Indian Mounds, Food and Cake!

 

     Saturday was a beautiful day in Illinois. It was much too pretty to stay inside, so we decided to take a road trip to Cahokia Mounds. We have talked about going for years, but we always seem to put it off. Cahokia Mounds is the largest prehistoric Indian site north of Mexico. I always thought it was all burial mounds, but actually it was once a large city and the mounds had a variety of purposes. The Late Woodland Indians settled here around 700 AD. The Mississippians arrived between 800-1000 AD and created a large community that after 1050 AD became a regional center with a population of 10-20,000 people. The community centered around Monks Mound (above) and a huge Grand Plaza where public gatherings took place.  

 

 

     Some of the mounds were used as final resting places, but others had buildings on top and were used for other things. There are several walking paths that you can take and each mound has a name/number. Some have be excavated, others have not. 

   

 

     Above you see a an example of what they have found to be one of the Stockade walls that once formed a boundary around the central part of the city. Excavation showed the deep holes where the posts had once been and they reconstructed a segment of the wall.

 

 

 

     Monks Mound is the one mound that you can actually climb to the top of. It is the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the New World. The base covers over 14 acres and it rises in four terraces to a height of 100 feet. The front of the mound is called the South Ramp. They found indentations in the South Ramp that they believe came from wooden steps that were once placed there. Thankfully, they have added new steps so that you can climb in the same place the Prehistoric Indians did, in a slightly easier way (although it is quite a climb).

 

     Above you can see the people on top of Monks Mound and below, you can see our view from about halfway up the stairs.

 

     The view from the top is amazing. You can see the St. Louis Arch in the distance as well as the buildings in the city. From the other side you can see another Stockade reconstruction.

     There is a lovely Interpretive Center at Cahokia Mounds with a gift shop, displays, restrooms and vending machines. It has a walk through museum type area that explains more about the history of the site. Cahokia Mounds is free, but they do have donation boxes around to collect money to continue research and maintenance. 

 The Interpretive Center

 

A mural that shows how the city once looked.

 Artifacts

 Part of the exhibit showing how the Indians lived.

 

     After all the exercise we decided to have lunch. I had done a little research and found a place called the Oatman House Tea Room.  It was a cute little house with tables inside and out. We sat outside because it was such a gorgeous day. It will be much prettier when things are actually in bloom in the back garden area, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

 

     We were greeted with strawberry muffins. We also ordered their specialty cinnamon iced tea, which was so good we bought some and brought it home. 

 

     My husband had the Cobb Salad and I had their Quiche of the Day, which was bacon and spinach. Our food was delicious and the service was as if we were in someone's private home. We would certainly go back. 

     From crazy cows years ago in Chicago, to Peanuts in Georgia, Mickey Mouse in Kansas City and Pigs, Alligators and Cars...we have seen decorated "things" in many cities during the past decade. As St. Louis celebrates 250 years, there are 250 decorated birthday cakes all over the area. Below is the one placed at Cahokia Mounds! How fun! If you want to read more about the cakes, click here.

    

Christmas Traditions

     Saturday, for the first time in many, many years, we went to St. Charles, MO to get in the spirit of Christmas. St. Charles is just outside of St. Louis and a quaint town with a beautiful Historic District full of shops, restaurants and brick streets. We hadn't been since our children were young, so with the weather perfect (it was 60 degrees) and a day with no plans, we took off early to enjoy Christmas Traditions in St. Charles.

Most of the shops were in buildings like the one above.

Everything was decked out beautifully for Chistmas.

We stopped for a look at the old mill.

A blacksmith was busy at work.

     Chestnuts were roasting over an open fire. The lovely lady in the cape was one of the "flower girls". She walked through town with her flower basket. She handed me "her card" which you could see children collecting from all of the characters.

I loved this Santa.

     This is the "Sweet Tooth Fairy". Until this year, for the past 5 years, she (Laura Coppinger) has been hired by the city to be the Sugar Plum Fairy. She was evidently one of the most popular and well-loved characters. According to news reports, Coppinger's problems began when she was sent by the city to take a drug test. After she filled a cup with her sample, she flushed the toilet, which is against the regulations. She said she used a curse word after she was told she would need to provide another sample. According to the Rules of Conduct, "Christmas Characters don't know naughty words" so she was not allowed to be the Sugar Plum Fairy this year. Two of the businesses, a candy shop and a cookie shop, hired her to be the Sweet Tooth Fairy instead as people were so upset about her not being the Sugar Plum Fairy. She was darling and human. How silly.

     It was a wonderful day. It was also very crowded. I was surprised at how many were there with small children in strollers. The brick streets and sidewalks, stores with steps and many businesses with signs that said "no strollers" made this seem like an impossible task in my opinion. Some of the stores were so crowded that we couldn't get in the door. So, my suggestion if you live anywhere near St. Charles, take time to visit. It is wonderful. I also suggest that this is one place you don't want to take a stroller.

     I also had to tell you about my cupcake. The picture above is from the website of Jilly's Cupcake Bar. I didn't take a picture of mine because I ate it too fast. Mine was actually better looking that this one, the frosting covered the entire top and it was huge. This is called the Bee Sting. It is vanilla cake with honey lemon curd filling and topped with lemon cream cheese, toasted almonds and a lemon candy dust. The top had a piece of white chocolate that looked like honeycomb. Jilly's has several locations in St. Louis and also had them for sale at a shop in St. Charles. Jilly's won Cupcake Wars on the Food Network and I certainly understand why. My cupcake was over $6 and worth every penny! Take a look at the Jilly's website, you won't believe these flavors!

  

A Little Bit of Magic

     Our grandsons came to visit this weekend. We decided they were old enough at 2 and 4 to go for an "adventure" on Saturday. It was so cute on Friday night, the 4-year-old wanted to leave for the "adventure" instead of going to bed and the 2-year-old wanted to "sleep fast" so we could go "venture". We wouldn't tell them where we were going which made it more exciting for them. We also didn't tell our son where we were going because we knew he would tell the kids! He was told that he would just have to be surprised with the boys!

     Our destination was The Magic House in St. Louis, MO. It is the St. Louis Children's Museum and we had never been there before, so we weren't sure what to expect. It is a beautifully restored (and expanded) 1901 Victorian Mansion that has been transformed into the perfect place to take kids of all ages. Every room has something hands-on and fun for all. Inside of The Magic House, is a child-sized house and community for the children to explore.

     They can go to the grocery store and fill their shopping basket with everything from produce to yogurt. They can check out with a scanner, ring up the sale and even make change with the money in the register.

They can cook a meal in the kitchen of the

"home" or play the piano in the living room.

     They can go to work making pizza in the Pizza Parlor and serve it to parents sitting and red checked tables in the "dining room" of the restaurant.

Do you love the stairs to the neighborhood library?

     There are real books on the shelves, and comfy chairs if your child is ready for a break. Of course ours were moving at the speed of light and anxious to get to the next room!

    We had to stop at the Electric Company for a photo. After all, that is where Grandpa works. Here they could plug things in, play with magnets and make light bulbs turn by spinning a crank. There is also a bank with an ATM, lock boxes, deposit slips and even the teenagers in the room were having fun there.

     The Lewis and Clark Adventure area had everything from teepees to canoes. There was also a Discovery Trail, but children have to be 5 to go on that.

     Want to be President for the day? The Star-Spangled Center houses the Oval Office, an actual courtroom and a Legislative Chamber. Kids could hold a press conference with working microphones and watch themselves on the flat screen television.

     An outdoor area (with large fans which kept it tolerable) has everything you need to build a house. This area was really a hit with my little guys. Grandma ended up on a bench inside in the air-conditioning and left this one up to Grandpa and Daddy.

They could even go fishing...

...or play in the Bubble Room.

     The current traveling exhibit is Alice's Wonderland. The kids loved climbing through the rabbit hole and meeting Alice and the Mad Hatter.

     One of my favorites didn't impress the kids at all. They had a very small house that you could look through the windows and see the entire scene from the book, "Goodnight Moon"! I loved it as it was a favorite of my kids.

 

     There is a restaurant, The Picnic Basket Cafe, onsite. There were several healthy choices and the food was very good and served in a Picnic Basket...cute! I highly recommend taking kids or grandkids here if you live close enough for a road trip. Ours loved it and so did we. If you go, make sure you google for discount coupons. We found that Drury Inns had a free child with paid adult coupon right now, so our kids got in free. The regular admission is $8.75 for anyone over the age of 1. It is well worth it. Every space is filled with things to spin, roll, climb or pretend.

I think this photo on the way home says it all!

I am joining Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday and

Laura @ Decor to Adore for her new meme, Wayfaring Wednesdays.

Please visit our wonderful hostesses and say hello!