Will Handy grows up in Memphis with his preacher father and his Aunt Hagar. His father intends for him to use his musical gifts only in church, but he can't stay away from the music of the streets and workers. Starring Nat King Cole and Eartha Kit.
St. Louis is famous for two different sandwiches! You may want to try them for your lunch while you are in Forest Park. The first sandwich is the St. Paul Sandwich. Local legend has it that a Chinese-American chef in the city invented the St. Paul in the 1940s to please Midwestern palates. He put an egg foo young patty (egg, bean sprouts, onion, flour) between a couple of pieces of white bread slathered with mayo, topped it with lettuce, tomato and pickles and named it after his hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota. Click on the photo to get a recipe to try from Feast magazine!
St. Louis is also known for the open face Gerber Sandwich which consists of garlic butter. ham, and provel or provolone cheese on French bread. The "Gerber Special" was first made by the local family-owned Ruma's Deli, and named after their customer and next-store-neighbor, Dick Gerber. Mr. Gerber owned a tire store next to Ruma's Deli in the Covington Manor strip center, and the Rumas would allow him to create his own sandwich in their kitchen for a small fee. Dee and Tom Ruma were so impressed with the sandwich he concocted one day that they added the sandwich to the menu in 1973. The sandwich has been duplicated by many other St. Louis restaurants. Click on the photo below to try the recipe by blogger Julie Blanner!
Forest Park is a free public park in St. Louis, Missouri. It covers 1,326 acres in the middle of St. Louis. It was the home of the 1904 World's Fair and the 1904 Summer Olympics. It hosts a number of attractions including the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, and the St. Louis Science Center. We will be spending the day here, so be sure to check out the St. Louis foods to try in the column on the left because this is a perfect place to picnic or try some of the food options in the park! Click on the picture above for a brief tour of Forest Park!
The St. Louis Zoo is the most visited feature of Forest Park. The Zoo is free! It opened in 1910 and now contains a collection of more than 18,000 animals. The Zoo is devided into five animal zones:
The Missouri History Museum is also located in Forest Park. There are two permanent exhibits. One on the 1904 World's Fair and one on the history of St. Louis. Other exhibits are always changing so there is always something new to see! In the permanent exhibits there are artifacts from the Lewis and Clark expedition whose starting point was St. Louis. The museum also has a 16-ton statue of Jefferson that was sculpted by Karl Bitter. Click on the picture to see several of the exhibits!
The Great Forest Park Balloon Race is an annual hot air balloon race that has 70 entrants and over 130,000 spectators. On the day before the race, the hot air balloons participate in the Balloon Glow. During this even the spectators can walk among inflated balloons illuminated by their burners. The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra also provides a free public concert nearby on Art Hill. During the race the balloonists attempt to "chase" a 166-foot balloon of a pink bunny. The goal is to follow the bunny until it lands, and then each pilot drops a sandbag or birdseed bag as close as possible to the bunny balloon. The winner is the owner of the bag that is closest to the bunny. Because the event takes place i
n a city, the race is considered very challenging and participation is by invitation only. Click on the picture above to see some of the race and then click on the picture on the right to build a hot air balloon puzzle from Jigsaw Explorer! While you are building the puzzle, click on the St. Louis symphony as they play on Art Hill!
Th St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest symphony in the United States. Enjoy one of its performances in Forest Park on Art Hill!
It has been another busy day. Relax and read books related to the 1904 World's Fair this evening. Click on the book cover to access different formats or click on the title to open the book!
Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition by Marietta Holley
Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
This report includes descriptions of all of the booths and an interesting analysis of the involvement of women at the exhibitions.
