Soulard and ... everywhere...

Post by: Beth

So this weekend, I got to go out and about with some friends from work (and some friends-of-friends) for a very fun Saturday! First up on the list was to visit Soulard Market, which is a big market area (think Farmer's Market) where you can buy fresh veggies, fruits, meats, fish, unique spices, etc. Sharry (a friend from work - LOTS of fun and always laughing) and her friend Jonathan took me to the market for my first time, and we all stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies. I wish I'd taken some pictures in the market but I just got caught up in buying stuff and didn't think about it at the time. :( It's definitely a sight to see... There are many tables w/vendors set up selling everything from raw whole fish (complete w/eyes....) , to enormous heads of lettuce, to any kind of fruit you can imagine. It's loud, crowded, and offers so much to see.. Truly an experience. :)

After the market, we headed down to the Soulard area to hang out for a bit. Soulard is a very old, historic section of St. Louis that has cobblestone streets, old red brick buildings, and a wide variety of restaurants and bars. It started out as a really nice day outside, so we got to sit outside on the patios and relax in the (almost) spring-like weather. Here we are outside a restaurant called Norton's:

After Norton's, we dropped Jonathan off at a friend's house and Sharry and I went to get ready for dinner. She's friends with a guy that works at a really nice restaurant in Clayton, so we decided to make that our first stop and we had a great dinner. The restaurant was gorgeous and of course I wish I'd taken pictures, but we were too caught up in conversation and dinner that I didn't get my camera out at all. :(

We did drag out the camera VERY late in the evening when we all went out.. Sharry's friend, Michael, came with us and graciously drove us around town since it was raining very hard and parking in St. Louis can be very limited. So these pictures are of us when we were running around in the rain from place to place. :) It's a few cocktails in and we were much rained on so excuse the less than perfect appearances, but I'm still so excited to have some pictures with friends in our new home! Raja and one of his friends got to meet us out towards the end of the night, so there's one of me and him here, too. :)

And here are a couple more pictures from downtown St. Louis... These pictures are of our street and the street right behind us. This area is where we go lots of times if we want to try out a restaurant or lounge, plus they have lots of great little shops and some of St. Louis's newest nightlife spots. Just a little peek at our home here in St. Louis on a (rare at these times!) pretty day.