Monthly Archives: February 2013

The Ahwahnee

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Stain Glass Window at the Ahwahnee

Stain Glass Window at the Ahwahnee

Today was a rainy, lazy Sunday. The rain moved in last night and continued until noon today. Anne and I did make it outside for a walk before sundown, but mostly, we busied ourselves with various arts and crafts. Anne worked on her current knitting project and I got around to taking some arty photos that I’ve been pondering for a while. I’ll roll them out later this week.

We’ve rethought our proposed trip to Washington DC and have instead settled on a long weekend in Chicago. A combination of the state of our finances (taxes) and a timely Post-Dispatch Travel section article on winter getaways to the Windy City convinced us that this more modest trip idea was the smarter way to go. I’ve already thankfully declined our two US Senator’s invitations for DC tours.

Instead of driving there, we’ll be taking Mega-Bus. Anne has been using Mega-Bus for several years now on her annual summer migration back north. Mega-Bus will take both of us from Union Station in Saint Louis to Chicago’s Union Station and back again, for the mere sum of $26.50. That’s right folks two-people, roundtrip all for less than the price of one tank of gas. The Prius would have cost at least twice as much, plus its wear in mileage. It will probably cost more getting to and from the two Union Stations than it will to get between them. Plus, Mega-Bus offers free wi-fi, so I can live blog about the passing Illinois cornfields, kidding. It will be an adventure, at least that’s what Anne tells me.

We’ve booked a hotel room in downtown Chicago, instead of our usual Oak Park venue. This will put us close to the lakefront museums. The Post article recommended either buying a Saint Louis Science Center membership and then using the reciprocity agreement between our science center and some of the Chicago museums or getting a Chicago City Pass . I’ll have to run the numbers, or better ask Anne.

Anne took this photo of a stain glass window at the Ahwahnee. The Ahwahnee Hotel is a destination hotel in Yosemite National Park. It is located at the north end of the Yosemite Valley floor. It opened in 1927 and is a premiere example of National Park Service rustic architecture, and was declared a National Historic Landmark. When we stayed in Yosemite last summer, we visited, but did not lodge at the Ahwahnee. It’s room’s range in price from $439 to $1015 per night. We lodged in a much more affordable Curry Village tent cabin, with a steel bear box out front and mice with their Hantavirus in the neighborhood.

2013 Soulard Mardi Gras Parade

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Nemo of the Banana Bike Brigade
Hilary’s Krewe
Let the Parade Begin – SLPD
The Hill Boys
Yellow Submarine by Rue’d, Lou’d And Krewe’d
Starfish from Aquaman’s Justice League Mardi Gras Party


I bicycled down to the river today, for this year’s Soulard Mardi Gras Parade. You have to be specific about these parades, because there are three Mardi Gras parades in Saint Louis. Last weekend hosted the dog parade in Soulard; imagine costumed pups threading the crowd in the narrow streets of this early 19th century neighborhood. This Tuesday, the actual Fat Tuesday, will host a Mardi Gras parade downtown, but today’s parade is the main event, second only to New Orleans, in these United States.

Normally, we do Mardi Gras with Gary and Linda, members of Team Kaldis. They live in Soulard and generally throw a terrific party on this Saturday. Gary has this parade down to a science, what with portable scaffolding that he can set up at the last minute, giant hand shaped rakes to snag the lofted strings of beads and several hundred Jell-O shots. Everything goes better with Jell-O. This year, they wanted to take a year off from their hosting duties and get out and see what their neighbor’s are up to for a change. I hope that they’re back to form next year.

So, since I didn’t have to brave the crowd in Soulard, I decided to watch the parade closer to downtown, closer to its origin. At Broadway and Chouteau the crowd wasn’t as thick, drunk, crude or lewd, as in Soulard proper. This parade is different from any of the myriad other parades that occur every year in town. Saint Louis sure does love its parades. This parade has a pretty stiff entry fee, $300 for a walking Krewe and $500 for a Krewe with a float. The word “Krewe” is a generic term used to describe any carnival organization or club. The word was coined by the oldest such organization in New Orleans, the Mystik Krewe of Comus who believed in 1857 that the word gave the club’s name an “olde-English” flavor.

There are three Krewe types in this parade: the corporate Krewe, the civic organization Krewe and the real Krewe. You can always tell a real Krewe from any of the others, because they are not trying to sell you anything. A real Krewe always has an interesting name, like the following examples illustrate:

  • Weekend Society for the Prevention of Sobriety
  • Bodacious Bead Blasters
  • Grand Sultans of Excess
  • Krewe of the Creatively Confused

My favorite Krewe was the Krewe of the Mystic Knights of the Purple Haze. Their float was Aquaman’s Justice League Mardi Gras Party. The red starfish, the last photo, is part of their Krewe. Maybe, I’ll revisit this Krewe on Tuesday, because just one picture of one member does not do this Krewe justice. They had a float to die for. Plus, they won first place. The Banana Bike Brigade, pictured first, took second place with their Finding Nemo theme. Having super-storm Nemo occurring on the same weekend, probably didn’t hurt their chances any. They are an example of a “walking” Krewe, because they had no float.

Bite Me!

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The questionably safe table saw setup and out feed table he devised, 4 days and no injuries from it yet, knock-on-wood
Dan’s Potemkin Village
The Finished Doors

It’s the weekend! So, it is time for another fun Friday family news roundup. I’ll go first. In and around work today I attempted to re-title Dan’s car. It has been in LA so long that a Missouri registry is no longer tenable. Missouri’s Department of Revenue, what every other state calls the Department of Motor Vehicles, was its usual pointless purgatory. For one brief shining moment, I thought that I might skate free and clear of this process, but the doors all too quickly slammed shut and I was sent back to the beginning of this latest paper chase. Grrrr!

Speaking of Dan, he is working for the scenic designer on a movie. I neglected to ask him which movie and he hasn’t volunteered a title either, so maybe I don’t have a need to know? He did volunteer that it is a film that is mostly set in mid-century San Diego, with flashbacks to World War II, where the protagonist served in the Japanese army. Filming is in Orange County. Dan says that he is having fun doing this work, but he also finds it grueling. He works 12 and 14 hour days. So far he has made a pair of doors from scratch out of about the cheapest materials that exist. The film industry is apparently held together with contact paper, but next he’ll be carving an African mask.

There is not much to say about Dave. I texted him today, and asked for “proof of life” and got this brief response, “Still alive, just busy”. I guess that’s all I have to report.

Meanwhile, Anne has been feeling chilled, on the verge of feverishness and definitely has had a sore throat for a couple of days, so it goes to figure that she ended up working in plague central again, kindergarten. This morning, she was greeted by a chorus of sniffles and coughs and it only got worse from there. One child complained that she wasn’t feeling well. Anne sent her to the nurse. The nurse returned the child, saying that there was no sign of fever. A little while later the child threw up. The principal had to move Anne and her class to the library. On the playground, one child bit another, because she was crying and it hurt his ears. It was just that kind of day. Thank God it’s Friday!