation Center, and with more than 130 juried artists from 20+ states... the Art Fair at Queeny Park is one of the most reputable, longest-running art fairs in the bi-state region.

More info: http://www.artfairatqueenypark.com/ 

Event flyer with a $1 coupon for admission: 
https://www.artfairatqueenypark.com/coupon.html

Just For Fun: Fourth of July Weekend

We were blessed to have Steve's entire out-of-town family join us for the 4th of July weekend. From toasted ravs and Ted Drewes to the Cardinals game, we took St. Louis by storm! 

 A teeny peek at the fun...

A Personal Moment: Back to School and Farewell Summer

It has taken me a few days to catch my breathe with last week's busy closing schedule and getting the boys prepared, but my babes went back to school last week. Bittersweet.  While Summer 2015 was packed with fun, it is nice to get back to the "norm" around here.

I say it every year, though I feel like I am on a high speed train with these 2 boys, my babies. My oldest hopped in the car to drive himself to his first day of 11th grade, as our Fall calendar begins to fill with standardized test dates and college campus tours.  My "little guy", now a big 8th grader, had to bend down to give me a hug this AM as he is now taller than me. Heck, even Miss Willow (now 4-1/2 months) is almost unrecognizable after a summer of growth.  *sigh*

Like sands through the hourglass, friends.

Regardless, while Summer 2015 was a busy one, it was grand. A peek back at the fun, as we journey into beloved Fall...

Closed: 14301 Open Meadow Ct. in Chesterfield

Happy Close Day to the N Family, celebrating the new ease of condo living with a night at Busch Stadium...

Congrats and a warm thank you to these good friends and mega baseball family...Go Cards!  ⚾️

Union Station Phase 1 REVEAL- Grand Hall lobby

Phase one of the multi-million dollar renovation of Union Station is well underway, and with the opening of the new and improved Grand Hall, the internet is buzzing with videos like this of the impressive rotating light shows...



A little local history lesson...

St. Louis Union Station, circa 1894, was once the largest and busiest passenger rail terminal in the world.  Built for $6.5 million and primarily of Indiana limestone, St. Louis Union Station was designed to not only be functional, but beautiful... 

The train station acted as the main central hub between the east and the west for decades, and was designed with three main areas: The Headhouse, Midway, and Trainshed.  

The Headhouse originally boasted a hotel, restaurant, passenger waiting rooms, railroad ticketing offices, and a clock tower....

The crown jewel of the Headhouse, however, was  the gold-leafed Grand Hall...

One of the main gathering spots during the famous 1902 St. Louis World's Fair era, Grandhall featured an impressive 65ft barrel vaulted ceiling, mosaic, Romanesque archways, and the STUNNING  "Allegorical Window" made from hand-cut Tiffany glass and strategically positioned above the Station's main "Whispering Arch" entryway ...

The window features three women, representing the main US train terminals of the time: New York, St. Louis, and San Francisco...   

The Midway, a covered transfer area between the Headhouse and the Trainshed,  provided a place for train passengers to bid farewell and/or welcome family and friends...

Union Station's 11+ acre Train Shed, the largest in the world at the time, included 42 tracks and combined the St. Louis passenger services of 22 railroads at its peak...

Unlike other train stations, trains backed into the Union Station underneath the shed, allowing passengers quick and covered access to the Midway and Headhouse.  In the 1940s, it is said that the train terminal handled a whopping 100,000 passengers per day!  In fact, recall this famous photograph from your US History class of Harry S. Truman proudly displaying the misprint made by the Chicago Tribune after his upset victory over Thomas Dewey in the 1948 Presidential Election?

It was taken at our Union Station as Truman headed back to Washington DC from Independence, MO.  Rich history, to say the least.

In 1976, Union Station was designated a National Historic Landmark.   The advent of planes saw train travel decrease, however, until the last train pulled out of Union Station in 1978.  In 1979, a property company purchased the Station for $5.5 million.  The dilapidated structure sat empty until it reopened in the mid 1980's after an enormous $140+ million restoration, making it the largest adaptive re-use project in the United States.

As a native St. Louisan and as a teen at the time of the 1980's reopening... it was a big deal.  Truly, the place to be with restaurants, hotels, and shops galore.  While mostly geared towards visitors of our city, it was a very popular destination for locals, as well.  Particularly before and after downtown events, such as Cardinals games and concerts...

 

 

 
In recent years, however, locals have genuinely worried about the future of Union Station as the shops and restaurants have slowly closed down, leaving this historic landmark a virtual Ghost Town...



In 2012, Lodging Hospitality Management bought the station and its 539-room hotel for $20 million with the goal of restoring it to its original glory.  I am not going to lie, locals have been nervously sitting on pins and needles while closely following the project to see what direction is was going. 

LHM revealed BIG plans for the structure and has made ever bigger promises to the city including a 2 level family entertainment area, a parking lot climate-controlled Ferris wheel, new restaurants, a fabulous new event and convention space, and more. 

I was aware that the Union Station hotel, now a Doubletree, had undergone a massive $30+ million renovation.  In fact, I followed much of the progress on Instagram as craftsman associated with the City Museum posted real-time renovation photos, including this AMAZING original plasterwork detail found behind a wall in March of this year...

That being said, it wasn't until the recent public reveal and opening of the renovated Grand Hall (now Doubletree hotel lobby) that locals have been able to grasp the TRUE vision of Lodging Hospitality Management and future for our beloved Union Station...

The most interesting feature of the reno?  3D ceiling projections, each 30 to 45 seconds in length, that will be shown at least hourly over the bar and restaurant featuring craft cocktails, and gourmet  "small bite" dishes. 

A little peek of what you can expect...







Neat, right?  Add it to your local "bucket list", St. Louis!

Connect with Grand Hall at...

St. Louis Union Station
1820 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

Web: http://www.grandhall-stl.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGrandHallSTL
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheGrandHallSTL

Get excited, Cardinal Nation!

... Spring Training kicks off TODAY! 

Go birds!

St. Louis Cardinals- You did St. Louis proud!

 

Cardinals Fans: Keep the Faith!

GO CARDINALS!

Exciting day here in St. Louis as Red October officially kicks off with the 1st game of the baseball playoffs down at Busch Stadium!  The energy is palpable.

Let's go, Cardinals!
 

Just for fun: Mother Nature is amazing! #InMyGarden

 

Just for fun: Sights of Spring