It is safe to say that Julie Rodriguez and I had a most wonderful Christmas season together. It started last Thursday night (21 December) when I came to her apartment right after work. Julie, her roommate Joan Burke, and myself rode together to Tilles County Park in Ladue. We rode through Winter Wonderland, a major drive-through Christmas lights display. There was a long line of vehicles to enter the park, but after about 20 minutes we were in the park and slowly driving through the display. There were plenty of beautiful lighted items--including animated lights--for the three of us to enjoy.
After our visit to Winter Wonderland, Julie decided to head to Candy Cane Lane, a stretch of Murdoch in south St. Louis near Francis Park. There was another long line of vehicles in the area, but once in we were treated to some beautiful residential light displays.
The next night (22 December) had the three of us hitting the road again. This time, we went to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Eureka to check out Santa's Magical Kingdom. We wound through a hilly, forested trail to see the lights. There was another great crowd of tourists there. (The weather that week was unseasonably warm.)
Saturday night (23 December) saw Julie, Joan, and I back to the road, heading for World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois. The motor sports facility was hosting Wonder Lights Christmas, an annual light show that Julie and I took in last year. There was quite a good crowd again at this facility. Once in the raceway, we enjoyed some terrific light displays accompanied by music that we could hear on a dedicated radio frequency.
The three of us greatly enjoyed seeing the light displays in the days leading up to Christmas.
I was home on Christmas Eve, apart from getting fuel for the car that afternoon. Christmas morning, I opened my presents that were under the Christmas Tree. From Mom, I got a Starbucks gift card and a three-pack of Moleskine journals. Rick sent me three books: The Complete Screenplay for the Movie "Oppenheimer;" "Defeat: Napoleon's Russian Campaign;" and "The Fatal Alliance: A Century of War on Film."
I left home at midday to drive to Julie's apartment, where we had a nice lunch featuring chicken. Afterward, we exchanged gifts. I gave Julie a colored pen set and a nice magenta sweater; these items were on her wish list sent to me. I opened a box she had given to me a few days earlier, but which I brought along for this occasion. It had a St. Louis CITY SC baseball cap, which was on the wish list I sent Julie.
Julie and I then settled down on the couch to watch the classic 1980 comedy film "Airplane!" on her home video. It's one of my all-time favorite movies, and hers as well. A great laugh fest.
After watching a movie at home, we decided to watch a movie in the cinema. After finding it sold out at the first theater we went to, Julie and I were able to get tickets to see "Ferrari" at the Marcus Des Peres Cinema. This new drama from director Michael Mann opened on this day. We both enjoyed "Ferrari" and especially liked the auto racing action sequences.
After the movie, we returned to Julie's apartment, where she gave me some leftover chicken to enjoy this week. We hugged and kissed each other goodbye after a terrific Christmas Day.
Later.
Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:
Tilles County Park: Tilles Park - St. Louis County Website (stlouiscountymo.gov)
Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park: Eureka Jellystone – Your Vacation Destination for Six Flags® and St. Louis
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway: New Home Page - World Wide Technology Raceway (wwtraceway.com)
Starbucks: Starbucks Coffee Company
Moleskine: Moleskine® Official Website - Notebooks, Planners and More | Moleskine
St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
Marcus Des Peres Cinema: Des Peres Movie Theatre | Marcus Theatres
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