Bob Delaney At Large: St. Charles

01 February 2023

A Weekend with Julie at Home, Grafton, and St. Charles

Late last Saturday afternoon (28 January), I drove to Julie's house in Florissant. We enjoyed a dinner she prepared that featured salmon. Julie and I saw a movie streamed to her TV, "Amsterdam." We thought it was quite good. After the movie, Julie and I saw an episode each of two Apple TV+ series: "Shrinking" and "Ted Lasso."

The next morning, I drove us to Grafton, Illinois. Julie and I toured the town's Visitor Center and Museum, then drove through Grafton. We stopped by the wharf to admire the Lighthouse and nearby scenery along the Mississippi River. Julie and I hoped to have seen some eagles, who are known to visit Grafton during the winter, but none were present during our visit. We had to settle for a few gulls perched on a log floating on the river.

Julie and I then drove to historic Main Street in St. Charles, where we browsed among the shops and restaurants for some time. We each enjoyed an ice cream cone at Kilwins before walking down the street to visit several shops. Julie did some shopping for relatives having birthdays in the coming weeks. It was cold that afternoon, so a stop for coffee and pastry at Picasso's Coffee House was most welcome.

Both of us returned to Julie's house where we parted for now. More to come between us in the coming weeks.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Apple TV+: TV & Home - Apple

Grafton, Illinois: Visitor's Guide to Grafton, Illinois — greatriverroad.com

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

Kilwins: Kilwins St. Charles-MO | Kilwins

Picasso's Coffee House: Picasso's Coffee (picassoscoffeehouse.com)

20 October 2021

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.