Lunch and Shopping in Historic St. Charles

Off work today, I got my hair cut at Great Clips and my flu shot at CVS, both near South County Center. My fun part of the day would take place to the northwest of St. Louis.

Late this morning, I drove to Historic Main Street in St. Charles, which has many historic buildings, shops, and restaurants. I walked from the parking lot near the Missouri River to Magpie's Cafe for lunch. After waiting for some time, a table was free for me on the patio.

Magpie's Cafe opened in 1984. In 2019, after its original owner Rhonda Crane died, my friend and Mehlville High School classmate Donna Schaffrin purchased the cafe and runs it to this day. A few weeks ago, I ran into Donna at World Wide Technology Soccer Park, where I was refereeing and her sons were playing. I wished her well on Magpie's and Donna invited me to come have lunch there sometime. Today was that sometime.

I ordered a Half & Half combination of soup and sandwich. The server recommended the Baked Potato Soup, which I selected to go with the Philly Beef sandwich. They were delicious. The Baked Potato Soup--a baked potato, cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onions--is a long-time staple of Magpie's.

After that, I had room for dessert. Again, I went with the server's suggestion and had the Blackberry Cobbler, served ala mode. It was decadent, but most satisfying.

Before I left my table to pay the bill, I told the server (whose name I didn't get) about how I knew about this restaurant. She thought it was a small world that I knew Schaffrin, and she would tell Donna hello for me.

After paying my bill at Magpie's, I walked up Main Street to Main Street Books. Earlier this week, I ordered a book for sale there, Unleashing the Soul. It's a collection of poems written by my friend, T.M. (Tara) Pedroley. We knew each other from a singles Meetup group we were in a few years ago. (Tara was the group's organizer.) I am looking forward to reading these poems, and Tara said she would sign my copy when we meet next month for an event in town.

 

Walking along Main Street to return to the parking lot, I saw some straw figures in a small park. The city was holding a straw poll of these figures, asking visitors to vote for their favorites. I didn't vote, but noted two witches on display.

Back home now, I will be out volunteering at Circus Flora tonight.

Later.

Websites of entities mentioned in this post:

Great Clips: Haircuts for Men, Women, & Kids | Great Clips Hair Salons

CVS: CVS - Online Drugstore, Pharmacy, Prescriptions & Health Information

St. Charles Tourism: Historic Downtown Restaurants & Shopping | Saint Charles, MO (discoverstcharles.com)

Magpie's Cafe: Magpies Restaurant | South Main in Historic Old St Charles MO (magpiesonmain.com)

Main Street Books: Main Street Books | Your St. Charles Independent Bookseller

Circus Flora: Circus Flora | A St. Louis Tradition For Over 30 years

Somehow, Spring Has Arrived

Home on Sunday (18 March), I went to service at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/). Afterward, I headed home, stopping by St. Louis Bread Co. (https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html) in Mehlville for a coffee and pastry. I then relaxed at home the rest of the day and night.

Back at the rental branch early the next day, we had our usual busy Monday morning. However, everything went well. Same for the next day.

Right after work Tuesday night (20 March), it was off to Calvary for this month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) (https://www.facebook.com/IPMSGateway/) meeting. I helped get the Fellowship Hall set up for the meeting, and took down notes as Secretary. Afterward, I helped to get the hall cleaned up and locked up for the night. It was a good meeting, with our Model of the Month "Beauty Contest" and a slide show by Gary Chambers of aircraft, military and civilian vehicles, and watercraft he photographed during a visit to Moscow last summer. Very interesting.

Spring arrived late on Wednesday morning, but you would not have known it from the chilly weather. High temperatures this week were in the range from 40 to 50 degrees F (4 to 10 degrees C). Hopefully, that will improve in the coming week or two.

Off work yesterday, I used the time to do a bit of shopping (for body wash and for printer paper), and doing my laundry at home. I also checked on a couple of matters regarding IPMS/Gateway's newsletter, The Arch Scaler News, which I edit. Otherwise, I chilled out at home.

Thursday night, my mother and I went to the Kirkwood Public Library (https://kirkwoodpubliclibrary.org/) for the launch of a new book. "Slaying in South St. Louis," by Vicki Berger Erwin and her son Bryan Erwin, tells the story of a 1963 stabbing murder of a housewife by a juvenile delinquent and how he escaped justice due to legal technicalities. My brother Rick edited this book, which is published by The History Press (https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Series/THPSeries). Mom and I really found the talk most fascinating and she let the co-authors know about Rick's work. Vicki Berger Erwin told us that Rick was really good to work with as an editor. The co-authors signed my mom's copy, and I bought a copy for myself. This event was coordinated by Main Street Books (http://www.mainstreetbooks.net/).

Back to work this morning, I stopped by Krispy Kreme (http://krispykreme.com/) to get some doughnuts for my colleagues. The day was rather busy, but went well. That morning, the cargo pants I was wearing developed a rip. I was able to make emergency repairs using electrical tape, but went to Target (https://www.target.com/) during my lunch break to buy a pair of cargo pants. I changed into them just before going back on duty, and they worked out well.

Later.