We arrived in St. Louis late Saturday morning, and our first stop was for food!

We landed at The Urban Chestnut (midtown), so also had to have a beer(s)! It was pretty quiet when we arrived, but then a group of bicyclists rode in and between-time wedding guests (we decided) walked over from a nearby church. The food menu was sparse but excellent, and the beer selection was pretty great too!

Next stop was Bellefontaine Cemetery. I've been wanting to visit that cemetery for a dozen years or more... and I will need to go back. Our purpose this time was to visit the family plot where some of Rusty's & the kids' ancestors & relation are buried. He visited many years ago and brought back photos and rubbings and a drawing of the plot, but I've wanted to visit in person ever since!

The plot is oval (as many in the cemetery are) and the graves are arranged in within the oval, headstones all facing toward the center. The tall monument is for one Wilson McGunnegle, Rusty's great great uncle.

These are Wilson's parents -- Rusty's great great grandparents -- Elizabeth Starr & George K. McGunnegle (one of a great many GKMcGs... and I thought my ancestors were stuck in a naming rut!).

There are numerous familial military ties. Wilson was a Lieutenant in the Navy (beautiful nautical motifs decorate his monument at Bellefontaine); his son, Col. George K. McGunnegle (of course!) was an Infantryman; his sister Clara was wife of Brigadier General John Wynn "Black Jack" Davidson, both originally interred at Bellefontaine and later moved to Arlington National Cemetery.

It's all so interesting!!

The next stop was to pick up artwork -- the impetus for the trip in the first place -- but Kate swung by and dropped me at KNITORIOUS first!

This place has also been on my list since practically forever! It wasn't long after I began this blog that I came to know Sandy. She opened a yarn shop in St. Louis and I began blogging about knitting from NE Wisconsin, both in 2004, and we both called our ventures KNITORIOUS! We've been in touch on and off ever since -- giggling over things like a Target commercial (below, from 2010, notably at the :23 mark).

She's long known of my desire to visit, and it was such a treat to finally get there!

The space is truly wonderful -- open, well lit, and so much room! A dedicated classroom area (above), a more informal area with comfy seating beyond the magazine racks (below), not to mention a third table space near the front door, quite full of knitters while I was there!

Panoramic view of Knitorious!

A visit with Sandy -- on my list since 2004!

The yarn selection is lovely -- terrific product lines and plenty in stock.

I bought some Loft, which I've never used before (in truth, it's my first Brooklyn Tweed yarn of any type!), to make a Seeds Hat or two.

And I can't seem to pass the Unicorn Tails without snatching a few.

But this... KNITORIOUS Yarn!

Beautiful, rare natural colors of undyed Merino wool from Missouri's own Genopalette. It's all fingering weight, the three above and the marled are 100% merino, the white at bottom left has some silk. It's really terrific and I can't wait to knit with it!

Big whoop-de-doers that we are, our night life consisted of a walk to the Old Courthouse and Gateway Arch, dinner at nearby Caleco's Bar & Grill, watching Cardinals fans, tuning into the NFL Network from our hotel to catch a little Packers preseason football, and lights-out at 9:30pm... we were both SO TIRED!! So catching some actual nightlife & music is another good reason for returning to St. Louis!

We managed one more pretty sweet stop on Sunday morning before heading home... I'll share all about that sometime over the weekend or early next week. I have a few "chores" over the weekend, but it's mainly shaping up to be pretty quiet. Sweet!! I hope the same for you!