Beautiful Saturday Weather

We are enjoying a spate of beautiful weather this weekend, both sunny and mild. We took advantage of this opportunity and got outdoors. First, we went to Forest Park, which was slammed. I drove the length of the park to get to its southeast corner. This empty quarter has undergone much renovation. On the southern end of Jefferson Lake is the newly installed Wise Falls. This cascading waterfall anchors the lake. Giving it a new picturesque sight. From there, we walked south and checked out Bowl Lake, with its new pavilion. Both locals are south of the Glades, where Steinberg Rink is being renovated. When this project is completed the entire east side of the park will have been overhauled.

That was at noon, later at five we headed over to Clayton to hear their Jazz Festival. I did not know exactly where this event was occurring, so we followed the sound of the music. It was being held on blocked off Brentwood Blvd. among the skyscrapers. There was food for sale there and we dined from the Ritz Carlton’s booth. We watched two acts. The first a John Coltrane tribute band had sound system problems, and we could not hear them very well. The second group, Bach to the Future played jazzed up Bach music. They were delayed until the sound problems were fixed. We listen to their set and about the time that they finished, we left.

The Glade

While we were gone this summer, Forest Park was buzzing. On the east side of the park, abutting Kingshighway sit 22.5 acres of park land that has been newly redubbed the Glade. With Steinberg ice rink at its heart this area has been reimagined as a venue for all seasons. $100M is being ploughed into this project that will restore this veteran ice rink to its former glory and then add new attractions that draw people all year long. Attractions include a water park and splash pad, restaurant and balcony overlooking the rink. Artist’s concepts below:

Work was still going great guns when we swung by the location yesterday but is scheduled to be done by the end of the year. The area under development is so large that we couldn’t get close enough for a decent view. We settled for walking through Klein Prairie and the neighboring boardwalk. Because construction has cutoff much of this area to pedestrian traffic, the place had a sort of empty, spooky vibe. Many of the native prairie grasses growing well and offered many unique and interesting photo-ops for just the two of us.